Cinzano’s

Decent place. Decent food. Your average Italian go to spot. Great customer service. Our waitress was super nice and attentive.
I wish they would update the place it’s a bit early 90s and not offer pasta as a side with pasta.

Worst meal I ever had. Worst service I ever experienced. We were attending a birthday party the day after Thanksgiving and they had the gall to include leftover Thanksgiving dinner on our plates. Owner/​manager (?) is probably one of the worst in the business. I can’t imagine how this place stays open. I also can’t believe that anyone actually posts anything favorable about this place. I would give it zero stars if I could.

Where do we begin to explain this horrible dining experience.
First of all, we arrived about 11:45 on a Wednesday afternoon for a friends birthday lunch. At 12:30 someone finally came to take our order, mind you there was only one other table occupied in the restaurant.
The only waitress and the manager/​owner Robert were racing back and forth in to the kitchen. Once we were able to place our order, the fun soon began. Our salads were served, no problem there however within seconds our appetizer of escarole, beans and sausage which was cold and very disappointing since we have had it many times before was served within literally seconds of our entrees were served. One member of our party ordered linguine and meatballs, was served spaghetti and clams, then two other members of our party ordered a vegetable panini and a steak panini, which were served as open faced wedges, which according to Robert was a panini, the vegetable panini was made with one stalk of asparagus, and three pieces of zucchini and wilted escarole, and melted mozzarella. the panini’s are on the menu as accompanied by fried potatoes, which came as 5 potatoe chips. When we questioned Robert as to the fact that they were chips not fried potatoes and only 5 he proceeded to go to the back and bring a soup bowl of potatoes (see picture). They were literally raw sliced potatoes in oil. When we commented to Robert his response was «I tried to get them out quickly for you» to which we replied maybe you shouldn’t have served them like this and he said «maybe I shouldn’t have.» The waitress was very sweet and seemed afraid of Robert and had already gotten reprimanded in the kitchen and with our complaints Robert put the blame on her, which was not the case. It seemed as though there was not a kitchen staff, I. e a chef to prepare our meal and it was up to the waitress to do so. Robert was rude and unprofessional and our entire experience was horrible. Needless to say we will NEVER go back to Cinzano and will make sure everyone we know does not either.

Went there for a midday Sunday birthday dinner for my 87-​year-​old mother-​in-​law. We were 4: my husband, mother-​in-​law, grown daughter and me. Walked in and there was just one table of diners, but we could see they were preparing for a private party in an adjacent room. They seated us, brought us water and took our drink orders. Then nothing. We could not get anyone’s attention to take our dinner orders. Finally my husband got the attention of a man who appeared to be a manager. He said he would be right with us, then he went to the bar and got on the phone for a long period of time. My husband got up and approached him at the bar, and he indicated again he would be right with us. The waitress who had taken our drink order stopped by and told us she was in training and was not allowed to take our order unless the manager was with her. She was apologetic. We waited. A few minutes later, the manager walked by our table, pointedly ignoring us. Even my mother-​in-​law was annoyed at this point, and she called to him, «Excuse me, can we please order? Or do you want us to leave?» The man turned around and started yelling: «It’s a free country! Yes, as a matter-​of-​fact, why don’t you just leave? Get the X%$#@ out of here!» We were completely shocked, but we started to get up to leave. Remember, this was my 87-​year-​old mother-in-law’s birthday dinner! My husband and I were furious at this point and started telling this man exactly what we thought of his customer service as we gathered our things. It turned into a shouting match, and at one point he called me an insulting name and my husband countered with «What did you just call my wife?» The waitress rushed over in the middle of all this and begged us to please stay! She must have been terrified of this guy and feared she would be blamed. We just said, «We can’t stay! He’s kicking us out!» As all this was going on, people were arriving for the private party, staring at us, totally bewildered as to why a 60-​something couple and an elderly woman were engaged in a shouting match with the manager. It was mortifying. Believe me, we are the mildest-​mannered people in the world, but for some reason this man was deliberately ignoring us in a mostly empty restaurant to the point where anyone would have been very, very angry. We wound up at a nearby restaurant where we told our story to the waitress, who said she was not surprised to hear it because the Cinzano’s manager (owner maybe?) had a terrible reputation among restaurant workers in the area. The manager of this place then came over, said the waitress had told her what happened to us, and she wanted to buy us dessert to cheer us up. Now, that is how customers are supposed to be treated! There is no excuse for what happened at Cinzano’s. The man should have simply apologized for the long wait and taken our order, which would have taken just a few minutes. He was having a bad day, evidently, and chose to take it out on us. We had eaten there before and had never had a problem. We eat out in Fairfield often, but obviously will never go to Cinzano’s again. At least it makes a good story: how we got kicked out of a restaurant on the occasion of my mother-in-law’s 87^th birthday!

