Valley Independent Sentinel

posted by: kurometarikku on October 8, 2009  10:16am

Why did they name it “Lanza’s”?

posted by: ortizfrank@yahoo.com on October 9, 2009  10:48am

one thing I forgot to mention on my blog was to have good live local bands and dj’s on weekends.
Have the reporter who cover this story send you a copy of my blog.

posted by: mlbinshel@yahoo.com on October 11, 2009  10:00am

Remembered this article when in Ansonia yesterday.  My friend and I stopped in for lunch.  What a great job these ladies did at renovating the space.  It is warm and welcoming.  The wait staff was very friendly and helpful.  The food was excellent.  The dinner menu was very inviting also.  Fair prices and great food, a welcome oasis in the valley.
Make sure you try Lanza’s.

posted by: rmrs on October 12, 2009  11:22am

Read this article, and decided we would try Lanza out with a couple of friends. Very disappointed at the end result. The place had been nicely renovated and looked great when we walked in. The appetizers and salad courses were fine, but service was very slow. Dinner courses were awful. Not only were the portions small, the taste wasn’t great and everyone at the table received their food lukewarm. With only three tables in the place occupied, service should have been much better and the food should have come out piping hot. For the amount we paid, 150 dollars between the 4 of us, it was definitely not worth going there and we would not go back again. We also had a half hour wait to figure out what was wrong with the computer, to which we were offered a glass of water. Overall, terrible experience. It is a shame for all these ladies did to renovate, Darik and the Funbags playing on the grand opening will make this place a mess and a true valley bar.

posted by: misssociable on October 12, 2009  6:08pm

I stopped down Friday night and was very impressed.  Nice to have an adult establishment.  Can’t believe on opening night or any other night they are going to have Darik and the Funbags play.  This will truly be a huge mistake unless you are looking for the Tailgator crowd.  I sure would not come and know most mature adults would not either.  A shame to ruin such a nice place on opening night.  You will attract the wrong crowd from the get go!

posted by: footballmom on October 13, 2009  9:32pm

I have been to this restaurant for both lunch and dinner. Both times I was very impressed. Food was wonderful and service was excellent! The atmosphere was warm and cozy. We’ll be back for sure. Its nice to have such a beautiful restaurant so close to home. I spoke with the blonde owner and the band is just for opening night. My husband and I will be regulars for sure.

posted by: beckinator28 on October 15, 2009  5:09pm

I have not been to Lanza’s yet but I am going tonight.  I’m going becuase my very talented friends are going to be playing there.  I’m talking about none other than the best cover band in the state “Darik and the Funbags. I don’t like that people are taking jabs on here about them.  Most of you probably have never even been to a show or have not been in a long time.  I also dislike the fact that a lot or you put down the Valley, after all we live here and if it was so bad, why would we?  It’s all about having fun and and none better than the FUNbags.  I’m sure Lanza’s is a wonderful place, i am looking forward to checking it out tonight!

posted by: rmrs on October 15, 2009  9:20pm

This is not about lets go stick up for my “friends.” I have seen Darik and the Funbags many times and I’m not saying they aren’t a good band. The problem is that they don’t belong in a place like this, it is not about putting them down it is about the crowd that they draw. The crowd they draw is a party crowd and a drinking/party crowd does not belong partying at a newly renovated, nice restaurant. If you had just spent a lot of money to renovate a restaurant would you want a crowd coming in spilling beer and jumping around in a quaint, relaxing, and classy environment? This place is clearly trying to portray itself as classy and quaint and by typical valley bar, you know what I mean. Don’t take everything people say on a blog to heart. It is just constructive criticism. Have you ever walked into Osiris, Barone’s, Snookers, Tailgators, or Malarky’s and said this is a clean, quaint, and classy place? Be serious. Hopefully we can get some new, enjoyable, and promising restaurants in Ansonia. Crave was a great start, it is a wonderful environment that is a relaxing place to either eat or have a drink. Hopefully Lanza’s will recover from tonight and improve as both a restaurant and a bar.

