Toscano Restaurant

Delicious food, great interior and admirable consistency during all my visits over the past 6 – 7 years I’ve been coming here.

One of the best pasta I’ve had in the Boston area. Fresh, tasty, very well prepared. Their service is also perfect.
I started with a Cesaro salad which was very tasty and perfect size. Then I had the Pappardelle Bolognese, which also had great taste and the pasta was fresh and perfectly cooked.

A local told me to check this place out as he said they had great Italian food. I live in Boston and turns out my initial thought was correct.
The Traditional Bolganase pasta dish was the worst that I have ever had. Very little meat and the traditional red sauce was replaced with a thin clear sauce. Pasta was at least homemade but this place appears to be a tourist trap.

Pretty busy on a Monday night, next time I’ll note to make reservations before hand! The portions are plentiful and food is spectacular, there’s nothing american Italian about this place. (no chicken parm or chicken alfredo). My husband of Italian descent raved how well the steak was cooked and the pasta was al dente! We split a beef carpaccio with a florentine steak and pasta with mushrooms, it was a generous portion, the steak perfectly cooked. They also have an excellent wine menu. overall we had such a blast!!!

In town for a conference, my coworker and I were staying at a hotel nearby and stumbled upon Toscano for dinner. It was a Friday night and luckily we were seated right away without reservations. Our waiter wasn’t super friendly, attentive, or helpful, but thankfully the food and wine made up for it. We both had delicious glasses of wine (their pours are a traditional ¹⁄₃^rd bottle) and each started with a salad. I then had the most decadent house-​made gnocchi. Mouth watering just thinking about it. I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in town.

A cozy, quaint yet sophisticated Italian restaurant in beacon hill. Very dim lighting and romantic atmosphere so it is perfect for a date! We started off with an eggplant parm and meatballs. The eggplant was baked in a skillet type dish and was absolutely fantastic. We were pretty full from the two appetizers but still had entrees coming our way and wine. We ordered a bolognese pasta dish (tagliatelle) as well as the double smoked bacon rigatoni. Both were hits! Great modern Italian food, but not a 5 because we did not feel it was as authentic as some older restaurants in the north end. Will definitely be back regardless.

I lived in Beacon Hill for 4 years so I’ve eaten here many times and never had a bad meal. Their food is always made with the freshest ingredients and they always have daily specials in addition to a wonderful variety of items on their menu. My favorite appetizer is the Barbine Rosse which is a beet salad. My favorite entrée is the Rigatoni Toscano which is rigatoni in a cream sauce with bacon.
I love the ambience in this place so I highly recommend it for a romantic night out. The staff always greets you when you walk in. The service is always attentive. I always remember the places that are excellent about refilling your beverage and this place is definitely one of them.
Be sure to make a reservation if you are going for dinner. If you know a couple days in advance you want to eat there for dinner, definitely call ASAP.

The food lacks flavor. We got the grilled shrimp appetizer– absolutely no flavor. We got the mushroom pizza– absolutely no flavor. And we got a pasta with a tomato based sauce which I could’ve definitely just whipped up at home. Lacking flavor!!! Would NOT come back.

This is hands down one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. It is a hop, skip and jump from my house. Love the minestrone soup with tarragon and the fresh baked ciabatta. Also love the primi portion of the tagliatelle with mushrooms. Another plus is the staff are very helpful in organizing special occasions such as birthdays. All you need to bring are cakes and candles. They handle the plating, candle lighting and serving of the cakes. Everything works like a charm.

Came in for drinks before a show at the Sinclair and had an amazing time! Our bartender was a gentleman named Jimmy and not only was he super knowledgable about every cocktail we asked about, he was incredibly welcoming and friendly. You can get a drink anywhere but the character added to the place by our bartender definitely ensured we’ll be back for more!

Toscano provided my friend and I with a good lunch. There is less than ten minutes walking from Green Line Arlington station, so the location is fine. The ambience is also good. I like the decoration in the restaurant. As for the food, I like both appetizer and desert, but the Entress was not good as expected. It was simply chicken breast covered by cheese with pasta sauce. The desert is white chocolate with blueberry, and that was great! I like it!

