Piattini

Great little restaurant. We celebrated my BF’s 50^th birthday with a group of friends. The owner was very gracious, the service was great and food was really good. Newbury street is our favorite street in Boston and to dine outside was a true treat!

Late dinner at Piattini was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. They kept the door open to allow the summer evening air in and the ceiling fan added just the right breeze. I enjoyed the warm, balsamic-​glazed cauliflower, the lightly buttered scampi, and a glass of Riesling by real candle light. Service was pleasant, warm, and genuine. I haven’t had this type of just-​right dinner service in a long time. Food, service, and ambience were all very enjoyable. I will look forward to returning to try some of their freshly made desserts, in which I was too full to indulge this time.

Great little find on Newbury street. I ordered a seasonal cocktail to start. It was a lavender blueberry martini and absolutely amazing. Perfectly blended and tasted great.
For dinner, I ordered the Bolognese. It came out surprisingly fast and was piping hot. Very good! Highly recommended!

The lobster ravioli was soo good! The frutti di mare had such a bland flavor compared to other Italian restaurants I’ve had it at. The gnocchi was overhyped on Unilocal,it was not as flavorful as described. I ate here during a weeknight and the staff was not very attentive and I felt as though they forgot our table because of how long they took to take our order. It’s a great place to stop and have an app or a glass of wine while you’re shopping on newbury, but would not recommend it for a group gathering or for dinner.

With so many places to choose from on Newbury street I’m very happy with my choice with Piattini. It’s in a good location on Newbury street. The setup inside is nice and it added to the experience. The service was fantastic.
I had veal and wine. It was easily the best veal I’ve ever had in my life. It was really tender and flavorful and the sauce was phenomenal. The green beans and potatoes paired well with it. The wine was a nice compliment to the meal. Overall everything was excellent.
I would definitely recommend if you’re in to Italian food.

Best viewed as a cute place to have a glass of wine outside on a nice day. The food and service are OK but pretty under-​seasoned and some dishes not exactly being hot by the time they reached our table.
Eggplant melanzana, again if seasoned properly, was a good size and presentation but still didn’t leave an impression otherwise.

This was the first restaurant I’ve ever tried in Boston and what a treat it was!
We went without a reservation on a Saturday night and were seated within in 15 minutes. The waitress was very polite and consistently checked up on my girlfriend and I.
I had the lobster ravioli in a lobster cream sauce and she had the vegetarian risotto. This was the best lobster ravioli I’ve ever eaten in my life! The portion size was massive. I am not a huge risotto fan, but I had a bite of hers and it was great! She enjoyed it very much. The only difference I would’ve liked was a better presentation for my dish, but that didn’t really matter to me.
Will be back when I visit in the future!

I had this place on my list as a lunch spot mostly for their paninis. I should’ve kept it that way but on a nice sunny day we decided to give it a shot for a relatively light dinner. We shared two appetizers: roasted cauliflower and eggplant melanzana and also green risotto from primis. Everything was severely undersalted, and supposedly «hot plates» came lukewarm or unevenly hot. We weren’t even offered parmesan or cracked black pepper for the risotto while we saw other tables were. We will give it another shot for lunch just for the sake of paninis but don’t expect too much for dinner.

I’ve been here for lunch and dinner and the food is fresh, subtly prepared, and pleasantly restrained.
I’ve had several pasta dishes here and a few of the small plates. They clearly use quality, fresh produce, and they don’t overcook things or French them in oil. Even the free bread is fresh and delicious.
At lunch time, it’s a wicked good deal. No wait, quick service, portions reasonable, quality is as high as dinner, and the prices are nearly half. At dinner, you may need a reservation.

