Trattoria ‘A Vucchella

Absolutely positively a must try for you. Authentic with a capital A. Our service was great– we like to sit at the bar for dinner. This is worth the trip.

I can’t believe we went to the same restaurant as other reviewers and makes their reviews extremely suspect to me. We went for dinner last night and had a very bad experience. The service is disorganized and we had to ask for bread, never got asked if we wanted another drink and were brought the bill while dirty dinner plates (half eaten) were still on the table. But all that would be fine if the food were better.
We started with calamari. The portion was reasonable and the fish was fresh and not rubbery but it was greasy and the coating was falling off many of the pieces.
I had the branzino with «homemade chips» and sauteed vegetables. Where to start. The branzino was a small fillet on which the skin sided was so charred as to be mostly inedible (the thin tail portion was too overcooked. The homemade chips were tasteless and very very greasy — like they hadn’t been drained. The broccoli was not sauteed but over steamed to the point of that ugly green color and the sauteed spinach was edible but had some strange herb flavoring — not great but not terrible. My husband had the seafood risotto. First — I have never seem such a small portion of risotto with so little seafood in it. It was swimming in sauce — never have we been served risotto in a sauce like that. It had no cheese flavor and no one asked if he would like some cheese on top.
So to recap, bad service and mostly mediocre to inedible food.
BTW we had friends at a nearby table and they said one entrée came out lukewarm but, in fairness, the other person said her pasta was very good. They also said the service was terrible.

Discovered this place thanks to Groupon. Excellent Italian food! Pascale was extremely friendly and a pleasure to deal with. Eggplant parm app was very good, and the Linguine all’Astice was out of this world! Cozy atmosphere and a great location. Will definitely visit again.

The service was better then the food. Overall a good place for Italian food. Very affordable and a relaxing environment. You forget your in Bridgeport CT. I will definitely try it again.

The carbonara is exactly as it is made in Rome. In America, it is often not made right… but here! Delicious! Transporting! It was a perfectly sized serving, too. We also had the antipasto for 3 which was delectable. The chef uses high quality ingredients, and it shows. The service was very friendly and warm! As Italian New Yorkers now living in Fairfield, this place is a true find. I can’t wait to go back!

Great restaurant. The food tastes fresh and everything is so flavorful. The portions are on the small side but we had shared appetizer pasta, the pork, a salad, and a dessert and we were satisfied. The appetizers we had was the parmesan zucchini which was amazing and set high expectations for the rest of the meal. Then we had the pasta with lamb Ragu… delicious. After we had the pork omg. The broth that came with it was so light and tasty the meat fell off the bone and was not at all greasy. Desert was equally as delicious as our meal, just wish they serv ed more of it. The house lemoncelo tastes just like the lemoncelo we had in Italy.

First time visit and terrific lunch at A’vucchella yesterday. Very attractive setting, with tables well spaced so patrons can converse without shouting.
Our party of three shared three appetizers, including a mussels in tomato sauce which was out. Of this work. 12 gigantic locally harvested mollusks on top of crusty bread and a well balanced tomato sauce. A real winner. Caprese salad with out of season tomatoes wasn’t a smart selection, though the mozzarella and olive oil were good. Our pasta courses — orchette with broccoli rabe and sausage, carbonara, and papadelle with lamb Ragusa — prompted competition to ensure no tasty morsel was left behind.
There appeared to only one server who was somewhat overwhelmed initially, but once the crowd diminished, she was very attentive.
Prices are very reasonable.
This is a great find that should command fanatical patronage.

If you find yourself in Bridgeport and want an amazing and authentic Italian meal. Make time for a visit to A’vucchella. Make sure to try the fresh pasta as well as a second plate. This is very much a community place. Enjoy the traditional atmosphere without the flight to the western coast of Italy.

Love this place — been there twice now. The owner is so friendly, the food is delicious and authentic, and the atmosphere is really nice. Def if you want a legit Italian meal, go check out this restaurant!

