This special treasure is staying afloat with hard work and troubled times! #SUPPORTLOCAL Buon Appetito reminds me of having a private chef- passionate, talented and always open and willing to experiment as requested! My FAVE restaurant in all of Farmington Valley! read more

After many years, I decided to give Buon Appetito a second chance. I regret that decision. As the previous reviewer mentioned, the location is very unassuming and the interior is cramped. White walls with tacky paintings and prints of wine bottles, a black-and-neon specials board, and an exposed kitchen and dish room turn Italian elegance into a dirty, unpleasant dining experience. We visited on a Friday night. Though the restaurant only holds a few tables, most seats were empty. The only employee on the floor seemed overworked, waiting tables in every corner, seating guests, and preparing salads. She offered garlic bread, a $2.95 "upgrade" over the basic dinner rolls. The garlic bread seemed popular, but it was too small and smothered in butter to peak my interest. Dinner entrees are served with a salad and choice of oil/vinegar or creamy garlic dressing. A forewarning of sorts, the "salad" was a pile of lettuce--purely lettuce--on a bread plate. Could they not afford a cucumber, tomato, or a single crouton? I felt somewhat pathetic trying to mix a pile of naked lettuce on a 6" plate in an Italian restaurant. To make matters worse, I could see the waitress transfer lettuce from a tray to my plate with her bare hands. Seriously? One of my dining partners asked for her dish to be prepared with specific instructions, i.e. steamed, without salt, pepper, or butter. While I did not taste her dish, she felt that it was not a fresh cut of fish. The special instructions were not followed; veggies were grilled and pepper was used. The plate was returned to the kitchen. I ordered a seafood and pasta dish. Flavors described by the waitress (i.e. garlic, basil) were lost in a thick sauce. Seafood was plentiful but lacking flavor. At $28, I felt robbed. Without the sophistication, menu diversity, and quality ingredients of neighboring Italian restaurants, I don't feel that price hikes should help subsidize money lost from lacking a liquor license. At the conclusion of the meal, our credit card was returned to the wrong table. The salad had warned us and the final credit card incident reminded us: this is not a restaurant to return to. read more

Fantastic! Dinners Portion sizes all required a doggie bag. Fresh seafood, polite staff and a great cozy atmosphere. Not a lamb eater but Jeff said it was cooked perfectly and had the correct taste. Again not into fish either, but it was very good and I would order it. The Mediterranean seafood dish was similar to a fry Di ablo but I think it was better. Chicken Marsala dish was huge and so good. So returning ASAP read more

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My first time here and a nice surprise. A large menu for a little place. They're also willing to customize any dish. I love a place with BYOB. The vodka sauce is flavorful and not heavy. The seafood med and eggplant Mascarpone was great! read more

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Was here again with two different people. Everyone raved about their meals. I requested a chicken Parm that's not on their menu. The waitress said any Veal could be substituted for Chicken. This was a home run! Meals were all wonderful right down to the desserts. Fabulous place!! read more

Went with another couple on New Years Eve for dinner and had a great time! This restaurant is BYOB, so we brought our own bottle of champagne, which our server opened and poured in a very professional manner - and, yes, they even had champagne glasses. Definitely do the upgrade to the garlic bread - it's delicious! The food here was really great. I had a pasta dish with shrimp, tomatoes and broccoli in a tomato cream sauce. And the tomato & mozzarella salad to start. Both were fantastic. Others in our party had chicken parmesan (not on the menu, but you can order it) and filet mignon, which looked delicious and was cooked perfectly. They have a fairly extensive dessert menu, with only one dessert made in-house, which I ordered - a chocolate ricotta pie, which was out of this world! My friend ordered the creme brulee cheesecake, which she enjoyed. The restaurant is small and I'm sure some would call it "cramped." To me, it had the feel of many Italian restaurants in Boston, friendly and authentic. Oh, and be ready when your server tells you the specials - it's an extensive list. Would I go back? You bet! And I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for good, authentic Italian food. read more

4 dinner reservations later and I think I can safely say that once you get past the charm of a new restaurant, this place is not special. I don't mind that it is tiny or that you have to trip over people and pump into customers as you wait for your table but the wait staff is horrible. They will let you stand there without saying hello or welcoming you or even asking if you have a reservation. When you do get seated, you will be asking yourself if the server hates you or maybe just hates their life. They will even let you stand there with open tables ready to sit you because they are trying to serve the customers they have seated and waiting service. I have had 4 meals there and there was one memorable, 2 forgettable and the last one was bad. Sea scallops that had been frozen to the point they were old and discolored. If your a wino then maybe it is a deal to bring your own and not be overcharged for the experience but if your not a wino then you will over pay for just eating. Moving on. read more

