Charcoal Guido’s

I’m giving this place three stars because the pizza is outstanding (five stars)…as is the service, but the pasta is absolutely terrible (1 star). I came here once when I first moved to Waltham and got the chicken parm, which was rubbery and bland. But after hearing how good the pizza is (charcoal is in the name after all) came back for pizza. The pizza is some of the best in the area. Really delicious and perfectly cooked and balanced. My husband and I went back last night and tried the pasta, hoping maybe the first time was a fluke. It wasn’t. He got risotto, which basically tasted like rice mush. He dumped salt and pepper onto it to make it palatable. I got the bolognese, which tasted like they just sauteed meat with no seasoning and put it in overcooked pasta. Disappointing. I will still come back because the service is fantastic and the pizza outstanding.

The best pizza in Walthem!!! Great service and ambience. Very impressed.

Love love love it here. Traditional Italian food that is so good. The service is perfect. The food come out fast and hot. The pizza is chewy and crispy. The pasta is very very good. We tried the burrata caprese and the arranccini. Both were fabulous. Great wines. Just a good neighborhood spot.

This place is a hidden gem that I have noticed is becoming not so hidden anymore. I work in Waltham and when I need an amazing Italian meal with 0 desire to handle the north end? I go to Charcoal Guidos.
Italian food is about the details; the little things. And there’s no questions asked that once you take a look at their menu and read what they’re cheffing up in the back? You’ll see this place knows Italian food better than anyone else ok Moody St and better than anyone else in Waltham.

I’ve been here a bunch of times and it never disappoints. I’ve sat at a table, the bar, and recently the basement!!! We were in a bind for a party of 6 and they accommodated us in the «basement» which is inside their liquor storage area. The area is clean, well kept and the staff is very attentive. We got taken care of by 3 – 4 different staff and the owner greeted us and checked in on us. Mario was our server and he is awesome. Staff is big with me so this experience trumps all other visits here. The table we are told belongs to the owners mother, very touching.
The food. Yummy and flavorful as always. We got the arracine, seafood trio in sweet cherry sauce, and arracinis lamb Popsicles. We got a courtesy truffle fries which is my fav here. Salmon dish was spot on as always, and the presentation is great. You won’t be disappointed in Guidos if you come here. Like all north end restaurants the place is tight for space. They should just take over the mex place next door that keeps tanking lol. Expand or keep it intimate either or this place has a great atmosphere and the staff is 5 stars!

Ok to be real… I’ve been there a bunch of times but only sat at the bar, usually only get either Manhattans or Jack & Cokes for drinks and have only ordered the Burrata Caprese & Parama Proscuitto, the Glenn Greasy pizza and this skewered shrimp dish that’s not on the menu anymore. I LOVED everything I’ve ordered and loved the service! The bread and olive oil they give for dipping are delicious and totally freshly made! The pizza I always get is amazing (especially if you love pork) and that antipasto/​charcuterie appetizer dish is really good too and isn’t far from Backroom at Moody’s Delicatessen. I think the bread is what makes the difference. Don’t know if it’s the dough or the brick oven pizza but whatever cuz I’m not ordering anything different! Hey I’m a man of routine what can I say :)

Excellent food, and Jazz every Thursday at 8pm!
Inviting atmosphere, easy parking, and very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

So awesome! Went for the first time today… for a take out order of 10 pizzas for work. They were amazing from the moment I placed the order. I placed it early and I got a call immediately from (maybe the owner?) who told me they received it and would take care of it. Then I had to swap out 2 pizzas at two different times and they were great about that too! Then I got there, it wasn’t quite done and they offered me a drink. It was just a really pleasant experience.
Turns out the pizza is amazing! We got a whole bunch of different ones and every one was fantastic! We also got the nutella ‘pizza’ and went through two of them immediately!
Thanks Charcoal Guido’s! We’ll be back!

I came here the night I moved to Waltham and and it sealed the deal. I had the Margherita pizza and Ate the whole thing. Yeah, it was that good. I can’t wait to come back and try more items on the menu. The staff was very friendly and accommodating.

