Merlino’s

Went for dinner last night. Crowded and very loud. Couple we were with tried to change table, but «manager «was rather arrogant and would not switch (apparently those tables were being saved for other customers). We would have left but likelihood of getting reservations elsewhere at 8PM, would be challenging. Service was very slow. When I mentioned to waiter (nicely) that we noticed a number of tables seated well after us were already served, he responded with a flippant comment, asking if I had hired a private detective. He ultimately reconsidered his comment, apologized and brought 3 glasses of wine (although there were 4 of us). Food finally arrived (mine a bit overdone) and it was good. Don’t think I will be back.

What is it about South Philly Italian food that is so friggin good? I have no idea but I love it like no other. I know that New Yorkers think they do everything better but that is not the case. South Philadelphia Italian cuisine reigns supreme. I apologize in advance to my NY friends for that statement.
I’ve been coming to Merlino’s since they’ve opened and up until recently, I would just pop in for a drink. I finally ate here with my wife a few weeks ago before going out of town and I’m glad that I did.
The dining room is a fairly large open space and is decorated modernly. There is a large room available towards the back of the restaurant that is available for private parties. I’d say that the restaurant is casual.
Robert was our server and he was fantastic. When we told him that we had not eaten there before he went over the menu in depth with us. He also made several recommendations to us. Obviously I had to start with the cheese steak (shocker). My wife ordered the rigatoni Bolognese and I ordered the spaghetti alla carbonara. They have a good wine list and they don’t hose you on the prices which is a plus. We ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir and it was a very good wine.
After taking our order Robert brought over a fresh bread basket with a garlic spread in EVOO. Wow the spread was so simple, yet so friggin good. I couldn’t get enough of it.
When the cheese steak was put down in front of me I put on my serious face immediately. It was stuffed with meat :) and the cheese whiz was dripping all over the plate, can I get a hallelujah? The hoagie roll was legit. It had a perfect crunch to it. The meat was well seasoned and cooked to perfection. This is my new go to spot when I’m craving a cheese steak.
Next the entrees came out and the presentation was good.
The macaroni was nice and firm which is the only way to prepare it in my opinion. The carbonara was excellent. It is a little different here as opposed to the traditional preparation. Instead of using pancetta they use Prosciutto Di Parma and they also use peas. I’m usually anti peas in my carbonara but I enjoyed them in this dish, surprise. The cream sauce was flavorful and reduced properly. I would definitely order this again on another visit. The portion size was just right.
The Bolognese consists of veal and beef. My wife absolutely loved it. I ended up ordering it on another visit and I enjoyed it as well. It was flavorful and the gravy was slightly spicy which I thought was great. They were generous with the meat to gravy ratio which was a plus.
When it came to dessert time I was eyeing the pizzelle ice cream sandwich. It was home made Italian cookies with Gelato. It took major will power on my part not to order it. Well will power and the fact that I stuffed my fat face enough that I had no room left in me. Next time I will order it for sure.
I find the prices to be very reasonable here as well as in line with other higher end Italian eateries.
Robert was attentive without being intrusive throughout our entire experience. He made us feel welcomed and we never felt uncomfortable. Ask for Robert and he will treat you like family.
I can’t wait to return and check out their veal dishes.
I’m stoked that I finally found a good Italian restaurant in Boca that I can return to. That will save me a lot of time from driving down to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami when I want a good Italian meal but, am too lazy to cook.
Grazie di tutto amici

Very unimpressive for an Italian restaurant in Boca Raton. Service was decent and restaurant was casual and not as nice as expected. Found a long human hair in one of the clams in my linguine al vongole (linguine with clams) and the mussels with white sauce were decent but a little grindy (not cleaned well). Bathroom was a disaster and very messy but at least the wine was good (it’s hard to mess up a nice bottle of wine… That was probably the only highlight of this restaurant). Wouldn’t go back. So many way better Italian restaurants in Boca, Delray, and South Florida so no reason to waste your time here!

1^st visit was a dinning experience food, service décor. Returning with family for wife’s bday.
Have been back to Merlino’s 2x since my last review, My wife’s birthday and again on 1÷14÷2016 with a group of friends. The food is consistently OUTSTANDING, the service was perfect attentive but by no means intrusive. Merlino’s is the real deal… BRAVO Mr Merlino you clearly get what a dinning experience should be. See you again soon.

Food and service the best. Energetic atmosphere. Authentic south philly Italian food. The best.

Delicious authentic Italian, great bar service! Loved the Caprese Salad, Chicken Paillard, Rigatoni Fra Diavlo and the Cayenne Parmesan Popcorn is amazing! Fun, lively atmosphere… its like a piece of the northeast parked itself in Boca.

In a party of six we all had excellent meals. I had the South Philly Veal which was the best dinner of a seven day vacation. The other two men in our group had the same selection and shared my opinion. My wife had the Eggplant Parm and said it was delicious. The waiter was top notch & the prices were very reasonable for such good quality. Kudos to Merlinos & especially the chef! We will absolutely recommend Merlino’s.

I have had the privilege of eating at this establishment 5+ times, each time I was blown away. If you want great Italian food, I highly recommend this resturant.