I loved my experience here. The food was amazing- I got a chicken ceaser salad and it was great, hubby got the chicken gorgonzolla and I was amazed. I've never had such tasty italian food. Also, the place is SMALL. But that doesn't detract from the atmosphere, scenery, and food. I recommend this restaurant to everyone! read more

I wasn't expecting this place to be as good as it was. I'm not usually a fan of dark restaurants, but this was a great meal. The decor is definitely out-dated and casual, but the food was a nice surprise. I ordered chicken parm which came in a massive serving but was absolutely delish- ended up being 3 meals for me. The restaurant is BYOB, and is located right near a liquor store so BINGO! Wine and some italian food, can't complain. Give it a shot and don't judge a book by its cover. read more

We have had two experiences at Buon Appetito. The first was great! Food was good, service good, fun atmosphere. They have to improve on the salad however. Second experience, very poor. The food was good but the service was terrible. As we talked to waiting patrons they echoed the same sentiment about a particular waitress. We were treated as if we were bothering them. Not sure we will try them again. Too bad, food is very good. read more

Great Italian food! Best garlic bread around! The marinara sauce is delicious and has a different taste but is very good. The house garlic dressing for the side salad you get with your meal is so good as well! Fast service too! read more

Buon Appetito - Italian Near Me - Canton, Connecticut

What a huge disappointment. Have had numerous meals here before but never have I not been served a meal within 1.5 hours. Their garlic bread, great as normal, their stuffed mushroom appetizer, that arrived after 45 minutes (we thought they had simply forgot it) was ok, but dry and without much flavor. Then no entree. Asked the waitress several times and all she could say was she's sorry and that the cook was doing several tables at the same time. We arrived before 2 tables of 2 and 1 table of 4. They were served before us. Our order was as simple as could be. But we waited and lost our appetite. Really poor customer management. So we don't know what our meals would have tasted like in real time. And now, we don't care. Not on the waitresses at all, just the only chef that clearly couldn't manage his trade. read more

Amazing food. The garlic bread is fantastic but Save room for dinner. The salad with the garlic dressing is a great way to start your meal. I love the seafood Mediterranean but the sacchetini Giovanni is by far by favorite (but consider replacing the chicken with scallops and shrimp). The mushroom ravioli is also wonderful. You cannot go wrong, worth a long wait but much easier to come during the week when it is less crowded. read more

Buon Appetito - Italian Near Me - Canton, Connecticut

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Try it some time. Very cozy like the North End of Boston. Not fancy so don't expect fancy. Some times it's busy so just bring your wine and relax. Garlic bread is a must, get one per couple. The food is out of this world. No need to go to Boston! read more

What happened to the old Buon Appetito??! We brought friends here for a special night out. We had 1 bottle of sparkling wine and 2 bottles of red. Even though we had reservations it took time to seat us but that's fine. We were in a good mood and certainly understand when things get crazy. We were seated and opened our bottle of sparkling while they prepped the table in front of us. Both waitresses couldn't be nicer. Bridgette ended up taking our food order and being our main server. We decided to skip apps and ordered garlic bread right away. It was delicious although it was a little small for 4 people. We would've ordered 2 if we had known the size in advance. Because we were enjoying our conversation and our wine, ordering wasn't our priority. We also knew they were very busy so why not be nice and lot the craziness die down. Once we did order our entrees, it took over an hour for them to arrive. I had ordered the carbonara and the sausage and pepper special which was read to me by Bridgette from the black board. I asked for both to arrive together. The sausage dish arrived first and it had a honey mustard sauce. ???? Honey mustard and carbonara don't mix. If I had known that it came with that sauce, I wouldn't have ordered it. When I told this to Bridgette and asked her for a different one without the sauce she even said she was surprised because it never came with honey mustard before. Ok, so what is going on in the kitchen??? 30 minutes went by before we got our meals. The carbonara was just ok. It tasted really fatty from low quality prosciutto. The other dishes were satisfactory to everyone else although one dish had very undercooked broccoli. I never received my sausage order. While both waitresses tried to make up for the shortcomings of the kitchen we were never offered anything other than a free dessert. Some people don't want dessert even if it is free. They did proceed to charge us a corkage fee even though we opened all the wines ourselves. All in all, none of us will return. There are too many other amazing italian restaurants out there. At least the wine we brought and almost ran out of before our dinner was served was amazing! read more

