Lo Monaco’s

Fantastic food every time we go there. The ambience is great, wait staff very personable. The only r Aston I didn’t give me hem 5 stars is you can’t order a pizza inside the restaurant on the weekends, it’s only for takeout. But other than that I would say they are the best Italian restaurant on the shoreline

Fabulous is all I can say it’s the best pizza and there service and meals are out of this world one of the finest restaurant if you growing up in a Italian family you will agree

Really good choice of Italian food and well cooked
Staff is friendly and the place is nice and cozy
5 stars for the pizza crusts !

Came here for my husband’s birthday 12÷10÷15 and were given a small table off in a weird corner near the bathroom. Food was great (I had the eggplant parm), but took awhile to come out, especially while waiting for our salads… on a Thursday.
Hand painted murals on the walls.
Was given a gift card for Christmas, so we will be back.

Check my pictures :) 27 years in business and Business is Great! Wow was so impressed with the ambiance food presentation and the flavors having a party in my mouth! Thank you!

Ok I’ll make this short and simple; food was great, service was even better. Our waiter was THE NICEST man ever. His name was Bosco and he was seriously the most personable waiter I’ve ever had. I loved him. For him alone I give this place 5 stars. Thank you Bosco!!!

One of the top Italian restaurants around. From take out to eat in always perfect. Decent service good atmosphere. Great place.

You cant go wrong with this place. You are always treated like a king with great food. This place is beyond amazing.

Was expecting much more from this restaurant based on previous reviews. But now I can relate to those reviewers with 2 – 3 star ratings. We ordered take-​out meals… cheese ravioli, ziti with meatballs and a small cheese pizza. Well, at least this restaurant made me appreciate Testo’s (Bridgeport) so much more. The dinners were bland, bland, bland… the sauce/​gravy was dull as dishwater, the ravioli cheese filling was blah, the meatballs were a bit overcooked and completely fell flat on flavor. The take-​out section in the back of the restaurant is pure torture, so small and tight you’re constantly bumping into people. They also did not provide bread with the meals… a big no, no! But, I guess they’re assuming that no one would want to prolong their suffering by sopping up that weak sauce at the end of their meal. On another note, our son’s cheese pizza was very good… I would recommend Lo Monaco’s for pizza only. So, I’m giving two stars based on the delicious pie and the friendly staff… buon appetito!

This was my first time at Lo Monaco’s and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the attentive waitstaff.
My mother and I like to go out at least once a week — it’s our special time together, so we want to ensure we go to a place that satisfies our tastebuds and has a pleasant atmosphere that allows for easy conversation.
We’re very picky when it comes to Italian food and were a bit apprehensive, but willing to take the plunge and try a «new place.»
We found the ingredients to be fresh and each dish had vibrant, authentic flavor. The food was prepared «just right» — meaning you didn’t necessarily need to add any salt/​pepper. We all know the salty taste some sauces can have, but Lo Monaco’s recipe was prepared wonderfully. Not to mention the relatively inexpensive prices compared to other acclaimed Italian restaurants along the shoreline.
We will be returning next week and can’t wait.

Very nice and flavorful Italian food. They have delicious garlic knots that are served upon seating. Servers were pleasant and attentive. We have been back a few times and have yet to have a poor experience. This is our go to in Branford for authentic Italian food. They are also very accommodating (I tend to order off the menu… bad habit).

I’m so happy we found Lo Monaco’s in a review for another restaurant. The boy was craving steak on his birthday, and I’m a vegetarian, so I wasn’t really feeling going to a steakhouse this weekend. So after much searching, Lo Monaco’s fit the bill.
We were able to make a reservation for two, and we arrived to a decently sized parking lot. Like many restaurants on this street, the parking lot was near full, so I suggest arriving a little earlier (like 5:30) for dinner so you don’t have to duke it out with other diners. That said, the parking lot gets packed for good reason.
We were seated immediately, water glasses filled, garlic knots and olives placed on the table, and our waitress came by to ask if we’d like drinks right on time. The boy and I both had little bottles of sparkling wine. The ambience built up at this point was pretty good, but I was a little sad that our table felt a touch cramped. On the other hand, this place does have ambience, for sure… I LOVED the interior design. Our waitress came back soon after with our bread and recited the specials for us, many of them sounded good!
Anyway, we both had salads with their house vinaigrette and warm bread with olive oil to start… I thought the salad was good, nice and fresh, and the dressing was tasty but still mild. I finished off the whole plate. The boy went with the Bistecca al Ferri (New York Strip Steak grilled to your preference and served with vegetables) for his entrée. At $ 21, his plate was a good value because you get a choice of a pasta side as well — he got a huge bowl of linguine with marinara. The steak was enormous and the sides looked tempting. He was a trooper and happily polished off most of his plate. He actually had to take some home; this never happens.
I ordered the Cappellini al Fungo Selvatico (Wild mushrooms, fresh basil, shallots and scallions served in a filetto di pomodoro sauce over angel hair pasta), but without the mushrooms, they just aren’t my favorite. Now this was really a treat for me. I’m so used to having pasta dishes that are basic — pasta, sauce, and cheese. Nothing wrong with that, but I like a little variety tossed into my grains. This dish was really phenomenal, the red sauce being the star of the show. A touch sweet, but really just divine. It’s clear they are not using the same old tomatoes everyone else uses.
We were far too full for dessert, but we’ll order some next time — there WILL be a next time :) I’m so happy to have found a nice, reasonable Italian place close by, with a huge selection and fair prices. We’ll be back sooner than later. Thank you, Lo Monaco’s, for a great first visit!

