G’vanni’s

I would have to say the wait was the biggest problem! We were seated in time but the entrees took 1.5 hrs to get to the table. I did enjoy the food but wouldn’t wait that long again!

G’vanni’s is an unassuming little restaurant in the North End. It is typical red sauce fare. They are consistent in how they make their entrees. The restaurant itself is tiny and I’ve never had a very long wait for a table (but this might be because I have never been there on a weekend night). I would not recommend this restaurant to large groups. It is perfect for two or three people per table.
The risotto with asparagus and mushroom is very good, the rice wasn’t overcooked (which is easy to do with risotto) and the combination of the two vegetables and cheese offered a nice variety of flavors. The pollo carciofi is an interesting choice. The artichoke frittata can be a hit or miss though. The garlic scallops are also a good choice although the choice of scallion flowers is an odd choice and doesn’t add significantly to the seasoning of the scallops.
But the one dish I would order from here without second-​guessing my choice is the rigatoni bolognese. It is a delicious pasta dish made with ground beef/​veal, celery and carrot. The tomato sauce that accompanies this has a bit of a kick to it but is not overly spicy and accentuates the flavor of the celery and carrot wonderfully. I don’t particularly care for the bread they serve, it is too crusty and dense for my taste and doesn’t contribute to the meal in any way.

I, like many others, purchased a Travelzoo coupon for a three course meal before heading in to the north end. After purchasing the certificate I checked out Unilocal and saw the negative reviews. As such, I decided to leave the Hubby at home and bring an adventurous aunt to the restaurant. Our experience could not have been better!
The day: informed by my fellow Unilocalers, we avoided a Fri, Sat, Sun excursion and instead went on a Tuesday night with a 6 pm online reservation. On arrival we gave our name and the reservation was nowhere to be found, but when I gave the door man the details of our reservation we were seated right away.
The atmosphere: The dining area is VERY Small. You will share a table with total strangers, but this is how the north end is people. Tiny and intimate. The red lighting made reading the menu difficult, but aided in ignoring the close quarters. Literally the whole dining area was about 25′ deep and 10′ across with about 30 seats total.
The Staff: Our server was Nadej (Sp?). She was lovely, attentive but not smothering. She informed us that the certificate had no restrictions, and gave us time to browse.
The menu: The food is Expensive. I would not eat here on my income without a certificate. Apps range from $ 8 – 20, Entrees from $ 15 – 45 and dessert about $ 9 each, a carafe of house wine is $ 28 (WORTH IT!).
The food: Amazing. So friggin’ good. we had a the mussels ($ 13) and artichoke chops ($ 14). Which were hardy and delicious. Then we had the lemon Salmon ($ 27) and the Gorgonzola filet steak ($ 40). Huge and decadent. Beautifully plated and great flavors. Dessert crème brûlée cheesecake and the bocce ball gelato. Everything was excellent. Check total was $ 149 with tax, the certificate meant we paid for the wine, (Worth it!) tax and tip only. The total was about $ 70 because we tipped well plus the original cost of the certificate. and I think the night was worth that.
Overall impression: If I was wealthy, this is exactly the kind of place I would frequent. Alas, I am not. So if this offer comes up again, I will buy again, and if I hit the lottery, I’m renting the place out for a night and bringing my 29 favorite people out for a great dinner in town.

See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
Thanks for making me (and everyone else outside) wait over an hour PAST our reservation, for nothing but mediocre food.

