The Colosseum

This place is frozen in time. From the brass railings, to the carpet, to the packaged bread sticks. It feels like something from the 70’s. They even have live jazz music on the weekends.
This could be a good or bad thing, depending on your taste.
Food was good for the area. New Hampshire isn’t exactly known for their great Italian restaurants, but this place does a decent job at the traditional Italian/​American dishes.

I understand it was New Years Eve but this place was way overbooked and the kitchen couldn’t keep up. We had a reservation and It took 4 hrs from start to finish and we didn’t even order dessert. If the owner had acknowledged the problem and attempted to make things right I might go back but considering he walked around and only talked to tables with people he knew, I would say it’s not worth it. Many other people sat at their table without food just as long as my husband and I did. We arrived at 6:15 for a 6:30 reservation and waited at the bar. The bartender already couldn’t keep up. At 7:15 we were brought to a table. I can see 20 to 25 min past a reservation time but 45 min is not acceptable. We ordered soup. My husband got his right away but I did not because the server said the kitchen made the wrong kind for me. We ordered our meal at 7:30 and it was brought to us just past 9:30. I had the seafood colosseum and it was delicious. My husband had a chicken with sage dish which was average. Our server was very nice, professional, and apologetic throughout the night. We left at 10:15pm. I saw so many things on the menu I would like to go back for but won’t because I can’t stand feeling like the only goal of a restaurant is to completely fill a dining room.

Our experience began by being ignored by the hostess for 10 minutes. After that I was put on a list and told it would be a few minutes. When I asked why since we had a RESERVATION I was told that the list was to track people checking in and that other people arriving late affected the reservations. This is the polar opposite of a reservation. After waiting more than 45 minutes we were finally seated. We were handed bread without plates and once the waitress got our appetizer order she disappeared for more than 20 minutes. Upon her arrival I had to ask if she had a chance to take our dinner order. The dinner also took forever to be served, at this point we were eating dinner at 10 pm (our reservation was 8 pm.) The meal was poorly prepared, my veal saltinbocca was swimming in a ¼ inch of grease. I was really excited to take my girlfriend there for our anniversary/​nye dinner but the entire time I was treated rudely or flat out ignored. I can understand that New Years is a busy time for a restaurant but that’s no excuse for such a poor and over priced experience. I will not be returning.

My wife and I have been coming here for years you can’t get better Italian food any better than this anywhere the only problem I have is I never know what I want to have because I love the whole menu. And we have gained two of the best friends. The owners. And they have the nicest two sons also. They make you feel like family at all times. They are always so wonderful to all It’s by far my favorite place to dine. If someone has not been been to dinner here. Trust me You are missing out. Keep it going family. Love you guys

Still offering great Italian food at a good price. My good friend had dinner here the other night and it was great. No waiting, great service and great food.

The place is spotless, very clean. I sat at the bar and the bartender was great. I was in the mood for good olé fashioned Spaghetti and Meatballs. Not too bad, you get a bread basket too. It was a good meal but sorry to say it’s just mediocre. I read that everything is made in house which is something to brag about but somehow it still didn’t impress me. I will go back and try other things on the menu.

Updating my review because I think it’s like fine wine, gets better with age. recently took 15 friends/​relatives here for a party, service and food were top notch, had a great time. Came back a couple weeks later for my wife’s b-​day this past SUN, enjoyed it even more. Everythign was perfect…

This place was my husbands and my go to restaurant for years. We absolutely loved it, until tonight. The service was horrendous to say the least. We had a red-​headed waitress who clearly did not want to be working tonight. She gave us our drinks and when she came back, I asked for bread. Her response was «they should be bringing it out to you.» As we waited for whoever «they» were to come with bread, our eggplant appetizer came out and it was freezing cold. Never once did she check to see if everything was all right. When our entrees came out, I had to ask for bread again. She just said «okay» this time around and did get the bread. I wonder why she couldn’t do that the first time? Not to mention there were two other waitresses cleaning up some tables near ours and talking about customers saying «these people are slobs and spill crumbs on the floor and they don’t care because they aren’t the ones who have to clean it up.» Nice hearing the staff talk about the consumers. Never coming back here again. Going to try Trattoria Almafi down the street next time we are in the mood for Italian.