The positives of this place are that it has a nice interior as well as patio seating on Newbury and that the lunch prices are very inexpensive considering the location. I think for those visiting the area and who love Italian food this place is definitely worth checking out. For me, the food is good but not amazing, so I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Italian food? Wine? Newbury Street? This delicious find was thanks to a store employee’s suggestion (thanks Bobbles and Lace!!). A quiet, unassuming restaurant that has a patio area for the warmer months.
I’ve only come here for lunch, so that’s what I’ll be reviewing.
Their lunch menu consists of small apps, paninis, pastas, and flat breads. It’s rather more extensive than most other places for lunch, which is great! Even better? Their prices. I had a wonderful pesto chicken pasta that was drop dead mouthwatering, at only 9 $! 9. That’s right. On Newbury. Italian. And all their other dishes are the same price range. Most lunch dishes looked to be $ 7 – 12 range. The other dish I’ve gotten multiple times is their lobster ravioli. The sauce is creamy, with a good amount of lobster inside the ravioli. Delish! When my sister came to visit, this was the first restaurant I knew I needed to take her to.
What is Italian food without wine? Their wine menu is extensive, and the servers really know what they’re talking about. I’m a huge red wine fan and was thrilled to see they offered a few different Chianti’s. Yum! Again, not too much on the prices.
This has become my destination for lunch whenever I’m out shopping on Newbury. A yummy tradition that I recommend you start as well!

I’ve been here twice last year and I have to say this is one of the very popular places for the summer– because they have patio seating! Make a reservation in the summer. but we did a walk –in for 3 people and probably waited 20 mins to get patio seating. The inside seating is quite dark and small tables. I really like the lobster ravioli. It’s pricey but yummy. When I went the 2^nd time, we sat inside and the group in the same room was really loud but all the food came out very fast.
i probably won’t come in the winter– but for spring/​summer — only if i get patio seating and it’s not too hot!

We really wanted to like this place… like REALLY. I mean, tapas are always yummy, but Italian tapas should have been awesome, right?
We came here on a Saturday night after the concierge at our hotel raved about the place. A quick look at Unilocal showed me a 4 star review, so we made reservations and headed on down.
Nestled beneath a building, our first impression was good. The atmosphere was very cozy, the place was brimming with activity, and it smelled heavenly.
We sat down and our hostess told us that we could either go the tapas route or get our own main dishes but we definitely wanted to try a variety of plates so we opted for tapas. After all, that’s why we were there! She then told us that the absolute minimum we should order is 2 dishes per person because the plates are extremely small, so we ordered 6 plates.
1. Charcuterie and cheese plate: salami, prosciutto, carprese, and a hard cheese along with olives, roasted red peppers, and artichokes. This dish was not what I would call small but it was totally delicious. ⁵⁄₅
2. Rack of lamb: 3 small pieces next to a flavorless arugula salad. The meat was burnt to a crisp and absolutely tasteless ⁰⁄₅
3. Butternut squash ravioli with apple cider and brown sugar: I found it super interesting and super delicious but a little too sweet. ⁴⁄₅
4. Meatballs: three large meatballs covered in sauce and Parmesan. Just ok. Not very flavorful but the sauce helped mask that. Wouldn’t order again ²⁄₅
5. Sausage on a bed of polenta: again, almost flavorless. Had so much potential to be amazing but fell flat. ¹⁄₅
6. Mushroom flatbread with smoked cheese: good but the cheese is way too potent — the smoke flavor stayed in my mouth for over two hours later and I only had two bites! ³⁄₅
So, apart from the food being pretty disappointing, it was WAY too much and we felt a little cheated by the hostess. Their tapas plates are in no way too small and we were left with ⁵⁄₆ slices of the flatbread, one meatball, and almost the entire order of the sausage. We love good food and have no problem spending money on great dishes but with over $ 100 spent on subpar food, we were very disappointed with this restaurant. We won’t be returning unfortunately!

Love the ambiance — cozy and romantic, better for a small group or a date than a large group, though groups of all sizes were there.
The spinach gnocchi is out of this world incredible. You cannot eat here without ordering it! I ordered that and the tapas-​size rack of lamb, which they were able to serve with the entrée-​size risotto for a slight upcharge. The risotto was great, but the rack of lamb was three RAZOR-​THIN lamb chops that were VERY well-​done despite having been ordered medium rare. One of the three didn’t even have any meat on it – it was just a slice of fat. Disgusting.
It was about 15 minutes before I could catch the waitress to ask her to take it back to the kitchen, which I really never do and felt horrible about, but there was no way I was paying $ 18 for three inedible slivers of lamb «meat.» When she brought out the revised dish, the lamb chops were slightly thicker, much less fatty, and properly cooked to medium rare. The flavor still wasn’t fantastic, so I wouldn’t order this again, but I’d still come back for the gnocchi.
I also highly recommend the Shoofly shiraz… and another kudos to Piattini for having pretty reasonably priced bottles.
Crème brûlée was standard — pass on dessert here and go somewhere else, I’d say.

