Caloroso Eatery & Bar

Been there many times, outstanding food and great service by a friendly staff. Excellent beer selection and specials. Always a winner.

I ordered take out pizza one night, had never been here, and thought I’d give them a try!
I was NOT DISAPPOINTED!!! Large bacon, meatball, sausage pizza. I was pleasantly surprised to find out one of their «standard» ingredients on their pizzas is fresh garlic!!! YUMMMMMM!!! You do have the option to order a pizza without it… but why in the world would you want to do that??? It just adds another layer of yummy goodness to the pizza, while also enhancing the other toppings, crust, etc!!!
The pizza was a little pricey, but OOOOOOHHHHH SOOOOO GOOD!!!
I’m craving their pizza, just while writing this review!!!

We had a large party from out of town, and made reservations for dinner. The parking lot adjacent to Caloroso has signage indicating that parking is only for guests of Verace, all others will be towed. We parked on the busy street, unaware that the sign was not replaced when Verace changed to Caloroso, and we walked a good distance in the rain to the entrance. Our next mystery was where to find the restaurant entrance. The first door is marked «bar entrance». Another door to the right leads directly into the same bar. Either door will do, since you need to walk through the bar to get to the restaurant seating.
Our table was ready when we arrived, and the server was knowledgeable, personable, and efficient. We were attended to promptly, served in a timely manner, and our orders were correct and well prepared. Everyone in our party raved about the food, from pizza «like they make in Italy», generous size dinner salad, linguini with white clam sauce, veal marsala, and outstanding sandwiches. Desserts were a hit as well. Check out their website for the menu. They offer a great selection of Italian specialties at reasonable prices.
Caloroso is on my favorites list for the next time I’m in town.

One of my favorites. Treat everyone like a regular. Great beer selection and have never been disappointed in a meal, and I have had a lot. Highly recommend.

I stopped in here last night and had a great experience! To start the draft selection is top of the line! I ate fried calamari to start which was cooked to perfection… not greasy or overfried. Then I split buffalo chicken pizza with a friend and all the ingredients were very fresh and we didnt have any trouble finishing the whole thing. The staff is great and very helpful with any questions you might have. Highly recommend this restaurant for a fun night out!

Good food and friendly staff. Good place to hang out with friends any night of the week.

We were looking for a new place, and came across Caloroso. What a find. It looks very small from the outside, but this is deceptive, there is plenty of seating inside. There is also parking available. Matt, the owner is incredibly friendly and nice, willing to stop and chat with the patrons. Matt takes his restaurant seriously, and also passes this attitude along to his employees, all friendly and helpful. It feels warm and cozy just being there. The food is excellent! We had the sandwich and they make their own grinder bread which was delicious. Don’t forget the fries, they are fantastic!!! They have an outdoor patio with fire pits, can’t wait until winter us over to check this out! We will be coming back to Caloroso!!!

Great food and great beer taps at a reasonable price. Great place to dine out with family or go out as a couple. Hidden gem in the valley. If you like craft beer this is great spot to get a Viking size mug of favorite IPA. You won’t find many great beers anywhere else in tap.

GREAT SERVICE! DINNER AT THE BAR AREA REVIEW
We were warmly greated by Lou who offered us either the dining room or the bar area to sit. We chose the bar because it appeared to be more lively. Lou, had no problem walking us through their menu and made several suggestions. He quickly said that we HAVE to try the pizza. Unfortunately, we weren’t interested in pizza but will try a pie next time.
At his suggestion, I tried the Chicken Scarpiello, which is Chicken breast sauteed with sausage, hot and roasted peppers, potatoes, onions, in a garlic, tomato & wine sauce. My mouth immediately started to water as he described it to me as one of his favorites. The wifey was interested in a sandwich, so he suggested the Big Lou, which is Fried eggplant cutlet and fresh mozzarella with red peppers and balsamic vinegar.
The Chicken Scarpiello was delicious! The flavors just kept me coming back for more and more until oops, I ate the whole thing. The Big Lou was good but a little dry. This would be the perfect sandwich if it came with a side of sauce.
As we were eating, Lou kept stopping by to make sure we were OK and continued having mini-​conversations with us, which made our dining experience even better. Of course the place wasn’t extremely busy so don’t expect that if the dining area is full. Lou even took us downstairs to show us their private room that is used for private catering events. The downstairs has its own bar, TV’s and is spacious enough for 80+ people.
We finished our meal with Zepoli’s…OMG! All I can say is YUMMMMMM and make sure to eat them while they are still warm. I couldn’t eat them all and tried one the next day and it was a little chewy.
They are biker friendly, NO COLORS. We will be back.

Really enjoyed my meal. I definitely recommend the bambino wrap. Only complaint is that it didnt come with any sides. Staff is very nice and stays on top of you. Will definitely be back.