posted by: Symbk on October 16, 2009  11:12am

I went to Lanzas grand opening celebration last night.  What a great time.  The crowd was awesome.  No drinks were getting spilled, everyone in the crowd was polite and I saw no problems.  After talking to the owners, Darik and the Funbags were a grand opening party band to get people in the door and show the place off.  Not something that is happening every week.  I wish this place the best of luck and can’t wait to go for dinner this weekend.

posted by: Symbk on October 16, 2009  11:17am

What is wrong with you people?  We finally get a nice restaurant in the valley and you people criticize. Especially during the first week they are open.  Anyone who knows anything about business knows it takes a week or two to work out the kinks.

posted by: beckinator28 on October 19, 2009  1:59pm

I have to say, I had a FUNtastic time Thursday night at Lanza’s with Darik and the Funbags…what a great crowd and the music was phenomenal.  As I understand your point, you need to understand mine.  This is not only a restaurant.  It is a BAR/restaurant with a stage that was designed for bands, this makes a big difference.  If it was just a quaint restuarant I could see how you’d want the crowd small and quiet.  I think there can be a happy medium, a nice dining experience provided with wonderful entertainment afterwards.  You can eat dinner with no interuptions and then enjoy musical entertainment afterwards.  The bands don’t start until after dinner so you can enjoy dining in a peaceful atmosphere.  I think Lanza’s is a neighborhood gem and I cannot wait to go back.

posted by: jeepman on October 22, 2009  7:32pm

My first experience at Lanza’s proved to be unacceptable. I visited with a friend for dinner and drinks. The waitress was quite inexperienced fumbling with our orders. We put in for an appetizer and bottle of wine to start - figuring we would order our main course shortly thereafter We didn’t see our bottle of wine for quite some time. After a good 20 minutes of waiting, the waitress informed us that they couldn’t find the wine’ we ordered. After giving them another in its place, we STILL had to wait to get our bottle. Wine in glass, and appetizer consumed, we had to literally flag down the waitress who was completely oblivious to the fact that she never came back to take our main course. The main course arrived after some time, and was fair at best. Both of us ordered chicken dishes, mine being Marsala. It was lukewarm at best, borderline cool. Definitely not worth the money we paid. Overall I would give Lanzas a C- and that’s being generous. There are many better restaurants would be more than worth the money 15-30 minutes away. The one bright point was an outstanding bartender, Stephanie I believe her name was, that helped us at the bar on their upper level. If not for our experience with her, I would probably not return again in the future - and would advise the 350 people on my facebook friends list of the same as I post this there as well. Unorganized and cold food…the kind of place you’d probably want out of the ‘valley’ as it can give it a bad name.

posted by: oxfmom on October 26, 2009  11:33am

It is such a shame to me that jealousy, revenge and just plain childlike attitudes overtake a person’s proper judgement on how to act as a mature adult.  My name is Tracy McGuire and I work at Lanza Restaurant.  Lanza is a beautiful, upscale restaurant and lounge.  The food is amazing and the atmosphere is refreshing.  Sheri has put her heart and soul into this place to make a relaxing and wonderful environment for people in the valley, and out of the valley, to enjoy.  Yes, there will be entertainment, following dinner, not interfering with your dining experience.  Wednesdays there is karaoke.  Thursdays, there will be bands, but different styles…jazz, acoustic, etc.  Fridays there is a DJ and on Saturdays, dinner music.  We are also considering a comedy night and other types of entertainment.  All I ask of you is to come in, enjoy an evening with us and assume your own opinion!  I promise, you won’t be disappointed.  Please introduce yourself to us.  We are interested to hear your comments.  We believe face to face criticism, whether it be positive or negative is always better than reading from an unknown author!  I thank you for your time and hope to meet you all soon!

posted by: jeepman on October 27, 2009  8:48am

In response to the below reply - I’m not quite sure what the purpose of your first line there was. I wrote a truthful account of my experience at the restaurant which unfortunately included displeasure considering the amount of money spent - and I chose to share my opinions with the others that posted below mine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion - in my case, I was served lukewarm food, had to wait for 20 minutes just to be told “we couldnt find the wine”, and had to send smoke signals to put in my main entree.

