20 Best Italian Restaurants near East Lyme

“Ate here a few days ago! Everything was excellent! The Pomodoro Caprese Salad was good and the Veal Parmesan was excellent! Would definitely order it again! Raspberry Sorbet was amazing!!!! Staff is very friendly and wonderful! Definitely will eat here again! Great first time experience! ❤️❤️❤️“

“We had a two delicious meals. The duck was crisp and not fatty. I had the special with roasted potatoes and spiraled veggies with a delicious sauce. My husband thought his paella was very good. This new restaurant’s staff and owners try very hard to please their customers. We will definitely be back!“

“Highly recommend!! Best Italian food around! Waitstaff is amazing as well, which makes for an even better dining experience! You won’t be disappointed!!“

“Our family loves going to celebrate after games, report cards, etc and our son usually picks The Plum Tomato, East Lyme. Great pizza by the slice - old school pizza shop with limited dine-in seating.

Kid-friendliness: Great place for kids! Small birthday party location too“

“If you’re going to have a drink, have it before you go. We went there last night and had two glasses of house wine each and they were literally as much as our entrees. We eat out all the time and have never seen anything like that anywhere.“

“Ninos provides amazing food and customer service. We are regulars when it comes to their pizza, grinders and pasta. Last night they catered for our gender reveal party and we had assorted pizzas, a 3 foot long steak and cheese grinder, garlic knots and focaccia bread. Everything was great and our guests really enjoyed the food!“

“01.03.25 Can you find Healing at The Recovery Room in the ❤️City of New London, CT❤️ This place earned two 💣💣!! My Hunger was healed and tamed at The Recovery Room Restaurant located at: 445 Ocean Ave. New London, CT ❤️ 'Big Al's Reel Reviews' Keeping it Real to Reel! ☝🏾❤️ -Big Al Mayo“

“We would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mike and Sara for hosting our Work party. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. Thank you again for working with us as we had a few dietary restrictions in the group. Everyone had a great time. We look forward to coming back.“

“Ordered a couple pizzas and enjoyed a beer at the bar while waiting. Staff was great, and the pizza is the best. Will go back often!“

“We had a wonderful experience at Olive Garden in Waterford, CT. We had nine people in our party including several children. Dezi and Dayana were our servers and they did an excellent job. They were very friendly and helpful. The food was very tasty and well prepared. We called ahead of time with the size of our party and Olive Garden had our table all prepared when we showed up. Thank Olive Garden for the tasty food and wonderful service.“

“great food, great staff! Only pizza we ever get!“

“My sons & I started coming here close to 4 years now…absolutely the best Pizza on the shoreline hands down! Lovely atmosphere. The owner Luigi 🇮🇹 has always been so warm and friendly and the staff as well -all around fantastic food & service! Five stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️“

“We've always loved this place. They are known for the best prime rib.
Clean. Family oriented. Food is always tasty and always feel full after. Sometimes too full ??.
Waitresses are always kind and patient.
You won't be disappointed.“

“Pizza is great they are very friendly“

“The ratings for La Luna's should be a five. The food is delicious and visually appealing. The staff is excellent. The meals are freshly made . There are not that many Italian restaurants without having to drive a distance, that can live up to the quality of their meals. The owner , chefs and staff are very accommodating.“

“I had bunny chow and my best friend had Jollof rice and egusi soup. We didn´t have anything to say besides that the food was amazing!!!!!? Also the staff was PERFECT MOSTLY THE OWNERS KID JULLIAN MATEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“

“Love Ballo but really disappointed with how much the menu keeps changing. They charge now for house bread and took off the garlic bread. Got rid of shrimp scampi. Now got rid of chicken francaise which was Amazing there and our go to. Also used to have an amazing cheese and meat platter appetizer and that was removed. Wish some of those would be put back on. With so much change there really isn’t anything appealing to me now. This was our spot for anniversaries, birthdays, and lots of date nights.“

“Ate there recently and had a great meal! And our server Lisa was so sweet and the service was perfect.“

“This was an anniversary dinner. Several staff members wish us a happy anniversary. We have dine in this restaurant before, the make over and name change. The new renovations improve the ambiance. The food was excellent as was the service. Or waiter Jeff was excellent and made our anniversary special.“

“We love dining here. We have never had anything but a great experience here and last night was no exception. We were there celebrating our forty seventh anniversary. From the moment we first addressed the hostess everything was perfect. Dawn our server, whom we have had multiple times in the past was her pleasant efficient self getting us started with drinks. The bread they serve here is the best served on the entire property and they serve it with the whipped ricotta cheese and tapenade, a great way to get the night started. For an appetizer we split their fried spicy calamari which was served piping hot, crispy and full of flavor. For our main meals my wife went with the special of the evening, a baked cod coated in breadcrumbs served on lobster stuffed mashed potatoes, all cooked perfectly and very flavorful. I asked for pasta with clams be prepared with their fra Diablo instead of in oil which Dawn said would not be a problem. It became my favorite dish that I've ever tried there. When we were done and waiting for our bill to show up Dawn surprised us with a wonderful desert which put the icing on the cake to a perfect night. Thank you.“