Fusaro’s

If you enjoy quality Italian food, or even just Italian food, please do not come here. Every item we ordered just didn’t meet the mark. The penne someone at our table ordered looked stale and my gnocchi tasted bland. It was loud and the service was slow.
Also, we had a member of our party with a food allergy. They couldn’t Accommodate because all their food is pre made and cross contaminated. We ended up ordering the check and leaving early.

Wonderful home made old school Italian. Killer meat balls, delish pastas, great pizza & salads & eggplant. Warm mid island location. Come early or later it can get crowded. Great value, not a lot of competitors on this island.

Food is bad. Fellow tourist please don’t visit.
Ingredients are not fresh. You can tell it from your very first bite. There is absolutely no depth to the taste. Their tomato base is very salty. Our minestrone soup and pizza tasted the same-​Equally disappointing. Clams are tiny too. Our mussels were probably frozen.
Aside from the bad food quality, noise pollution, slow service and long wait, everything else is good-​which is almost none. I give them 1 star because I can’t give 0.

Waited for food ordered 2 hours ago. No communication why or when food will be ready while other orders are flying out of the kitchen. Don’t waste your time, unless you have an entire night to sit and wait for takeout.

Fusaro’s is a nice, family-​friendly restaurant that you wouldn’t know existed unless you knew the island or happened to pass by due to its location. It’s nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of Town, and they have a decent sized parking lot. It’s not far from the bike path either.
The décor reminds me of an older Italian restaurant (circa the 90s but not in a bad way), but the ambience is pleasant and not too loud. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. She gave us good recommendations and never pushed us to order more. The veal parm was sizzling hot and incredibly tender. This was definitely the highlight of my meal. The accompanying penne was decent (not al dente though), but I definitely preferred the sauce over the pasta. The sauce had a good consistency, texture and flavor. The pollo al limone was good as well, but my companion would have preferred pasta over the zucchetti. We also shared the charred cauliflower (nice flavor, but I did wish that some of the pieces were a bit crunchier) and cannoli for dessert. The cannoli filling is made in restaurant while the shell is not. The filling was not overly sweet or ricotta-​y and while tasty, seemed like it was missing something (perhaps the chocolate chips were too soft from being in the mixture?).
Prices are surprisingly low given the portion size and location — Nantucket is not cheap! Most entrees were below $ 25 which is a rarity this season. This is definitely a place to bring a group of people. I will come back and try some of the appetizers next time!

Overall very good. The food was hot and very flavorful. The overall service was very good, the hostess was rude and seemed to be disgusted to have a job. The rest of the staff was very pleasant. Service was quick and well timed. Several large groups were seated around the same time which concerned me, thinking we would get lost in the crowd of orders, it did not happen. Everyone was pleased with the service. I will definitely return and bring more friends the next time.

Very pleasantly surprised by this cute little restaurant. Staff was very nice and accommodating. Edward was a funny and nice server. I’m pregnant and tend to have special requests and he was more than happy to help out. We LOVED the food. I had breadless chicken parm and my husband and Pasta with Bolognese sauce which was delicious ! We will defiantly return here on our next visit

A coworker mentioned going to this place so as soon as I was back on island we made a trip.
Bar is right at the entrance with seating nearby. Some of the seats were a little close for comfort, but it wasn’t full because we went right before closing so I didn’t feel like I was having dinner with other people.
Got a salted caramel martini. It. Was. Delicious. Best drink I’ve had in a while. Whoever mixed it that night did a superb job and I’m sad I didn’t manage to get back to sample it again.
My coworker and I split a pizza. It was okay, not the best I’ve ever had. Thin crust with fresh toppings so I can’t complain too much. Classic Italian restaurant fare. I tend to be picky because I’m from an area with a large Italian American population. So the food has to be homemade to impress me.
Nice place to eat, typical Nantucket prices. I’d come back for the drink alone.

Good Italian food, though over-​priced like everything on Nantucket. Eggplant parmigiana is usually good, though inconsistent. Truffle and eggplant fries are delicious! Pizza is good. Inside dining area is rather small, which makes it noisy when full. Outdoor dining area is quieter and more private. Can also eat at bar (decent wines, but only bottled beer not draught).

