Felicia’s of the North End

I have frequented this restaurant for almost 10 years. Up until tonight, I have never been treated so rudely and unprofessionally as I have from their new manager.. She was snippy, rude, I accommodating and unprofessional. I ordered backed fish that came out as end cut and dried out. I did not wish to make a big deal about it but at the end of the meal she came over because I told the waitress how terrible the meal was. The manager came over with such an attitude and made me feel like I did something wrong. I have been a faithful patron to this restaurant and feel totally humiliated by how this women treated me. She is far from service oriented and pleasing the customer.

Love this place. I go there all the time & it’s consistently great. Food, atmosphere, wait staff etc… All outstanding.

Do the hostesses take courses in rude? If so, they passed with flying colors!
Made the mistake of trying the place without reservations. You would have thought this was a personal affront to hostess #1, who immediately picked up a phone call and ignored us. Hostess #2 shows up and says she can seat us in the bar, but we have to be done by 5:30 as the table is reserved. This all took place a little after 4:00 on a Saturday when the entire place was deserted, except for a few people sipping drinks at the bar.
As far as the food, average Italian fare at best. Nothing to write home about or be treated rudely.
Later, when talking to a friend, we discovered she was treated in the exact same fashion a few months before. It seems like this is SOP at Felicia’s.
Never again.

I am surprised at some of the negative reviews. This place was great! I recently went on a Wednesday evening and the place was busy; had a warm vibe. It possesses a classic, «old school» charm that sets a comfortable mood. Our server was no-​nonsense and attentive. I had the chicken parmesan/​eggplant. It was awesome! One of best I have had and the serving was generous; enough for two more meals. The pre-​meal salad and bread were fine. I will ask for the dressing on the side next time since the dressing was a bit much. However, that is very minor. The other members of my party were all satisfied and on the ride home we were already talking about going back. I wonder if I will be adventurous and order something different… Doubt it! Well done, Felicia’s. I will be sure to refer others.

Bread was stale, Caesar salad ok and lasagna was overcooked mush.
Pretty good crowd for late on a Tuesday but I would not come back.

Good portions. Good food. Older crowd and good service. It’s definitely a good place, worth a try

One of the best REAL Italian meals outside of Venice, or Boston’s North End. Everything was great. We get seated, there’s immediately ice cold water on the table and before we knew it, our warm, fresh bread, with the delicious dipping oil. Our server, Allene was fantastic, she took our drink order, we both got Sangria, which was fresh, ice cold and perfectly made. After hearing the dinner specials, we both ordered the Lobster Pie, which although small, was overflowing with fresh, juicy lobster claw meat, I’m talking Whole Claw, not little chunks. The salad was fresh and crispy with the perfect about of dressing. We wanted for nothing. Allene made sure we were all taken care of. Thank you Allene and the entire staff of Felicia’s. Everything from the moment we walked in until we left was perfect. Allene even took time to take our picture. Best meal in Stoneham

Felicia’s has been one of our favorite restaurants for almost 10 years however I feel things have changed in the last year or so. The last 4 times my wife and I went we found both of our dishes were bland and flat something has definitely changed in the kitchen likely the cooks. The food has just been OK but it used to be incredible. We will be trying the other area Italian spots before we go back again. Although I will miss the goblets of wine they serve which are definitely the largest pour I have had at any restaurant and they make great martinis. Something we will not miss is the cranky hostesses

Went to this location to dine in twice in the last two months. Both times the food was great but the service was awful… Because of the food I decided to give another chance to this place but this time I didn’t want to deal with the unpleasant dine in experience so I decided to order to go.
Well… Not much change there! The lady that answer the phone was super rude, she was rushing to get my order didn’t have a good understanding of the menu because she couldn’t understand «vitelo a la parmigiana“so she passed the phone to Mrs rude#2 that finalized my order as I was her worse enemy… Sour Ladies!!! I’m done with this place! Again … food is good but not worth the service!

Don’t bother making a reservation. Every time we’ve made a reservation, they can’t honor it within 15 minutes of the specified time, and you’re stuck either standing outside in the cold, or standing amidst an overcrowded, tiny, packed bar area. They can’t manage the front of the house at all. This has happened to us three times already. We won’t keep trying here on weekends, but it is quiet on weeknights.
The food is good enough. It’s your basic red sauce Italian, monstrous portions which make the prices seem less outlandish (but still expensive.) The servers are usually pretty mediocre.
But seriously, Felicia’s isn’t worth the hassle on a weekend. They ruin every single weekend night we try to spend there by making us late for our movie or not able to eat there at all since they don’t honor reservations with any regularity or predictability.