We recently ate at Caloroso, and the food was great! I had the linguine gorgonzola — wow, what a nice flavor, and generous portion! My husband had Grandma Rose’s Lasagna, and he was very satisfied. Service was good! Everything we have ever eaten here has been delicious, would highly recommend!

I’ve been to Calaroso’s a few times now and I really enjoy their pizza and drink/​beer menu! It’s a great atmosphere. However, I ordered a small shrimp scampi pizza for takeout last night and I wasn’t pleased. It’s cost $ 17, which I was OK with. It had a generous portion of shrimp and looked really appetizing. But the pizza crust was soggy (first time for this) and it didn’t have that black char on the crust like before! Also they didn’t clean the shrimp, which is a big NO NO! They’re a decent size so cleaning definitely a must. I ended up picking all of them off. Not cool.

Excellent Italian eatery! Very clean restaurant with friendly staff.
I went there with a friend once and liked it. Kale salad with Gorgonzola was delicious. I asked for a glass of sangria which I didn’t know wasn’t on the drink menu and they made me one that was very very good!

Not only did they look REALLY good to us when a certain restaurant across the street denied us entry, but the food was excellent (the meat pizza is possibly the most delicious pizza I’ve ever had and the greatest value!) and the waitress we had was delightful. HIGHLY recommend.

We had stopped by when they were called Verace’s to grab a pizza and were usually pleased with the results. So, we figured we’d drop in for a sit-​down meal. It was a bit surprising to find the place was empty at happy hour. Still, it took quite awhile for the waitress to make her way to our table, which as it turned out, would be a regular occurrence throughout our stay.
When the salads finally arrived there wasn’t a fork in sight. After a few minutes, our girl reappeared long enough for us to order the silverware/​napkins. Don’t know where she had disappeared to since there were no other diners in the place.
The pasta fagioli was all broth and little else. More like canned tomato soup. The spaghetti and meatballs seemed like a safe bet. The meatballs were surprisingly large but as it turned out, a little excessive on the breadcrumbs. The marinara was overloaded with garlic and not so great. There was also a lot of down time between drink refills.
We had heard that they baked their own bread onsite but for us, that was just a rumor. The waitress didn’t check back until dinner was done and seemed surprised that we would’ve wanted bread with dinner. Go figure.
We passed on having dessert, hoping to make a quick exit but those plans were thwarted by — you guessed it… the waitress who took forever to collect our money and bring back change. Seriously, what kind of owner let’s this lousy service go on like this? BTW… Don’t be fooled by all the 5 star reviews written by the employees. Funny that Verace/​Caloroso is the only place they’ve ever reviewed…

I’ve heard a few people mention this as the best restaurant in Shelton so I had to give it a try. I was going to try it in between the name change and the website was down the day I was trying to see the menu. I messaged them on Facebook saying I was new in town and asking for the menu and within a few minutes had a response with the new link.
I ordered the hot oil pizza for take out that night. it’s made with spicy marinara sauce, hot oil over it, and every piece has a pepper on it. finally, a pizza hot enough for my spicy taste buds. The taste was also delicious.
The best part of the night is when the owner brought me my food he asked if I was the one who was new in town. He said welcome to town and gave me a free desert sampler with both a tiramisu and a cannoli. Both were delicious, but the tiramisu was our top pick.
I went back a week later to get carry out and thought I’d just order and wait there. I arrived during happy hour and was able to enjoy a glass of wine for $ 3.50. That night I ordered just a plain cheese pizza and a light sauce, no cheese pizza for my daughter. We both loved our pizzas.
I’m going to have to make a point to try some of the other Italian dishes. I can’t wait until it warms up and we can sit on the patio.
Great spot.

We love the family style options!
All fresh and homemade dishes!
The pesto was awesome!

let me just tell you — the sandwiches, bro. Come at me. Best sandwiches ever. and ⁷⁄₈ $? really can’t beat it, you get like 2 pounds of sandwich.
Also, the booze, beer selection, BEST staff (Big Lou, Joe, Rich, Paige, etc) they all treat you like family. all make this place a great local bar/​eatery.
Normally I try to post humorous reviews but this place is amazing. So please, do stop in, I’ll be there.

Last time I went here, I ordered a salad topped with grilled portobello mushroom. I went with a group of people who all ordered different things.
When the waitress brought me my salad (which I was having as my entrée) it was topped with raw mushrooms. I personally am not a fan of raw mushrooms, but I love them cooked or grilled. Seeing as everyone else at my table already started to dig into their meals — I just tried to distract myself with the World Cup game that was on that late afternoon. I didn’t get my redone salad until everyone was done eating.

My mom brought me here and it exceeded my expectations. Shelton is one of the most depressing places in the world to me but Verace is a highlight where I will gladly stop again to have some homemade pasta with friendly service.
When I return, it may even get an extra star. Do not let the exterior fool you one bit. It’s worth trying. And, they have music on weekends. We were going to return for Frank Sinatra but got caught up in something or another preventing our attending.