Mateo's in Stamford

[gbm]

Supposedly the well known and respected Long Island "chain" is opening in the old Fio's on Long Ridge. Frankly, an empty lot would be an improvement on Fio's, but I have heard such great reviews of other Mateo's that I am looking forward to another old fashioned family Italian place in Stamford. So - have they opened? has anyone been there?

[kcijones001]

Mattaeo's is incredible. Been to the one in Howard Beach (Queens) and in Florida...You will not be dissapointed. Promise....

[cteats]

It's definitely open. Drove by this evening and the parking lot was filled to capacity.

Looking forward to a report.

[adamclyde]

yeah, that place is packed like I've never seen before. Wonder if it's good...

[Mopsik]

I have some friends who went last weekend - an enthusiastic thumbs up. These are people familiar with the FL and Long Island outlets. Very classic Northern Italian favorites. It's on my list of places to check out.

[JTJTJTJT]

We tried it tonight and liked it. We drove by and decided to stop after reading about it here on CH today, and were able to sit down without a reservation on Sat night. I ordered Veal Sorrentino and my wife a shrimp dish with roasted beans and a mustard sauce. Both were very good and we split the dishes. Veal and eggplant were thin and tender layers with a nice sauce and good quality cheese and ingredients. Shrimp was tasty but only 6 shrimp. Most entrees come in two sizes, a half size good for one person or a large family dish (enough for 2) we both chose the half sizes. A table of four next to us ordered two large dishes. They had valet parking although they didnt need it tonight.

The service was good but maybe trying too hard like a lot of new restaurants. We ate outside and there seemed to be more staff than needed, with 3-4 waiters and 3 managers constantly asking if everything was allright. Entree prices were like 16-25 for the half portion 20-30 for the family size. Appetizers, salads, and drinks were expensive with $11 for a soup and $20 for some of the appetizers. Bread was good and served with butter We skipped the appetizers but shared a Tiramisu which was excellent. My wife noticed other tables were eating everything on the plate, no half eaten dishes being picked up which is a good sign. They said they only opened 10 days ago so we will likely wait a month and try it again.

[jfood]

jfood drove past last night 645 on the way to dinner and the lot was 80% full. return past at 915 and it was jammed. yet the stamford "T" was somewhat empty. Emme about 60%, ferrantes about 45%, SBC was out the door. See if it can hold up.

[gbm]

Looks like I am the first to eat there, which I find hard to believe. Here is my experience. Nice atmosphere inside. A little loud, but what do you expect in a family style restaurant. The wait staff was terrific. Very attentive and right on top of a dairy issue.

Salads and apps were nothing to write home about - we had the house chopped salad, caesar, and baked clams.

Main courses were shrimp Wendy (which went so fast i didn't get to taste it - reviews were positive), rigatoni bolognese, ravioli, and chicken Mateo. Chicken Mateo is essentially chicken scarpariello (on the bone) and sausage with assorted vegetables. It is a large dish, but mostly (in our experience) sausage and vegetables. These were terrific, I think the sausage is house made, and the chicken was cooked perfectly (juicy, not overdone) but we would have liked a little more chicken.

All in all, the food was very good. The red sauces were clearly the standout and the service was terrific. I will definitely return for a second meal. It's a great place to take the family for dinner.

Oh, if you don't like garlic you might want to think twice about this restaurant. It wasn't overpowering, but it was in everything. Made me very happy...

[louuuuu]

Ok, after a year of driving past this place and seeing the parking lot jammed, as well as remembering the fairly positive reviews on CH, I finally decided to give Matteo's a try.

Overall impression: "Little bit of Lonk Island in Ct."

Probably the ample family style portions at reasonable prices is what draws the crowds -- mostly family. But the chow is very ordinary at best, and certainly not memorable. Service is attentive, but still ranks as amateur night at the Roxy.

Anthony, the young Italian waiter highly recommended chopped salad as a starter ... and tho ample was basically head lettuce dripping in dressing. For secondi we ordered a red clam linguini. The noodles were over-cooked and the sauce was under-clammed. If there were more than five micro-bits of vongole in my serving I would be astounded. Think of it as "clam-flavored" red sauce.

This was followed by a veal franchese, which unlike the previous selections, was hardly enuf for two people. 3 small scallops. However they were tasty.

Anthony tried hard to present himself as an old pro, but couldn't pull it off. At one point he recommended "fresh" lobster tail. I suggested to him that perhaps it was frozen, as is usually the case in a Northeast resto when a menu lists tails (do they throw away the claws? ) He insisted it was fresh and presumably went off to check with management. Since he never returned with an answer, as we walked out I asked Anthony what he had discovered about the lobster tail. After a beat, he remembered the issue.

"Fresh," he lied.

[robinsilver]

I am not surprised, we never cared for it. We live near the original one in Roslyn. Any restaurant that becomes the place to see and be seen usually is only that, the in place to go. We never thought that the food was anything to right home about, but when the kids came home from sleep-away camp, and wanted to make sure that they saw their friends, this was where they wanted to go. The one in Roslyn is over-crowded, and nothing I ever had there is anything that I would call wonderful.

[lillydaisy]

I'm sorry but I am very down on the Stamford restaurant scene right now and places like Mateo's are one of the reasons. Everything that "Louuuuuu" says is exactly what I and others I know have experienced and yet, they rock every night. Overpriced, mediocre food. Welcome to Stamford.

[maxandlola]

Our first time. The biggest problem was the glob of dirt that my husband ate that was mixed in with mushrooms in a lobster ravioli dish. He said it was the size of a half walnut.

They have an A/C problem: the floor vents are covered with menus and wood, with the chairs near the wall actually over the menus to protect the diner from the cool air. I moved away from the wall and it was still too cold near the floor. Meanwhile, the door to the outside patio (a gardened area of the parking lot) was open.

It is expensive for average at best food. The least expensive glass of wine was $13- high for the area. Food is served family style, in servings for 2 to 4 people. Not good for two who may not want to eat the same thing.

We had a caesar salad with a too mayonaissy dressing, which was "tossed" by the waiter table-side in a bowl too small to mix it in. The "special," a lobster ravioli dish contained the chunk of dirt my husband ate and some other gritty mushrooms in a flavorful but too creamy sauce. The least expensive glass of wine was $13- high for the area.

The server(s) and the valet were very pleasant. Wouldn't go back though.