Be patient it’s worth the wait , speed is not the goal here. Good service and good food is, they do this well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Steven Gildersleeve
The food was okay and the layout was okay. My only issue was the tables were too done. Small to the point we had an issue holding all of the food on the table.
Dave Sutherland
I had a small event in a private room. The staff did an outstanding job from planning to day of making sure everything was perfect. Food was great as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tiramisu, Eggplant Meatballs
Leslie Case
Seated 18 minutes before we received our first glass of wine. No bread delivered to table. Appetizers - Eggplant meatballs arrived luke warm. Average flavor. - Scallops drenched in sauce and garnished with sprouts which were too bitter for the dish. Liked the polenta base. Entrees: - Branzino - the main part of the dish should be the fish but it was over flowing with capers, overwhelming the dish. There were nonbones, so that's good. Asked for bread to soak up the sauce, but it never arrived. - Lobster Ravioli - the pasta was garnished with lobster, which was great but again, the dish was smothered with sauce, drowning the experience. Dessert and coffee: - Tiramisu was right out of the box and drizzled with too much caramel and not enough powered sugar and cinnamon. - Cappacino arrived 15 minutes after dessert. Fail. Parking: - Bonus! Parking was validated at College St Parking across the road so that was free.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Hannah
1) Food: Food is quite mediocre. The quality of ingredients is that of an average casual dining place and no where close to the price level of this restaurant. We had the medium rare NY Strip and the meat was really tough, low quality, and wayyyyy over salted. We also had the eggplant meatball and arancini. They both seemed as if they were premade, frozen, and microwaved and given to us. They were quite literally hot on the outside cold on the inside. We also had the vodka pasta and bolognese rigatoni. Both were OK, very mediocre. You can get much better at the same price point, especially in New Haven. 2) Service: I think the management is not very in tune to customers. Our server had dropped a hot plate of food on someone at our table. This happens but we wanted to speak with the manager to sort out details for covering the costs of dry cleaning, etc. Manager didn’t bother to come by even though we had asked for them multiple times from the server.
Bob De
We enjoyed having dinner here. The food was very good. We sat outside under the tented area. It was a little chilly that night, but we still enjoyed it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Maisune A
have to stop in here pretty much every time i come to new haven. so consistent with food quality, service, and ambiance.
Dietary restrictions: gluten free options
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Broccoli Rabe
Tracy Hilmer
A gem in downtown New Haven! Enjoyed the branzino with fennel; beautiful presentation. Very interesting Italian wine list. Worth the visit!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dylan Dineen
Villa LuLu is not the same restaurant it once was. The service was extremely subpar, it almost felt like the waiter was AVOIDING our table. We were one of maybe 3 or 4 tables on a slow Sunday evening. About halfway through dinner our water glasses were empty and we waited for about 20 minutes to even see our server to be able to ask for a refill. The calamari was rubbery, and the arancini was bland. Our entrees were small and left us hungry and reminiscing of better Italian restaurants we had been to in the past. Everything was over priced for extremely basic and boring food.
The bathroom sink had a hole in the porcelain and a light bulb out. The dining room chandeliers had bulbs out. If this is the attention and upkeep they give to the places customers see, I’m afraid to look in the kitchen.
I guess this place was empty for a reason.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
RAISA
Everything from food to service was great. We had octopus and scallops for appetizers and chicken parm and hanger steak for main. All dishes super fresh and great taste. All was served fast.
The service was a little slow and at times inattentive to all of our guests. Drink orders and food delivery seemed too slow to arrive at the table. At time, our server was difficult to track down... Once the food arrived it was fine.
Jane
Were back in town after many years and chose this place based on reviews and menu. Very disappointing. A long list of issues, though I will say up front the things that were fine. The staff were all very nice, but they were hampered by apparently not being managed and so we had 2 different servers, who apparently did not communicate with each other, and it was a mess. They were nice, however. The food was meh. My broccoli rabe was watery and came to the table cold, rather than warm/hot, when I would expect at least warm, and with some olive oil vs. water around it. My mom's--we were celebrating her 80th birthday--salad was apparently horrible. Dressed only with vinegar, not with even an oil and vinegar dressing. The bread was pretty freshly made, but then cut and left out so that all of the cut edges were dry and crumbly: not good. The olive oil with the bread was good. The sausage used in the orecchiette was flavorless and had a poor texture; there was little broccoli rabe in that dish. For a restaurant that sells itself as upscale, I certainly did not expect that when I was in the restroom, that the sink would have an ENORMOUS hole and cracks in it, so that water must have been going into the hole. It was bizarre. If I had first used the restroom, I would definitely not have eaten here: what a red flag. A disappointing try at celebrating a matriarch.
Fabio Amador Bueno
I had an octopus for appetizer which was great! Followed by the scallop and shrimp risoto! Also great. The service was great! Very attentive and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ceyda
We ordered two bowls from the lunch menu. The food wasn’t really good and I was still hungry afterward. Maybe the regular menu would have been a better choice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Annie Osterhout
Our first two me here. We had eggplant meatballs, and Italian beer. All excellent. This review is more about our server Zoe-she was a delight!!! Professional, kind, and knowledgeable!! She was In gaging and very sweet. We truly enjoyed our time with her and will come back for the food and for Zoe-give that girl a raise!!!’
