Pescatore

We had dinner there last night. It was some of the very best food we have ever had. Everything we had from my daughters pizza to seafood pasta and veal parmigiana was amazing. The best caesar salad we have ever had. The prices were very reasonable. The portions were great, lots of leftovers. We will go back! Our server was really nice also!

Oh, hey, another five-​star rating for a place that’s got tons of them. I guess it’s a bit of a drop in the bucket, but what the hey — this place is great and you should go here. Probably right now.
Good stuff: the food. Like, this stuff tastes phenomenal, even if the menu isn’t inventive. Some of the best seafood-​type fare in the area, and it’s not even near a waterfront or anything of the sort. I’ve never bothered with a pizza or a non-​fish meat (I mean come on, the name is Pescatore!) but I’m sure they’re excellent as well. Bonus points for having a menu option which is basically «Good sir, please engage in this wondrous tour of eating all the sea creatures!»
Good stuff redux: This place is weirdly never crowded. How? I don’t know. Maybe because it’s kind of out of the way? But most of the times I get here it’s empty, and doesn’t really fill up or anything. Maybe I’m just going at the wrong times, but I’m not going to complain. It’s awesome that one of the best places to eat in the area doesn’t force any kind of dilemmas about waiting or having to secure reservations, etc. (Of course, now that I’ve written this review, I bet karma is going to punch me in the gut and ensure it’s always crowded. You’re welcome, Unilocal.)
Kind of annoying stuff: It’s hard to get here without a car. Sorry. It’s worth it, though. Also, if you do have a car, parking in the area is kind of irritating. Pro-​tip, though: drive past the restaurant on Broadway (heading east, deeper into Somerville), and park on the side of the road immediately past the intersection where Pescatore is located. The parking there is non-​metered, two-​hour parking, is generally empty, and you don’t have to cruise the surrounding blocks looking for permit parking for which you don’t have a permit. (If you get to the 7 – 11, you’ve gone too far, it’s literally just on Broadway as soon as you pass the Pescatore cross street.)
Even better stuff: the desserts here are super-​amazing, and huge. I’m generally not a fan of in-​restaurant desserts as you can always just head down to JP Licks or something, but this place could very well be the exception. Yum.

We have never had a bad meal here. You get Northend quality food for a much more reasonable price and the parking is easier! Everytime I bring someone new here they can’t stop talking about how great it is and it becomes their favorite place to eat as well. We try to come at least once a month if not more. Do yourself a favor and check them out!

We chose this place strictly by the Unilocal reviews and thank goodness we followed these suggestions!
The restaurant was tucked away and unassuming but outperformed most Seafood/​Italian restaurants I’ve been to. Service was top-​notch and the food. was. incredible. The rack of lamb was scrumptious and the mussels/​lobster pasta was heavenly. We split a carafe of delicious sangria.
Even though we are from out of town, I will gladly remember this place in hopes of someday returning!

Solid italian dishes. Great menu selection, something for everyone. I like they have a wine selection and full bar. Array of different appetizer options. Definitely will be returning for the limoncello dessert.

Always delicious and cozy! Love the outdoor area during the summertime. The chicken piccata is a personal fave. Service is always kind and prompt. Great wine selection (not to mention an awesome sangria)!

This was fresh and tasty. I was happy to indulge in the homemade pasta which didn’t seem super heavy. We had enough for leftovers. Love the outdoor seating too!

Good food + good atmosphere + good service + reasonable prices = 5 stars!
I had the Valdostana pizza, thinking I could crush it and leave room for dessert. Nope. At $ 15, the price is right, ladies and gentlemen.
My friend got the Haddock Americano. It was sizably portioned and delicious. It’s good to know I have a relatively cheap seafood option so close to me!
Kudos to the waitstaff, who brought out bread for the table (something I’m not very familiar with when I’m not eating with my family), and then offered to bring out more bread (something I’m not very familiar with when I am eating with my family). The olive oil and garlic mix for the bread was very tasty!
The ambiance and décor in Pescatore will make you think you’ll have to pay an arm and a leg for a decent meal. Don’t be fooled! Recommended to anyone who likes good Italian food and good seafood!
See you soon!

Overall not as good as I expected — especially for the price.
We arrived super early for dinner probably around 4:30pm and were the only ones in the entire restaurant.
The menu is great. We were in the mood for seafood and this place certainly delivered that. Started off with the crab cakes that were a bit on the small side but full of crab. The homemade tartar sauce is awesome. For $ 9 it was worth it. Their caprese salad had a $ 16 price tag. Other items were priced quite steep.
I had the homemade fusili which was tasty but I’ve had better. There was half a lobster tail placed on top that had maybe two bites of meat in it. For $ 25 that was disappointing.
My mom had the fried clam/​scallop plate and was pleased although they definitely don’t make their own french fries. Their complimentary crusty bread and pesto-​olive oil was probably the best part of the meal.
They also had a good cocktail list. But our server Brian was pretty lame. Did the bare minimum when we were the only ones there. Not good enough for $ 100+ for two. Won’t be back.

