MILFORD — On Bridgeport Avenue, between the car dealers and the strip plazas, there’s a low white building with a sign that has said the same thing for decades: Famous Roast Beef. Lasse’s Restaurant has been carving hot roast beef at 611 Bridgeport Ave. since 1964, and if you grew up in Milford there’s a good chance somebody brought you here.
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A piano player, a cook and an apartment upstairs
Lasse’s opened in May 1964, founded by Russell and Evelyn Lasse, according to the restaurant’s own history and Evelyn’s obituary. Restaurants ran in the family. Russell’s parents, Mabel and Peter Lasse, owned the Maples restaurant, and that’s where he met Evelyn. She was performing there.
Evelyn, born in New Haven in 1931, played the accordion and organ. She was crowned Miss Elm City in 1946 and, according to her obituary, backed performers including Louis Prima, Ella Fitzgerald and Perry Como. In the 1960s and ’70s she worked in the Lasse’s kitchen during the week and, on Friday and Saturday nights, played and led sing-alongs for the dining room.
“It was my life,” she told the Connecticut Post in 2011. “I raised five kids in the apartment upstairs. I spent 15 hours a day working side-by-side with my husband. I loved it.” Evelyn Lasse died in January 2023 at 91.
“Lasse’s is Lasse’s”
Around 2004 the restaurant passed to Scott Rohrig, Russ Lasse’s son-in-law, the Post reported in a 2011 profile headlined “At Lasse’s Restaurant change is not on the menu.” He was proud of how little he’d touched. “The only thing that has changed is the red-checked floor,” he said then. “The tables and chairs are 40 years old — they’re a little creaky.”
His reasoning was simple. “Our customer base is the same type of people we are,” Rohrig told the Post. “They don’t like change, so we don’t change anything.” The kitchen did grow, though: he added more sautéed chicken entrées and fresh seafood, and said “everything is fresh, not frozen.” And the roast beef stayed front and center. “It’s our gimmick,” he said. “Every restaurant has to have something to be successful.”
The line most people remember from that story: “I like to think of myself as the caretaker of Lasse’s. Lasse’s is Lasse’s. It belongs to everyone.”
Today the restaurant’s website still calls Lasse’s a “family owned and operated business since 1964” and says the menu has “evolved into a more modern-day type” while “keeping our original home-style meals at the heart.” It describes the place as “casual, relaxed and family friendly,” and the Facebook page counts more than 60 years.
Wood paneling, booths and old Milford on the walls
It isn’t a big room, and that’s part of the draw. The walls are wood-paneled and covered in black-and-white photos of the old town. There are booths along the walls and a small bar. “People like the comfortability, the closeness,” Rohrig said in 2011.
Google reviewer James stopped in on his way to Shelton and wrote that within 15 minutes of being seated “the place was full.” “It isn’t a big place but what it lacks in size it has character and a local feel,” he wrote. “The walls were full of photos of old-time Milford, and the locals buzzing in conversation.”
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What to order
The menu is long: sandwiches, burgers, seafood, chicken, pasta, steaks and a section of home-style “Lasse’s Originals.” Here’s where to start. Prices are from the restaurant’s online menu and can change.
The famous hot roast beef sandwich ($8.95 to $16.95)
This is why you came. Hot roast beef on a hard roll is $8.95, and the grinder is $12.95. At lunch, Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Famous Hot Roast Beef Sandwich comes with potato salad for $9.95, dine-in only. Want it as a dinner? The Hot Open Roast Beef Sandwich in the Originals section comes with mashed potatoes and vegetables for $16.95.
“Been getting the famous hot roast beef for 30 years,” wrote Marcus on Google. “Always tremendous.” Kurt ordered it with a side of potato salad and called it “very delicious, with high-quality meat.”
Lasse’s Originals ($16.95)
The section that feels most like 1964: hand-carved turkey, pot roast, stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers, roast pork and meatloaf, each with sides. Lunch versions of the meatloaf, roast pork and pot roast dinners are $12.95.
100% Maine lobster roll ($21.95)
Make it a Blue Plate with fries and cole slaw for $24.95.
Coconut shrimp ($16.95)
Five shrimp with a honey mustard dipping sauce, from the appetizer list.
Lasse’s “Grilled Chicken” Salad ($16.95)
Romaine, oranges, cranraisins, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, gorgonzola and red onion with raspberry vinaigrette.
Shrimp scampi ($23.95)
Served over linguini. Pastas start at $17.95, and the chicken entrées — cacciatore, francese, Sorrento and more — are $19.95.
Lunch sandwiches ($11.95)
The grilled blackened salmon burger comes with cole slaw. There’s also a fried sole melt, a patty melt and the “White Russian”: turkey, slaw and Swiss on grilled rye. James’s wife had the patty melt; he had the rib eye sandwich (the Open Rib Eye is $19.95).
Weekly specials
- Wednesday: corned beef and cabbage.
- Thursday: liver and onions with mashed potatoes and vegetables.
- Friday and Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m.: prime rib dinner, and beer-batter fish and chips.
Seafood runs deep too: whole-belly clams are $28.95, and there’s beer-battered Atlantic cod at lunch for $14.95.
What people say
Lasse’s has a 4.6-star rating from more than 800 Google reviews. Regulars talk about the roast beef, the prices and the feeling that the place hasn’t changed.
A beautiful old school restaurant with delicious Italian, seafood, and signature roast beef sandwiches.
Kurt, Google review
Food is delicious, prices are reasonable… I live out of town but it is well worth the trip.
Diane, Google review
Marcus, the 30-year regular, wrote that there “must be 100 different meals you can order.” His one complaint: the dining room “just needs updating,” and “you sink into the cushions in booths.” For a lot of regulars, that’s part of the charm.
Trays for the family
Lasse’s does catering, and its family-style trays feed four for $40. One is a make-your-own roast beef sandwich setup with rolls, gravy and potato salad, which may be the easiest way to win a Sunday. You can order online through the restaurant’s website, or call 203-874-9574.
LASSE’S RESTAURANT AT A GLANCE
Where: 611 Bridgeport Ave., Milford
Phone: 203-874-9574
Hours: Mon.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sun. 11:30 a.m.–8 p.m. (per its website listing)
Since: May 1964, founded by Russell and Evelyn Lasse
Known for: Hot roast beef sandwiches, home-style Originals, Friday and Saturday prime rib
Online: lassesrestaurant.com · Instagram @lassesrestaurant
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