Favorite Italian restaurant, hands down. My mom and I love going to this place. Such a cool Italian vibe that puts you in Italy and makes you feel like you’re not in Boston anymore. Waiters all have accents so it’s cute. Great food

We came for a late dinner and we’re delighted with our experience! The meals were delicious; we ordered a number of the small sharing played, which worked out just perfectly. The meals were all incredibly well priced, especially for such high quality. The waitress was friendly and helpful. I would recommend this restaurant for a date, a family, or a group!

The burrata ravioli is amazing. Also the gnocchi is awesome and you get a lot of it for a good price. Definitely go here if you are on newbury

My colleagues and I decided to give this place a try since it was within walking distance from our hotel. The service is friendly and fast. Our server informed us the appetizers can be treated like tapas so we ordered 9 of them. The bruschetta was delicious but way bigger than expected as it was served on larger pieces of bread. The mussels were ok. The lobster ravioli was big but also ok. The almond salad, mushroom pizza, layered eggplant, and polenta were delicious. For dessert I ordered the chocolate flourless cake with the Madagascar vanilla ice cream and that was delicious as well. I would recommend this place as a nice casual dinner location. If you go, I recommend ordering just a few appetizers because you might be surprised with the amount of food that comes to the table.

Cozy and comfortable. We got lucky with out reservations there were a few large parties coming in after us. The pastas perfectly prepared, the entrée selection is a little light but understandable given the tapas style theme of the appetizers, hence the name. The waiter was attentive. Though kind of heavy on the upsell but you can’t blame him for trying. Overall a great last minute choice on a Sunday evening.

This ambiance of this place is definitely ⁵⁄₅. It boasts a quaint, Italian bistro vibe with romantically lit candles on every tabletop and low mood lighting that adds bonus points to every date.
However, the food is more of a 3 stars, with the menu having the potential to grow so much more. Menu– wise, there is a wide range of wines (wine bar) and dishes for all meat, seafood, or even vegetarian enthusiast.
I came here on a surprise visit to Boston, and my date and I had the lucky shot at sitting on a raised area for only 2 by the one of the windows. The curving (though short) stairs to this raised table area was reminiscent of a finite fairytale intro.
The food although good needed more development to become a fairytale in my eyes. We had the following dishes:
Piattini (namesake of the place– which means «small dishes” — reminiscent of Spanish tapas-​though the portions were very favorable)
I. Piattini Antipasto
Basic antipasto platter. Addicting prosciutto and mozzarella. Large & very good.
II. Ravioli Di Zucca Gialla
Sweet ravioli– and tasted great. Butternut squash ravioli in an apple cider and sage sauce. Surprisingly good to a more savory lover like myself.
III. Ravioli D’ Aragosta
Lobster ravioli. Very plump ravioli-​well stuffed with chucks of lobster. However, flavors fell flat and did not stand out in anyway. Had a displeasing sour aftertaste– probably from the usage of very acidic tomato paste/​sauce.
IV. Rack of Lamb
Lamb lollipops with a yummy minty sauce. Yates good– though lamb was a bit chewy.
Secondi
I. Vitello ai funghi
Veal in mushroom sauce. One of my classic and favorite Italian dishes to order, but this one was a bit overpowering on the wine side. Still good with a side of green beans and mashed potatoes– but wine could have evaporated for a few more minutes for w more buttery taste.
All in all, a better choice in the Newbury St. Area, come here for a romantic time, but don’t expect anything highly memorable.