I was visiting Bridgeport for a conference. I had a good experience here. It was very authentic.
I got the gnocchi with crab meat and pink sauce. It was good, it could have used more crab. My friends ordered the spaghetti carbonara and spaghetti with clams, and they really enjoyed their dishes. The Chianti was great. The serving portions aren’t that big, but its sufficient.
The service was good, no complaints. This was a very inviting, cozy atmosphere. Although I won’t be visiting this area any time soon again, I’d recommend it.

We just left this restaurant after a delicious meal. We were welcomed nicely with our four young children by Pasquale, one of the two owners. We started with antipasto and a salad and some truly outstanding bread. We then had pappardelle which was a special, not on the menu. Also, gnocchi and lasagna. They were each delicious. The lasagna was truly exceptional, just a few tidy layers of simple flavor. We finished with the tiramisu which is made in house and the most spectacular chocolate mousse I’ve ever had. I won’t try to describe the latter as I have no idea what magic turned a standard fare dish into what it was … My husband and I talked all dinner about how we cant wait to come back SANS children!

Bella! It was hard to believe we weren’t in Sorrento. This is Italian! AND this is downtown Bridgeport! I had the carbonara, and it was delicious. Homemade pasta. My husband had a tasty lasagna. Nice wine options. Pasquale and his staff are charming. We ran into friends from Milford who also raved about their meals.
Bravo!

Disaster… really poor choice
The service was extremely slow. We asked to have our water refilled twice — still waiting.
We ordered a caprese salad which had great presentation but was very heavily salted. We ordered gnocchi which were soft and mushy like a canned product. Bistecca was well done so requested another one (medium rare) it came out rare! Maybe there was a communication problem between Pascale (the owner and myself) The portion are petite and not at all true Italian. We decided to just leave … We had a wonderful late night snack at our hotel !!

The food at A Vucchella is excellent. But we keep going there, having checked the hours online, and seeing that it’s open. We drive there and it’s closed! This time it was 6:30 on a Sunday. Such a bummer. I’m not really sure what the hours are but I wish they’d post the correct ones.

This place is great food was very good, had clans with spaghetti and it was delicious. Great service and cozy.

Very nice interior and beautiful simply straight forward menu. I had the carbonara and my mother had gnocchi Gorgonzola. My pasta was cooked beautifully aldente and had a real sauce not heavy cream, but unfortunately was over salted. While it is a naturally salty dish and I enjoy salt, it was a tad too much. My mother also mentioned excessive salt. The portions were just right and even with the salt levels we did enjoy the flavors and rest of the components of the dishes. The maitre d hotel was very welcoming and friendly as she shared a bit of insight with us. I am glad to see a bpt restaurant striving to do quality Italian food. Excited to go back and try another item.

What a charming place in the middle of downtown Bridgeport. Very unexpected! The menu is concise but the many specials making choosing even more difficult. We shared the house antipasti and had the carbonara and shrimp in a basket of crispy fried parmesano with tomatoes and arugula. So fresh and delish. Wrapped up a great meal with espresso and a slice of their Pan Espana. Wow!
When Pasquale, the gregarious owner, found out we were going to the Bridgeport Cabaret Theater but didn’t have wine glasses to use for the remaining wine, he insisted we take along two.
Awesome to see an owner throughly invested in making a great evening for his guests!

I don’t give out 5 stars lightly. But this place takes the cake. I have never really liked Italian cuisine, at least nothing in the immediate area has ever made me understand why Italian are know for their food. Now I get it. This is Italian. Everything else is just a parody of American Italian cuisine.
Before I go on, let me just preface with the fact that we ordered to go.
We got the Eggplant Parmigiana app and had Pasta alla Carbonara and Gnocchi Sorrento for our meals. Wow. I dont know how that eggplant is made but it is probably one of my new favorite things in the world. The pasta was perfect, delicious olive oil, just the right amount of cheese and meat. I can still taste it now. The gnocchi was the best i’ve ever had. so light and fluffy. The sauce was just right, not overpowering at all. My boyfriend and I joked that we were glad we got take out because we wouldve made fools of ourselves in the restaurant with sauce all over our faces and making borderline sexual sounds between bites.
An excellent addition to downtown bridgeport. We will be back.

