The Ball is Finally Rolling Down at Darien's Meatball & Co.

The ball's finally rolling down on Tokeneke Street, to steal Meatball & Co. owner Joe Criscuolo's inadvertent pun. The meatball shop officially opened its doors June 17 and has been operating under "soft opening" status for the last two weeks. 

"We haven't really done any marketing, but things are picking up on there own," Criscuolo said. "It's been spreading by word of mouth. We're still waiting on getting our signage up, so we'll have our logo up soon. Right now, we're not sure people know we're back here."

Meatball & Co., located at 23 Tokeneke Road, specializes in dishes centered around-you guessed it-meatballs! It's Criscuolo's attempt to bring a little New York City flavor to the streets of Darien.

"It's something different. You have to travel into the city or up to New Haven for the closest thing to what I do," he said. "Fairfield County has so much of the same. It's so congested and there's nothing different.  I wanted to create something new. I wanted to make this somewhere I'd want to go eat."

Criscuolo, who attended the Culinary Institute of America and whose family has been in the restaurant business for more than 50 years, said meatballs were an easy choice for a new market to target.

"Meatballs are great," he said. "You can create all of these different combinations around them and do some many things with them, and they're still a comfort food. There's nothing pretentious about them." 

The Meatball of the Day has been a popular novelty among customers who are looking to try something different. The restaurant has offered concoctions like the Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil meatball, the Philly Cheesesteak meatball, the Buffalo Chicken meatball, the Barbecue ball and the Bacon & Gorgonzola meatball. Criscuolo also said they're looking into gluten-free offerings as well.

"We experiment with new stuff everyday," he said. "We're looking to meet everyone's dietary needs and it's a work in progress... We grind all our own meat. Everything is extra fresh. All we have in the freezer is ice cream and ice. The only thing out of a can or jar is maybe the olives." 

The store has half-a-dozen local beers on tap and five wines on hand currently, and homemade cookies from Criscuolo's wife are available as well. 

Meatball & Co. is currently open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday except Sunday, when they are closed.