Sam Bacco’s Milano

Was here last weekend with some friends New chef is absolutely amazing. Rigatoni 3 pigs is their signature dish and gnocchi is home made. Came here for lunch also which is just as good. Young waitress was excellent & Owner came over to recommend us wine and after meal drinks. Cozy environment. A hidden gem more people should give a chance.

Friday afternoon visit for lunch. First thing noticed was a weird stale“ish” odor. We almost left because of it but we got used to it after a few minutes and stayed. Next thing noticed was a small menu. Now that’s not a bad thing if you do it to excel in those items. So we continued to order. I ordered a salad and the sauteed shrimp and clams over pasta dish. My wife ordered rigatoni bolognese. The bread brought out was very good. They said it was baked/​suppied by Fable Farms. That definitely was the highlight of the meal so I need to find that place to see if they sell that bread. Meals took a bit of time to come out but that was OK because the place looks clean and offers a nice atmosphere for conversation. Food comes and, per our tradition, we try a sample of each others dish first. I liked my wife’s rigatoni choice. But, I could see on her face that she did not like my sauteed shrimp/​clam dish. «Too fishy» was her comment. I tried it and I agreed that something was overpowering the taste. Tough to tell exactly what it was as shellfish is shellfish and sometimes you get a heavy taste. I guess I’ll say that, it may not have been the freshest available. But, all clams were open and it wasn’t bad enough for me to mention it.
Bottom line here is that the food was just ok. For the price they charge it should be better.

Just No. Worst dining experience ever, all out of 4 dishes I tried to order off the menu, waiter suggested the seafood pasta which tasted rancid. Gnocchi left a propane gas taste in your mouth and the place smells like a convalescent home. Never again.

I am so conflicted about his place… it is very close… so very convenient… we have had some good meals there, but now it seems like they have lost a chef and the menu has practically nothing on it… tonight they had two specials and by 7:00 had only one left… so we left… Hopefully they will find a good chef and get a good menu. Viola is a great bartender so we love her! We will call before we go next time and hopefully give it a good review.

Very nice quaint Resturant with attentive staff. Portions were small and over priced. Steak was flavorful but was shocked to see French fries as a side. Very little meat in the pasta. The Italian cookies were store bought. Disappointed with the food.

Not even close. Close and open as a dinner. The one things Middlebury lacks you might be able to accomplish. Not a restaurant at all. Went to limited menu and stale production.

Found this place on Unilocal,although it is only 5 min from my house. I am very happy to have a «go to» place for an impressive dinner or just a romantic cocktail. The ambiance is lovely. The staff was attentive without being bothersome. Will be back again real soon.

Really terrible experience bringing a large group of friends here on a week night. Previously we enjoyed the restaurant and the food in a group of four during the week. Tonight nothing went right! They weren’t busy but it took forever to get our main course in the first place. In the second place, half of our orders were not made according to the menu. To top it off, they tried to tell me that my order had shrimp in it when it obviously did NOT!!! The same was true for another person at the table. When they finally admitted to the error, we had to wait for a new order while everyone else finished their meal.
As if this was all not disturbing enough, the manager/​owner comes over and becomes annoyed with US! What!
On the «bright» side, the food is good… if they make it right. The Waiter was also very apologetic. I think he tried hard to make it better… unsuccessfully!

Fantastic, cozy neighborhood restaurant by legendary thrid-​generation CT restaurateur Sam Bacco. Amazingly simple, delicate, delicious, unique recipes by Chef/​Business Partner Martin Garcia. There’s an extensive craft beer bottle list and the restaurant benefits from Sam’s thorough knowledge of wine. The restaurant is kept spotlessly clean, and that matters also.
I recently dropped by between posted lunch and dinner hours to get some food to bring to my wife who was in the hospital. Chef Garcia was in the dining room at the time catching up on paperwork, and I could not have been more graciously accommodated… none of the «we don’t open for dinner until 5» nonsense.
DISCLAIMER (LOL): My 40-​year career has been in restaurants, and Sam has been a personal friend for all those years. I am not taking the time to write some bogus commentary to help my friend succeed. I am telling you that Osteria Milano is wonderful, and I know a good restaurant when I see it.

Food was good but very small portions and the worst service I have ever experienced. They were short handed but after we got ourselves more water, they never asked how our dinner was or if we needed anything else. Go to L restaurant instead!

my mother and I came to Milano for a late dinner and I was pleasantly surprised by both the food and the service. We both started with the Insalate di Rucola. The arugula was tender and the fresh grated parmesan was delicious. My mother ordered the Stuffed Baked Tomato filled with Italian rice, shrimp, and parmesan. I ordered the Rigatoni Three Pigs with pancetta, prosciutto, and sausage. The sausage was seasoned well and the pasta, perfecting al dente. The food was absolutely delicious, and the server was very friendly. My only complaint was the 25 minute wait between our appetizers and our entrees, but it was definitely worth it. The price wasn’t too steep $ 55 for the two of us.

