La Padrona Boston — Restaurant in Boston

Key takeaways: Warning if you're not a social media influencer or their friend I would not go here for a while. It's clear the restaurant is catering to social media influencers to get their marketing and reviews up as they aren't great. They do this at the expense of regular people who get ignored and have a worse experience. The food is ok, for the price it is not worth it. The service is atrocious. The atmosphere is a little tacky/ clubby, many older sugar daddies with younger "dates."

Please read the reviews on here carefully. If the review is done by a social media influencer take it with a grain of salt. These people are getting incentivized (aka free meals) to write these reviews at the cost of the general public who is getting a worse experience and paying through the nose for it.

Detailed review: The food is ok. For the price it is not worth it. WAY WAY over priced. We had one app to split, a pasta and a steak. 5 cocktails in total and the bill was $400.

Ambiance is very trendy. Music is way too loud but at least fun. This is the only semi nice part.

The service was beyond horrible. I have never been treated this way in any restaurant anywhere in the world. Ive been To 3 Michelin star places and have always felt welcome and treated like family.

La padrona was the exact opposite experience. This felt like a tacky club where if you didn't know the bouncer you weren't getting in or served. While random people showed up gave them a kiss and got to cut the line. If you're a social media influencer you will have a great experience otherwise cross your fingers. Imagine staff who is at best untrained, immature and attentive to whoever they deem "cool" or at worst discriminatory and classist.

We had bar seats. We are two adults in our 40s and well off but very casual. There were two couples near us. Both with huge blingy jewelry. For whatever reason it seemed like the staff either knew the couples/ they were local celebrities/ instagram influencers or we were experiencing outright discrimination and classism by staff favoring "wealthy looking white people."

While the two couples were dotted on, catered to, and chatted with by not only our bartender but also 3-4 managers who walked around and never said one word to us or made eye contact with us. These couples got their food and drinks extremely quickly while we sat there hoping someone would make eye contact with us to get more water or a drink order in. I finally had to stop trying to get attention of our female bartender and call over the male bartender which was awkward bc he hadn't been serving us and I had to yell over to him while he was doing other work. He did help and get what we needed. Eventually a random hostess came up to ask us how we were and I had to complain about how the couples next to us were favored over us for whatever reason and how terrible our service was as a result. She was apologetic and brought over free dessert and limoncello. The bartenders eventually both came over and apologized which I appreciated. But as soon as we signed the check and left tip we were again forgotten.

Unfortunately the feeling of being belittled and made to feel less than is hard to shake so I won't be going back. I'm disgusted by our treatment. It felt like abuse -- abuse we paid for. Jody Adam's had Rialto in Cambridge awhile back and I remember it having similar problems. Me and my date were in college at the time were treated like nobodies. I thought treating people like this was over. Apparently no. Decades later nothing has changed except...

Amazing new Italian restaurant from Street Hospitality.

Recently took a visit for dinner during their opening week. Located on the first two floors of the Raffles Hotel, the restaurant exuded a chic, modern hotel lounge vibe. Admittedly, my previous experiences at Street Hospitality and Chef Jody Adams' other restaurants, like Trade and Porto, have been more about ambiance and drinks rather than remarkable food. Consequently, my expectations for the food here weren’t particularly high. However, La Padrona was a nice surprise: Chef Adams has put more effort into curating a modern yet rustic Italian menu inspired by her culinary team's recent trip through small towns in Italy, and the result was fantastic.

We started off our meal with a trio of appetizers: Bread Service, Charred Arrowhead Cabbage, and Tuna Crudo. The Bread Service was essentially an assortment of three bread varieties, and given its premium price tag - an unusual ask for a staple complimentary at most Italian places - I expected it to be flawless. Yet, both the Cacio e Pepe focaccia and Tuscan flatbreads were served lukewarm and lacked the distinctive flair, barely rivaling the gratis offerings at North End restaurants.

