Elmo’s Dockside

Vernon, United States

3.3

Open now

21 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 860-646-3474
Website:
elmosdockside.com
Address:
48 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT, 06066
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Vernon) 1:47 PM Thursday, July 17, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Fresh Seafood & Steak Restaurant, family owned for over 40 years. Featuring local seafood & shellfish, live lobster tank, Certified Black Angus Beef, Prime Rib (Friday & Saturday nights), and plenty of pasta and poultry dishes.

A true scratch kitchen that takes care to slow cook homemade breads, dressings, and soups — try our New England Clam Chowder — it’s the best!

Serving lunch & dinner in two casual rooms with a beachfront vibe, or a pub room with fireplace, full bar and plenty of HDTVs. You won’t find pretentious «black tie» service and our meals aren’t adorned with unidentifiable herbs — but with no corners cut on our ingredients and professional chefs taking time to prepare them to order, you’ll enjoy a superb meal without dressing up.

Right off I-​84 in Vernon, CT and minutes from the Buckland Hills Mall Manchester, Elmo’s Dockside transports you to the beach. Welcome to Cape Cod, Connecticut!

l

Elmo’s Dockside Restaurant — Real seaside dining. Away from the seashore.

History

Established in 1969.

Family owned and operated for over forty years in the same location, Elmo Zaccardelli and his son Roberto have been serving fine meals for generations.

Our staff may be the longest tenured of any restaurant in the state — our average server has been at Elmo’s almost 15 years! In our kitchen, it’s even longer — 17 years!

A true single unit restaurant, not part of any local group or chain, Elmo’s Dockside is a rare and refreshing throwback to a time when prepared meals in-​house from scratch overseen by a hands-​on owner.

Meet the Business Owner

Roberto Z.

Business Owner

Roberto has been working in his family’s restaurant business since middle school, and has been running Elmo’s Dockside (named for his Dad, who immigrated from Italy with his mom in the 1950s) for the last 5 years. He’s operated numerous restaurants and bars, most notably the huge (and fun!) 1×2×5 Riverside Drive outdoor nightclub for 18 years.

His family has owned almost a dozen restaurants over the last 40 years, and Elmo’s Dockside Restaurant & Pub is the culmination of those years of experience. Really a labor of love, it’s a throwback to a time when lots of restaurants were single unit, owner operated businesses, not the national or local chains most restaurants are now.

Come experience true personal experience in a restaurant where the owner, Roberto (and sometimes in the summer, Elmo himself) works almost every day. With a total disregard for food or labor costs, Elmo’s serves the highest quality, in-​house produced meals at a great price.

Enjoy!

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21 reviews of Elmo’s Dockside

