Bites Nearby: Alforno Trattoria In Old Saybrook

Restaurant name: Alforno Trattoria with Brick Oven Pizza                 

Address: 1654 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, CT, in Benny's Plaza

Phone number: 860-399-4166

Website: www.alforno.net

Cuisine: Northern Italian, thin-crust pizza

Price range: $5 to $22

Take out:  Everything on the menu is available for take out.  

Kid-friendly: Absolutely. What kid doesn't like pizza and pasta? Other kid-friendly options include fried mozzarella and grilled chicken breast.

Why you should go right now:  Alforno re-opened recently after a top-to-bottom facelift that included new and larger tables, more comfortable chairs, and a new look. The main dining room, with new tile floors and canopies overhead, makes it feel like you are dining outside, but without the lousy weather that is typical of Connecticut this time of year. More important, the already fabulous menu--which has been the subject of favorable reviews in The New York Times, The Courant, and the New Haven Register--has some enticing new offerings. New menu items include authenic regional dishes like ravioli di cinghiale (wild boar ravioli from the Broken Arrow Ranch in Texas) and Manzo Fiorentino, a giant braciole stuffed with pistachios, spinach, and porcini mushrooms, a dish based on a recipe that goes back more than 500 years. Other menu items include rigatoni with eggplant in a raspberry-balsamic reduction, spaghetti alla carbonara, and classic Italian arancini, flash-fried risotto stuffed with bacon, mushrooms, and Parmigiano, served with two dipping sauces.