If you’re looking for some fresh, authentic Italian food, this is your spot. I was in the mood for some traditional favorites; caprese salad, fettuccini bolognese.
Both were great. Fresh ingredients, well spiced, homemade noodles that were thick and full of egg! Really satisfied.
Bread and oil were also good.
Overall if you want great Italian food and don’t want to deal with the crowds and crazy prices of the North End, check this place out.
I will be back.

This little unassuming place tucked into a corner of Ball Square in Somerville doesn’t look like that much of a find from the outside, but if you’re in the area, stop by. We went on a Thursday night for dinner around 7:30; when we arrived, there were only two other tables occupied, but when we left, the place was crowded.
The sangria was fairly watery, but refreshing. My family enjoyed their cioppino, shrimp, and scallops, and I had a vegetarian pizza with arugula. The service was quick.

–_​–
Wow…how to even begin this review. Okay, I’ll just blurt it out: Pescatore is my new favorite restaurant and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I took my first bite and it’s been like 36 hours since I had it but it was so damn good that I am now forced to figure out an appropriate amount of time to wait before I return. Yes, it blew my mind.
What factors make a perfect, 5-​star, «new favorite restaurant» in my book?
1. It’s in the middle of Somerville in an unassuming building with unassuming tables and unassuming décor. Yes! Something about this type of joint makes me feel good, like I’m gonna get authentic, homestyle cooking. I’ve recently become fatigued of the overly priced, pretentious Boston eateries (though they have their place and time) and am generally not as impressed with the fancy places as I am with ones that are simply GOOD, and Pescatore is it.
2. I walk in and literally every single person is sitting with a dish that I’d love to order. What a great sign from the get-​go!
3. Service/​staff were very friendly and helpful, not in your face, not fake-​friendly, just doing their job and doing it well.
4. The fooood. My oh my– they do have a rather large menu but based on what I ordered and what I saw others eating, you have to go with pasta here!
We started with a perfect caprese salad and I had the Haddock Americano, which was perfectly cooked, a sizable but not too large portion, and the fusili I got (I think it normally comes with potatoes or something else) was INSANE. My dining partner got steak tips and was disappointed he didn’t get the same thing I got! Honestly the best fish dish I’ve ever ordered out as well as the best pasta dish I’ve ever ordered out. YUM.
As a «side note» (pun intended), the sides weren’t very good. namely, the mushroom risotto (too dry and bland) & broccoli rabe (served cold and overly cooked for a stringy texture) were skippable.
Sides shmides, I will be back here again for sure. Pescatore is my new favorite gem!

A wonderful experience all around.
Great staff and great wine selection but what really sets Pescatore apart is the food.
The pasta is all obviously freshly made and every dish is cooked to order and wonderful.

Amazing Brunch! Best in the neighborhood (especially if you don’t want to wait 2 hours in line)!
We tried the Crabmeat Benedict, the «Affumicata» breakfast pizza topped with smoked salmon, goat cheese, caramelized onions and arugula, and a smoked salmon omlette. All of these were wonderful, we honestly couldn’t decide what we liked most! Delicious, we’ll definitely be back.

This place is ok. I hear it’s hit or miss…
I have been here twice. The first time was right after I arrived in Boston about 2 years ago and I wanted to thank my neighbor (also new to Boston) for watching my cat… not that anyone expects a thank you for watching my cat, in fact, she is the greatest and people ask to hang with her/​keep her. I digress, being the kind human that I am, I took my neighbor to a meal. I remember it being pretty delicious. we had the calamari which was decent, not spectacular, and I had the chicken piccata. I know
I took some of my food home, and I think I ate it, but maybe not. I can’t remember. I do remember wanting to go back though.
Fast forward 2 years. My boyfriend and I now live in Meddford. He’s a total Cambridge townie so he knows the Italian places to go, so it has taken us a second to get to Pescatore. I know, I sound totally douchey, right? Anyway we decided to check the place out.
First the service was just ok. Our server was totally awkward and never introduced himself, he was just kind of like HEY IM HERE WHAT DO YOU WANT. We ordered wine. I’m a big Sav. Blanc fan (yes, I did abbreviate that because I can’t spell it.), so I ordered that, and my boyfriend, being the wine connoisseur that he is, being from East Cambridge ordered the Pinot Noir. Soooo 10 minutes later we get our wine. I’m not a person to complain, but I had to send it back! It smelled/​tasted oniony. No big deal. I just said «if the Pinot is open bring me that instead of opening a new bottle».
Then we order our meals and the arincini! arincini was delicious, BUT it was still really cold in the middle!
We get our meals, I had a fussili dish with seafood. My boyfriend had a filet special. the filet was delicious, the fussili was ok… the scallops were TINY and the lobster overcooked.
I give it 3 stars. I had higher hopes given this place is in m neighborhood!