Really good food but I’ve been here twice and both times the service was slow and not friendly. I went here for dinner with two of my sisters (we had a reservation) and we were seated at a two-​top, pretty much on top of a loud family that kept staring at/​drooling over our food since theirs was taking forever. (To be fair, that weird family isn’t Guido’s fault.)
I’ll go back — the drinks are good, food is delicious and atmosphere is really cozy — but I’ll have to mentally prepare for the terrible service first.

They need to switch up the menu. The items have been their forever.
With that said there are some real food items on the menu.
Drinks are also well made here.

I want to love this place. The idea, the décor, the menu — it SHOULD be amazing. But often they just fall short.
My first experience at the bar was nice but once I moved to the dining room side things slowly went down from there. I’ve been half a dozen times now but I don’t know if I’ll be back without a coupon. The drinks are really great and the food is generally tasty but nothing out of this world.
Like others have mentioned most items are just too pricey for what you receive. While I’ve never had anything bad there hasn’t really been anything I must have again. More so the service has always been spotty. On Moody Street you just have to be great to succeed. There are too many other options.

So we go to this place with a party of six on a Saturday night at 7pm. So they tell us we are going to have to wait. That’s expected. So we are hanging out front and the hostess brings us a basket of truffles fries and apologizes for the wait! What?! It’s Saturday night and we have a large party we knew we would have to wait! THANKS!!! So we get sat at a small table by the door, stoked just to be sat.
The food. Two issues. The food was incredible BUT the portion sizes were kind of eh. I got lasagna which could’ve been bigger for the price. Two one of the ladies in our group got the linguini and clams for the second time. She described them as tasting like moth balls. Not sure what that tastes like but I ate them because she didn’t want them and they did have a slight chemical taste. She said they tasted like that both times.
Otherwise great service. Food and experience.

My favorite restaurant on moody st! The food here isn’t like you’re mom and pop pizza or Italian food it’s like 10 Steps above! Their chicken parm is truly the best I’ve ever had! My only compliant is the portions are too small… Part of going to an Italian restaurant is getting mountains of pasta on the plate! They’re enough to fill you up but damnit I want leftovers of this amazing food!

Great lunch special. $ 10 for a wood fired pizza, piadini or calzone with salad and a soft drink. Servers are great. Nice spot!

My favorite Italian restaurant in town! Great service and food. Very reasonable priced. Their lunch specials are awesome. For apps: I love their Burrata Caprese & Parma Prosciutto plate. Huge portion and absolutely to die for. The mussels are great too! Enough to share!
For dinner: I think I’ve had everything on the menu! It’s that good. I love the gnocchi or the Cappelletti. For Pizza: the Glenn greasy or the Burrata (make sure you get extra sauce!)
For dessert: if you haven’t tried the Nutella pizza, it’s a must! Other great options include Tiramisu or the Spumoni Bomba.
No matter what you pick, you can’t go wrong.

I’m mad at myself for not knowing this place was here. Definitely a gem on Moody Street. The inside of the restaurant is beautiful, with the open wood-​fire oven as the main attraction. The food is amazing. I would definitely recommend the Arancini risotto balls as an appetizer. Service was definitely on point, making this a great overall experience. I will be back.

The Nutella pizza makes this place four stars. Props to this place being open with no wait on a Friday night in a cute area. My pasta and salad were okay but the star of the show was the dessert.
I’m sure there was a whole jar of Nutella on this. This was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. It came out piping hot with cannoli filling on the inside. It had whipped cream as well. It was basically like a crêpe filled with amazingness. I ate so much of this that my stomach hurt but it was worth it!

Great drinks moody mule to die for.
Calamari was good well made but no kick .
Pizza some things of with the cheese like they put butter on it … Why?!
Meat balls where lacking soul, maybe they where made out of beef maybe

After our issue the week of Christmas the manager has reached out to me and wrote me a wonderful personal letter. She went above and beyond!
Charcoal Guido’s is definitely focused on customer service and I accept the issue was caused by being a busy holiday week! Any restaurant that has management that responds and reacts will always get my business and we will be back!
I am looking forward to returning in the new year and you should as well.