Matteo's Ristorante ~ 299 Long Ridge Road Stamford, CT 06902 ~ (203) 964-9802
Always having eaten at the restaurants in Florida or New York, I was happy to see that Matteo's branched out to Stamford because the food is great there. They serve hearty Italian meals family style, so each member of the family is bound to fill their stomachs to the brim.
My family started with the classic Matteo's Italian Chopped Salad, which comes with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, onions, salami, and mozzarella cheese all finely chopped. I could eat this salad any time of the day. Next, we moved onto a full order of 12 baked clams. Though they were not as good as the ones in NY and FL, they were still tasty. In fact, the best part of this appetizer is dipping the warm bread in the clam sauce on the bottom of the plate. Following the clams, we were served our dinner. Keep in mind that all four of us are very big eaters... Our waiter came in shifts to serve us lobster ravioli, chicken francese, spaghetti bolognese, and a half order of burnt broccoli.
The ravioli was filled with cheese, lobster, and mushroom, and topped with heavy vodka sauce. It was good, but missing something. The chicken francese was also enjoyable, but not lemony enough. In addition, the spaghetti bolognese was missing the exploding flavor I expected, and no one came around offering grated parmesan cheese. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the meal, but I felt like the dishes lacked some flavor. It might be because I was tasting so many different dishes, or simply because the food was blander than normal - I'm not sure. However, the burnt broccoli was very good, but was $2.00 more than steamed broccoli.
Although the food wasn't as good as it normally is, the service was great. Our waiter made the salad in front of us and even served us from the family style plates. Also, he gave my dad a free beer after serving him a warm one first.
In the end, I'd say that Matteo's is just another family Italian restaurant - nothing so special to go out of your way for.
Overall: 3.3
Taste: 3
Atmosphere: 3 (crowded and noisy, but the building is nice and new)
Experience: 3
Menu: 3.5
Service: 4
Would I return? I wouldn't decline the offer to go back, but I wouldn't choose it
P.S. - I don't know why everything is underlined. Sorry if it's hard to read
Agreed- I was so excited when Matteo's opened in Stamford, but for some reason, the NY one has something that his one doesn't...
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