First time customer. Hostess, didn’t seem to happy to be there, when we left usually someone says thanks for coming in, they could give two craps. Only 2 other people in the place. Rice balls were good, got the spaghetti with sausage and meatballs. Sausage didn’t taste right, sauce just didn’t taste good. Meatball was good. Waiter was good. Would I go there again, no.

We came here tonight for my mother’s 60^th birthday. We were actually supposed to go to a different Italian restaurant but the wait was too long.
Anyhow, we were seated immediately at The Colloseum. The waiter we had was fantastic and our food was delicious. We will definitely be back!

Coming here since I was little, delicious food — gnocchi, francese, and more.

Don’t be fooled by the lack of stars on this place it’s just a glitch in the Unilocal system. I’ve been coming here since I was a baby and could only eat tortellini soup responsibly and it’s still my favorite Italian restaurant (and I live in New York now…)
Two words: Veal. Parm.
Tried and true for 25 years.

I typically don’t write many reviews, but this place deserves way more stars than it has! In the past year I have been to several restaurants in the North End and The Colosseum had superior food at MUCH better prices. My husband and I went for Valentine’s Day this year in the blizzard. It took us 30 minutes to get home (we live 15 minutes away), but it was totally worth it!
We shared the stuffed mushroom appetizer, I got the Fruitti de Mar, my husband got the Chicken Parm and we got some cannolis to go. All of the dishes were delicious and were very generous serving sizes.
We’ll be going back for sure.

I’ve frequented the colosseum for over 10 years now. The food is always consistently outstanding. You can try to find Italian cuisine anywhere… But you’ll never be able to duplicate the cuisine at the colosseum. I ordered the seafood stuffed mushrooms, the stuffed artichoke, and a shrimp appetizer… I highly recommend all of those choices. You will not be disappointed.
I can’t wait to go back and try their pork chop dish. The couple next to me were eating and it looked like it was fit for a king. By far the best choice for authentic Italian cuisine with so many healthy options.

Great food! Good service. Reasonable prices. We could not have asked for more. The ziti Terra e Mare was a favorite but be sure to replace the ziti with one of their fresh made pastas. We had the gemella. The sauce was fabulous! The Chicken Coluseum was also excellent. Loved the Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms as an Appetizer and the canoli for dessert.

My wife and I stopped tonight for a bite at the bar. For the most part the entrees were pretty good. I had Veal and she had eggplant parm.
Service at the bar was slow, the appetizer «World Famous Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms» Were horrible. Fresh seafood should not have a fishy smell or taste. The martini menu was a bit pricey for what you got.
I don’t think we’ll be back. Not very impressive.

I used to come here years ago when I first met my wife. So, for the first time in years we decided to try it out. We were seated as soon as we stepped through the door. We were so surprised how much fun we had. The owner even asks each table how everything is. This meant a lot to me. Also there was such a positive feeling you get from patrons to staff.
Not to mention the food is out of this world, and affordable! Our order consisted of 2 entrees, 2 sodas, a kids meal, 1 appetizer, a bottle of terrific wine, and rice balls to go. All of this was 97. This was money well spent considering you are treated like kings and queens. I would suggest the stuffed seafood mushrooms. They were huge and tasted great. I’m a customer for life now they definitely gained my business.

Excellent caesar salad and amazing fettucini
I came in for lunch the place was dead and the service was slow at the bar. He seemed to be very busy doing everything but paying better attention to his only customer instead of stocking the bar, taking phone calls, waiting on the owners and being out of sight half the time. Glad the good made up for it.

Service is always wonderful. The staff is well-​trained and highly professional, I love it.

It is my opinion that the Colosseum is dying a slow death.
We returned last night for a relaxing meal after a long work week.
It appears that they painted, and it is now more modern that the old pink and grey colors that they had.
The restaurant was not even a quarter full for a Friday night. Staff were doing cross word puzzles in the back near the bathrooms.
We waited nearly 10 minutes before menu’s and water was brought out and another 10 for drink orders.
The wall over the table was dirty, and had food splatter all over it. The fake battery tea candles on all the tables were off. I turned ours on. Why even have them it they are off?
The pasta fagole soup tasted like it came out of a can.
My stuffed calamari was not fresh. Very fishy so I had to sent it back.
The replacement dish, the gnocchi Colosseum was ok, nothing special.
My partner’s chicken parm was bland and just ok.
My dirty martini was very good.
For $ 75 bucks, we can do better at home or elsewhere.