This restaurant is amazing! We went there with a group of six and everyone agreed that the food was five star! They even would adjust things based on particular diets and likes and dislikes. The owner of the restaurant served us, and treated us as if we were guests in his own home. From the salads, to the main courses, to the desserts, everything was fresh, delicious and beyond belief. I had the homemade gnocchi with mushrooms and truffle oil. (It was not on the menu, but I’d heard it was good and ordered it). It was so good and the gnocchi was like pillows that melted in my mouth. We will definitely be back! We had no trouble with long wait times that some of the other reviewers have mentioned. It was a full evening dining experience, but the food came out at the appropriate times.

When I heard that a new place had opened in the space vacated by Epernay downtown, I knew I had to check it out for myself. Epernay had set a new European tone for the area and was a great addition to the Bijou Square block on Fairfield Avenue.
With its French menu, Epernay had an impressive start and as time went on the quality grew uneven and it closed a couple of years ago. A Vuccella opened in April with a simple but classy update to the restaurant. The stained glass partition separating the bar and dining room is now clear, opening up the space. Tiffany blue pillows line the window seating while the dining room was updated with white walls and tablecloths. Basic but stylish metal lighting hangs overhead and combine with the metal chairs to tie the room together. A few scenes from Sorrento, Italy hang on the wall along with a framed print of the A Vuccella logo, a somewhat abstract lip outline as the name means ‘little mouth’ in Italian.
It is Italian cooking that is at the heart of Trattoria A Vucchella. Owners Jennifer and Pasquale met in Italy where they rented villas and conducted culinary tours. When Pasquale, the chef, stops by the table, you feel like you’re getting your own tour of Italy. ‘I know the perfect wine for you. This one comes from a vineyard not too far from my home.’ ‘Try the ricotta escarole pie, I made it special tonight!’ ‘I make the tiramisu from scratch!‘
You want to say, ‘Yes, bring it all, it sounds excellent!’ and then listen to him talk some more about his dishes made the same way as back in Naples. The best part is that it’s not just talk. That escarole pie was amazing. After we asked if it was really escarole, we begged him to make it a regular on the menu; it was that good! We’ve all had tira misu, but the version made just hours earlier is completely different: lighter, fluffier, and full of flavor.
The menu is quite small, but after a few visits, I can point you to some of the highlights. The caprese salad is a great way to start a meal and includes a nice portion of tomatoes with fresh mozzarella presented quite nicely. I brought my family there and the lasagna was definitely the biggest hit at the table. A hearty serving of gnocchi was just as good as I remembered having in Florence. Recently I had the fish special, which was simply prepared but excellent. And if you’re looking for something on the lighter side, go the with the grilled shrimp served over salad.
On a visit in early April, Pasquale said he would be leaving for some planned culinary tours in Italy. Oh no, he’s the star of the show! I wondered what would happen since his food was the draw and his explanations really set A Vucchella apart.
The good news is that I have been back a few times and I was impressed with the quality of the food. The fish was still outstanding and the tiramisu was still phenomenal. Jennifer has it all under control and you can still hear Italian from the waiters.
A Vucchella wisely started with a small menu as everyone gets the hang of a new place. This probably helps to ensure that the quality of the food is consistent. Over time, perhaps there will be some additions like that escarole pie and some seasonal offerings. When the menu is updated, a translated version from the Italian would be helpful. I always forget what melanzane is! And I’m sure everyone there is learning a lot as they go along. Early on, I bit into a piece of bread and was pretty sure there was pork in it. As someone who does not eat pork, I asked. ‘Yes, that is how we make it back home.’ I’d guess diners are now made aware of any meaty additions to the bread basket.
With all that said, let’s raise a toast and say Benvenuto al Bridgeport A Vucchella and Mille Grazie for all the good food so far.