if i could give this place 0 stars, i would. This is the WORST dining experience i have ever had in my life.
so like everyone else i had a coupon deal (25 $ for 50). The first time i tried to get into this crap hole, the little ogre standing outside literally shoved his hand in my face to stop me from coming in. he proceeded to yell «if you dont have a reservation you’re not getting in!!!» ok, asshole. i hear ya loud and clear.
If i hadnt already invested 25 $ i wouldnt have tried to come back. But alas im a fool for italian food. I came back last night (with reservations) at 7:30 with a friend. We got seated at 8:20. And mind you its 85 degrees outside and we’re both sweatin balls. Finally we get to go in (no air conditioning… wow), continue to sweat balls, and sit, literally 3 inches away from the people next to us. Awesome. so basically the entire 2 hours that we were there i had to lean over the table so that the server (one of two) could lean over and pass dishes/​etc over my back. lovely.
So we’re perusing the menu, and said server comes over to ask how we’re doing blah blah blah. hot, sweaty, and hungry. I bite my tongue, and being the decent human being that i am, i alert him to the fact that the couple sitting on top of us was here first, and he should probably deal with them accordingly. Stupid. stupid. stupid Lily. What pisses me off more than rudeness is a person lacking common sense. The couple next to us also have a coupon, theirs, however, is for a 3 course meal. So i end up pushing my chest into our table so that the server can communicate the restricted options and explain what a salad is for the next (i kid you not) 12 minutes. I mean, would it have killed him to be like «hey, why dont i give you another minute to look at the menu while i get you guys a drink?» and then proceed to get them and US drinks. negative.
i was hoping that i could just stuff my face to happiness, but no such luck. we ordered the bacon wrapped scallops (the only good thing about the entire night) but there were like 6 little pieces and the plate was 14 $!!! wtf?! We also split the prosciutto/​mozzarella appetizer which was just weird. So maybe i didnt read the menu right, but i expected cold crisp tomato/​mozzarella and some yummy meat. Everything was hot/​cooked and the prosciutto was basically canadian ham drenched in salt. Again the portion was small (which didnt really matter because we couldnt finish it due to saltiness) and cost 12 – 13 $. Ridiculous. Oh… and they charge 60 $ for a 22 $ bottle of Santa Margarita pinot grisio.
Ok fine, give me my lasagna. Nothing out of the ordinary. Your standard cheese/​carbs + meat sauce. whatever. We finally get our bill; of course they forgot to deduct the 50 $, at this point its like 10pm and im too damn impatient to wait for the server to come back around, so i walk the 4 feet to the end of the restaurant to alert the only other server to the problem. I tell her i had a 25 for 50 coupon and so she takes the bill from me and proceeds to deduct 25 $. I in tern say, no you need to take off 50, and she gives me some obnoxious attitude saying «WELL YOU SAID 25.» At this point i nearly lost my shit and grabbed the closest carafe of water to dump on this bitch.
i mean these people are ALL about the service. Any other place, we would have gotten comped something JUST for having to wait nearly an hour on a reservation. Here, we were treated like second class citizens and our business clearly wasn’t appreciated. (dont worry, i still tipped off the total bill amount).
one final thought: FUCK YOU G’VANNIS. FUCK. YOU.

Just an update to let everyone know that nothing has changed about this place since the last 100+ Unilocal reviews:
Pointless Reservation System: I went with 7 of my girlfriends on a MONDAY night, and we had reservations for about 7:30. We got seated 45 minutes later.
Groupon Customers: Like everyone else and their mom, we came armed with a Groupon: $ 100 off $ 200 worth of food. It takes the edge off the prices here.
Cramped Seating: Yep, still a small place.
Prompt Wait Staff: Water was constantly refilled, and wait staff was attentive and polite.
Tasty Food: All the appetizers we ordered were good, which consisted of: calamari, scallops with bacon, bruschetta, and the mozza wraps. My lobster ravioli was delicious! Just fyi, on the menu the lobster ravioli’s price is based on the price of the lobster for that day. The day I went, it cost $ 28.99. My friends also enjoyed their chicken cacciatore, lasagna with spinach and prosciutto, as well as other dishes.
Don’t come here unless you have a coupon and don’t mind waiting up to an hour past your original reservation time, but the food is pretty good!

Made a reservation due to the overwhelming amount of people who mentioned the wait time. Sunday evening, mid-​March in Boston doesn’t seem like it would be difficult to get a table, but I’m glad I made the reservation. Walked up 5 minutes before my time and was immediately seated at a table and out of the cold. Coming from Hawaii, even 50 degrees is cold!
Dinner was awesome! Shared a bottle of wine, had apps and two entrees. The ravioli are so worth it… one person at the table has to get these or order it as an appetizer to share. Used a
$ 50 gift certificate and the dinner was very reasonable. It would have been slightly higher than I would have liked for the experience without it.
Service was very good, attentive and water was always full without asking.
Too full for dessert, next time I’ll save room.