I am not sure why this restaurant has gotten poor reviews in the past. I have been to Cinzano’s for dinner three times. The staff is lovely and the food is excellent. I have tried two entrée chicken dishes and an entrée salad, all perfectly prepared. I would also highly recommend the lobster in puff pastry. It is decadent and just out of this world.

I’ve never been compelled to write a review before but after my experience at this restaurant I just had to. I am not a picky eater but this was by far the worst meal I have ever had. My friends and I wanted to stop for a quick bite to eat and ordered the soup and dinner salads. From the beginning things were off and the service was terrible. The focaccia bread was ice cold and soggy. The soup was okay, I was able to get it down. Then came the salads. I ordered the salad that came with grilled skirt steak over it. As I was cutting the salad I noticed how there really was no Gorgonzola cheese on the salad or the cited topics but I was fine with it. Then came the first bite, so disgusting I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. The piece of steak in my mouth was all fat and the vinaigrette was unlike anything I have ever tasted. Even the lettuce pieces that had not been tainted by the awful dressing tasted horrible and were wilted. My friends’ salads were no better as no ones order came with all the ingredients cited on the menu. How do you mess up salads? Never again.

when i first walked into the classy establishment my nose was filled with sweet and fresh italian smells. it reminded me of my grandmothers house. i ordered the chicken parm and when it came out i was confused and annoyed by the lack of pasta with my chicken parm. there wasn’t any! everyone else had pasta but me. i saw pasta to my left and to my right they just threw that sh*t around willy nilly. the lady gave me so much water i could have drowned but you know what i didnt get? pasta!!! im writing in capital letters now because im progressively getting more frustrated about not eating any pasta. the waitress was hot though.

80 degrees out with 59% humidity and no air conditioning!!! Come on now!
Could barely read the menu with the sweat dripping into my eyes! Had to flag down the hostess to get a seat and then not even a drink of water while waiting for my lunch guest. Amateur Hour.

I’d give 4.5 stars if I could. Consistently tasty, good quality Italian food, even their bread platter is good. I use them for catering and recommend the chicken or veal saltimbocca!

This restaurant reminds me of the early bird style restaurants one would find in Florida; Tacky décor and tasteless food. The chicken parm was soggy and pasta overcooked. Our waiter was wonderful –service was efficient and attentive, but I have to give this place 2 stars for the food and atmosphere.

Good food.

Enjoyed a nice lunch with my two sisters here. I’m from the Rockland Cty., NY area where I’m spoiled from great restaurants, and I and a sister from L.I., NY took our Fairfield sister to lunch. Not overpriced, very attentive service, delicious appys (portabella mushroom & unusually presented fried mozzarella). Two of the three bread selections were wonderful, but the third was very dry. Could have had a little more shrimp in my noodle dish, but the veal marsala went over with the others. The dessert menu looked great, but we had already pigged out on the appy, but will try them next time, as well as the 3:00 .p.m. $ 25 special for two.

Good food, always enjoy it here. Never had a bad meal here. Prices are fair. Service is just ok.

While I was living in Fairfield attending college this is the place we would all take our parents to when they visited. This place has nice décor and we always had good service. I never had a bad meal here either (granted this was compared to constant college food). Love their gnocchi and gorgonzola salad. Hope to go back someday!

I came here for a birthday party.
The space was great. Tables were not right on top of each other.
The staff were very attentive in taking away dirty dishes, refilling waters, etc.
The food was served buffet style.
For buffet style, I was very impressed with the quality of the food. The pasta was al dente despite sitting in a heated pan for a while. The pasta sauces were awesome too.
The carving station featured a huge roast beef that was well seasoned and extremely tender.
The chicken francese had the perfect amount of lemon and was extremely tender and moist.
The side of veggies were obviously of the frozen variety, but they did a good job with the seasoning. I am overall just not a fan of frozen veg.
The bar was standard. The wines were decent.
The dance floor was rickety. My heel got caught in the dance floor several times. I eventually resumed dancing on the carpet.
Overall it was a great venue with great food.

Good food here and great service! If you’re picky about your Italian cuisine like I am and don’t just eat at any place that thinks it can make a meatball, you won’t be disappointed.
Price is very fair for the area. Nice environment. Good for family dinner or a first date.

I saw some of the Unilocal reviews and figured I would give it a try. Overall, I was please but I am not sure if I am in any rush to go back. I thought the food was good but not fantastic. From a value perspective you cannot beat the prices on the special (3 course dinner for two for $ 25!)
My biggest compliant is I felt it lacked ambiance. It’s a little dated. The kind of place my grandmother would think is nice. If that makes any sense.
It’s worth a visit if only for the fact the dinner special is an amazing offer and the food is solid. But I like «the feel» of Coppia or Centro much more.