First & Last Tavern

Long wait for seating. They do text you when table ready. Service not great once seated. Maybe 30 to 40 more minutes for food after waiting an hour for a table. It’s tight and small place. They need a larger waiting area. Had the stuffed eggplant which was good. My husband has a sausage dish he didn’t care for. He also had the meatball appetizer which he said was ok. The sauce was nothing special which was a let down in an Italian speciality place. As my husband said its in the name First and Last we probably won’t return.

so my biggest issue with each and every f & l is the service. specifically the speed of said service. alas, the quality of service beyond speed is, more often than not, stellar. this was certainly no exception. this place is pretty new and entirely charming. the food was *on point*. our server managed each of my modifications (and there were several) without writing a thing down. we stopped in for luncheon late Sunday afternoon and left with full bellies and smiling faces. my lady and I split a chopped salad with kalamata olives and the spicy chicken sandwich, subbing grilled chicken for cutlet– which normally comes with side salad but we opted for fries (smothered, to our delight, in garlic parmeseany goodness) and a meatball for good measure. everything was outstanding! I should also mention that we unnecessarily topped it all of with a (zomg!) turtle brownie… so clearly made in house and worth every ounce of ‘omg I’m so full. one more bite. ok I’m done!‘
I’m happy that they have joined the Glastonbury dining landscape and will definitely be back.

Way too noisy, uncomfortably so. They need to do something to address the acoustics. I went twice and won’t return unless something is done. It’s too bad. I looked forward to their opening and enjoy the Middletown & Hartford locations.

Our Second time here, great selection of pizzas & pastas. Good cocktails & beer selection. Very busy place. Can call to get your name in the list.

Had a pizza. Where is the sauce? And two pieces of sausage per piece? Will go somewhere else unless they kick it up a couple of notches.

Slightly disappointed. Clearly they are not business savvy. I live less than a mile away. I called to see if I could have 2 – 3 gluten free pizzas delivered for my daughters birthday party. Their policy is NO DELIVERY under $ 100. I understand not delivering on a busy night but this is 11 am on a Sat when they said they were slow. I also offered to pay a delivery fee. Guess they are not looking to make a profit. To bad!

This past weekend, my friends and I came to dinner.
The food was good and so was the atmosphere, but we had a weird experience with our waitress.
One of us ordered the Rhode Island Clam chowder. A different waitress brought it to our table. While the soup was being eaten the waitress comes over to the table and
Says «don’t touch me, im highly allergic to seafood». This was very off putting and no one was planning on touching her in the first place, and it came off as demanding. It is completely understandable that she has a food allergy and didn’t want to touch anything, but it could have been handled differently.
While one of us consumed the clam chowder, the rest of us were eating bread on bread plates. Because of the clam chowder being on the table she would not come pick up our bread plates and empty glasses and they sat on the table for a long time piling up and becoming an annoyance. Another waitress came over sensing our frustration and offered to take them off of our table.
Then another person in our party ordered shrimp in his pasta which she again did not touch which is completely understandable, but she came back and was pointing to all of our dishes saying «nope, can’t touch that or that or that.» The hostess had to come grab the dish and box up the rest of the shrimp pasta for her.
It was just a very weird overall situation. I completely get her not wanting to touch seafood plates, but I think this could have all been handled differently without the demanding and just awkward comments about her allergy and us not touching her or the pointing out of what she could touch and what she cannot not right in front of us.
This could have been handled behind the scenes, without us even knowing and that would have definitely improved out dining experience.
Oh and the chicken parm was flavorless. It was like they dumped a can of diced tomatoes over chicken and sub par penne pasta.

it will be my FIRST and LAST time there!
we walked in passing all the staff sitting down at tables on their phones and talking, not a single person even looked up to see who was walking in.
while we looked for someone to seat us, the owner/​manager sat there and watched playing candy crush on his phone in sweats and a t shirt!
waited another 30 minutes for anyone to even realize we were sitting at a table, my father went into the kitchen asked if anyone wanted to work and they all looked at him like he was stupid.
coming from a family who owns a few restaurants, this is the biggest let down and your staff needs to be retrained or let go!
we even waited YET ANOTHER 20 minutes to give them a chance and still no one!
as we finally were walking out a bus boy with a dirty apron on is walking over with cups full of water on a tiny drink tray, we told him not to worry about it we were leaving and with a very nasty reply he said «well no one told me you were guys were even here».
someone forgot to tell the «owner/​manager» that he needs to be more involved with his employees AND his restaurant, its sad to see a game of candy crush was more important than making sure customers are taken care of.