Ambiance and Service: Cozy, romantic, dimly-​lit, beautiful date night restaurant. Came to Piattini New Years Eve with a party of 5 and no reservation. We were expecting to wait but were seated immediately at a cozy table. Table tops were copper plated (super unique!) and seating included black leather booths and wooden chairs. Mirrors on the walls, fireplace, and candles give the restaurant an intimate, warm glow. Waitstaff and hostess were friendly and knowledgeable. Towards the end of our meal, the restaurant progressively became more crowded but our waitress faithfully checked on us.
Food and Drink: HUGE wine list. Reds and whites listed from light/​fruity to drier and more tannic (super helpful!). And the food – oh my! I wanted to try everything! All the piattini plates (smaller portion plates for sharing) and entrees have ingredient descriptions. I decided on the Risotto ai Gamberretti (shrimp, risotto, and spinach). The risotto was melt-​in-​your-​mouth perfection. Cooked just right so it was not too creamy and could still distinguish the texture of the rice. Spinach is just spinach. But the shrimp – oh yes! The first bite won me over completely. Fresh, slightly chewy, pan-fried=exactly how shrimp should be cooked. Oh and there was complementary bread served but nothing to brag about…
Price: For a party of 5, our check totaled to about $ 79ish, including tax.
Parking: Street parking but Newbury Street can be tricky (sometimes you find parking, other times not). Otherwise, there’s always Hynes and Copley MBTA stations at walk-​able distance.
Will be back for sure! Sooo many more dishes I NEED to try. And how could I forget, we didn’t even get dessert!

Good, affordable Italian in what is usually an overpriced area of the city. Service was friendly and efficient, food came quickly– only complaint was that it didn’t come out truly hot– like out of the pan hot. It was just moderately warm. But it was delicious so I didn’t dwell on it. I had he lobster ravioli– the best I’ve had in a long time. My son had the Fruitti di Mare and loved it. I tasted his– very good, sauce could’ve used just a little more flavor– garlic would’ve worked. Ambiance is cute– clean and classic cellar-​type dining area.

I would say 3.5 stars, but that isn’t an option. The food is good, but really not one of a kind. It’s on Newbury st., which makes it a fun place to grab some food while walking around. It’s pretty loud inside, but not terrible (would not recommend if you have elderly people in your fam though). The waiting staff is pretty good, but it can be a bit slow since the restaurant gets packed (cause it’s on Newbury street…).
I’m not really a Newbury street kinda guy, but if you generally like what’s in the area then you’ll probably like this too.

I have been here before during the summer and sat outside. The street seating is wonderful and alive with passing people. This time we sat inside. The noise level is tremendous. Hard walls and table surfaces make it almost impossible to carry a conversation with a person across the table from you!
The food is generous, hot and tasty. The service is good and courteous, but that noise inside???

Tried Piattini is past Saturday with a friend and we were not disappointed! The menu consists of salads (small and large, I believe), small plates and full size dinners. After reading other Unilocalers reviews and being obsessed with pesto, we had to try the gnocchi in pesto sauce which we soon learned actually melts in your mouth! Yum! The scallops with butternut squash and spinach were delicious and we also shared the caprese salad and margarita flatbread. Overall it was a nice mix washed down with a few glasses of wine!
I like the small plate option in the event that you’re not super hungry but the main pasta dishes and desserts that passed our table looked divine and something I will definitely be back to try!
It was semi quiet for a Saturday night which was nice and the overall ambiance was comfy. Our server was super sweet and attentive!

This resto has been one of my tried and true’s for the past few years. The melanzane affumicato, the butternut squash ravioli, lamb lollipops are quite yummy. It can get pretty crowded during the summer, so I suggest making rezzies. Tutti a tavola a mangiare! Buon appetito!

