MIDA — Restaurant in Boston

Disappointing Experience at MIDA - Poor Service and Overcooked Pizza

I recently visited MIDA in East Boston with my family after seeing positive reviews online about food and location, but unfortunately, my experience was far from what I expected. From the moment we sat down, the service was a major disappointment.

We ordered drinks—red wine, sangria, two Johnnie Walkers (specifically asked for straight up, no ice), and a Shirley Temple for the kids. While the red wine arrived quickly, the rest of our drinks took nearly 30 minutes. When I asked our waiter, Grady, about the delay, he gave a puzzling response: "They're making the Shirley Temple for the kids." It made no sense that a simple non-alcoholic drink would hold up everything else, including two straightforward whiskey orders.

When we finally received the Johnnie Walkers, they had ice in them, despite us clearly asking for no ice. I pointed this out to the waiter, and this is where things got worse. Grady took the drinks back to the bar, and instead of preparing new drinks, they just removed the ice and brought the same glasses back to us! I asked him directly if that’s what they had done, and he confirmed it. I then asked for the drinks to be changed, and again, he went to the bartender, who simply poured the same drinks into different glasses and brought them back. This level of service was shockingly unprofessional.

We also requested bread and olive oil, which took forever to arrive. Meanwhile, we watched other tables—seated after us—receive their drinks and bread well before us, adding to the frustration.

As for the food, the pizza was overcooked and lacked any real flavor. For a restaurant with such high ratings, I expected much better quality. The entire experience was a letdown, from the slow, inattentive service to the subpar food.

MIDA. It means “he gives me.” And every meal we create is meant to be a gift just for you.

I definitely made the wrong choice dining at MIDA, and I won’t...

TLDR; food was delicious, but service was awful and very slow.

We got the olives, arincini, short rib lasagna, and pesto pasta dish — all of which were very good.

The host set our table for 3 (as our reservation was originally supposed to be), although we expressed there would only be 2 of us. After quite sometime, a woman came over without saying anything and began filling our water glasses. Turns out that woman was our server and when she finally came back again after a while, she said she had been waiting to come over until our other person arrived. Had she asked or even introduced herself originally, we would’ve told her there was not a 3rd.

After that miscommunication, we ordered drinks, appetizers, and our meals. The appetizers took so long that we finished our drinks, and when the server came over to collect the glasses, she didn’t even ask if we’d like another.

The appetizers were taking so long to come out that the server came over to our table not to apologize, but to let us know they should be done soon. The manager then came over right after to let us know there was an issue with the printer and our ticket never printed, making sure to emphasize that “it wasn’t the servers fault.” We thought this was weird because we hadn’t said or done anything to indicate we thought it was.” Anyways, our apps finally came and the waitress ended up taking our olives before we were finished. She didn’t even ask if we were all set, just took the dish before we had a chance to say anything.

Once our apps were taken away, you’d think they would prioritize getting our food out quickly since they had that hiccup. Nope, it still took just as long.

The only saving grace was that the food was amazing. But the server never came to check on our meal, my 2nd martini came in a smaller glass, and we were not offered compensation or even a simple apology from our server for the error...

I came here for a 10th year anniversary dinner, with reservations. The ambiance of the waterfront location is really nice, however we were seated as far back away from the main view as possible which was disappointing. The servers were good and it seems like they were trying, when the kitchen was putting out dishes a bit on a slow side. I am guessing they were understaffed on this day. It took 20 minutes for our appetizers, 25 minutes for drinks, 55 minutes for our food to come out, which was a really long time.

What we ate: Bread + Olive oil (gratis) - small quantity, but good, A - Marinated Olives - large quantity, A Arancini - small quantity, good crisp, A

Sorrento Spritz - A+ Black Tea Daquiri - B+ Slightly too much sour mix at the top Amalfi Coast - C The glass was half empty. Wasn't sure if they forgot to top it with the actual alcohol or the waitress spilled it.

Rock Shrimp Carbonara - B- The pasta itself was well made, and the shrimp were de-tailed so that was good, but there wasn't much sauce per se, it was pretty dry, which was really weird. Wouldn't order this again as it was pricey

Casarecce Alle Verdure - C- The pasta was well cooked, as well as the vegetables inside, however there was too much acid. There was an overpowering sour tart taste of tomato and sherry vinegar. This dish would have been far better if they remove the vinegar and tomatoes and used a simple pesto, evoo, garlic, pine nuts, smoked paprika, squirt of lemon, white pepper + sea salt. Wouldn't order this again.

It was overall a nice experience but the food itself had highs and lows. I would say this place excels if you're looking for a more casual experience, if you're already in the neighborhood, say grabbing a pizza and drinks with some friends and enjoying the view. It's on the expensive side for what you get. I really hope the food here gets better, because I like the...