Living in the area, I’ve been to Toscano many times. However, the last time was maybe the time that put me over the edge, causing me to never return.
My parents were in town visiting, and we were celebrating their wedding anniversary. We originally didn’t have reservations, but upon calling, they were so nice to accommodate us last minute.
However, upon arriving our waiter was extremely aloof and unpleasant — one of the worst I’ve experienced in my 5 years living in Boston. He didn’t greet the table with an «My name is X, I will be your waiter tonight» or even a «Hi, how are you?». Instead, he handed us menus and asked if we wanted something to drink. As we asked him questions about the dinner menu, he proceeded to seem completely annoyed.
When he returned to the table, I told him it was my parents’ 41^st wedding anniversary. His response? «Oh». No «congratulations» or «Happy anniversary» — how incredibly rude!!! Additionally, he did not once stop by our table to ask how our food was or if we needed anything.
The food was good, but this waiter made it such a horrible experience. I was embarrassed that I took my parents there on their anniversary, and wish I would have chosen another place. This place is over-​rated, not because of the food, but of the poor service. To note, this isn’t the only time I’ve had poor experience there, but this is the time that will cause me to not return.

When I started off at Tuscano, it was not my plan to do a day of daydrinking. But after Tuscano that’s where we ended up.
The restaurant has a very romantic, traditional vibe, that is a classic, elegant, Italian atmosphere. While it is authentic Italian, it is new, and fresh. It feels young. You can get your authentic Italian without having to trek all the way to the North End. The dining area is small and elegant but you also k could bring your huge Italian family here and have a fun boisterous evening. Classy, chic, but inviting.
We sat at the bar and had the pleasure of watching a very promiscuous relationship ensue on the other side of the bar. The drink and wine menu is very appealing and it is not superly over expensive. The pourings are generous. The meals are also extremely well priced especially for Beacon Hill and especially for Italian. I was impressed with the prices and the food. Greg and I ended up splitting the pizza which was fresh and delicious. Given I return for dinner I would love to try some other pasta dishes. The bread was delicious, and won me over if I hadn’t been swooned enough already.
It was a perfect start to an unforeseen day of drinking, starting with an elegant twist and exposing me to a possibly new favorite restaurant.

I used to not even think twice about what rating to give Toscano– both Charles St. and Harvard Square locations. My family has frequented Toscano locations to celebrate birthdays and big events, but I think that’s all about to change.
Our last dining experience this past Friday was the worst I’ve had in a while of any restaurant. My sister was experiencing very low blood sugar (which we told our waitress) and we asked if we could order some stat appetizers. Our waitress *laughed* and exclaimed, «Oh, no! The chef needs to time the firing of all the courses!» She then slowly rambled through a long list of all the specials when we would have preferred to have some food– any food– on the table. She promptly disappeared when we very gladly would have ordered ALL of our food then and there to help my sister out. My sister opted to order some orange juice in the interim which took about 10 minutes to be served.
Meanwhile, my mother ordered a cosmopolitan, a drink she frequently orders and has personally perfected in making. The concoction she was served was the most bitter I have ever experienced. When we brought this to the attention of our waitress, she gladly said she’d have it remade. The kicker? When we suggested maybe there was too much triple sec, she condescendingly added: «well we use Cointreau, which is much finer than triple sec.» Thanks. What came out was not much better AND we were charged twice for the one drink until we asked for the second charge to be removed from the bill.
This restaurant used to be a steady mainstay for Italian classics and great service. The food is still pretty on par, but the crummy service has ruined that for me now, especially for what you’re paying.

I had dinner here with a colleague while we were in town for business. The place was packed on a Monday night, but they were able to find us a table in the front section across from the bar. I’d highly recommend reservations even mid-​week!
I had the roasted vegetables as a starter and they were wonderful! Great variety and just the right amount of charring. For my entrée, I had pasta with homemade Italian sausage in a truffle cream sauce. The pasta was cooked beautifully, and the cream sauce was rich, and had just the right amount of truffle flavor. The sausage was good, but was so finely ground that it was a little hard to truly appreciate the flavor. For dessert, I had a slice of apricot tart which was served with a little scoop of gelato. I think if I were to return, I’d stick to just the gelato; it was definitely the star of the dessert!
Service was quite good. My only suggestions would be that it might be helpful to have cards with the specials since there were so many of them. I also would appreciate prices of specials being listed. I know I could ask, but that is always a little awkward, which leads me to just avoid specials when I’m not familiar with the restaurant.