I’ve eaten at this restaurant many of times… I’ve always eaten in the dining room and never ordered take out before. This past Sunday (SuperBowl Sunday) I called in to order a pizza and a dinner. The girl on the phone told me that they had ran out of dough and weren’t making any pizza or stuffed breads for the night. Knowing that it was the Super Bowl I understood that they ran out of pizza. Yet when I walked in I saw MANY pizzas being made and to be honest it looked like they had never ran out of dough at all. I was quite disappointed seeing how many pizzas were being made and I wasn’t able to get one because I was told they were out (which was clearly a lie) I’ll be back for dinner in the dining room, but I really didn’t like my experience in take out.

This was a cute place. The food and drinks were good. I had the chicken Parmesan cause I had been craving it all day and this place definitely fulfilled that craving. Our waitress was great and super friendly. We sat in the corner so there weren’t any distractions. Overall, I’d definitely go back again.

I’ll start this review with the warning that I’m Italian and make my own bread, sauce and meatballs, and that I grew up with a grandmother that was the best cook ever!
I went here one night after a meeting for dinner. I had fried calamari, salad and a veal dish. They were meh… not so good. The calamari and veal were rubbery and the salad dressing wasn’t very good either. The fried veal was mushy too from the sauce they used.
The service and details as well as the microscopic table we were seated at were lackluster and unacceptable. The food was very pricey based on what we were served.
Their pizza restaurant is separate (out back). If I hadn’t tried their pizza one time (and thought it pretty good) I would have given them one star.

This review is only about the pizza since I only ate in the restaurant once many years ago.
The pizza is so good here. It’s genuine New Haven style so I’d that’s your thing, there’s no reason to make the trek into the city to wait in line.
Ok, it’s not as good as Pepes or Modern, but give it a try. The pizza is great.

I was a guest for a rehearsal dinner so I didn’t get the typical «customer» experience. But the pasta was al dente so that’s always a plus.

Large mozzarella to go just over 10 bucks good pie can’t beat it. The cherry pepper and sausage stuffed bread is a great pickup for a party I dig this place.

First time here. Had a living social deal so it ended up being pretty cheap. Idk why people rave about this place, I thought it was just average. Prices are great but food is just ok. I had shrimp scampi over linguini and it really had no flavor at all. Shrimp were a bit tough and it was just mixed with pasta, garlic and oil. It just didn’t taste like shrimp scampi at all. It actually had zero taste. My girlfriend had lasagna and she said it was pretty good. The garlic knots they serve with salad were good, salad was also good. Waitress was busy but very nice and very good at her job. Idk, maybe I would try it again but would order something else. Glad I had a coupon.

My pizza was a mess. It was greasy. It was floppy. It was irregular in shape. The cheese even fell off it. New Yorkers would hate this pizza. But that’s why I liked it. It’s typical New Haven style pizza. New Yorkers mistakenly think neat clean pizza = good pizza. That’s very typical of them: all about the looks and very little about substance.
One good thing about Lo Monaco is that they don’t subscribe to the Napoli pizza club. What is the Napoli pizza club? Napoli is the name of a popular food distributor based in Cheshire CT that supplies to approximately 50% of all local pizza joints. They’re like the Sysco of local pizza ingredients. Blah. Unfortunately that causes many pizzas to lack individuality and taste exactly the same. The way I can tell these guys don’t subscribe to the Napoli club is because I spotted them using Liuzzi and Calabro cheeses. I could be wrong but I don’t think those brands are part of the Napoli club. That’s probably because they’re too expensive. The good things in life usually are.
The take out entrance in the back is impressive. When I visited, there were many customers coming and going and getting all types of foods: pizza, dinners, grinders, etc. I never knew this place was so busy and I must have driven by it a thousand times.
So based on my first experience, I would pick up another pizza again.