Outstanding! Food is excellent and take out was pretty busy. Followed all the Covid procedures they had; very neat and clean. Chef /owner was accommodating and ensured everything was perfect. An absolute fantastic Thursday evening! read more

Place serves very good Italian entrees were excellent. The service, however, was very weak. One waitress to take care of the entire place. Don't believe for a minute it was her, just inadequate staffing. Almost three hours with no appetizers or dessert. They must staff up. read more

I was shocked by such a low rating! I have only ever heard amazing things. This place was charming, reminded me of a little Italian place on a side street In NYC. Sure, its not updated but I wasnt going for the decor. The food from the garlic bread to the meal was delicious and enough to bring for lunch the next day. BYOB was a nice touch so you can have a gourmet meal without breaking the bank. We will be back! read more

Please do not shy away from this place based on some of the reviews, you will be missing out on some excellent food. In no way is this restaurant dirty or lacking in atmosphere. Yes it is small but it is pretty and even romantic. The fact that they are willing to expose the kitchen should actually give diners comfort! If you could actually see some of these kitchens you would not eat there no matter how good the food tasted!! read more

We love, love, love this place. Their food is phenomenal, portions are very large. You really get more than you pay for. The lemoncello cake was the best cake ever!!! Quite amazing and last but not least, their service was wonderful. I highly recommend this place! read more

Very disappointing. The place was FILTHY, the decor was from 1970 and the food was a huge let down. Don't waste your time....or money.

Though I would love to keep this a secret I can't. This is one of our favorite places for a nice meal in a casual setting. Grab a bottle of your favorite wine or beer and hit the fantastic little spot. The food is always yummy with fresh pastas, exciting specials and lots of garlic. Prepare to eat yourself comatose because you won't be able to stop! Make sure to enjoy the fresh cheesey garlic bread and the house dressing on your salad. Tonight we split the tricolored tortellini and it was amazing, but after years of eating here I can't say there is a bad dish on the menu. It's a charming little spot to enjoy so make sure to check it out. Weekends are busy so beware, now shhhh it's a secret. read more

I ate McDonald's for the first time in years, the night I came here for dinner. The "salad" consisted of lettuce and dressing, and it was the best part of the meal. We had a reservation, waited 30 minutes to order and then another 50 for our food. When it arrived, my veal francaise was so soggy the breading fell off before I could get it from the plate to my mouth. The marinara sauce on the accompanying pasta was boring, bland and watery. My husband had carbonara with grilled chicken, which was so overcooked, dry and tough he couldn't eat it. We sent both dishes back and refused the offer for something else. Our friend ordered the seabass special which appeared marginally more edible, so he ate it. We were hungry, after all. He barfed when he got home. Sad to say, the service and atmosphere weren't any better than the food. read more

Very disappointed! Where do I begin. Let's start with the decor, sagging ceiling tiles and out dated. Plexiglass table tops with out dated table covers. Plastic glasses for water. Wine glasses from the 1970's. And the list goes on. As far as food. The specials where all $28.00 and we were very unimpressed. Over cooked veal and shrimp. Scallops were under cooked. Wait staff was extremely under staffed. One waitress for over 12 tables. Took 30 minutes to get our check. A lot of excuses were made and were almost down right rude. For $28.00 an entree we expected a lot more. Would never return. read more

We were here on a Friday night with reservations. The place was almost empty yet the waitress had called to see where we were when we were 5 minutes late. That set the tone for the service. The specials seemed very pricey so we ordered from the regular menu. The portions were large and the quality of everyone's food was great. Their garlic bread is great but I agree with others that it is a stingy portion when not complimentary. A small salad served with the entree is just lip service to that course. Overall, I would eat there again but would expect the same reactions to a few issues they could easily fix. read more