Had my birthday diner there Friday evening, forth time I have taken family with me they love it I love it, the food as well as the service, and music was all good a whole lot of City of Brotherly Love brought from South Philly to South Florida.
We had drinks at the bar after diner, Joey and Donny are the perfect hosts
Sonny G
6÷26÷15

Best baked clams I’ve ever had! Also the shrimp and Caesar flatbread was amazing! I’d go again!

This place is what italian food is all about! We dined last night and i couldn’t wait to write a review today. The food was outstanding and if i wasn’t in public i would have cleaned all 4 dishes we ordered. The group started with escarole and beans and meatballs, the starters were banging and tasted super authentic. For dinner i had the veal south philly and it was perfect. Our guests had a bolognese and the carbonara and they loved it as well. I was thrilled with the service from our Belgium waiter and the gal behind the bar. We shall return and probably soon.

The bar is nice and the restaurant looks good. This was our first visit. The food was pizzeria quality at fine dining prices. My wife had Shrimp Fra Diavlo. Sauce was bland. I had Veal Marsala. Sauce was average. Veal was tough. Food really sub-​par. We might go back for a drink but won’t be eating there again. Two entrees and two glasses of wine came to $ 106.00 without tip. Its annoying to get sub-​par food at this price point.

Dont waste your money! The food is horrible. The service is very poor. Two servers run all the tables while the other servers watch. Theres no teamwork. The manager doesnt exist. The owner is never there. Who runs this place? Go to Trattoria Romana for real Italian food.

Worst service and really sub par food. When we complained to the manager, he took 100 dollars off the bill and then the waiter came over to tell us that he knew we complained about bad service (could you imagine?). On our way out, we ran into three couples who were all complaining… Do yourself a favor and don’t go here. Bad management. Any positive review is clearly written by a stakeholder or friend of the owner.

Everything was top notch. Had the poached pear stuffed pasta dish, forget name but was told it is there number one dish. It was incredible! Cesar salad was a Cesar salad, nothing crazy. Clams fresh and tasty, great wine list and friendly atmosphere.

Excellent food. Good service. Good drinks. Temperature was a little bit cold inside. I’d say it’s the best Italian in Boca Raton.

Merlino’s feels like the disco scene out of Steve Martin’s movie the Jerk. We arrived for our 8:30 res and they didn’t have a table for us, they asked us to go to the bar and it should 10 minutes. The décor seems old even though the place is new. The bar was overcrowded with older socialites eating dinner and having PDA making it difficult to obtain a drink. There was a DJ in the corner pumping 70s music for some reason. We ordered two martinis squeezing past seated patrons, the bar staff was courteous but her martini was not very good and she said «I ran out of blue cheese olives, so here they are with regular». Not sure why she didn’t have new ones made, but okay. We had one more uncomfortable explanation by hostess as to why she couldn’t seat us, apparently there was only 1 table for us in the entire place and previous party wouldn’t get up. By 9:15 we were sufficiently annoyed so we made a res at a new restaurant and made our way out. Place seems like the cool college hangout for 60 – 70 year olds.

Had a somewhat good meal here mixed in with some disappointments. Started with meeting youthful inexperienced hostesses that tried to sit us by the front door. Protesting to them they said all the other (70% vacant) tables had reservations. By the way, we had reservations also.
They then sat us across from the table by the front entrance but it wasn’t the second worst table in the restaurant as the table to the west of us had a column that would literally dig into a 4^th seater’s chair while obstructing diner no. 2. So what could we do? Walk out? No I wanted to try this place. So we opted for bad table #3. By the way the next two groups that were ushered to the front and 2^nd worst table complained and one was moved to a far better one (after complaining about their second move to the «column» table). (Suggestion get rid of those three tables obviously the majority of prospective diners have an issue with them).
Started with the fried meatballs with arugula, endive and grape tomatoes. The meatballs were excellent (I love fried meatballs and which is relatively hard to come by) but the salad accompaniment did not work. The bitterness of the endives overpowered the dish. Additionally the grape type tomatoes were of the lowest quality being ¹⁄₃ the size of normal grape tomatoes more green than red in color and hard.
Had the penne arrabiatta as our second course which was phenomenal. It was very spicy just the way I love it and the noodles were cooked perfectly al dente.
I was disappointed in the Chicken parm and side spaghetti as a result of the red sauce which I found bitter.
Had an adjoining broccoli rabe which had an off blanched color which after a few bites my wife kindly suggested that I should stop eating even though broccoli rabe is suppose to have a bitterness but I think she found it sour in tasting.
To go with the Italian theme it would be cool to have more of an Italian wait staff thing but regardless no big deal. Boca is a challenging place to find anything different than white bread and mayonnaise, that’s what makes Boca — Boca.
By the time we left the bar was cranking a good sign and the restaurant was filling up.
I will try this place again and see to what degree it improves.

Location, food, staff, vibe are very near the top of anyone’s list but a recent visit definitely sets this place apart. Bad news was a computer problem accidentally lost our reservation, normally a complete disaster. This is where the 5 stars factor in, not only did they accommodate us in a professional and expeditious way but they promised we would have a good time and of course they delivered. Food was very good, service out of this world & even though the place was extremely busy the staff did an amazing job getting us satisfied. Please visit this place because although they are relatively new they have their act together. Can’t wait to revisit and enjoy the restaurant again

A new, nice place on the East Boca map. The food is fantastic. Just like Mama would make if she were your Mama. Excellent wine list. Great staff. Everyone is helpful and gracious.