I am still recovering from my Italian (okay, American-​Italian) feast at G’vanni’s last night. We had 6pm reservations on a Monday, and we got seated right away. The restaurant is teeny tiny and the tables are ridiculously close together. So, not exactly the best date location. But I’m sure the older couple next to us enjoyed hearing about all my life gossip, in detail.
They promptly brought us bread, olive oil and water. Our waitress was 7 months pregnant and was really sweet. The wine list was a bit disappointing– basically just bottles of Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Chianti and Cabernet. We ordered a carafe of Chardonnay, which was more like a bottle and then some– they filled it up to the very top. The food menu was huge and we had a tough time deciding what to order. We started out with a crab cake appetizer, which was big and tasty. Then I got the potato gnocchi with red sauce (they left off the mozzarella at my request) and my friend got a pasta the waitress recommended– it had shrimp, prosciutto and tomatoes in it. My gnocchi was good, if a bit heavy, and my friend’s pasta was delicious. We were completely full and still had leftovers to take home with us.
When the bill came, it was about $ 95, which surprised me. We had a $ 50 coupon/​deal, so we didn’t mind that much– but with tip, that would have been a $ 115 meal (for a carafe of wine, an app and 2 entrees) — definitely a bit overpriced. When we left, there were probably 15 people outside waiting for tables.
That being said, this isn’t a bad place to try if you’re looking to feast on American-​Italian food in a cute, small restaurant. Come on off hours, order a carafe of wine, and either come with a coupon/​deal or do their $ 29.99 deal (only valid during certain hours).

Shortly after leaving the tiny cacoon that is G’Vanni’s I wiped out on the cobblestoned streets of the North End. Why is this relevant? The carafes of wine are thaaaaat big.
A lot of reviewers have been pissing and moaning about the wait times and the prices… but…it is what it is. A teeny tiny restaurant (30 seats at best) in the North End (not a cheap place to eat). That being said… this is not authentic, rustic Italian food like Artu next door.
It’s solid, American-​Italian food. There don’t seem to be any huge surprises on the menu, although it does specifically state that the fish of the day is «Salmon». Every. Damn. Day.
I thought our server was great, our water glasses were consistently full, and our HUGE carafe of wine came to the table with bread really quickly. We started out with the crab cake appetizer which was standard, but totally enjoyable. I had the Shrimp Guiseppe for my entrée. The pasta tasted really fresh, the sauce was great and the proscuitto was… proscuitto, so I was very pleased. The portions are huge and if you get an appetizer you should plan on bringing food home.
G’Vanni’s is a little pricey but they constantly offer Groupon and Buy With Me deals. They also have an option of two entrees and a bottle of wine for $ 29.99! I would definitely go back for that. If you like Americanized Italian food and you don’t really feel like going on any kind of a culinary adventure, definitely stop by G’Vanni’s.
Wear flats. Those carafes plus cobblestones equal Spiderman bandaids on your knees.

So I fully understand that restaurants in the North End are small, and I knew this going into my dining experience with G’vanni’s. But I (as many other reviewers have said) get really annoyed when I make a reservation and it takes me over half an hour to be seated. Why even make reservations? A word to the people who run G’vanni’s — either figure out a system that actually allows you to seat people on time, or just stop taking reservations! I don’t mind going to a restaurant without reservations and choosing to wait, I do mind making reservations and having to wait a significant amount of time to be seated, since I usually make plans based on the reservation time. On a side note — the guy who was handling the seating was very nice and attempted to keep us happy while we waited.
So now that I am seated, we order our food and our waiter is very nice. He brings our wine and some delicious warm bread and olive oil. So I am chatting and drinking the wine, and all of a sudden 30 minutes have gone by and my boyfriend and I are still without food. What made the even more annoying was the people around us, who were seated 30 minutes or more after us, were receiving there food, and some of it was the same items that we ordered! So we said something to the waiter, and from the look on his face it seemed like he forgot to put in our order. So he rushes around and after another 25 minutes, we finally begin to eat. Mind you, we planned on sitting down at 7:30, sat down at 8, and we didn’t even get our food until almost 9.
However, when the food came, it was delicious, and that is the only reason this place gets three stars. We got the calamari, which was perfectly cooked and delicious. We also have the scallops wrapped in bacon. Now those weren’t the best, but they had this phenomenal sauce over it that made it so much better, and we were even putting the calamari in it. We had a Cesar salad and a pomodoro salad, both of which were very good, but basic. For dinner, I had the chicken cacciatore which was AMAZING and my boyfriend had the shrimp risotto which he loved. Portion sizes were very good and we definitely took some things home.
We had a coupon (like it seems everyone else did) so the price wasn’t bad, but it definitely could have been expensive without it. I am not sure if I would go here again, because there are plenty of other places in the area who have great food AND great service. Perhaps if there is another coupon I might consider it!