We've been coming to Buon Appetitto on & off for about 15 years. Back in the day we came more often when we lived a touch closer, but nowadays it's turned into a once a year NYE tradition. I still love this place. The food is always great, no question. The seating can definitely be cramped unless you're lucky enough to get a booth. But I get a kick out of the neighborly seating, it's part of the quirky appeal. If you're not a social person and dislike spontaneous conversation then perhaps pass or wait for a booth. We ate here 2 nights ago. I had the eggplant mascarpone while husband had the shrimp penne a la vodka. Both dishes where excellent. It was actually the first time in years that I strayed from the calamari fra diavlo, which I can't seem to get enough of. If you don't already know it's BYOB with corking service. If you want they do have coke product soda's. We where one of the last tables seated for nye, and it was sweet seeing the wait staff pop a bottle of champagne and then celebrate a NYE salut with the chef and another table that where obviously friends. Don't let recent reviews stop you from coming here. The popularity from 15+ years ago seems to have faded but the food is still just as excellent. read more

Byob the place is dated in it's decor and they had way too few servers. They went through ignoring us totally then being fully attentive and asking how it was every 5 seconds. The appetizer was good and so was the garlic bread. My veal Marsalis was drowned in sauces but otherwise was good. I do feel the need to come back and try something else before giving a higher review. read more

The food is very good and the staff are pros. We arrived at a peak time and so the entrees took quite a bit longer than expected. But the company was good and the food arrived piping hot and cooked perfectly. And delicious. I had the Giobato pasta and my wife the chicken Florentine. It was our first visit and we will return soon. read more

My order was wrong after our 45+ minute wait for dinner, then I was served salmon in a deep puddle of pasta water. The fish was undercooked, the pasta was good, sauce was good on pasta. Others in my party found food okay, service was poor, restaurant itself is shabby. They offer only one type of dressing- creamy garlic or oil & vinegar- salad is really just plain lettuce, nothing else. Garlic bread is too garlicky, far too small for 4, server should have suggested a double order but was clearly not up to that level of awareness. It's nice to be able to bring your own wine but that isn't enough to make any if us return. read more

It had been a few years since we ate here, great food. BYOB a plus. Varied menu. Pasta dishes and appetizers were great.

It's been a year or so since we have dined here. Our experience last evening was okay; however, there were some exceptions. Our (wonderful) server explained a couple of changes on the menu. Seemed like these changes were made awhile ago and the owner did not print new menus. We began with the delicious garlic bread and it is still delicious from our last visit! Water was poured into plastic glasses-weird. Our house salads came-lettuce was brown around the edges. We both ordered pasta. My husband loved his and while my pasta was good; it had not been drained well at all. read more

Where to begin? After reading many good reviews, we decided to give this place a chance and take our out of town guests here. What an embarrassing mistake. It was not very crowded on a Sat night, and we soon learned the reasons for that. You would have thought service would be quick given the amount of people there, but on the contrary we waited 45 min for our meals. Like others have written, the garlic bread was great, but so small it really should have been a freebie. The salads were nothing but boxed lettuce greens, no other vegetables. While the meals were fairly generous, it simply wasn't good Italian. I don't mind waiting for food if it is worth the wait, but this was not. Bland or very salty dishes, overcooked pasta, far from authentic flavors, etc. You have to get the pasta right in an Italian restaurant! We eat out a lot in the Farmington Valley and should have stuck to one of our 'go to' places. The tab was shocking given the quality of the food, the service, and the atmosphere. Given the good reviews, one has to think what people are comparing this place to! It really seems very 'hit or miss'. In light of how much it costs to eat out, it's probably best to stick with what you know. We will definitely not be returning to Buon Appetitto. read more

The food is delicious here. Decided to write a review because I was surprised by the mixed reviews. I have eaten here several times, everything was great. Notable dishes were a special with scallops in a vodka cream sauce and the eggplant mascarpone. The sea scallops were cooked perfectly but the sauce was out of this world. The eggplant mascarpone is truly a flavorful delight. Crispy medallions of eggplant, perfectly cooked pasta in marinara and dollops of delicious cheese. The bread and salad are great too. The byob makes up for the lacking decor. read more

Ridiculous!! If you can deal with the rude wait staff and don't mind being charged $2.50 for extra capers then this is the place for you. I kid you not. Had dinner and dish came with capers so asked if we could have extra capers and they charged us $2.50. When asked about it the waitress was very short with me and asked if I wanted it removed from the bill. WTF !! speechless how the owner /chef allows the wait staff to do whatever they want. Won't go back on principal. read more

simply disappointing from the box of barilla pasta on the counter of the kitchen to the scraps of lettuce being served as a salad, to the filthy ventilation hood in the kitchen. not what it used to be . i hope they are able to turn it around. read more