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Monson, MA
I did not want to try Elmo’s but my husband had heard good things from someone, so we met for an early dinner in a recent Tuesday with our daughter. The menu was what I expected. Our daughter had a cheeseburger and fries, which were fine but I wish they offered a veg with the kids’ meals. I ordered the Baked stuffed shrimp. Overcooked with typical, old-​school stuffing. I thought I had read «Ritz crackers stuffing» and it definitely did not taste like Ritz at all and was rather mushy. My hubby, however, had the Baked stuffed Scrod, which was delicious and the stuffing really did taste like Ritz. The server was nice enough but lacked confidence so made for a slightly uncomfortable experience. Overall, it wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t go back unless I had no other options.
Place rating: 5
Baltic, CT
The long and short of it is, great food and great service. We come here often. I have never been dissatisfied. Elmos has been here for a long time. The chefs have been working in the kitchen for decades. They are always pumping out quality food. Owner operated. Screw the big chain restaurants. Keep youruh money in town. Become a regular at Elmos. Try it out. You will come back. And, Joe at the bar is always on point.
Place rating: 2
Manchester, CT
Don’t waste your time.
Without having to rant I can admit we’ve tried to have dinner at Elmo’s several times. With family or friends, the consistent level of lousy and extremely unsatisfactory dining experience is astonishing. So much so that I’m genuinely surprised that they are still open for business after all these years. Between the unremarkable seafood, mediocre service, outrageous pricing, and terribly outdated everything — Elmo’s? Hard pass.
Place rating: 1
South Windsor, CT
The experience I had at the restaurant was shocking. I am hoping that I caught them on a bad night, however I really don’t think that’s the case, and I won’t be going back to find out otherwise.
I have never experienced a restaurant like this. The kitchen delivers everything as ordered, but not one dish we had ordered was apatizing. The food across the board, had no taste.
We started with the stuffed mushrooms. 3 mushrooms came out on top of a purée that seemed like some sort of tasteless paste. The stuffing was an off white color that made me question eating it or not. When I took a bite, I really wished I had gone with my gut instinct not to eat it. The mushroom was so thick and so undercooked that I gagged a bit. I now honestly can say that I don’t like mushrooms after this experience.
I ordered the ten dollar burger with sweet fries as my entrée. Everything was there when my food came out, except taste. I have honestly eaten a better burger at McDonald’s and for 1⁄10th of the price I wish I went to McDonald’s. My sweet fries confused me as they tasted like sticks of garlic and after a bite into my bland burger, I completely lost my apetite.
Our server came over and asked us how everything was and we told her. She sent over a woman who I assumed was the owner or manager. I say I assumed she was the owner because she argued with us about how we felt about the food. She litterally said that we were the only ones to feel this way therefore we were wrong. It’s laughable and unfortunate. Our server was awesome, but I will never come back here again. I’m not sure if we ordered the wrong items on the menu but if you have a restaurant and don’t know how to make a burger then you shouldn’t be in business. The surf and turf was eaqually upsetting however I have to say I had a bite of the baked potato someone else in my party had and that was the highlight of the meal… a baked potato.
I suggest going absolutely anywhere else. I think there’s a laundry mat right by there with a vending machine that could put this place out of business. But really…
Place rating: 3
South Windsor, CT
I have driven by this local restaurant so many times but never tried it before last night. We went at about 5:15 on a Saturday evening so as expected it wasn’t crowded and we were seated immediately in an almost empty restaurant.
The place is cute on the outside and a little less cute on the inside. It reminds me of an old, local place in need of some updating. Fairly clean — but just looked old.
Our server mature and attentive. She took drink our order and brought out bread right away. The bread was a simple fresh Italian bread warmed and served with a couple thin wafer like crackers and butter.
We both had ceasar salads which were good. Not spectacular, but good and nice size. My date had a chicken dish and I had grilled rib eye & french fries. My steak was a good size and had a nice seasoned grilled flavor to it was was a good sized portion. The fries were crispy and served hot (the way I like them!). My friend’s chicken dish had sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes and was covetred cheese — also a generous portion and served piping hot.
Overall both the food and service were very good. Good enough that I would go back based on it’s close location to home and how good the food was.
My problems with the restaurant were twofold; for the ambiance and overall dining experience I thought they were expensive. My 15 oz. steak was $ 24.95. Deserts were in th $ 7 range and I noticed a full rack of ribs was $ 22. I though everything could and should be a couple $‘s less. Secondly, the décor — the rugs, fixtures and tables look 20+ years old — needs updating badly — but admittedly it seemd clean even though old.
Place rating: 1
Vernon, CT
I am very dissatisfied with this place we start off with my girlfriend get in a sangria the fact that Olive Garden makes better drinks is disgusting then we order appetizers stuffed mushrooms it was undercooked in the stuffing part was disgusting no we ordered our meals we ordered the $ 10 Burger and a surf and turf the burgers were discussing they’re leaving pick up item that I did not want to eat it the surf and turf steak was alright if shrimp was cooked with the stuffing that they used was disgusting they offer you free bread I wouldn’t even feed that to my local birds I know that next time I am hungry I will never ever ever think about going to this place we had an awesome server her name is Jane she was phenomenal so that I hope that you reading this will the side on whether not you eat at this is disgusting establishment thank you