used a TravelZoo coupon for our meal. $ 35 for a three course meal for two (if they ever do that coupon again– I am in!)
That being said– their prices are a little bit high –even for the North End.
Food was yummy and VERY plentiful. Our waitress (7 months pregnant) was engaging and cheerful– sweet woman!
We ordered a carafe of house chianti with our meal $ 28– again a little more than it should be ($ 19.99 would have been reasonable and expected) They had some good specials being offered as well when we went (a Sunday).
Downsides:
Small-​even for North End teeny restaurants! Seats maybe 25 people-​and very squished together– no fat people need to make reservations — you wont fit in the tables!
The girl checking in reservations. Ours was for 630 and yet we didnt get seated until after 730. I knew we would be waiting (from other Unilocalers) but I think they need to get themselves together and alot more time for tables so people know what to expect– she seemed like the’ten or fifteen more minutes’ thing was old hat to her –yet it wasnt the truth.
The lighting– a little too dark for me– one more turn up on the notches and I would have enjoyed sitting inside more.
All in all– the place was yummy– our bill would have been $ 140 for two had we not had the coupon, but then again we NEVER get two appetizers, entrees and desserts when we go out!
Just make sure to realize that the reservation is a guideline and you will have a great time.

From one Groupon holder to another:
We had reservations at 5:30p on a Monday; there was no wait. The Groupon included 2 appetizers, 2 salads or pasta dishes (a bowl of pasta w/​red sauce), and 2 entrees. The steak was not available that night. We ordered:
1. calamari: decent.
2. scallop wrapped in bacon (6): overdone
3. grilled asparagus: hard to mess up, but nothing to write home about
4. pumpkin ravioli: I didn’t care for the sage sauce, but the ravioli by itself was good.
5. ricotta ravioli with chicken sausage: just as Kimberly H. described, it had a brick of cheese on top.
The total was $ 86, but with the Groupon, we paid $ 5.60 for tax. Service was slow; total dining time was 90 min. 50% of the customers had Groupon’s. I can’t imagine that any of them would be repeat customers. Overall, the quality of the food did not match the exorbitant prices. If you have a Groupon, I’d make early reservations on a weekday.

There are countless reviews commenting on the wait and the agony so I will try to make this review useful.
a) A reservation does get you something… it gets you a place in line. No walk-​ins are accepted (esp on weekends). The problem is they overbook every time-​slot so there is always, always, always a wait.
b) Coming with 2 people is infinitely better than coming with 4. You will be less likely to wait a really long time.
c) The food is *not* worth a 2-​hour wait. I don’t even think it’s worth a 1-​hour wait. The service isn’t spectacular, it’s all just okay!
d) Just do yourself a favor and go on a weekday (M-​R), and go early. Even reserving a table at 5p on a Saturday will probably get you seated by 6:30p.
Now all that being said, my party of 4 waited for 2 hours last night (Sunday) for our table in the biting cold. We were just consistently told it would be another 20 – 30 minutes, and that’s why we waited. It’s a really sad story and I kind of wanted to cry! But obviously the owners don’t care.
I’d be happy to give this place 4 stars if this food really was that spectacular. But it’s not. And with any sort of groupon, you’ll still end up paying $ 15 or so in tax and tip. Entrees range from $ 18 – 30. If you have a groupon, I’d request your money back and go elsewhere!

1 star because I had to rate and it hurts!
I had two groupons for $ 60 each and walked away. I knew what I was getting into with the wait and I read ahead on Unilocal what this place does with reservations so I placed an open table reservation (7:30) and gave them 15 minutes over the reservation time. I walked away after 10 minutes when I heard someone complaining in line that they had 7:00pm reservations.
Seriously avoid this place. Customer service issues with the boob outside the door snow-​jobbing everyone «it will only be a little bit longer». You’ve officially entered the land of Oz if you come here, it’s pure fiction!