I drive by here every day for my commute and after reading the reviews here took a shot tonight and went. Was very quiet, as most places are during summer around here, but that was a good thing as the service was exemplary. We had no problem getting a table, would have eaten at the bar if necessary but it was full (only 7 seats). Had a nice Prosecco, followed by the grilled calamari and a beet salad. The owner, Sam Bocco, recommended a nice Barolo (which was perfect) to go with my wife’s order of grilled cod over clams in a light white sauce and my Rigatoni with three pigs (wonderful comfort food). Followed this up with a nice espresso and some Italian Port Mr. Bocco again came over to recommend. An excellent experience, and we are pretty nit-​picky about our dining experience and the food served. We will DEFINITELY be back!

My family and went here for the first time this evening. We purchased a living social voucher which we paid $ 25 for and got a $ 50 value of. We are restaurant folks so we love trying new places and finding ones we want to go back to. Fresh ingredients, great cooking and attention to detail and getting things we can’t really do at home is what we look for. When we go out to eat we don’t want to feel like we wasted our time and money when we leave. This place was amazing! The veal tomahawk chop was probably the best piece if red meat I’ve had in my entire life, perfectly medium rare… and red meat is my favorite food group :-) we also ordered the cod that came with a leaks, garlic and carrot sauce and clams in the side… again the cod was perfectly flakey and moist. Great restaurants usually don’t have a huge menu because they want to focus on freshness and what they do well… this restaurant did just that. Be very weary of the four page menus at some restaurants because I bet most if their stuff starts out frozen! We are so glad we now have another restaurant to add to our very short list of top quality establishments. Our bill came to $ 175 before our $ 50 voucher was deducted. This was for my wife, I and our 3 year old. We had a bottle of wine, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, two desserts, 2 coffees and after dinner drinks. Well worth it!!!

This was our first time here. We were familiar w/​the previous establishment so we found it as cozy as the previous. Clean. I have forgotten some of the details in the dishes, & may b misquoting my wines, so bear these in mind.
A tad noisy but not too crazy IMHO. We started with grilled baby calamari– nicely grilled & served over lightly dressed greens w/​whole olives. I had the grouper special served over risotto, topped with crab. When I bit into my dish I discovered that the crab was cold, & immediately thought it to b an error. However, after continuing with bites of fresh halved cherry tomatoes & chiffonade fresh basil, I realized that it was intentional & made the overall flavor that much fresher. I also realized that there was still some skin left on & initially thought that this too was in error (I m still trying to exercise my appreciation of all things pescatarian). Until I tasted it. It was crispy, delicious perfection-​home run. Our other entrée was off the reg menu & was just baked chick. w/​mashed, & broccoli rhabe; & a nice reduction (balsamic?) that was well done/​portioned. I kept saying that for a dish as pedestrian as this, it was fantastic. The chef seems to know what his way @ a kitchen– no doubt. Dessert=crème brûlée (quite good), and fresh berry parfait with fresh whipped cream & a light custard-​nice. The tables next to us were told that the kitchen was very accommodating– magic words to me. They also offer gluten free pasta and will sub it in for any of their pasta dishes. Fabuloussssss (pronounce this in a sing-​songy voice pls)!!! Staff was attentive, service time was appropriate.
Negatives: it is pricey but seems to be worth it’s asking price. I must admit being disappointed in the wine. We had a Pinot Grigio & a Vernaccia (I think), neither of which did anything for me or my dishes. However, I m a little picky. But, considering all the thought that went into the dishes, I would vote that they upped their game on their vino. Especially since the waitress felt the pairing was appropriate. Next time I would pass on the wine– a def drawback in my book.
Bottom line: will need to try this place again & see if the wine issue can be resolved. If so, I would DEF recommend this place.

Mr. Bacco came out of retirement and made a really fine classic Italian place here. Everything super fresh and delicious, made the true Italian way (as in Italy). Excellent wine selection including by the glass. Panacotta to die for. Not cheap but well worth the price. There are a number of excellent Italian restaurants in this area, all a little different, so hard to say one is «better» than another. We just go to all of them!
Acoustics are terrible, however, especially at times like a Friday night when a big party is having a lot of fun. Better to go early or on weekday evenings, but really they should do something about this.

Dined at Milano Osteria on Feb. 9. My wife had the cod with clams and I had the pork Milanese. Both were great. Definitely will return.

Excellent food– little pricey. My fiancé and I live close by and decided to check the place out, after having changed from the previous L restaurant. We arrived pretty early for a 5:30 reservation. At one point we laughed because there were seven employees standing around in the dining room with us and three other people eating. By the time we left the place seemed to be getting packed.
We got a bottle of wine, and a salad off the specials– both very delicious! He got a hanger steak with spinach and fries (steak excellent, fries not so much). I got a filet mignon special with a lobster cream sauce, asparagus and sweet potatoes– all very tasty! We will definitely go back to this place but not frequently due to the priceyness!

Great ingredients well prepared. We had grilled calamari, beet salad, cockles & mussels, and scrod over spaghetti with berry parfait for dessert. The prices were very reasonable for the quality of the food.