Cafe Picasso

Went here for my cousin’s 30^th birthday celebration. First of all, the staff was extremely unhelpful and rude during the planning process. As if that wasn’t enough to put a bad taste in my mouth, the food was blegh. Menu was eh. You don’t even want to know how much we spent, but do know it was NOT worth it. Very small, crammed space. Couldn’t take pictures. There were little bugs flying around, one even managed to fall into my dish. Truth be told, I didn’t even mind. The fly isn’t what made the meal gross… It was the mediocre food and the (kinda gross) atmosphere. There was also a nasty looking stain on the ceiling. Needless to say, I will not be returning to this establishment.

It’s a little pricy and some staff are really rude. Maybe if I was a successful business man thus might have treated me better but since I’m a teenager they kinda just left me hanging.

The food is good & I like the idea the chef’s cook & prepare the food in the open. A little pricey along with the seating tightly arranged.

Let me start off by saying: I HATE going out to Italian restaurants. My family and I are Italian and I have pretty high standards (aka: I’m a stuck up Italian food brat). However, Café Picasso pleasantly surprised me. What makes this place stand out are their specials and signature dishes. Yes, they offer traditional Italian dishes that are good. BUT, the stand outs are the more creative, nontraditional items– like the Gamberi Al La Lorenzo. You must try it– HOLY MOLY the shrimp are the size of my face!
I’m not sure if they still do it, but there used to be a Date Night special on Thursdays. Basically 50% off a bill, with no change to the serving sizes. It is such a steal and a great chance to pick something other than your normal order.

We’ve never actually been inside, but we’ve had several meals that were catered by Café Picasso at Ave Somerset. The food we’ve had is always consistently decent. Their carbonara, vodka, and marsala sauces are pretty heavenly. Café Picasso’s garlic knots are some of the best I’ve had. They’re large, doughy and very garlic-​y. They taste awesome in their marinara sauce. The fried calamari has been rubbery and soggy the past few times we’ve had it. I don’t expect perfection since it’s being catered, but I feel they can do better than this.

We have dined several times at Café Picasso, always with positive experiences. However, last night, while dining with old friends, we apparently over stayed our welcome. We were in the back room when a young waiter, certainly instructed by the manager/​owner, walked through the room loudly banging two bottles together. This was followed by the lights being turned up high. Full transparity… It was 1030, Friday night, we were not the last patrions and it had started snowing. Still, being thrown out of a restaurant, after providing 25%tip, was very distasteful, rude, amateurish, etc. A simple «we are closing up» would have been more appropiate and we would have gladly left with another positive experience.
However, given this rude behavior, we will not be back and are sure to share our experience with all our local friends, family, etc. for years to come.

Great food, decent prices, super nice people, and the servings are enormous. The only reaons it is not 5 stars is the variation in seating areas; if you get in the back room it’s nice but the other areas in the restaruant are loud and a little like a crowded street seating inside — when you add in the waiters rushing about it does mean you should only go if you can just chill and be ok with the noise.

Excellent food if you don’t mind eating it in the atmosphere of being on an Amtrak train. We were seated in a narrow corridor which apparently is the path for all of the waiters and waitresses for the evening, resulting in constant foot traffic back and forth next to us all night. Irritating as that was, what really was inexcusable was one particular waiter who literally «ran» past our table all night. At that point it had gotten so distracting that I did politely ask our waiter if he could please ask this other waiter to walk rather than run past the table. He knew exactly what we were talking about and said that he would, but honestly the other waiter continued to dash past us like he was running a marathon. Completely ruined what should be a 5 star review for an otherwise excellent restaurant with delicious food. Hopefully the management will read this review and instill some common sense behavior in their staff.

Great food, great service. Check out the specials! They were nice enough to make a special dish for us that we had in the past too. Byob.

Fantastic food and great BYOB location. The pasta is authentic and the menu can please any palette. Ask for Amy, she exemplifies the meaning of customer service and always looks to «wow» her patrons!