Satisfied. The three courses of smoked salmon, sirloin steak, and 3 small scoops gelato really filled me up.
Great service, no complaints.

My appetizer was extremely good. Double smoked bacon pasta. My entrée, the crab risotto, was a little bland. My dessert, the tiramisu, was very good. My vegan girlfriend got the veal, which was very good, as was her blueberry tart. It brought her to tears and she weeped into its crumbly crust. Her appetizer was okay.
All in all I say the 4 star rating is justified. Occasional bouts of excellence punctuated with the pretty good.
The service was stern but very professional, and talented enough to convince my unjaded girlfriend to get a $ 10 more expensive bottle of wine than she otherwise would have. I liked it. No messing around. Romantic and sultry ambiance.
At its best, the best Italian food in the Beacon Hill area.

Rented the private room downstairs for my 30^th birthday and it was perfect, from apps, cocktails, wine, entrees, to the strawberry cream birthday cake they include. Valet parking is a reasonable $ 20, making it an easier Beacon Hill spot than some to gather at on an icy winter night.
Our apps were many and a blur of deliciousness, but I do know my entrée was the penne strascicate and I highly recommend it!

I totally get why this place is often super busy.
First and foremost the the food is fantastic, but I’ll get to that. One of the first things I noticed was the variety of wine by the glass list. But what I loved more was the incredibly affordable wine by the bottle list that this restaurant offers. Our server Matthew was incredibly knowledgeable about the wines, and offered a tasting of a white wine I had never tried. Fyi each «glass» of wine is actually a third of the bottle. Fantastic deal!
The menu is large and enticing. On top of the menu there are a ton of specials. Our server had all the food specials memorized.
So we chose to share the beet salad, a pizza and the gnocchi special. The salad was fresh and refreshing. They were kind enough to split our salads and I swear we got full portions.
We couldn’t decide between the sopressata or prosciutto pizza. Our server said we could do half/​half. Awesome! The pizza was good but it was outshined by the gnocchi. Another dish they were kind enough to split for us.
What can I say about the duck gnocchi special? Everything and nothing. I’m at a loss for words. It was that good. Flavorful, perfectly cooked, delectable, rare, incredible… Just get it while you can.
We didn’t opt for dessert because we were full. In the end our bill was a great price.
I highly recommend Toscanos for great Italian food in a high end setting that is super affordable. No wonder they are usually busy!

Tonight, we came here to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We arrived early for our reservation and the hostess gave us two seating options. Shortly after we were seated, our server introduced herself and asked what we wanted even though we barely got a chance to look at the menu. We asked her nicely to give us more time. Shortly after we ordered, one of the waiters came by with bread and knocked over and spilled a glass of water on my dad’s lap. Our server was overly friendly, she tapped us on the shoulders which made us feel uncomfortable. Despite our pre-​food experience, some of the dishes were quite delicious.
For drinks, we got a bottle of Michele Chiarlo Gavin Le Marne (white wine from Italy) — it was tangy and dry. For appetizers, we shared Eggplant Parmigiana and Oyster Mushroom special. We enjoyed the Eggplant Parmigiana — seasoned, roasted, soft slices of eggplant with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. There was just enough tomato sauce and cheese! I liked how there wasn’t any fillers or breadcrumbs. Sautéed, crispy oyster mushrooms over spring mix was not anything special — felt like it was something anyone could cook! For entrees, we ordered Tagliatelle Gamberi, Capesante, Linguine Vongole, and Scottadito Balsamico.
The Tagliatelle Gamberi — tagliatelle with diced tomatoes, finely chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes in white wine sauce. My brother said this dish was very spicy but he liked it. The Capesante — large, tender Georges Bank sea scallops, tossed with yellow leeks, garlic, butter, and white wine and served with sautéed spinach. My mom thought it was light and had great flavor. The Linguine Vongole — linguine with diced tomatoes and about a dozen count neck clams. My dad said it was bon appetite. According to my brother and father, they felt that some of the pasta for Tagliatelle Gamberi and Linguine Vongole was under cooked. The Scottadito Balsamico — three lamb chops with roasted potatoes and carrots in creamy, sweet, tart, balsamic reduction and garnished with rosemary. Sadly, we were too full for dessert!