Fresco Trattoria

Major Disappointment! I am writing this review regretably after a very substandard visit to Fresco Trattoria last night. I write this review as a warning to others after my experience.
I was compelled to try the restaurant after hearing very favorable things from a friend and reading some reviews ( Unilocal and non-​Yelp).
Arrived on a Sunday night — they were relatively busy and it was clear they were overwhelmed by the crowd. Waited a few minutes for anyone to greet us at the door, were seated, perused the menu and made our orders.
The salad (tuscan) and app (egglplant) were pretty good — so no complaints to start. What was odd was after a very long wait for the appetizers, the entrees came almost instanteously after the apps hit our table. We probably had about 2 – 3 minutes with the apps before the main courses came. And the two entrée orders left much to be desired. We ordered the bolognese pasta and the chicken cannelloni… or so we thought. What came out was a bolognese pasta that was extremely light on the sauce, not overly tasty, bland, etc. — ok not the worst offense.
But the other dish… what actually got put on the table was not chicken cannelloni but chicken cacciatore — two very different dishes! As the dish was covered in sauce and vegetables, I didn’t really notice until I was more than a few bites in that it was missing the three cheese filling and other parts of the dish I ordered.
But the absolute worst part was looking at the second piece of chicken I had already taken a few bites of — it was almost completely raw in the middle. The chicken had that «clearish, light brown» color indicative of raw chicken in the middle.
I politely pointed it out the waiter, who left with my dish and said he would speak to the chef, and the brought it back piping hot and not longer raw a few minutes later. When I asked if the chef agreed it was raw, I was told «he said he would fix it» and that he could probably come by our table «if he had time». Well, he never came by our table, thanks for caring about serving raw chicken to your customers Chef. By that point my appetite was ruined and I just wanted to get out of there and hope I didn’t get food poisoning or samonella.
Listen, the staff was nice enough, the menu looked pretty good and I bet this would be a decent place to go for a quick wood fire pizza, but if you want really good italian food there are much better options of the same style menu — Rizuttos in Westport comes to mind as a place that does it right. I felt compelled to write this review mainly because of the undercooked/​raw chicken which is a serious restaurant offense in my book.

Now Lombardi’s Trattoria, the food we tried all had excellent flavors. The wine selection was good but not big. The fish was prepared well and the sauces to die for. My homemade pasta tasted delicious but was clumpy (is that a word?), meaning several pieces were stuck together throughout the plate. My only big frustration throughout my meal experience is that in a half full restaurant, we were seated at a small table for two right next to their small bar which features a TV, so I was out for a nice, not cheap, hopefully romantic dinner and had to practice my TV ignoring skills at a narrow table when there were other parts of the restaurant with free larger tables not in front of the TV. Not the best choice for a romantic evening out but good food. Service was ok.

I love this place. I repeat I love this place. I am so happy that I discovered Lombardi’s Trattoria. What a surprise to find such a local treasure. Lombardi’s Trattoria is an unpretentious Fairfield County treasure. This restaurant used to be called Fresco Trattoria, but is now under the ownership of Frank Lombardi. They have a new Italian chef and I have to say that the quality of the food is up to snuff. I am so happy that Lombardi’s Trattoria is still a great local place to go to. Everything is homemade including the sauces. The price are very reasonable; the portions ar generous and best of all you can tell that Mr. Lombardi loves what he does. They have a full bar with a decent wine list as well. Lombardi’s has added a take-​out menu and has also added delivery service. I live in New York City during the week and am spoiled by all of the great high end restaurants. I typically don’t rave about many restaurants, but Lombardi’s Trattoria is truly a special place.

Place is now (Lombardi Trattoria”… New name, food OK, service OK, price a bit high for where they are and serve.

Don’t bother with this mediocre wannabe high style Italian boîte. The food was just Ok. Prices around what you’d expect, but quality seriously lacking. Many local places including pizza joints dot he basics much better. Wait staff had no clue — saccharine sweet but had no idea how to deal with problems… and there were several. It was as though the waitress read off a limited script and could it improvise. fried calamari was
Impede on the plate as was the octopus salad. When our agnolotti special arrived (which the waitress could not pronounce) with a piece of broken glass I it, she did not even apologize, nor did the owner, who was present, even come by to discuss it! For gods sake… a piece of glass in a dish?! I think, as an owner I’d be do anything to correct the situation. The waitress replaced the dish. I saw her talk to. The owner, but he. Didn’t other to come by. I’m not asking for penitence nor a freebie. But if it were. Y place, the entrée replacement would be on the house.
Veal Saltimboca was almost in edible — too too salty Nd tough.
I think they’re under a new management, but still, don’t bother. A waste of money and a bad dining night out.