Being from Minneapolis, where Italian cuisine is mostly an excuse to exaggerate the prices, I have developed an extreme fondness for Café Picasso.
Every special is lovely, every dish very authentic. The food is amazing. There is just so MUCH of it! (Yes, I am a regular on my business trips.)
The bowl of soup feeds 4 at least, and the Insalata Misto was neighborhood potluck-​sized. My poor waitress was distraught when I cancelled the «cup» of soup that I thought might be a nice pair with the salad.
Great desserts, and perfectly fine coffees make a nice ending.
If you want booze though, as elsewhere in Somerville, this is a BYOB place. Lucky for all of us, there is a liquor store right next door. And they’re happy to hold your table while you go purchase your poison of choice.
I love this place. I just wish it were a bit nicer to my waistline.

Huge portions– excellent variety. Open kitchen and décor are really nice. Wait staff very attentive and polite. Great little Italian place in the heart of Somerville.

Huge portions!!! Great décor. 2 flies bugged us for 20 minutes. Polite staff and very kind. I have seen better restaurants but it’s good. We went all the way from Princeton. Next time I would rather drive next door to the great Orchid

We ate dinner here last night and it was great. The balsamic calamari was to die for. We loved every part of the dinner too.

Their food is great! They used to have shitty waiters but things have changed for the better! However they have the ½ price pasta promo which is great! Portions for dine in and carry out are pretty generous I always have left overs!

I really wish their food wasn’t so good. It might be the best italian place I’ve ever been. It is impossible to get a seat though. The experience of coming to Picasso and the waiting is usually pretty painful. They always seem to be on a wait, and don’t take reservations for 2 people on Monday through Wednesday. Their lobby is relatively small and even on a Wednesday night at 8pm, there was still a 30 minute wait. Top that off with the fact that the busers seem to take their time busing the many tables that were empty just makes it a very aggrevating experience.
One more thing. They changed the bread from garlic knots (that were amazing!) to bread with garlic oil. A bit disappointing.
Ok, the negative aside, the food is out of this world. My wife got the lobster ravioli which was packed with chunks of lobster and was so delicious. The sherry cream sauce was so good we soaked it all up with the remaining bread.
I had the chicken alessandra which was a marsala demiglaze with mushroom and sundried tomatoes. It is as good as it sounds. Not overcooked and oh so tasty.
With food this good, I guess they can get away with a ‘we know you will wait for us as long as we make you’ attitude.

By far my favorite italian spot. From the staff, to food, to dessert, to overall experience! I’ve never had a bad meal here yet!
It gets busy for a reason and that’s because it is such an excellent spot!

My favorite italian place in the area. Food is fresh and delicious! Ambience is beautiful and service is great! Definitely recommend

I just left here and I was extremely disappointed.
We had the stuffed mushrooms special, which was good. My husbands veal Marsala was a bit tough, but ok, however, my seafood risotto was absolutely terrible! All the seafood was overcooked. The rice was tasty, but once I felt grit from the clams, I lost my appetite. I informed my waitress, who apologized but offered no replacement or have the manager come see us. I will not be back.
Update:
The owner just contacted me. He was extremely gracious and invited me back. I’ve been there several times before without incident. I will go again because he was not made aware of the problem and deserves to redeem his restaurant.
I’ll post an update…
The owner offered to take care of me the next time I go there. He was humble, and kind. We had a nice conversation. Lorenzo, was an absolute gentleman who really values his customers.
I was impressed with how he handles things. I’m looking forward to my make-​up dinner.

I work a few blocks away and have been here several times, usually on Sunday afternoons. It’s never too busy that we don’t get seated right away. Husband and I usually order sandwiches, which are amazingly cheap: $ 7 – 9, and we both can save at least half for later. Their pastas are nice too. They give you yummy bread and garlic knots with olive oil while you wait.
But the thing that makes this place a standout is the service. We always feel well taken care of. We get quick and kind service, and lots of refills, even if we only order water. They box our leftovers for us (that’s how you know it’s a classy place!). The servers and hosts are attentive, but not hovering or obnoxious. We love it and will keep coming regularly!