Went to Felicia’s last night with 2 friends. It was crowded and we didn’t have a reservation but we only waited about 10 minutes. The waitress, Cathy, was very nice and friendly. She was helpful in choosing what we were going to have offering her opinion on different items. The mussels were excellent. They kept the bread basket full throughout the meal. We all ordered something different but everything was delicious. The bolognese is one of the best I’ve had! The portion was enough for at least 2 meals but I stretched it to 3. The lemonchello after was a nice surprise.
It is a bit hectic and not a quiet dining experience but we all commented on how it was entertaining and made the experience better for us. You don’t feel like when your having a conversation the whole place can hear you. Three woman having a few drinks can get a little rowdy but it didn’t feel like anybody was paying much attention to us so that was good. If you want a quiet dinner & privacy maybe not the best choice so keep that in mind.
I would go back anytime.

This place was a prime candidate for the show Kitchen Nightmares. I think Felicia’s kids must have run it into the ground after she died. The prices seemed more expensive than the average entrée in Boston’s North End and quality of food came nowhere close.
My grandparents gave me a $ 50 gift card to this restaurant for Christmas because they thought it would be fun to try a local restaurant in Stoneham, MA since I am new to the area. I am sad to to say it was so disgusting that I don’t know if I will be able to get myself to use the remaining $ 8 I kept to try a sandwich.
I ordered the fettuccine rustica. I immediately lost my appetite as I watched the waitress bring out a huge pile of slop with sauce spilling off the plate, down her arm, and eventually into my lap as she placed it on the table. I am no gourmet, but the sausage tasted like leftovers and the texture of the peppers was as if they were either frozen or microwaved… maybe both.
The portions were huge, but my girlfriend had to convince me to take home the half plate of food I couldn’t eat since she didn’t want to see so much food wasted. Unfortunately, it still ended up in the trash. I hope someone reads this and offers to refund the $ 8 on my card. I could use it to buy pasta and sausage from the grocery store and make a far better meal. I’m happy to report that my girlfriend did not dump me after I took her to such an embarrassing date spot on a Friday night.

Not sure what people are thinking with this place. Yes it has the cool, old school ambiance, they also have massive portions and good service. That gets them some stars in my book. In terms of their food, the garlic bread is really outstanding. We ate their Chicken Ziti Broccoli and Tagliatelle Bolgnese. Overall we felt the food was extremely bland. I had to pour a good amount of salt onto the food. Just seemed like I could have cooked this better at home.

Great Italian. Antipasto, caprese, bolognese, linguine with clams, shrimp fra diavlo are all great. Feel confident ordering them.
Bar is a little slow, but drinks are worth the wait.
Check to make sure there isn’t a show at the theater before coming and make a reservation.

Could have been better, could have been worse. I agree with another reviewer about the service. While our waitress was pleasant and attentive, the lady who sat us (not sure if she was a hostess or a server, but I guess the napkins she was rolling was important) was rude. There were a handful of open tables and she huffed and puffed, walked around for 5 minutes, then sat us. We weren’t asked for a drink for a good 10 minutes. The fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp is tasty and creamy, but nothing incredible. Boyfriend had the veal parm, said it was alright. This place is right up the street from me but I’d be willing to drive farther and deal with crappy parking for better food and service!

North End Italian in the suburbs!
My husband and I went this weekend. We frequent the North End but getting a parking spot or a table on the weekend is a hassle so we decided to try Felicia’s. It was a Friday night and was busy but we made a reservation and were seated right away. Parking wasn’t a problem and was 10x better than the North End. Janet was our server and she was great: pleasant and efficient. We both had a glass of wine to start and it was a great sized pour. You just don’t see that at restaurants much anymore.
I’ve seen reviews of people not liking the bread or salad. I can’t help but think these reviewers think the Olive Garden is real Italian. The bread and salad were good and very similar to other real Italian eateries.
I had the Veal Margherita and he had the Scallopini Marsala. Both were excellent. The veal was lightly battered and the Margherita sauce had the perfect amount of acid (lemon) mixed in with the vinegar from the artichokes. I tasted the Marsala sauce as well and it was perfect. Not too much wine but just enough to compliment the veal and mushrooms. Both of us had a side of linguini, perfectly cooked al dente. And the sauce was amazing. I usually don’t like sauce that I don’t make myself but this was fantastic.
Summary — we will be back!