Went for early dinner. Service top notch and friendly. Had sausage & peppers very tasty, little high priced for that dish. Overall would go back.

Drinks were watered down and my pasta was sitting in a bowl of water. No need to say anymore.

This is an unfortunate review. I’m not one to post one star for anything, but this place needs a wake up call. It’s a brand new location for this local chain, and the management is going to make it old pretty darn fast. We have eaten there two times and purchased take out 4 times, so I’d say we have given this place a chance.
Eating in… we have 2 little kids so we tend to arrive for dinner around 4:45/5:00. Place is normally half full when we get there, so the full dinner rush has not hit yet. The hostess table is in the same place as the take out register, and neither person knows how to run either. Empty tables and people standing in the small entry way waiting to be seated for 5 minutes is ridiculous. After seating, another 5 minutes to get a booster seat and high chair, again ridiculous. Remember place is not full yet. Waitresses are very nice. Food took 30 minutes to come out. WAY to long for a panini, mac and cheese, small pizza, and a chicken parm. 60 minutes total is terrible for a family that is not sitting and chilling with apps and drinks. In, sit, order, eat, pay, out is not a 60 minute meal, but apparently it is in this place.
The food… my wife loves the caprese panini. Orders it every time and loves it. Pizza is above average, but less than 50 yards away are two better pizza places. Fries are ok. Parmesean fries? Just stop, it’s not that special. This is an Italian place at heart. The chicken parm is terrible. Clearly uses frozen pre packed breaded breasts that must be microwaved. So rubbery I could not believe it, so I took it apart and tried the chicken by itself, rubber.
The beer I ordered, Guiness, was watered down. How do you water down Guiness???
I mentioned we had take out 4 times. All 4 times they messed up something with the order, and my wife makes the hostess repeat the order whenever we have takeout from anywhere. Most common… parm fries instead of regular fries. Once they put a side salad WITH dressing on it in the same paper container as a panini. Italian dressing soaked bread on a buffalo panini is nasty! Spend some money for quality containers and use two when a salad is ordered.
On top of it all, parking is rough, but we are in the complex all the time. We normally don’t mind the tight parking because the food/​experience at all the restaurants in that complex is excellent… except First and Last!
Bottom line… place has potential if ownership fires the management, gets a more experienced hostess, speeds up the kitchen, and trains the rest of the staff to smile, otherwise it is doomed for failure in that location with such high standards all around them.

Just brought home a large broccoli pizza. Very disappointed. Very little sauce and not much broccoli. Cost was $ 22. Will not be ordering pizza there; that’s for sure.

First & Last has been a favorite of our family for many years and we were excited to see the new F&L open in Glastonbury… A short ride from our home. However, we have been twice since it opened and while the food was about the same good quality as the Hartford and Middletown locations, the restaurant was insanely LOUD… Just to be sure it wasn’t just me I downloaded a sound decibel app for my iPhone and it was consistently around 85 decibels and peaked at 94 decibels. (A jackhammer at 50′ is 95 decibels… I’m not guaranteeing the accuracy of this App, but the restaurant was LOUD!!!)
If you are looking for a relaxing restaurant to go with friends or family and be able to talk with each other, you should either go to the Hartford or Middletown location or find someplace else.
I’m hoping management will look at ways to dampen the sound to make it a more enjoyable experience!

Maybe my favorite place on Glastonbury. Great vibe and amazing food. Hands down best songs and pizza in Glastonbury. Easygoing 5 stars and would give it more if I could.

Bring your earplugs. This place is LOUD. With the tin ceiling and no window coverings, you can barely hear the waiter. This place looks like a sterile version of the Hartford location. Same menu. The prices are on the high side. The beer menu is downright awful. Parking is a nighmare. If you like First and Last, then don’t bother with Glastonbury, go to either Middletown or Hartford.