I seriously cannot talk up this place enough. An absolute hidden gem in a corner of Somerville you probably didn’t know existed.
I have come for both brunch and dinner multiple times. I’ve had everything from the haddock piccata to the chicken parm. The chicken Toscana, to the arancini. Since my bf and my first dinner here, we’ve come back at least 7 times and have yet to be disappointed. Their pasta is devine, everything is always cooked perfectly, and the staff is always friendly (shout out to waiter Brian who is persistently courteous, intelligent, and witty).
You should not be disappointed. The price is right, the food is spectacular, and the environment inviting.

This place has fantastic pasta, but it has a lot of areas that need tinkering.
I came here with a group of friends and had to wait over 40 minutes for our food. Other tables that ordered after us were getting dishes before us. Our server noticed us staring him down with hunger, so he told us our food was coming out soon… but it still didn’t come out for a while after. Turns out he put in our appetizer as an entrée. But he was really nice about it and apologized.
They have really great bread. I think they make it in the house? We tried to get seconds but they ran out of bread like at 8pm… what?!
We ordered the fried calamari and clam appetizer. It was really mediocre. The clams were super small. We even called our waiter over to ask if we got the wrong app since we couldn’t find the clams! Though the portion size of the platter is decent, there was really nothing remarkable about this dish.
The pasta is delicious! I recommend trying their housemade pasta, but I’m sure they’re all good. I ordered the Bolognese and had plenty leftover for another meal. The sauce was delectable and the noodles were so soft.
I recommend the pasta dish with truffle oil and mushrooms. My friend ordered that and it smelled amazing and tasted even better. It’s a really strong sauce that tastes incredible.
What really bugs me is the restaurant also overcharged my credit card so now I have to dispute it. So with the mediocre service, lack of bread, and overcharging, I feel like this place has a lot to work on. Not sure I’d come back, but it’s definitely worth trying if you’re looking for great pasta.
**Shortly after this review, the owner contacted me to reimburse me for the overcharge :) **

Pescatore is a few minutes walk from our house and yet we only ate here once. Once. In five years of living nearby. I guess we just always decided to hit up Bocelli’s or eat at home — turns out Pescatore is the real deal. Authentic. Italian. Delicious.
Chicken Marsala for me and delightful service on a late Sunday night. Clean restaurant, decent prices.
Will be back for sure.

I would have loved to give this place 5 stars for the food! It’s such a shame that the service turned out to be so disappointing. We got there and ordered, but it took a while for the bread to come out. Then we realized we didn’t have bread plates in out table setting, and it took another while before we got those… We ordered the fried clams and calamari as an appetizer, and I got the fettucini bolognese. The waiter forgot to put in our fried platter as an appetizer so we waited another 40 minutes before any food came out. As we were waiting, stomachs growling, we asked for more bread but… they ran out of bread. I didn’t even think that was possible in restaurants! I hope that it was really just a fluke and a bad night for our waiter who did apologize.
All that being said, the pasta was really really good. Their homemade noodles were so soft and delicious, and the sauce was perfectly done. I was a little underwhelmed with the fried clams personally, just because there are so many reviews about them.

Went on a Friday night at 6. Our male waiter was very strange. My bf ordered a glass of wine and the waiter asked for his ID. He is 27 and has a NJ license. The waiter brought his ID behind the bar area and it looked like he scanned it to see if it was legit. He literally had the ID for 5 minutes, brought it back then got the glass of wine. Very strange. The bread we started out with was unmemorable and there was just a bottle of olive oil for dipping on the table, instead of a nice garlic infused mixture that most legit Italian restaurants provide.
We started with the Caesar salad. I normally like a lightly dressed salad, but this was far too underdressed and it tasted like one of those salad kits you can buy in the grocery store. I read a review which raved about this salad, which is why I ordered it. Disappointing would be an understatement.
For entrees, I ordered the Fusilli Amalfi, fra diavlo and he ordered the chicken picatta. The homemade fusilli was perfectly cooked al dente but the sauce was a total let down, way too watery. He thought the piccatta was OK, nothing memorable. We left disappointed in our meals after reading such good reviews. I suggest going to Vinny’s on the other end of Broadway for a truly fantastic Italian meal. This place just didn’t cut it and we won’t return.