Pagliuca's — Restaurant in Boston

Review for Pagliuca's Ristorante Italiano

Rating: ★★★★★

Our recent dining experience at Pagliuca's Ristorante Italiano in Boston was nothing short of extraordinary. From the moment we walked in, we knew we were in for a special evening. The friendly staff was able to accommodate us without a reservation.

The food at Pagliuca's was simply amazing. Every dish we ordered was bursting with flavor, beautifully presented, and cooked to perfection. Whether it was the rich and creamy pasta, the perfectly seasoned seafbass, or the delectable desserts, each bite was a testament to the culinary expertise of the kitchen staff.

The service was exceptional, enhancing our dining experience even further. The staff was attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely friendly, making sure that every aspect of our meal was perfect. They were more than willing to accommodate any requests we had and offered excellent recommendations, especially when it came to pairing wines with our dishes.

Speaking of wine, the selection at Pagliuca's was impressive and complemented our meal wonderfully. The wines we chose enhanced the flavors of our dishes and provided the perfect finishing touch to an already outstanding dining experience.

Adding to the ambiance, the sights of Boston provided a beautiful backdrop for our evening. The city's vibrant atmosphere and historic charm made our visit to Pagliuca's even more memorable. After our meal, we enjoyed exploring the surrounding area, taking in the beautiful views and soaking up the lively Boston spirit.

Overall, Pagliuca's Ristorante Italiano provided us with a dining experience that exceeded all our expectations. The combination of incredible food, top-notch service, and a great wine selection, all set against the beautiful sights of Boston, made for a perfect evening. We highly recommend Pagliuca's to anyone looking for an unforgettable Italian dining experience in Boston.

Thank you, Pagliuca's, for an...

This place was hilariously terrible. We ate here at a recommendation from a local, but ended up having possibly the worst meal we have ever had at a restaurant. Service was lacking and disorganized, food was bad, and it was outrageously expensive.

To start, our party of two initially received only one glass of water. When they finally got around to bringing us a second glass, it was about 3 times bigger than the first glass — did they run out of dishes? Our drink orders were then taken twice by waitstaff who clearly didn’t know who was supposed to be taking care of our table. They gave us both a dinner and a lunch menu for our evening meal and never corrected that mistake. While waiting to order, we looked around and realized that nearly every table but ours had gotten a bread basket. We had to ask the waitstaff three times for bread before it finally arrived, just a few minutes before our meal. The bread wasn’t worth the wait — it was refrigerator-cold and definitely not homemade. Our entrees were downright awful. The lemon chicken pasta was simply fried chicken that clearly had been slopped down in its cooking oil, with pasta inexplicably on a separate plate. The second dish was a seafood pasta with “spicy” sauce — again with the pasta and seafood served on separate plates for unknown reasons. The sauce was extremely bland and tasted like plain tomato sauce from a can. To top it off, the bill came to a ridiculous $110 for one appetizer, two meals and two glasses of wine. This was the worst dining experience I have had in a long time, and would be worthy of a “Kitchen Nightmares” nomination. I hate to think what Gordon Ramsay would say...

Stopped in on a very busy Saturday night. Props to their hostess for actually accommodating us as a walk-in instead of snottily dismissing us like half a dozen other places. (Lesson learned for us: Don't even set foot in the north end on a saturday night without a reservation) The service was attentive, especially considering how slammed they were. We ordered the antipasto platter and it was quite good, definitely one of the better antipasti I've had from a neighborhood Italian joint.

From there, things went downhill. My companion ordered a glass of chianti and we were instead given a bottle and two glasses. Ok, I'm not a wine drinker but it was reasonably priced and when in Rome. I ordered a dry, dirty kangaroo (vodka martini). They didn't inform me that the bar only had flavored vodkas. Olive juice and tangerine vodka are two great tastes that don't taste great together, but they were kind enough to take the drink off the bill.

My companion had the veal verdicchio and I had the chicken with vinegar pepper and potatoes. The verdicchio was passable at best, and the chicken with vinegar and pepper actually tasted quite good, despite the chicken being overcooked and tough. The side pasta was very disappointing though, rubbery and overcooked rigatoni smothered in bland marinara. At this point we'd have a mediocre and somewhat overpriced meal, but overall not terrible when you take the service into account. I knocked a star off for the fact that both my companion and I spent the rest of the evening feeling sick to our stomachs though, which is why they're (charitably)...