Newly opened First and Last does not disappoint in the food department. Menu is great. Food was delicious. They have a happy hour that has a nice $ 1 oyster or. Lam from 3 – 6. As with any new restaurant I think they are trying to find their groove on the service department. I ate alone at the bar. Service was slow but ok. Guests were lot greeted quickly enough and a lot of stuff was left behind on the bar. Over all I hope this place does well. I will definitely be back.

I’d like to note that I really wanted to like this place. I went in with such high expectations. I grew up in an Italian household and understand the flavors. I desperately wanted a restaurant in town for a go to Italian meal.
Overall, the food lacked flavor. Everything we ate was pretty bland and tasteless. We started our dinner off with the bread they provide to every table and the fried mozzarella. The bread was very hard and if it wasn’t stale, it was pretty close to it. I couldn’t even tear it apart. The fried mozzarella was also disappointing. The sauce it came with was very watery.
For our main dishes we ordered clam linguine and the stuffed eggplant. The clam linguine had a good amount of clams, but hardly any sauce. It was so dry and under flavored. We had to take out about ²⁄₃ of the pasta to make it resemble a traditional clam linguine. And even then, the sauce was bland and pretty boring.
The stuffed eggplant was ok. Again, the sauce ruined the dish. I wish there was more cheese or ricotta filling. I had hardly any filling on my dish. The side dish of shell pasta with sauce was just embarrassing. I didn’t even bother to touch it because the presentation was pretty bad.
I’m so disappointed! I wish I had a better experience. Even most of the tables around us weren’t eating or seemed upset with their food. Every single pizza that came out looked so uneven. One side looked thin and the other looked thick. Nothing looked appetizing or worth returning for. I doubt we will be back after this meal.

Over priced. Most menu items $ 18 – 25 with no salad. Found an item that was listed as shells with meatball, sausage & salad for $ 14.75…ok, sounded fair so I ordered. Well the dish was served in a typical oval appetizer dish with ½ dish of shells with what seemed like generic sauce, a very good meatball & a precooked that wasn’t even rewarmed. The other ½ of the small plate was the salad. So now I had my salad mixed with my pasta/​sauce & my pasta/​sauce mixed with my salad dressing. No side bread served either. Another at the table had a salad with rubbery home made croutons. Bottom line… nice décor but not as nice as Bricco or Max Amore and with food similar in price but certainly less in quality & size (never thought I’d brag about Bricco or Max portion size).

The biggest complement I can give First & Last Tavern is that the food taste’s like the foot at the Hartford Location. That’s a good thing, because I love that joint.
When you go to the original First & Last, you expect the look and feel of a restaurant nearly a century old. In Glastonbury, you get cutting edge new.
It was packed, so be prepared to wait. As of this writing, it’s a brand new restaurant and new eateries in Glastonbury tend to be jammed at first.
My 7 year old son ordered a pepperoni pizza and it looked like it was pulled out of an old style brick oven. My Carbonara was excellent. Perfect balance of salt.
The restaurant was very noisy, so conversation with a big group, like mine, was really tough.
I would go back. The service was good and it’s easier to get to Glastonbury than Hartford with the same quality of food. I recommend it.

My wife and I moved to Glastonbury Center in June, and when she saw the signs for First and Last Tavern being built in town she was so excited. It’s always been her favorite restaurant, but she’s always had to drive to a different town to go. Now it’s within a 2 minute walk of our place (this could get dangerous…). I’m from MA, so I had never been, but she grew up in Glastonbury. We went tonight for their grand opening, and the place was beautiful. First and Last took over the old Hanafin’s Pub, which was always really awkwardly set up and run so poorly. It’s great to see the changes they’ve made inside, I loved the open layout and the bar looks like it will be a fun place to come for happy hour. Only complaint about the set up would be the bathrooms, which are located behind the wall in the bar (the men’s room is a little too small, I walked in and bumped right into two guys waiting for the one stall and one urinal– pretty awkward).
The service was great and the food was awesome (the buffalo chicken pizza was done perfectly). I’m glad we got to enjoy the place before everyone finds out it’s open and the wait becomes an hour every Friday/​Saturday night! Kudos to the owners, you can tell they put a lot of work into this place. We’ll be back!