I’m impressed. Is this owned by the same people as Lombardi’s in Nolita NYC? The thin crust pizza was surprisingly good. I normally don’t eat the crust unless it’s really good and I ate the crust on this pizza. Sauce was flavorful. I wasn’t expecting much from a pizza place in the middle of nowhere, but this was legit. Will definitely come back next time I’m in this area.

Stopped in last night for a quick dinner, our first time here. Owner & chef were yelling at each other in the dining room for ten minutes. Loud commercial top 40 radio blaring (with condom ads — no joke) throughout dinner. Waiter had no manners and no experience. Busgirl was as unhappy as could be. Pizza was literally a crust with a ¼ cup of sauce smeared on it and six rings of calamari for $ 18. bathroom had no towels or hand dryer. just cheap lunch napkins on a plate. no wonder the place was empty. pretty orange paint on the walls though.

My boyfriend and I purchased a groupon to Fresco Trattoria and it was sort of out of the way from where I live, but we decided to go anyway. We did not wait to be seated, the service was very friendly and the food was amazing. We swapped a few things that were not technically in the list of «groupon» items for ones that were and the server was accommodating. My boyfriend is an Italian cook and he loved the food. We just saw another deal on groupon and are not waiting to buy again. Even if you don’t buy a groupon go here… it is definitely worth the trip!

Once was enough. We’re not going back.
The food was beyond ordinary.
The service was young and inexperienced.
We live in the neighborhood and passed the restaurant many times. Seeing it on groupon was the catalyst that encouraged us to go.
Sorry but we’ll not return.

Good food and prices are reasonable. I’ve eaten at Fresco Trattoria 3 times since it changed from Lombardi II. Although I think the ownership is still the same, the menu is improved. The service and food are excellent without breaking the bank, so we feel comfortable stopping in for dinner when we don’t feel like cooking or want to stay local. It does appear the word is getting out and they are getting more popular. I was surprised to see a few poor reviews, then I realized it was unhappy groupon buyers, nothing about the dining experience. I’m pretty sure as more reviews come it, they will be one rated one of the top restaurants in the area. They should be.
We had an early dinner last weekend and the tables were full. I pretty sure they accept reservations, at least for larger groups. I recommend that if you go on a Friday or Saturday you call ahead so they hold a table.
Giving this place a try, you’ll be happy you did.

Was going to purchase a groupon and try this place. Glad I read previous reviewer comments and called the restaurant before buying as I got some line about they had sold all of their available groupon reservations even though the coupon did not indicate any restrictions including limited availability. Go somewhere else. Based on other reviews this place should be skipped. I thought with the groupon it may be worth a shot but ill never go there.

I purchased a Groupon for this restaurant. When we called for a reservation, they said we could only use the Groupon before 5 pm and after 8:30. There was nothing on the fine print for this Groupon stating this.
The manager was supposed to call us about this and never did.
Bad business.

I wrote a review once but it was taken down for some reason. I respectfully share that I had a terrible experience at this place. We went on a Sunday and they were clearly overwhelmed. After waiting 10 minutes to be seated at a table that was open the whole time, we ordered our appetizers. Those took a good 20 minutes to come out, About 2 minutes after the apps hit the table, the entrees were on top of us. I ordered the chicken cannelloni, they gave me the chicken catchetori. After my fourth bite, I looked down, and my chicken was clear /​brownish /​undercooked. I shared with the waiter/​owner — he brought it to the back. When he returned I asked if the chef agreed it was undercooked and he said «he said he fix it and I’m sure he will come out». The chef never came out. After serving undercooked and potentially dangerous chicken. Never again! If you want good Italian with this style menu, try Rizzutos in Westport. This was a big disappointment which is ashamed because I had high hopes.