This restaurant is out of the way and very cozy (as in small) The walls are painted a gorgeous red and one side of the room is filled with bottles of red wine.
This is a good place for a first date, or any date that you aren’t bringing your buds along, just your sweetie. It would even behoove you to make a reservation, seriously. On any given night.
They totally honored a 2006 gift certificate we received from a friend for our anniversary.
One waitress and two very observant boys that made sure your water was filled, and plates were removed. Lovely set up.
Seated near the wine, we eventually shared our space with a Unilocaler and tripadvisor who were there on a groupon. Don’t you love our lingo?
They even allowed me to take a picture of their food, what troopers. I find it important to let people who could be affected by your flash on your phone, aware of what you are doing, common courtesy.
They brought us a carafe of water, which is awesome because I am always so thirsty when walking from Government Center to Prince Street in the North End. They filled it three times.
We were brought over bread to snack on so we wouldn’t eat off our fingers, but the olive oil was bland and really needed red pepper flakes or something to give it some flavour. The bread was soft and hot but without butter, I wasn’t so interested.
What we ordered:
Appetizers: Bruschetta and grilled asparagus salad
ME: Spinaci con Pollo
Sweetie: Raviolis with chicken sausage
The bruschetta was missing something, the bread was soggy with yummy olive oil, but I love my bruschetta crisp and crunchy (remember Julie and Julia and Julie’s husband eating her bruschetta??? oh my I crave it RIGHT NOW just thinking about it!) The actual chopped veggies lacked flavour, maybe it needed some balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper? I dunno, it wasn’t my fave.
The grilled asparagus was über yummy, it was served on a bed of arugula and more bruschetta stuff.
My spinach fettuccini and chicken was interestingly good. Black pitted olives and several kinds of mushrooms were dancing all over the pasta, the chicken was succulent and the tomatoes were just soft enough that they weren’t mushified when I put my fork through it. It was well seasoned and quite a lot in my plate.
Sweetie’s Raviolis were just that, cheesy, with more cheese on top and slices of chicken sausages strewn throughout.
No dessert people, just a serious to go box and lunch for the next day (in my sweetie’s case, he ate his for breakfast)

This is my comfort Italian food spot in the North End.
My one issue was that we had reservations for 7:30 p.m., but were not seated until after 8 p.m.; however, the hostess (forget her name) was extremely nice and honest and entertained the crowd that time went by quickly.
This restaurant is definitely more cramped than other restaurants, but I’ll keep going here as long as I live in Boston! A little pricey for the quality, but the food isn’t bad by any means.

I’ve been meaning to use my $ 25
gift cert (bought for $ 2, thanks to an awesome sale) here for a while, and last night I got my chance. This place is chaos, even on a Thursday night around 6:30; there was a giant party of 8 milling crankily around out front and it was hard to get the ‘host’s attention as he was trying to figure out what to do with them (note: this tiny place is NOT good for groups, I wouldn’t recommend coming with more than 4 at the MOST, I’d probably stick to just 2). After a few minutes of him running around and ignoring us, I finally grabbed his attention, asked for a table for 2, and within a minute we were sat. Not a fan of the cramped quarters at all, definitely not a good date place but fine for a quick meal.
It took a few minutes for anyone to approach us, but our waitress was subsequently very nice (although she did forget to bring us out a side of red sauce we requested). We had already decided what to order, so placed both our drink and our meal order at the same time, which then came out within about 10 minutes (much appreciated as we were starving). I had the risotto with shrimp and asparagus ($ 23) which was really really yummy– big fan!-, and my companion had the pumpkin ravioli ($ 19) which was also quite good, had great flavor and was stuffed to the brim (although I thought it was a bit heavy and didn’t enjoy it as much as my risotto, but that’s more of a personal preference). Portions were huge, I took home half of my meal and can’t wait to have my leftovers.
I’m happy with the quality of food and the price we paid with the gift cert ($ 40 total inc. tip for 2 drinks and 2 entrees), but I probably wouldn’t ever pay full price here especially considering the scattered chaotic service and cramped quarters… if I’m going spendy Italian, I’m going Mamma Maria’s, no questions asked.

«It’s a smokescreen. She’s lying. If you believe her, let me sell you some land in Florida.»
This was the collective response to the hostess [owner? Mama Italia?] who kept telling us over and over «your table is next, it’ll be soon.» Waiting outside, the other patrons were cracking jokes with us about the long wait. Us and 3 other groups waited an hour. Yes, we had reservations. 8 of us were waiting outside, and ready to leave. If it wasn’t for Mama Italia’s smooth talking, we might’ve bolted for pizza/​gelato. That being said, at the end of the night, was it worth the wait? Yea, probably.
Fried calamari — it was good with the spicy marinara and the jalapeño gave it a good kick. Big enough to share…
Lobster ravioli — the vodka sauce was delicious. A great blend of the tang of vodka with the creaminess of the sauce. Lobster filling was so-​so. Big enough to share…
Chicken marsala supremo — A pretty basic dish, and hard to mess up. But the marsala sauce with mushrooms on top was good. Our table went through so many loaves of bread just soaking up the sauce. Also came with a stuffed tomato, a nice garnish addition. Big enough to share… (do you see a pattern???)
Shrimp and asparagus risotto — baby asparagus with size ¹⁶⁄₂₀ butterflied shrimp. Seasoned well. I hate it when risottos are too bland, but this one was good, with a good helping of black pepper. However, I found the risotto a tad dry, another ½ cup of milk/​stock would’ve helped to infuse more creaminess. And yes… big enough to share…
Great service. It was a crowded Friday night, and our tall waitress took great care of us with the water and toasty warm bread. In the meantime, Gvanni’s Italian Mama stood watch and floated from table to table to see if anyone needed anything. The above listed food ran us $ 90.
Food (⁷⁄₁₀)
Plating (³⁄₅)
Service (⁵⁄₅)
Décor (³⁄₅) — typical crowded North End restaurant