Place rating: 3
Vernon Rockville, CT
This place is not bad but not like the seafood that I’ve had at the shoreline of Connecticut. The fishing and chips were pretty good but not excellent. The waitstaff was nice and helpful. I think the thing is is that the food was good but not for the price you pay.
Place rating: 5
Windsor, CT
Date night awesome food was great and the staff was attentive owner very hands on. I had the veal parm and the wife had the seafood crepes. The sweet potato fries were made by had and out of this world.
Place rating: 4
New Haven, CT
Food was pretty good… It reminded me of Chowder Pot… I was certainly full after the appetizer, salad, bread and my meal… The lobster bisque was AhhhhMazing… Additionally, the owner walked around making sure glasses were full and just being pleasant all around (such a nice guy). It’s certainly a restaurant for the older crowd. You won’t find any music blaring in this place.
Place rating: 5
Coventry, CT
I enjoy this place. The lobster bisque is delicious. I love that the salads are always cold and crisp. The environment is pretty cozy Inside. I have also has a good experience with the service. They also have a great variety on the menu. Would recommend it!
Place rating: 4
Manchester, CT
I would say for a seafood place in the Vernon/​Manchester area, Elmo’s does a solid job. This place has been here for a long time but I only seem to get here 1 – 2 times a year. It’s not really a happening place and caters more to the family and older crowd (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that). I believe it was the manager who greeted us on our last visit and he was very nice and wanted to make sure we were well taken care of.
This place is super close by to me so I’m thrilled that they offer oysters and clams on the half shell. Their shrimp are also really good, however I think their cocktail sauce could use a little horseradish. My poached salmon was cooked perfectly and the twice baked potato was tasty. The clam chowder was a little chunkier than my liking but was still really good, and I had a taste of the lobster bisque which was yummy as well. They also offer a nice variety of specials every evening.
Service was a tad slow, but good otherwise. Some of their meals seem a bit pricey in relation to other restaurants but again they’re working with seafood so things change. If you’re in the area and looking for some decent seafood I’d definitely recommend this place.
Place rating: 3
Manchester, CT
If you no longer offer something take it off the menu. We order food from this establishment once in a while, food is good. Prices exceed the quality, and once again for god sakes if you no longer offer something change your online menus. I was excited to see seafood salad on the menu served cold with scungilli, shrimp, calamari… Something one of my hometown favorites served. «Nope we haven’t had it for a while». Then why is it on your menu? Really should be a 2.5 star, if the menu was up to date it would be a 3.5.
Place rating: 4
Manchester, CT
I went on a Friday evening about 6pm to the pub side. Very nice bar with lots of space and a few large HDTVs. The bartender gave me a hard time about my out of state ID at first as I am in my 20s and have a young look, but apparently they are just very wary of underage serving fines.
The clientele appeared to be largely older working adults. However, I appreciated this atmosphere as a mature young professional looking for a great meal and drink in a relaxing environment.
I asked for a Mai Tai at first and was informed they cannot make it. I then followed up with an inquiry on both a Midori Sour and an Old-​Fashioned settling on the former. Great drink at a very reasonable price!
The meal comes with bread and a form of large chips which I enjoyed quite a bit. I ordered a cup of the lobster bisque to start and it was awesome! My crab cakes dinner with butternut squash was also quite savory. I was not personally a fan of the onion or similar that they bake in atop the crab cakes, but it was still quite delicious. All the food was of high quality.
My service experience at the bar for dinner is hard to describe… I can’t quite tell if the bartender just genuinely respects their guests with an always-​listening yet hands-​off approach, or if he was actually too busy to notice as much explicitly about guests’ needs. At any rate, I felt a little awkward asking for a glass of water and the check at a couple points where I had been waiting what I felt a reasonable amount of time to be noticed and asked. This is different in my experience than at other pubs I have visited.
I will definitely be back to try some clam chowder and another seafood dish. Definitely a place I would highly recommend for a seafood lover looking for something local.
Place rating: 4
Windsor, CT
I was in Vernon with my husband on Saturday night, picking up a few things at HomeGoods. Next thing we knew, it was 8:30 and we were starving.
We were trying to decide which of the many large chain restaurants in Manchester we would hit up as we were passing by Elmo’s and I said, «Why don’t we try that place and give the local guy some business?»…
We were greeted immediately and given a run down of the specials. Given our choice of where we’d like to sit. The waitress came right over and was super friendly.
The food was so good. I got the grilled salmon which came with a side salad and asparagus. My husband had the baked stuffed sole which had small shrimp and chunks of lobster stuffed inside, he got the clam chowder and the twice baked potato (which I snuck a bite of. Yum!)… The portions, at first, looked small. But when I was done, I was full. So I’d say the portions were right.
The décor was super cute and I gave our waitress a 24% tip because she was so attentive and warm. Would definitely recommend this place :)
Place rating: 5
Littleton, CO
We live out of state but when we are in CT visiting family we make every effort to stop by Elmo’s. We have spent much time on both coasts and the incredible quality of our meals at Elmo’s keeps us coming back year after year. The menu consists of classics and innovative specials. We can never get enough of the delicious seafood but on a recent visit I tried the Reuben sandwich and it was the best I have ever had.