Thankfully, the other two appetizers were unique and excellent. Instead of the usual thin tuna slices for the crudo, they used substantial chunks of fresh tuna and paired them with slices of new potatoes. This made each bite extremely satisfying, and it was perhaps one of the best renditions of tuna crudo I’ve had in the city. Sprinkled with vibrant orange bits and fragrant sage, the charred cabbage was also impressive. Its crispy edges, moist interior, and tangy accent from the toppings fulfilled every desire I had for a charred vegetable appetizer.

For the entrées, we chose the Paccheri & Clams, Lobster & Uni Risotto, and the irresistible Bistecca Alla Florentina. Both the Paccheri and the Risotto were served in modest portions and were subtly seasoned, which allowed the seafood toppings to shine. The touch of Cruschi Peppers added a pleasant accent to the pasta, while the delicate fragrance of chive blossoms and caramelized fennel in the risotto complemented the creaminess of the uni and lobster beautifully.

The real highlight was, without a doubt, the porterhouse steak. Renowned for its exceptional tenderness, the Piedmontese steak was one of the best dry-aged porterhouse cuts I've ever had. Although a few pieces appeared slightly overcooked and somewhat dry, each piece was incredibly tender without being overly fatty, and it almost resembled a filet mignon in texture. Whether it's worth the excessive price tag might be debatable, but if I had to choose the best porterhouse cut in the city, this would be it.

Service was also excellent throughout our meal, though the cocktails were somewhat underwhelming. I only got to try Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and despite its intriguing list of ingredients, it tasted more like a generic cocktail. Nevertheless, I would definitely come back to explore more of their menu. Reservations might be challenging to secure in the first few months, but I highly recommend making the...

Located on the second floor of the swanky Raffles hotel in Boston, La Padrona promises an upscale Italian experience. Unfortunately, our evening was more akin to a messy, mediocre affair. The atmosphere, while lively and fun, was the only redeeming quality of this overhyped eatery.

Ambiance: The interior is sleek and modern, with a pulsating "house" music beat that's perfect for a night out with friends. As one of my friends described it “they said yes to ALL the design choices”. The battery-powered light on each table are a bad choice, they are too tall and obstruct conversation.

Service: Our waiter's greeting was an apology for the wait, which we hadn't even noticed. This set the tone for a distracted, unpolished service that struggled to keep up with our needs. The POS system was also a distraction, with long awkward pauses as the waiter typed in our order. Water glasses remained empty, plates were left uncleared, and the staff seemed woefully untrained. The pacing of the meal was also an issue. Our mains came out before we finished apps. The waiter came over to apologize saying it was the kitchen’s fault and he didn’t send the order.

Cocktails: Overpriced and uninspired, our cocktails failed to impress. For a restaurant of this caliber, we expected creativity and finesse, not bland, poorly executed drinks.

Food: The bread service, a whopping $28, was underwhelming. Here's a rundown of our lackluster meal: • Caesar Salad: It’s sad when a caesar is the highlight, a generous portion and well-balanced flavors. • Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio: A pricey disappointment, lacking finesse and flavor. • Prosciutto & Melon: A classic, simple dish that's hard to mess up, but unremarkable nonetheless. • Tagliatelle Emilia: A tasteless, uninspired take on fettuccine Alfredo, with balsamic vinegar the only redeeming flavor. • Lobster & Uni Risotto: Over-salted, possibly uni-less?, I couldn’t tell if the uni melted into he dish or if they forgot to add it, and the sauce was broken! What a mess. • Bucatini ala napoletana: The pièce de résistance – a quite large plastic wrapper in the sauce! They were apologetic but rectifying the issue lead to more fumbling. Eventually the manager came over, apologized, and offered to remove the dish from the check.

Final La Padrona's missteps are a shame, given its promising atmosphere and prime location. Until they revamp their service, perfect their dishes, and ensure a plastic-free dining experience, we'd advise you to steer clear of this upscale pretender.

Will La Padrona take heed and reform, there are certainly a lot of other patrons who have also had poor experiences, or will it continue to coast on its upscale image? Only time (and a serious overhaul) will tell. For now, we'll be taking our appetites elsewhere and I...