Limoncello — Restaurant in Boston

Food very good. All 8 of us will NEVER go back. Only bad North End experience we've ever had. We had an 8 PM reservation Friday, December 8th. Our table was still occupied. Not a big deal. Our friend who made the resy waited inside. It was crowded and not room for us to hang inside, so 6 of us waited on the street. The owner(s) told us a few times the group at our table paid around 7:50 PM and were just sitting chatting. We're all low-maintenance. Kept chatting. More time goes by (8:30) that group is till they're talking. They were long done drinking. No food left on their table. My wife who met us there was inside, the owner(s) was good naturally telling my wife and our friend who made the reservation that it would be ready soon, and that that group just spent $500 so they did not want to ask them if they could exit. as it was now past 8:30 and there was a party of 8 who had that table reserved for 8 PM. My wife sat at the bar and ordered a beer. The owner or older worker, knowing they were keeping us waiting, told her she couldn't sit there, they needed that bar seat, and she could go stand by the hostess stand with her beer. By 8:45 PM my friends and I outside were saying we should go across the street to Riccardo's or to Cantina Italiana, any great North End restaurants. At 8:55 PM, we were told our table was ready. Just about one hour later that the resy. Jokes were made when we were seated between us and the staff/ owners. We ordered appetizers, 8 entrees, two bottle of red and one girl, a glass of white. Other than the "just okay" chicken parmesan my wife and friend had, the rest of our entrees were delicious. The service was friendly and great (hour wait botched reservation aside) up until the entrees came. 8 people certainly would have ordered more wine or drinks had they checked up on us, but nope. Only when it was evident they did not want us to order anything further and maybe wanted to close soon, even though it was 10 PM and there were other diners and tables in their still drinking, eating and talking, they came and asked if we wanted coffee or dessert.. At that point we just wanted the bill since the time we wanted more wine had come and gone. If we were high maintenance people, we may have made a joke that we'll take dessert on them or a comped appetizer or two since they were too SCARED to nicely tell a table lingering an hour after they paid there bill, NOT drinking, "thanks guys, if you don't mind, we do have an 8 O'Clock reservation that has been patiently waiting for this table." We could not believe the did not offer an appetizer or dessert on them, nor asked us if we wanted more drinks/ wine. What did they think we were going to spend, if not more than the $500 the group prior had spent and they were too SCARED to ask them if they could exit. Our bill was exactly $550. Had we been checked up in post entree arrival, more wine would have bumped our bill up more. Go to Tresca, Cantina Italiana, Strega or Nico, Bricco, Florentine or any of the GREAT restaurants that make the North End so unique. The owner or older staff member dropped the check and said in a cocky way, "So! Was it worth the wait or what??!" We stared and a couple of us unethusiastically said casually, "It was good." My wife and I both bartenders/ long time restaurant workers usually tip huge. I tipped a little over 20%. Disappointing. If we were sat at say, 8:22 PM, this review...

Ristorante Limoncello is a hidden gem in the North End of Boston. If you’re a local, you know there are countless Italian spots in the North End. This is my favorite spot.

Ristorante Limoncello offers fresh, creative, and traditional Italian dishes. You’ll find favorites like Veal/Chicken Piccata, Pomodoro Pasta with Meatballs, and you can’t forget the Caprese Salad!

Their menu is fairly large and they are happy to accommodate any reasonable request. For example, I requested they add mushrooms to my Veal dish. Not a problem!

Service is very quick and they ensure your glass is always topped off. Food is also very quick coming out from the kitchen. If you’re a slow eater like we are, inform your server and/or space out your food when ordering.

We stopped in to Ristorante Limoncello to enjoy Christmas dinner. The entire place is decorated and decked out for the holiday season. The dining room is small and intimate. I’d suggest upscale casual/classy attire.

I started with your traditional Caprese Salad. The tomatoes were crisp, fresh, and juicy. The fresh mozzarella was very rich and sure to please!

They brought out fresh-baked bread with EVOO, Parmesan Cheese, and Marinated Olives! The bread was so good we had them refill our basket!

Next, we ordered the Vitello Piccata. This is veal prepared with fresh lemon, white wine, and capers. The veal was pounded perfectly thin and breaded perfectly. The veal was incredibly tender and flavorful. I won’t lie, by far the best “Veal Piccata” I have ever had. I’ll be back often. It’s that good!

If you’re a fan of fresh pastas, you wont be disappointed. We ordered the Fettuccine Al Nero Di Seppia Con Astice. It is Black Squid Ink Fettuccine with Maine Lobster in a Tomato-Cream Sauce.

The pasta was cooked to perfection and the sauce was phenomenal. It reminded me of a Vodka-Style Pasta Sauce. It wasn’t too sweet and it was not too acidic. And I am very picky when it comes to the sauce on my pasta!

Lastly, we had to have dessert! Normally, we’d hit a pastry spot nearby. However, our favorites were closed on Christmas. We decided to give the Amaretto Cake a try.

It was one of the BEST Amaretto Cake slices I have ever had. It was perfect and hit the spot after a large meal!

Service was phenomenal and they truly take pride in the food and service. It’s one of my new go-to spots. Everything on the menu thus far has...

Yikes!! Eating with Ratatouille- Little Rat! Was recommended by our hotel while we were in Boston. Couple things occurred since we arrived that made our experience bad. First, we had a reservation and arrived early but were still asked to wait for some reason for over 15 minutes and tables were empty. What was not so good is there there is no place to wait except outside and it was very cold or in a tiny area by front door being hit by the doors when people are leaving. That little area was dirty and old looking. Noticed the Zagat awards were from like 2011 and they’ve never received any other since then so that was a red flag. We finally were seated and our waitress was not very nice. She seemed annoyed with my questions about things like if they had any soups. Then she tells me I can’t just order an appetizer first I need to put in my entire order together but I was not sure what to order yet for entree. Ordered some 13 dollar Caesar Salad that was ehhh. When I ordered my Chicken Parmigiana which came with pasta I asked what type if I can change her response was no it’s chef’s choice. Wow so the chef decides what I would like to eat! They sent it to me with some penne pasta with red sauce 😞. The food lacked taste and was just ok not a wow like I was expecting. But what really made the night interesting was that we were sharing space with a small rat in a fake plant by front window. I did not say anything to avoid ruining my wife’s night or mother in law and cause a scene so instead I waited to the end and notified what seemed to be owner sitting people down. He was kinda surprised and told me move over there and I said we are leaving already.. he said I just want to try to get it.. I thought he was worried about us and embarrassed.. he was concerned about getting the rat 🐀 in the middle of everyone having dinner around us. I honestly was expecting an I’m so sorry tab is on us, dessert, but nope.. we actually were not even offered dessert by waitress I noticed after we left. I would imagine there are better places than this in that area for better Italian. Seems they’ve maybe dropped the ball ever since those Zagat awards in 2011 and focused on just becoming wealthy and full instead of quality and hosting a good atmosphere and...