I’ll start by saying that the food here is amazing. This is some of the most delicious pasta and sauce I’ve had anywhere. We started with bruschetta and it was a very interesting mediterranean version including cucumbers, which I’ve never seen before. Delish! My shrimp and scallop fra diavlo was fresh and delicious and it was some of the most flavorful sauce I’ve ever had. My friend and I also split a «caraffe» of the house merlot. The caraffe was as big as a regular bottle and much cheaper than any of the other wines on the menu.
So why three stars? The service was fairly atrocious. I understand that most North End restaurants are tiny, but when I make a 7 o’clock reservation, I don’t expect to wait in the freezing cold for over half an hour. If that wasn’t bad enough, they lost a reservation that a party of four made in front of us and instead of apologizing, the hostess frantically tried to find someone else to blame for the mistake when it turned out that it was her fault to begin with. There was a couple next to us that got seated before us even though they had a later reservation and the hostess whispered to us that they had a better table for us so the other party of 2 was going to get seated first. We got seated a minute later, but I still thought it was unprofessional the way it was handled.
I would probably come back for the food, but not on a weekend. And honestly, I don’t know if making a reservation was even worth it.

My boyfriend and I were very excited to use our BuyWithMe voucher here — we paid $ 20 for a $ 50 voucher to this restaurant, which is a great deal. Things got off to a shaky start when we showed up at 6:29 for our 6:30 reservation and were told that they were full and we would have to wait for 5 minutes. Normally a 5 minute wait would be no big deal at all, but since this place is so tiny (seriously…SO tiny, more on that in a minute) we had to wait outside in the freezing cold. There was one other party in front of us, and we were worried we would have to wait a lot more than 5 minutes. Fortunately, we were all seated promptly at 6:35 when two tables opened up.
The restaurant is incredibly small (probably smaller than the living room in my large 1 bedroom) but they have managed to pack an unbelievable number of tables into that space. The table for two we were seated at was literally less than 2 inches from another table for two. This results in a little bit of awkwardness as you stumble into and out of your table, and also means you can’t help but eavesdrop on the conversations next to you. It also seemed like the waiters felt a little uncomfortable squeezing between the tables, so they kind of took our orders at a distance, which was a little odd.
Onto the food… the bread basket was good, but nothing amazing. Fresh bread and olive oil are pretty standard in the North End. We both ordered pasta dishes, which were a little bit pricey at $ 25 each. My bf had the chicken cacciatore, and I had the lobster ravioli. The lobster ravioli was good but stopped short of being excellent, and contrary to what other reviewers have said, I thought the amount of lobster in them was pretty minuscule. The sauce it was in was also a little watery. The boy felt similarly about his cacciatore — he said «it was good but it didn’t blow me away.» He also felt the sauce was too watery. Portions were very good, I felt — enough to make you feel full and satisfied but not enough so that you feel in pain afterwards, which is good because Mike’s Pastries is just around the corner!
The service was very friendly, albeit at a (literal) distance, and there were absolutely no issues using the voucher, which is always a relief.
We did sort of feel rushed out a little bit, not so much by the waitstaff, but just by the fact that every table was full and there were a bunch of freezing people outside waiting to get in. We were tired (yes at 8 pm, we are officially old) and were just fine heading home, but it might have been annoying if we had wanted to linger a bit.
The bottom line? The food is tasty and the service is friendly and I would be happy to go back if someone else was paying or if I had a similar $ 50 for $ 20 voucher. Getting a good hearty meal and fresh bread in a cozy North End spot for $ 16 each including tip and tax is definitely worth it. I don’t think I would be back to pay full price, there are better places in the neighborhood for less money.