We resorted to this place after our first pick required an hour or more wait. Sure enough, that lack of a wait was indicative/​predicative of the lackluster dining experience on the horizon.
Once we were seated on the patio, we noticed that it seemed like a storm was brewing in the sky. Nonetheless, we were determined to quickly stuff our faces before the sky fell. This objective, however, was frustrated by our ditzy and dismissive server. From what I could tell, she was engrossed in an extensive flirty conversation with the table of two dudes next to us. And after pulling herself away to retrieve their refills (we had yet to receive our drinks, ordered upon our seating), she returned to recommence her jolly olé’ discussion with them. At this point we had long neatly folded up our menus, had even politely uttered, «ma’am?» as she seemed to glance our way. Sure, I might have just been agitated in my hangry state, but it felt like 15 – 20 minutes of unnecessary idle waiting in a mostly empty restaurant.
Our server finally jerked to attentiveness when I exasperatedly (and loudly) commented to my friend, «I think it’s going to rain before we order our food.» In line with the experience thus far at that point, the whole wheat fusilli with vegetable ragus did not satisfy. I mean huge yay for an vegan/​vegetarian option, but holy moly bland. Like I’m fairly sure that pasta boiled in well salted water may in fact boast of more flavor. My friend similarly felt underwhelmed with her omnivore selection that she managed to squeak a few bites out of before declaring her pasta was not fit to satiate her Italian food cravings.
As the rain started trickling down, our sever was of course M.I.A. again. Fortunately, we were as finished as we could be with our letdown meals. However, I still had to attend to the matter of consuming my wine. We lingered at the bar for a little bit and were able to extract a couple of decent bar and lounge recommendations from the rather outgoing bartender, so kudos for that aspect of this experience.

I live in California, but make it to Boston every so often for work. My co-​workers know I’m a foodie and charged me with finding a restaurant for dinner. Picking a spot to try with a few friends is one thing, but selecting one to bring your co-​workers to is an entirely different story. Reputation is at stake!
I spent a good week and a half surveying my Boston friends and reading Unilocal reviews before narrowing down my list to about three restaurants. Piattini was on that list and ended up having space to fit my party.
The menu had general Italian fare with a slightly upscale tilt. The majority of my group ordered the pasta with scallops, while others tried salmon, and risotto. After a couple bites, I saw thumbs up from my critics. Success.
For starters, I had an almond salad. The cheese crumbles made this otherwise standard salad pop. Almond slithers added a bit of crunch and there was just enough olive oil to glue it all together.
We ordered a couple bottles of Sterling Chard from Napa. I usually stick to Sonoma wines from Russian River or Alexander Valley, but Sterling makes a great oaky buttery chard.
I ordered the scallop pasta for my main dish, which unfortunately left me slightly disappointed. The dish was bland other than the tomatoes, which provided subtle bursts of flavor. The scallops were a bit rubbery, but still edible. My other co-​workers that ordered the same dish liked it, but they don’t live in an ocean state.
For desert, I ordered tiramisu, as I tend to do at any Italian restaurant. Piattini’s rendition was tasty and I gobbled it up with no regrets.
Overall, given the price, promptness of service, and good quality, I had a good time. I’ve definitely had much better food, but Piattini had room for my party at a reasonable dinner hour, satisfied my co-​workers, and left us merry on the way out.

Another surprisingly good find thanks to Unilocal… Wifey and I split a few small dishes. Seems their speciality is an Italian equivalent of Tapas.
Anyhow we had three knockout dishes and one so-​so… I would heartily recommend the cauliflower, eggplant and the gnocchi dishes. Meatballs were ok but pales into insignificance when stacked up against these three flavor bombs ! …
Highly recommended and will definitely return if chance has me back downtown sometime !

A casual dinner out last week with a mixed experience.
Atmosphere: They really do try to squeeze as many tables in as possible. We were seated in this little «alcove» or rather a closed doorway. I guess it’s away from the main dining area and more «intimate» but it was quite tight on space. And occasionally a waitress needs to pretty much step over us to get to a register.
Drinks: The wine list was ok but could have used more wine by the glass.
Food:
— Mussels in white wine sauce: This was out of the small plates. We weren’t super hungry so just opted to share this one. The flavor was ok but I found the mussels really small and a bit over cooked.
— Bolognese: Husband had this and thought it was ok.
— Veal with mushroom sauce: Kinda like a breaded veal marsala. Slightly on the sweet side. Came with mashed and asparagus. A decent meal but not out of the ordinary.
Dessert:
— Tiramisu: Again, average. I like the ones from Whole Food’s just as much.
Overall: A decent meal. I would come back again if I’m feeling like Italian and am in the Newbury area. But I would not go out of my way.

