Guilford location : Â wine selection is amateur and mainstream, but what probably appeals to most. Too expensive by the glass for those wines. $7-$13. Â The main probably is that since you have ( they say 80 wines by the glass). you don't have the turnover to keep them fresh. We tried to pick some value wines - old world that we thought would be more complex and not so much new world fruit. The crianza Rioja and the generic Bordeaux were our choices ($10ea). Â The Rioja was sour and had to be sent back and tried a greg Norman Shiraz/CS. My wife's Bordeaux was on the verge of turning. Â These wines can not stay open for more than a few days without giving the wine a bad name. People will walk away and say I don't like Rioja and Bordeaux. What A shame. Â Crab cakes were good. Â I find the service there always pleasant but a bit amateur. Â The patio is nice, but too bad we are in a parking lot-maybe surround with a border of trees?
Offer  a mandatory wine 101 course for the servers and put vintages on the list.
Went here last night with two of my girlfriends. We all had wine and sat outside on the patio. It was pretty hot outside but they have umbrellas so there is a lot of shade. We ordered the pepper jack cheese and artichoke fondue. In previous visits I have ordered the chocolate peanut butter fondue. Both are delicious. The cheese comes with bread to dip and the chocolate comes with banana, strawberry, cake bits and rice Krispy treads....so yeah. Pretty epic.
If you are looking for a place with a relaxing, charming atmosphere to sit and catch up with friends, this is the place! It would also be a great place for a date.
This was the first time dining at Ballou's. I purchased a Groupon for wine flights and fondue. Excellent wine selection and menu choices. I recommend the mozzarella, tomato and basil flat bread. The lobster rolls were amazing! Also, great friendly service. Thank you for an enjoyable evening.
Review Source:I was thrilled at the idea of a romantic little place with wine and fondue, but i was let down. We went on a Friday night at 8 o'clock and the place was pretty empty. The first thing that hit me was the smell of about 100 scented candles. I had a headache within 10 minutes from this.
The wine menu was insane, there was so much going on, it was hard to remember what wines we wanted in our flights. We each ordered a wine flight and a cheese fondue. There only appeared to be one waitress available for the whole place and so it took a while to get our wine and fondue. None of the wines were anything to write home about, and the fondue was disappointing at best. As the night went on our service got slower-- he ordered a beer and i ordered another glass of wine and some truffles. The only part of the night i liked was the dolce truffle. Other than that i wouldn't go back. Especially after a $71 bill that left us still hungry and in need of a decent drink.
Great wine selection. We had a 730 reservation and waited for five to ten minutes to be seated when there was only two other tables in the dining area. Service was slow esp for a room with only two tables occupied. The tomato and mozz app was ok as were the stuffed cherry peppers. I had the lobster panini for $16 which was a rip off! Forgot the butter dipping sauce, my panini was not even a half inch thick! I know its a pressed sandwich but for that price I expected more lobster meat. they also forgot to butter the outside of the panini bread bc it had clearly been pressed but there were no marks on it that defined it had been pressed on some sort of heat source, as it should be. The meals were all lackluster and for that price I will never eat there again. They had a very good wine selection though so maybe its drinks and app place but I'm not really sure I'd go back to try
Review Source:This was our first time.  We had 3 dishes.  Firstly the Fondue arrived.  It was served with carrots that did nothing for me, apples that were delish dipped in cheese, and soft bread desperately needing a crispy crust.  The cheese mixture was very good but never got hot enough.  Overall, the fondue was good, but... Next was the shrimp cocktail, very good, obviously jarred sauce.  The shrimps were large, cooked just right and fresh.  Lastly  the meat plate was served with prosciutto, salami and another Italian meat.  The three meats were good but extremely salty.  In center of plate was toasted strips of bread, very good but for $16 the plate lacked luster.  The toasted strips were excellent dipped into the fondue.  Finally, the service was mostly timely and the waitress helpful but when I very politely suggested crispy bread would be wonderful with the fondue the waitress answered, "we've done it this way for 4 years!".  Well I through good for u!  Overall this was a 2 star dining experience.