There is a reason why there is a mile-​long waitlist on summer nights at Fusaro’s. The food is fresh, the menu is extensive, the bar is home to the best bartender on island (Melissa) and the chef is tireless and talented.
For diet-​friendly patrons, the pasta in any dish can be replaced by zuchetti (zuchini noodles) and gluten-​free pizza crusts are always available. Pretty much any item on the menu can be customized.
I have never had a bad experience here. The service has always been prompt, curteous and thorough and the food has always been incredible. Don’t believe the grumpy summer folks leaving bad reviews here or the people leaving reviews for the wrong restaurant. (lol)

The lasagna is AMAZING! I am a self proclaimed lasagna connoisseur, and this is one of the best I have had! The fried mozzarella is delicious, as is the pizza– New York style! By far the best restaurant on the island! The service is not as friendly as I expected.

The food is a solid 3 stars, decent Italian fare. The olive oil was good, bread was solid, and my bolognese had a healthy portion of meat. The pasta was a little overcooked for my taste, though of a good quality, and I can’t imagine I am the only one with picky tastebuds on the island.
Our service was good, accommodating, and attentive, though I can imagine that the reason this place is only 3 stars is that, with only average food, the service is not quite worth the wait. I’m not sure if this restaurant just doesn’t hit the mark with their seasonal workers or what. The two owners (?) were friendly and attentive.
They have a small fish pond outside, which is of course a nice attraction for kids.

I’ve been here twice now, and both times were fantastic. When it comes to Italian food, I mostly keep it simple with what I like, and almost every time I am going to order Chicken Parm, which I once again did at this gem on Nantucket.
Here are a couple rules to eating out on Nantucket that if you understand, you will enjoy your time.
1. You are going to wait for a table. Most restaurants on Nantucket are small, meaning you will wait to eat, especially if like Fusaro’s they do not accept reservations.
2. You are going to normally pay a bit more for a meal you could get on the mainland so you have to take that into account when dining (you will see in my other tip for Nix’s Brewpub, that their are limits to what you should consider acceptable)
If you understand these two rules, you will enter Fusaro’s with the correct expectations and thoroughly enjoy your meal. For this venture, we arrived with a party of 6 and waited about 45 minutes to be seated, but were able to order appetizers and drinks at the bar while waiting for our table to clear. I got the Fried Mozzarella as an appetizer and as a connoisseur of fried mozzerella appetizers, I can affirmatively tell you that you will not be disappointed if you order this. The cheese is fresh and the marinara is zesty and light.
For the main course I ordered the Chick Parm, naturally, and my sister, a regular decided to order a buffalo chicken pizza. My chicken parm was easily on the top 5 that I have gotten at a restaurant. Similar to the friend mozzarella, the ingredients were fresh, zesty, and the portion was excellent including a side of linguine.
Overall the restaurant was reasonably priced, especially for Nantucket, and the food was very good. I would not recommend going with very large groups seeing as there is limited seating, however on a normal summer day they have an outdoor patio; I happened to eat here in the winter, and on a very rainy day.

After going there twice last year, we couldn’t wait to return. It didn’t disappoint! This is a very family-​friendly place, and affordable. Most importantly, the food is delicious. We usually go on the earlier side and have never had to wait for a table (5:30ish). My husband and daughter both rave about the linguine and clams, I had the muscles appetizer and kale salad… both fantastic. Truly great place and worth a visit, especially if you are looking for somewhere not right downtown. We will definitely be back!

Went to dinner here after liking it last summer. Wait for a table at 8:15pm was really long! They seated many couples who arrived well after us rather than putting 2 tables together for our party of 3, which was weird.
Sangria while waiting was the worst I’ve ever had, bar service was brusque and harried. Food was below average and nothing special. Very disappointed, especially after a fabulous meal at Pi Pizzeria the night before. Won’t be returning.

This place was highly recommended by the concierge of the Nantucket Resort. It was off the hook! Like going to a friends house for dinner… So hospitable and friendly. This place is the BEST kept secret on Nantucket. The Nantucket Bay scallop chowder was AMAZING… VERY light and the flavor was so Intense… Deeeeeeelish! The eggplant Rollatini was the BEST I have ever had!