We came around 4 hoping lunch would still be going on but it was not. We both got salads and then shared two small plates.
I had the Gamberetti salad with goats cheese instead of Gorgonzola which was really good. Only 4 shrimp, but I think no matter how many they gave me I would have wanted more because they were so good. My friend got a chopped vegetable salad, which was mostly lettuce so she was disappointed.
We shared the stuffed pepper which was amazing. There were artichokes inside and a great green sauce to go with it. We also had the lobster mac n cheese which was heavy. We couldn’t finish it.
We sat outside which was nice, but once it filled up it looked like it was hard for the server to get around, which might be why it took us a long time to get the check…

Piattini is much bigger then it looks from the outside, but has a very intimate atmosphere. The small plates are delicious, but really only made for two people. On the other hand, they’re an excellent way to build a meal around how hungry you are. My boyfriend and I had a late dinner, and weren’t looking for a huge meal, so we just ordered the Piattini Antipasto plate, the Rack of Lamb and the Ravioli d’Aragosta to share. Between the 3, I liked the Rack of Lamb the best because it was cooked to perfection, and sat in a delicious creamy pesto sauce which I mopped up with my bread afterwards.

+.5 for service
Boston may be famous for their seafood, but one of the most underrated cuisines in the city is Italian food. Sure, I’d get decent Italian food in Toronto, but the Boston experience is completely surreal and different.
Piattini is located in the Back Bay area, and is quite hard to spot as it’s in the basement of one of those brownstones. Once you’re inside, however, it really feels like a family-​style atmosphere. It’s one of the most affordable Italian restaurants from what I saw (at least for lunch), yet it’s also a great place to have a date.
I had the scampi, which was the linguine with shrimp and white wine sauce. It was easily one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had, especially for the $ 9.95 price I paid. The linguine was cooked perfectly and the shrimp was sauteed very well. The white wine sauce wasn’t too strong, but for a lunch meal you wouldn’t want it too be too strong anyway!
Since my lunch was a much lower cost than anticipated, I ordered two dessert meals: The warm chocolate torta and the homemade tiramisu. The tiramisu was okay, but I highly recommend the warm chocolate torta. It’s homemade and very delicious (not too sweet and not too bland).
Service was excellent; the family atmosphere also allowed for some nice conversations with some of the employees, in particular our server. Overall, we were very satisfied with our meal and I would recommend this place to my friends and even to everyone reading this review.

Steady adventure in Italian cuisine coming here in a group of 5 on a Sunday evening. We originally intended to sit outside as the weather was nice and they have a very cute outdoor slightly below street level patio, however unfortunately, they can only sit 4 per party outdoors. We were given a nice table in the back room behind the wine bar[perfectly fine].
The menu has a very nice selection, this place is most noted for their small plates both cold and warm, a fair range of different styles of Italian, heavy on the eggplant dishes. The waiter also pleasantly informed us that they had a mix and match concept between pasta types and sauces if you couldn’t find your perfect fit and helped us through the most popular dish suggestions. The speed of the service is steady and you could always find the server when you need him, as they regularly checked on you and made sure your water was constantly filled.
Things I liked — the selections, the price point, the wine suggestions [by number] besides each menu item [the restaurant has a pretty filled wine list that doesn’t range into absurdity]; when it says small plates, that is completely true [a good thing] as you can sample your way through. The dishes were delicious [butternut squash ravioli — ⁴⁄₅ pieces and the caramelized cauliflower]
Things that were lacking — First, I ordered the Piattini Antipasto as my appetizer. The meats were delicious, however, it did not come with crostini or any bread at all besides what we asked for the table. hmm… okay, but second, they charged me an extra $ 2 for it for no reason; while there is a sharing charge on the menu [$ 3/​which I did not do] I don’t understand why, I did not at all.
Last, a personal quirk, I’m an Instagrammer for my food, however when I went home to detail the pictures with what I had eaten from the online menu, I was not able to match them 1 to 1 from the in-​house menu [this was not influenced by having a special that night]
The rest of the party seemed content however so I didn’t make a fuss. All in all lovely, but nothing outstanding. [Food 3.5, Quirks in service 2 — for tip adjustments!!! 0 = Total 1]