Zuppa - Unique Italian Pub — Restaurant in Wolcott

June 2023 - This is one of those restaurants you would drive right by and not find it eye-catching enough to stop and go in if you even noticed it from the road. In fact, when my partner pulled into the parking lot that contains a few drab buildings, I thought we should try somewhere else nearby known to us. He told me he remembered having good food here awhile ago and said we should give it a try. I'm so glad he did.

Once inside, the decor is nice, with wood tables, french doors, raised window blinds and a long marble bar. The chairs have leather seats and backs. White tablecloths. Famous Italian landmarks are hung on the walls along with some modern art.

We ordered two special cocktails, a Negroni and an Aviation and a fried mozzarella starter. All good and off to a good start with friendly service, too. Bread with olive oil for dipping also comes with dinner. For once I chose to upgrade my salad to their Caesar and it was the right choice. Absolutely worth the extra $3. My partner chose the red pasta fagioli. They offer a white version, too. Learning this soup over the years, I've become pretty picky about it. Zuppa's is traditional with no extras as it should be, just the pasta and beans but they bring some extra depth to the flavor and body of the broth. A fine version of this Italian classic. If the cup size can be upgraded to a bowl we'd buy it.

From the specials menu, I ordered the Seafood Rosa that was a mix of scallops, shrimp and salmon in a thick red sauce with some fresh parmesan shavings as garnish. Delicious. My partner ordered an 8 oz. N.Y. Strip with a topping of gorgonzola and mushrooms. The steak came with thick roasted potato wedges and a medley of fresh steamed vegetables. Also delicious.

The place was filling up as we ate our meals and then leaving. It's very popular with the locals and I can see why. They're probably happy this unique Italian Pub is a place people just drive by unnoticed and to have as their secret spot for those in the know. My partner was from years back and I'm glad to be now, as well. We look forward...

Let me start with the positive: the food was good.

Now the negative: This establishment is extremely shady when it comes to their prices. They had a special going on which was a Cajun Caeser salad. It was described as a Caesear salad with Cajun seasoned shrimp, Gorgonzola cheese, red onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers. My wife substituted the shrimp for chicken and she said it was delicious. However, when we received the bill, it read as follows:

Caeser Salad: $10.00 Chicken: $4.00 Red Onions: $1.00 Tomatoes: $1.00 Cucumbers: $1.00 (Note there's no charge for Gorgonzola. That's because they never put Gorgonzola on the salad)

This is not a joke. They charged us for each individual ingredient!? When all said and done, my wife's chicken Caeser salad lunch ended up costing $17.00!?

If that wasn't bad enough, I asked for extra mayo for my chicken sandwich and they actually charged me $.50 for it. 😲 Talk about tacky. I'm surprised they didn't charge us for the ketchup we used on our fries.

Bare with me, there's more. The bartender was not very knowledgeable and made my parent's drinks wrong multiple times. I also had drinks there once before with my parents and my glass was dirty with someone's lipstick 🤢.

Don't know what else to say. Management, nor anyone else for that matter, ever visited us to address any of these issues or apologize.

It's sad because like I said, the food was good. I would not visit this establishment if it weren't for my parents and as it operates now, I can not recommend this restaurant.

Hopefully they lose the tacky micro transactions and clean up their management. Then it may be...

Do not waste your money going to this restaurant however if you do make sure Corey is NOT YOUR WAITER.The worst experience ever in any restaurant. I have been to many,many restaurants and never had such an experience with this restaurant. This person SHOULD NOT BE A WAITER or working with the public. He is to lazy to explain the menu to customers, he is to lazy to bring out bread without us asking for it, he is to lazy to refill water glasses on his accord...he is Just Plains LAZY! We asked for our sauce not to be to hot i.e. spicy. It was spicy. The food is adequate..overpriced restaurant with a pathetic excuse for a waiter. He asked would you like a soup or salad with your entree leading us to believe it came with our meal. Upon receiving the bill he charged an extra $6.00 for the soup. When we brought this to his attention he offered no compensation or refund at all. Save your money and DO NOT GO TO THIs RESTAURANT! If I can give this restaurant zero...