Our group of 12 went here this evening hoping for a decent fun family meal. Unfortunately (for me? for them?) it was not fun, and barely decent.
Problem 1: no reservations. On a foodie island such as this and as busy as this, any place that doesn’t take reservations you should steer clear from unless you’re willing to put your name in at 4pm the afternoon before you eat. We called saying we were coming and the owner, Stacey, told us that she’d be able to seat us around 8. We arrived at 8 and checked in at the hostess stand every ten minutes following; we did not sit down until after 9. An hour-​plus wait with a party of twelve including 4 young kids is not a good combination.
Problem 2: service. To put it bluntly, the service sucked. Yes, our waitress was nice, but clearly had no idea of what she was doing and who was ordering what. To request an ice water my grandmother had to wait 20 minutes and then another 10 following that to receive it. We asked for napkins three times before our waitress truly received the memo, and we all had to explicitly request another drink rather than being offered one. Upon arrival, the place was packed. However, after waiting an hour to sit, it completely emptied out and thus someone would expect our servers to be at least somewhat committed to our table. Unfortunately, this was not in any way the case (and according to other reviews I’ve seen of this place, is not usually the case).
Problem 3: food. Although this wasn’t really a problem, the food didn’t blow anyone away. Boxed, somewhat overcooked pastas and slightly charred thin crust pizzas scattered our table. They were fine yet could have easily been made (albeit even better) at home. There is much better Italian food to be found on this Island (Ventuno isn’t bad). Although I like the family/​generational idea, I think a little more thought into their menu (maybe MAKE your own pasta?) would go a long ways in this venture.
Clearly none of this seems to be a problem because when we went on a Wednesday night the restaurant was packed. And as some others have said, maybe we went on an off night. But if you’re planning a family or intimate dinner on the Island I wouldn’t recommend Fusaros.

Went here last night with a large group — 11 adults and 7 kids. They split us up into 3 tables of 8, 5 and 5, which was fine. As we were seated, I heard one of the extremely rude waitstaff say to another on in a hushed tone «we’ll just bang it out and get them out of here quick.»
As the kids were getting seated, one of them knocked over a small vase on the table spilling a small amount of water. One of the waitstaff then aggressively pushed me out of the way — repeatedly, since I was not eager to be pushed around — in order to get a towel to «clean up the mess.» Our experience did not get better from here.
When the food came, they switched two of the meals. After one of the diners began eating the incorrect meal, it took 15 – 20 minutes for them to rush out the replacements — fish that was undercooked and linguini with clams that had NO taste. Several diners had the meatballs– which arrived gray in color with NO sauce. Freaky. My dish (beef short rib with rigatoni) was actually pretty good, as was the calamari. The pizza also was decent. That was about it.
My wife got up at one point to take one of the kids to the bathroom. As she returned to the table, the hostess came up and asked if she could take the chair for another table which needed to be seated. We were still eating our meals!
Since we were celebrating a birthday, we had brought an ice cream cake from the Juice Bar for dessert. After we served the cake, we asked the hostess if we could put it back in the freezer while we finished up. Her reply — «no, we need your table for other diners and don’t have the space in the freezer.»
Overall, a very poor experience on an island filled with fantastic restaurants. We will not be back. I have given 2 stars since some if the food was decent, but the overall atmosphere was «move it along!»

We called Pi Pizzeria to get takeout. They said it would take 2 hours. Plan B, we called Fusaro’s and they said 25 min, so we went with that. The parking lot was overflowing, line out the door. Food took a little longer than 25 min but it was great. The large cheese pie had a thin crispy crust, tasty tomato sauce and the buffalo wings were delicious, not too spicy. Would order again!

Deeeeeeeeelicious homemade Italian food. Bolognese was top 5 that I’ve ever had — and we order it everywhere, every time. I want their recipe. Apparently its cream free– love that! The food is so good, it could easily be called fine dining, but the owners have decided that family friendly with a fair price point is the way to go — serve the masses. The masses thank you. Nantucket needs decently priced everything. (I just paid $ 20 for 4 slices of pizza and two bottles of water somewhere else.)
Here’s hoping they can add seating on their lovely, huge patio very soon — it’s a shame to only use it for people waiting around for tables. Anticipate huge lines here when the season kicks in, they don’t take rezzies.