My Wife and I had passed on eating here for years. One Friday in September we broke down and gave it a shot. We were shocked at how great the food was!!! We have eaten there 3 times since and have yet to have even a bad dish. read more

Where do I even start? I came here with some friends on a recommendation. I looked at the Yelp reviews and thought it sounded worth a shot. I was wrong. I have been to many, many Italian restaurants, some outstanding, some ok, some pretty lousy and this is without question the worst of them. I have no idea what restaurant some of the other reviewers ate at, but it couldn't have been the same one I did. I know some people on here are complaining about the BYOB, the dull, cramped interior, and the service. None of that was my problem because I honestly don't care about that stuff if there's good food. One of my favorite Italian restaurants has a cramped, dull interior and is BYOB but the food is amazing. Not so here, unfortunately. First off, there are neon lights. What Italian place has neon lights? I judge any Italian restaurant by its bread. I've found that, as a rule, as goes the bread, so goes the rest of the food. It's telling that we didn't get bread until after our entrees had arrived. (Admittedly, when it finally did come, it was all right, definitely the best part of the meal.) Since we didn't get any bread, we started with the grilled calamari. We thought it would be a tasty and healthy alternative to the Italian-American staple fried calamari (which isn't even on the menu here). What arrived was an unappealing looking pile of burnt calamari rings. They tasted likewise, charred and burnt. They were accompanied by a bowl of brown marinara sauce. While I didn't try the sauce, why on earth is a marinara sauce brown? I've never seen a sadder looking marinara sauce. The rest of my party tried a calamari ring, and we all felt the same way. We had the waitress take it back. For the entrees, the chef seems to have a preoccupation with cream sauces. It seemed like almost everything was in some kind of alfredo or cream sauce. True Italian cooking is light and fresh, not heavy. I had a pasta dish with shrimp and broccoli in a tomato...wait for it... cream sauce. Shrimp were terribly overcooked, and the sauce was unbelievably heavy. And there was so much of that sauce. It was basically a soup. A fellow diner had some sort of veal dish with some vegetables...in a cream sauce! I'm not sure who would put veal and vegetables in a cream sauce. I tried a bite of his veal, and it was one of the blandest things I've ever eaten. What a shame. Another diner had a pasta marinara, aka a boat load of farfalle (bow tie pasta) with some of that sad, brown sauce on them. I didn't try that, but she didn't like it at all. The only person who actually finished his meal had some sort of spicy shrimp dish. We asked him how he managed to eat it. His reply: "I've eaten weirder things before." We passed on the dessert offer. As a proud Italian-American, I am ashamed of food like this. When people think of Italian food as huge portions of pasta in bland sauce with dry meatballs that leave you feeling bloated and heavy afterwards, this is the worst example of the kind of place they're thinking of. Real Italian food is nothing like this. Even a basic red-sauce joint, with chicken parmesan and spaghetti and meatballs and fried calamari, can be excellent if done right. Unfortunately, "Buon Appetito" is a by the book manual on how to do it wrong. If there was ever a place in need of Gordon Ramsay's services, this is it. I will not be saying "Buon Appetito" here again, and I urge you not to either. read more

Had been wanting to try this place for years, since so many people raved about their food. Got in on a Friday night with no reservation (the place filled up pretty quick). As many have said, it's old, dingy, dated and small. However, servers were nice and attentive. Fried calamari were frozen, pre-breaded and fake. Salads, as you've probably read, was a pile of wilted lettuce, no other vegetables. I had the wild mushroom ravioli with scallops and shrimp. It was served in 2 inches of cream, mushrooms were canned (not fresh) scallops were frozen and boiled with no sear or flavor and the shrimp was completely overcooked. No seasoning at all. My wife had the marscapone eggplant and the eggplant was pre-sliced and clearly frozen. Add a $75 bill and it was a big waste of money. We will not be returning. read more

Don't know how so many people gave it such good reviews. Place smelled bad upon entry, I would have left, but my mom has wanted to eat there for a while. Place is small, 3 out of the 4 menus given were old and grimy, and the take out containers are stacked as if they're part of the decor. Food was disgusting, few greens that they called a salad was wilted. Waste of money. read more

I can't understand the negative review because this is one of our favorite places to visit. The food is excellent and we have only had pleasant experiences. We have visited a few times last year and we tell all our friends about it. The menu is quite extensive when you add the specials which number in the teens for any particular night. I highly recommend you give this "byob" restaurant a try. You will not be disappointed. Some of the best Italian food ever!!! read more