This restaurant was extremely mediocre at best. My boyfriend and I ordered the fried calamari, pasta puttanesca, and the eggplant parm.
Service:
The service overall was poor and extremely slow (restaurant wasn’t busy for a Wednesday night). The waitress was inattentive and only came to table after a long periods of time elapsed. I also had to ask to refill my water glass.
Food:
We started with the salads that came with the main meal. Boy was this salad underwhelming. Who puts mushy canned green beans on a salad? Gross.
The fried calamari came next. Over battered and super oily. On a positive note, the calamari wasn’t chewy, just prepared incorrectly.
Our main meals came next. The pasta puttanesca was tasteless. I mean bland, not spicy, and unexciting. The eggplant parm was gross; it was a deep fried, oily, and greasy slop on a plate with melted cheese. It was very bland and tasted weird against your tongue. The tomato sauce that came with it was tasteless and bland as well.
Overall, a return visit will not be happening. The food was so bad that we threw our leftovers out in the trash barrel outside the restaurant. One of the worst restaurants I have ever been to: bad service and worse food! I say no thank you!

A very unassuming restaurant from the looks of the exterior as the dark reflective mirrored glass panels prevent you from looking in.
Once you walk in you are greeted with the sweet sounds of Frankie Sinatra playing in the background.
The décor is rustic and dated with old wooden tables and chairs. The walls are adorned with pictures of famous celebrities who have dined here.
Once seated we were immediately served water and bread with olive oil. The bread was not the typical variety I was expecting from an Italian restaurant, it was your basic Italian bread you would buy at your local supermarket, so the bread was dry and cold. The single serving butter tubs were firm and not easily spreadable. I also found a used butter tub mixed in with my bread, c’mon guys you need to check more carefully before serving it to the customers.
We ordered the Shrimp scampi with Angel hair pasta and I had the Pollo Braciolettine with rigatoni. Our meals were served with a side salad that was fresh, crunchy and delicious.
Our meals came out quickly and the flavors were spot on Delicious! The pasta was perfectly cooked al-​dente. The marinara sauce on the rigatoni was sweet and velvety smooth, it was so good!
The Shrimp scampi had a nice chew and was not overly seasoned. The Pollo Braciolettine was one word «AWESOME». It comes with 2 huge chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella smothered in a delicious concoction of white wine lemon infused sauce served with huge broccoli florets.
Overall a great place for authentic Italian dining. One word of caution, the restaurant does not have a parking lot. Park by the public library as noted by the front of the restaurant entrance. If you park next to the «DB mart» they will tow your car at least that’s what the sign says they will do. You can park on «Main street» for up to 2 hours as posted.
As the out of towner «Consigliere» I highly recommend this place!

VERY GOOD SUBURBAN ITALIAN RESTAURANT
My 6 friends and I dined here on a Thursday night at 7pm, and we all enjoyed this restaurant. Read below for a more detailed description.
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~ The Good Points ~
A. LOCATION — 4 STARS — In Stoneham Center, and easily accessible by car from Rt. 93 and Rt. ¹²⁸⁄₉₅.
B. PARKING — 4 STARS — Ample amount of free on-​street parking, as well as a moderately large parking lot diagonally across the street. NOTE: Don’t park in the adjacent Liquor Store parking lot otherwise the Liquor Store Owner will aggressively tow your car.
C. DECOR — 4 STARS — Definitely pretty and intimate.
D. NOISE & SPACE — 4.5 STARS — Neither too loud nor too cramped. It’s easy to have a normal conversation at regular volume, at least on a Thursday night.
E. SERVICE — 4 STARS — Attentive, qualified, knowledgeable, and friendly.
F. FOOD QUALITY — 4 STARS — All 7 of our entrees were tasty and employed fresh ingredients.
G. FOOD QUANTITY — 4 STARS — More than ample quantity.
H. PRICES & VALUE — 4 STARS — The combination of reasonable prices, higher quantity, and great service make this restaurant a very good value.
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~ The Bad Points ~
I. BREAD & OIL — 3 STARS — As noted by many reviewers, both the Italian Scali bread and the Olive Oil supplied for dipping the bread are sub-​standard.
J. HOUSE SALAD & BLUE CHEESE DRESSING — 2 STARS — The house salad was fresh, but small. It had an adequate amount of iceberg lettuce, but only 1 small slice of cucumber, 2 very thin slices of red onion, and 2 small grape tomatoes. The dressing was way too thick and insipid.
K. OVERALL RATING — 4 STARS — Clearly, the many positives outweigh the couple of negatives. In fact, all 7 of us had a good time and agreed to return.

Went there recently with a large party and had to wait over 30 minutes for our reserved table. Owner sent over comped appetizers but im still a bit upset that the hostess kept telling me ‘we are setting it up now’ and then we would wait 10 more minutes.
I would have gladly made the reservation for later if I needed to. It was so crowded in the bar waiting!
Food was amazing as always :)