Panza — Restaurant in Boston

I made a reservation through OpenTable at Panza for later the same day. When my party and I arrived, there was no host to greet us but they were quite busy so we waited. About 15 minutes had gone by, during which all of the servers had walked by us at the entrance, none of which said anything to us. One of my friends had tried to get one of their attention but he immediately looked down to write something on his ticket book.

After having to stop a server and asking if there was a host, she said pointed to a different server and said that he would be right with us after he finished at his table. It wasn't him. The host eventually got to us and sat our party immediately. The restaurant was nice inside albiet a little crowded as they were busy.

Our server took our orders and brought water and bread to our table. The bread was served cold. We got our drinks relatively quickly, my friends ordering beers and I had the sangria. I wish the menu specified that it was a white sangria, I probably wouldn't have ordered it otherwise. It had the strangest taste to me and I had my friends try. It had a wine forward taste with a wet dish rag after-taste. I can say that I did not finish this. Our food was served and by this point, most of us finished our waters as it was a hot day, but we didn't get refills. The food was good, some dishes better than others. My friend had the penne with chicken and broccoli and the chicken was so tough that he struggled to cut it with his fork. I had the seafood risotto which was decent but the shrimp was cooked beyond the point of no return.

The staff come to clear our table, finally refill our water, and bring us the check. We were indifferent about our experience so we didn't tip very well - only 12%. We all understand that wait staff don't get paid a wage and live off tips but we couldn't justify tipping above 15%. Our waitress takes our check once we've signed it and we chatted for about 5 minutes before another waiter (not our waiter, nor did we ever interact with him) comes to our table and asks if there was a problem with the service as we did not tip well. He goes on to tell us that there's recommended tips at the bottom of the check and that the staff do not get paid an hourly wage. This completely soured our experience which wasn't bad aside from some food items and my drink not being to our liking.

My friends and I usually tip 18-20%, above 20% for what we think was exceptional service. We gave the staff a benefit of the doubt - they were busy and could have been understaffed, whatever it could be. But the fact that a waiter that was not taking care of our table brought up our tip seemed very tacky and...

Saturday around noon. My out-of-towner friend was visiting, so I was playing tour guide and showing her the Boston sights. Despite the freezing temps and rain/snow/sleet pelting down on us, we trekked to the North End.

My general opinion of Italian restaurants in the North End is that they're over-hyped and over-priced, so we checked in at Neptune Oyster and North Street Grille. But with waits nearing an hour and our bellies grumbling ever more loudly, we decided to wander the streets and see in which direction Yelp pointed us. The 4 stars and 2 dollar signs of Panza appeared like a beacon in the storm, and we trudged over, hoping for the best.

We got even better than the best.

Why is there no one else here? Strange, considering the other restaurants we tried first and the reviews mentioning long dinnertime waits. The space is small and smartly adorned, and service was attentive. We sat by the window overlooking Hanover (so much better to watch the snow than be in it!) and a basket of delicious bread appears along with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. We devour it. Would we like some more? Yes, yes we would. An even bigger chunk shows up. Even better to soak up the sauces with, my dear.

We split 2 pasta dishes: the butternut squash tortellini and the linguine alla pescatore with fradiavolo sauce. The tortellini is ready first (and fast!), so it is brought out as a first course. The brown butter sage sauce complements the cinnamon-spiced squash beautifully, and the texture and filling of these pleasurable puffs are just right. It's all the sweet comfort of fall on a plate.

Next, a mound of red-sauced pasta appears surrounded by scallops, mussels, shrimp, tiny octupi, and clams. It's a big portion, and a great dish to share. The sauce was just what we needed to warm us up on a dreary day, as the spice was comforting rather than tongue-numbing. The pasta was prepared perfectly al dente, and we devoured the long strands by the mouthful. Each of these dishes clocked in at under $15, which was incredibly reasonable considering the location and quality of both the food and experience.

Will I turn into a North End Italian restaurant convert? If Panza is in the club,...

Just…go somewhere else. I went with a friend. Our initial greeting was fine. We got a table on a busy night in a decently short amount of time. The complimentary bread is good. Our server had zero friendliness. They weren't mean, they just seemed beyond apathetic that a table actually be engaged.

The interior is LOUD, with no acoustic dampening. You hear every conversation around you.

The rose' wine was gross. My pasta was probably the least if not one of the least enjoyable dishes I've ever had. The bulk of the ingredients was at the bottom, under the noodles. Rather than creamy or buttery, it was just liquid separating goop. Upon my first bite, the flavors were horribly mismatched. There was supposed to be prosciutto in the mix, but the kitchen must have been feeling skimpy, especially for the price. I got a plate loaded on noodles (cheap cost) that were barely warm. I tried my companions dish thinking mine was a fluke. Their dish, while better than mine, was boring. The tomato sauce had no inspiration and was rather runny, the pasta itself also disappointing. Even the olive oil at the table was the worst tasting olive oil I may have ever had. I stopped putting my bread in to it.

I had plenty to take home as it was easy not enjoyable to eat. I thought maybe I'd enjoy it later. I ate some of the leftovers 2 days later and couldn't get past 4 bites before chucking the container.

I paid for the bill for my companion and I, wishing I had any alternative to spending my money after the meal. I tipped perfectly at 19% because I've been a waiter and I want to be nice to waiters I encounter, but they didn't earn it.

Years ago I ate at another restaurant on the same street, I wish I could recall its name. I still think about how nice that meal was. I also recall I could actually hear my date speak to me. There are many options on the same street. Many options that may be better.

**Update, I just remembered we ordered an appetizer also. Considering I momentarily forgot that we had….that says a lot. It also was benign at best, utterly...