If it will make you happy, there were some positives. The place is clean and nicely built inside, the Funbags event was entertaining and the bartenders were friendly and helpful.

I apologize if you’re offended by what I said, but I have no idea what “jealousy, revenge or childlike attitudes” have to do with my review.

If you read the review rmrs wrote below about poor dinner service and lukewarm food, you’d see that maybe this is an issue at your restaurant that needs to be looked into.

Regards,
Adam H - ifone@me.com (the ‘unknown’ author)

posted by: misssociable on October 28, 2009  10:57am

Been to the bar a few times and very enjoyable.  The crab cake was fantastic. Would like to know if they intend on starting a happy hour special also, any big plans for Halloween night???  If anyone has info on this let me know!  I have been traveling on business the last few weeks so been out of touch.

posted by: barefootb on October 29, 2009  11:27am

My husband and I took our son and his girlfriend to dinner at Lanza in Ansonia last night.  We decided to try it because we heard from different people how wonderful the food was and the prices are completely reasonable.  First of all, the decor is beautiful!  The service is excellent!  From my first bite of the fried calamari, I knew we were in for a treat.  I love fried calamari and I can honestly say it was the best I have ever eaten.  Our salad was deliciously refreshing and the perfect size.  I ordered veal saltimbocca.  It was so delicious that I used my bread to soak up every bit of the absolutely scrumptious sauce.  I got the side of angel hair and their red sauce is unbelievable.  My husband ordered veal piccata and he basically did the same thing—not leaving anything on the plate.  My son ordered the swordfish and his girlfriend ordered the chicken alfredo.  Of course, I tried a bite of everybody’s food. Same thing—outrageously delicious!!!! The portions were perfect, however, because the food is SO GOOD, you really want to keep eating and eating and eating.  My husband had an Irish coffee, my son had an eespressoand I had decaf coffee.  Even their decaf coffee was delicious.

For the four of us (without dessert) the total with tax was $102.55 before the tip.  We didn’t have any drinks on the check because we paid cash for them at the bar before we sat down for dinner.

You will not be disappointed. 

P.S.  Jeepman probably ordered a bottle of Boone Farms Apple Wine—that’s why you were having such a hard time finding it! You can tell just by the fact that he was complaining about the amount of money he spent!  If he ever goes out to dinner, he ought to know that the prices at Lanza are actually less than most restaurants.  The prices were the reason we decided to give it a try.  Whenever my husband and I go out to eat even to a diner we end up spending a minimum of $60.00 and get diner food.  Let’s see—where do you think I’m going in the future?  LANZA!!!!!

P.S.  Tell Jeepman to drive that 15-20 minutes and keep driving.  Did anyone tell him you don’t serve Boone’s Farm Apple Wine?  Who needs him?

posted by: jeepman on October 29, 2009  11:36am

Hey there barefootB,

Before you go and PS yourself to death…if I order a bottle of wine off of the menu that I was given, and have to go through we did just to finally get ‘something’ it doesn’t matter matter whether I ordered your kind of boxed wine, or a bottle of cristal.

As I mentioned, this was the experience me and my girlfriend had, and I’m just sharing it.

Who needs me? No one - but word of mouth can go along way. Grow up.

posted by: barefootb on October 29, 2009  11:53am

The comments about the entertainment prove that some people don’t understand the concept of your restaurant/lounge.  People going there for dinner are usually finished eating by 9:00.  Upon reading more of your comments, I’m sure you didn’t decorate such a large space for just the dinner crowd.  The “entertainment” part of your restaurant gets going after 10:00 at night—after the people who just want dinner are through eating.  Anybody who knows anything about young adults knows that they are out socializing in a big way at the clubs.  I didn’t realize it until my son became old enough to go to the bars.  This restaurant and lounge is going to be a great success!!!  The young adults need a place just like Lanza in the Valley so they don’t have to drive to New Haven.  Just keep out the riff raff and you’ll do fine.