Review Source:This is the best new restaurant in Branford in a long time. Â I frequent the location in Guilford fairly often and I have always really liked it there. I was skeptical as to whether they could pull it off in another location. Consider me a convert. Â
I went here last weekend with my wife, and we were both blown away by both the atmosphere and the subtle changes. Â The wine menu is by far the best in the state. Â There are so many great wines by the glass and at reasonable prices. Â But what I really was excited about was what I'd heard about the beers they have on tap. I was not disappointed. Â I actually have really gotten into craft beer in the last few years and there are so few bars in Connecticut with a bunch of diverse choices on tap. Â I think its nice to get out of your comfort zone and try some different beers. Â I had the Innis & Gunn on draft (which I'd NEVER seen on draft before) and it was awesome. Â With 16 different CRAFT beers on tap you cannot go wrong.
We also had a cheese fondue (the Italian table cheese) and it was so good that my wife and I couldn't stop raving about it while we stuffed our faces. Â We went with a couple of paninis to share (the pork and the prosciutto/basil/mozz), which were also amazing. Â Finally, we had to try the truffles after reading that they won best desserts in the New Haven Advocate. Â They were so delicious that we got a box of four wrapped to bring home so my in-laws could try it on Sunday after our Sunday dinner. Â I would go with the peanut butter truffle or caliente. Both are great. Â I also wanted to mention that the waitstaff was really friendly and attentive. Our waitress seemed really knowledgeable and helpful when deciding what to get.
Can't recommend this place enough. If you haven't gone yet you are missing out on a great location. Â Its has that New England charm, and I can't wait to come back here in the fall and winter when I was told they will have a fire place.
This is the first wine bar I've been to and I wasn't disappointed. They pair wines with their entrees which is nice. The wine is served generously which is nice. I really liked the Cheateu Gulliver paired with the portabella and spinach ravioli with gorganzola sauce. It was an interesting combo. The truffles are also delicious (especially the chili one) and the owner is very friendly and comes to chat with you after you've eaten. It has a quiet atmosphere and is on the classier side. It has a smaller parking lot which is kind of crammed but the place itself makes up for that.
Review Source:This being my first visit to Connecticut, my first meal in the state was hear, in Branford. Apparent;y this building has changed hands a few times, and the pleasant waitress, food options, and ambiance were all enjoyable. The menu is not super packed. A mix of seafood, pasta, sandwiches, and meat.
I ordered the #18 Panini half plate - sweet italian sausage, provolone cheese, red pepper spread, and red onion. It wasn't bad. It wasn't above average, but filled my stomach. The bread was very crisp around the edge (a personal disliking), but didn't smother the taste of the inner parts. Their paninis come with a field-greens side salad and italian dressing, and 4 ripe olives.
Memorable moment of this establishment? Dessert. Four of us split an order of plain Nutella fondu, and a pot of peanut butter Nutella. The PBN stole my heart - I simply love peanut butter, thus Nutella mixed in was very tasty!
Ballou's Wine Bar is a wonderful addition to Branford! Â What struck me most strongly was the ambiance of the place. The dark wood and candles make you feel warm and welcomed as you look out onto the surrounding marsh. Â The staff has also brought in wonderful fresh flowers from their patio which enhances the elegant atmosphere.
In terms of food and service, they go above and beyond to make customers have an enjoyable experience. Â My partner and I ordered the crab cakes, beet salad, and pepper jack flatbread to share. Â The crab cakes were savory and not over stuffed with bread like you may find in other restaurants. Â As for the flatbread, it was topped with succulent artichokes, onions and mildly spicy cheese.
The prices are very reasonable for the location and quality of food! Â We will be back very soon:)
Well let me explain. I think this is a type of place that is needed in Branford, no question.
Chocolate truffles while nice presentation if I was blind folded you would not be able to really identify them. 6.00 great price for 4 but needs a little work.
Italian cheese/ Meat plate. Now this really needs to be looked at. Meat selection perfect. Cheese selection needs to change. Mozzarella on the cheese plate?? with less than a oz of manchego . 13.00 again willing to pay more but give me a good cheese and meat board/plate!!
Turkish figs with bacon . 11.00 taste great a little weak on the presentation and 2.00 over priced with the way it was presented.
2 glasses of Bearboat Pinot 14.00 each. 2.00 too high. I understand first glass pays for the bottle but 12.00 would be a fair price.
Flat bread which was a fig/ prosciutto. 8.00 great price. Again no life to it. Needed to be presented on a dark pizza board or cutting board. Not a pizza tin that is silver. Great taste but just looked weird on that tin.
Sam was our server. Great lady. Great smile. Great lady to talk to.
Live right around the corner and will try one more time.
But please get it correct. I want to support this place.
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