Be patient it’s worth the wait , speed is not the goal here. Good service and good food is, they do this well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food was okay and the layout was okay. My only issue was the tables were too done. Small to the point we had an issue holding all of the food on the table.
I had a small event in a private room. The staff did an outstanding job from planning to day of making sure everything was perfect. Food was great as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tiramisu, Eggplant Meatballs
Seated 18 minutes before we received our first glass of wine. No bread delivered to table.
Appetizers
- Eggplant meatballs arrived luke warm. Average flavor.
- Scallops drenched in sauce and garnished with sprouts which were too bitter for the dish. Liked the polenta base.
Entrees:
- Branzino - the main part of the dish should be the fish but it was over flowing with capers, overwhelming the dish. There were nonbones, so that's good. Asked for bread to soak up the sauce, but it never arrived.
- Lobster Ravioli - the pasta was garnished with lobster, which was great but again, the dish was smothered with sauce, drowning the experience.
Dessert and coffee:
- Tiramisu was right out of the box and drizzled with too much caramel and not enough powered sugar and cinnamon.
- Cappacino arrived 15 minutes after dessert. Fail.
Parking:
- Bonus! Parking was validated at College St Parking across the road so that was free.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
1) Food: Food is quite mediocre. The quality of ingredients is that of an average casual dining place and no where close to the price level of this restaurant. We had the medium rare NY Strip and the meat was really tough, low quality, and wayyyyy over salted. We also had the eggplant meatball and arancini. They both seemed as if they were premade, frozen, and microwaved and given to us. They were quite literally hot on the outside cold on the inside. We also had the vodka pasta and bolognese rigatoni. Both were OK, very mediocre. You can get much better at the same price point, especially in New Haven.
2) Service: I think the management is not very in tune to customers. Our server had dropped a hot plate of food on someone at our table. This happens but we wanted to speak with the manager to sort out details for covering the costs of dry cleaning, etc. Manager didn’t bother to come by even though we had asked for them multiple times from the server.
We enjoyed having dinner here. The food was very good. We sat outside under the tented area. It was a little chilly that night, but we still enjoyed it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
have to stop in here pretty much every time i come to new haven. so consistent with food quality, service, and ambiance.
Dietary restrictions: gluten free options
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Broccoli Rabe
A gem in downtown New Haven! Enjoyed the branzino with fennel; beautiful presentation. Very interesting Italian wine list. Worth the visit!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Villa LuLu is not the same restaurant it once was. The service was extremely subpar, it almost felt like the waiter was AVOIDING our table. We were one of maybe 3 or 4 tables on a slow Sunday evening. About halfway through dinner our water glasses were empty and we waited for about 20 minutes to even see our server to be able to ask for a refill. The calamari was rubbery, and the arancini was bland. Our entrees were small and left us hungry and reminiscing of better Italian restaurants we had been to in the past. Everything was over priced for extremely basic and boring food.
The bathroom sink had a hole in the porcelain and a light bulb out. The dining room chandeliers had bulbs out. If this is the attention and upkeep they give to the places customers see, I’m afraid to look in the kitchen.
I guess this place was empty for a reason.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Everything from food to service was great. We had octopus and scallops for appetizers and chicken parm and hanger steak for main. All dishes super fresh and great taste. All was served fast.
Restaurantji Recommends
The service was a little slow and at times inattentive to all of our guests. Drink orders and food delivery seemed too slow to arrive at the table. At time, our server was difficult to track down... Once the food arrived it was fine.
Were back in town after many years and chose this place based on reviews and menu. Very disappointing. A long list of issues, though I will say up front the things that were fine. The staff were all very nice, but they were hampered by apparently not being managed and so we had 2 different servers, who apparently did not communicate with each other, and it was a mess. They were nice, however. The food was meh. My broccoli rabe was watery and came to the table cold, rather than warm/hot, when I would expect at least warm, and with some olive oil vs. water around it. My mom's--we were celebrating her 80th birthday--salad was apparently horrible. Dressed only with vinegar, not with even an oil and vinegar dressing. The bread was pretty freshly made, but then cut and left out so that all of the cut edges were dry and crumbly: not good. The olive oil with the bread was good. The sausage used in the orecchiette was flavorless and had a poor texture; there was little broccoli rabe in that dish. For a restaurant that sells itself as upscale, I certainly did not expect that when I was in the restroom, that the sink would have an ENORMOUS hole and cracks in it, so that water must have been going into the hole. It was bizarre. If I had first used the restroom, I would definitely not have eaten here: what a red flag. A disappointing try at celebrating a matriarch.
I had an octopus for appetizer which was great! Followed by the scallop and shrimp risoto! Also great.
The service was great! Very attentive and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We ordered two bowls from the lunch menu. The food wasn’t really good and I was still hungry afterward. Maybe the regular menu would have been a better choice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Our first two me here. We had eggplant meatballs, and Italian beer. All excellent. This review is more about our server Zoe-she was a delight!!! Professional, kind, and knowledgeable!! She was In gaging and very sweet. We truly enjoyed our time with her and will come back for the food and for Zoe-give that girl a raise!!!’
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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