Sandy is a fabulous waitress and the casual, comfortable setting, excellent service and wonderful food puts Elmo’s in the top 5 of our all time favorite restaurants.
Bill and Donna
Denver, CO
Place rating: 3
Marietta, GA
A very mixed experience. If you like seafood, you may want to give them a shot.
Elmo’s is a typical New England seafood joint. The prices are a bit steep given the food quality and portions. Service was OK, but their manager attempted to make sure we were satisfied.
Being a vegan, I know that a place like this won’t cater to me. A family member called ahead to see if they had vegan dishes. They suggested salmon. Nice try. Either ask what vegan means or say you don’t know. We eat there and I politely pass on ordering dinner. One of our party members felt bad and pulled the manager over. They simply did not understand the term «vegan». Primavera is not vegan, nor is cheese.
Bottom line, this is a place for seafood lovers. It’s not for vegans and not very friendly to vegetarians in general either. I don’t like going to places where you have to make a big fuss to maybe get a less-​than-​satisfying dish. The restaurant also wreaked of fish, which I guess may or may not be appealing depending on your personal preference.
The only thing saving them from a lower rating was that their manager tried to be helpful. (Even if they failed to suggest any modestly appealing vegan options)
Place rating: 1
Springfield, MA
While very cozy due to the gas fireplace and dim lighting, the atmosphere is still lackluster. The joint smells like fish (not in a nice, oceany way — in a putrid, fish rotting in the sun way). We ordered the calamari with garlic and marinara, a Bud, and a Skinny Colada, all denizens of the happy hour menu. My Colada was sickeningly sweet, flat, with no hint of the seltzer promised in the description. The calamari hadn’t seen salt water since harvested by Mrs. Paul sometime last year. The Bud was fine. The true piece de resistance was having to listen to the disgruntled bartender bad mouth a co-​worker. This woman made no bones about what an effing b**** her coworker was. Overall, disappointing. Boo.
Place rating: 4
Long Valley, NJ
I like Elmo’s!
Everything fresh, well run, and competent. Been here a dozen times, and every time a winner.
No «dockside» but who cares, when you can serve pork chops like Elmo’s can!
Place rating: 5
South Windsor, CT
Seriously, I am here several times a week. Great deal for the money — soup or salad is included (giant salad!!), bread if you want it. The menu is extensive, definitely something for everyone! I hit the lobster tank once in a while for special occasions, but there is plenty of other fish options, and LOTS of choices for the non-​fish eaters (like my hubby!). Portions are plentiful and flavorful, none of this silly a la carte stuff where you need to order a starch and a veg to fill your plate. Apps are yummy, adult beverage choices and prices are reasonable… No wonder we keep coming back! It’s a scratch kitchen, so if you need to tweak an entrée to your liking — no problem! Try it, you will love it!
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Excellent food, spotty service and an interesting lived in look interior makes Elmo’s a bit hard to judge.
Parking: Ample A
Atmosphere: I love a slightly dated but unique interior. I am anti-​chain with their cookie cutter designs. The interior is clean with decent lighting and comfortable seating. B+
Service: Here is where these folks needs some improvement. Service is a bit slow. The waitress may find that a smile goes a long way to making the customer feel welcome. Service is a little too perfunctory. C
Food: The food is excellent. Clams on the half shell were super fresh. Their clam chowder is some of the best I have ever eaten. Their clam strips with potato chips (the chips seem home made) was delicious. A
Prices seem fair for the quality. Spiff up the service and this place will be terrific.
Place rating: 1
Holyoke, MA
Bad. Real bad.
Decided to venture out of MA Saturday night. Took a look around Unilocal to see if any place caught our eye in the Hartford/​Manch area. Fiancée saw Elmo’s and said the reviews looked ok and we should give it a whirl. So we did. First let’s start off with the fact that the address on here is wrong. When I click the address to be taken to my Maps app and given directions, it brought me to an empty field. Great. After calling the place for clarification, we finally arrived. It was 8:00pm so I was still expecting a crowd. I should’ve known better when we walked in to find a nearly deserted restaurant. Sigh. We were seated and a waitress arrived with a «what do you want to drink» instead of a hello. Oh goody we got the crotchety old lady. Joy. Since we had just been seated, we asked for a minute to review the drink menu. Before I even finished my sentence she had taken off. She returned a minute later, making it very clear that she would rather be anywhere else but working there. I ordered a dirty martini. Since it was listed on their drink menu, it seemed to me that they would be well trained in the art of making a martini (hint: it’s the easiest drink in the world). But alas, I received a shot glass amount of liquid in a full martini glass with so much olive juice, that I’m fairly certain my blood pressure was through the roof within a minute of tasting it. Horrendous. Lucky for my fiancée, his coke was perfect. We ordered the calamari, which sounded basic but promising. The garlic and peppers were nice but some of the garlic was still raw. The calamari itself was clearly frozen. Disappointing. The marinara sauce it came with tasted like Prego. Our entrees arrived quickly. His chicken parm looked good and so did my linguine with clams and red sauce. I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the dish. The pasta was stuck together in clumps (really? This still happens in restauants?!) and the red sauce lacked much taste. The clams were meh. Certainly not fresh. Across the table, my fiancée failed to finish his dish which was concerning as he is a human vacuum. Clearly a bad time had by all. I really appreciated the person who brought the dingy old vacuum out to the middle of the floor around 9:30. Thanks for letting us know we should high tail it out of there but believe me, we were already sprinting to the door, praying we got home in time for food poisoning to set in.