Il Massimo — Restaurant in Dedham

Warning to those coming for celebrations- bring multiple forms of ID.

We were here recently as a party of three to celebrate a friendly reunion. Our server Cassandra (who was wonderful and attentive throughout and is the only reason for a not total 1 star service review) started us off with some delicious focaccia and olive oil. Unfortunately that really was the peak of the night. We all placed some drink orders and were carded, which is totally understandable. Cassandra told two of our party members that since we had out of state licenses (AZ and RI) she had to scan them. Sure, totally fine. After about 5-10 minutes someone else (manager we assumed) informed us that they could not serve us drinks as our IDs came up as ”bad”. When asked for clarification, he just stated again that they were invalid. We asked him to run them again, as we are all 28/29 and had never had this issue anywhere in MA, boston, or even dedham. He said something about Dedham being strict with liquor laws, and that he would not rerun. we informed him that we’ve had drinks at other locales in legacy place, but he just said they wouldn’t take our IDs and asked if we had other forms of ID. Since the both of us don’t carry around our passports or birth certificates or work IDs when going to get dinner, we couldn’t provide anything. It was not a hill we wanted to die on so we said it was okay and moved on, but it definitely put a damper on what was supposed to be a celebratory evening.

It’s crucial to note that we did not need to have alcohol to enjoy our night. The issue was a lack of explanation or empathy from the manager (?) and the bewilderment as we have been to multiple Dedham restaurants and never questioned. The rest of the night just felt stilted and awkward due to the confusing situation. It does beg the question: was this happening all night and were all out of staters affected? It’s really unfortunate as this could have brought a bit more revenue to our check! If the machine was broken, we’d have appreciated just hearing that instead of a wish washy explanation.

As for the food? Chicken parm was dry and cheese on top was cold and pasta sauce was somehow dry as well. The squid ink pasta was over salted. One of our party members did really enjoy the short rib gnocchi however!

To summarize, this was a night that was supposed to be fun that sadly didn’t end as such. Luckily we went right to Legal C Bar afterwards and had drinks and dessert to end the night.

so if you are coming out of town, remember to bring every government document you can get your hands on to get some wine!

Again, thank you to Cassandra for providing really good service...

My wife and I are in town with our 3 year old. We picked this place based on positive reviews and proximity to our hotel and had few expectations. This was our treat after making dinner decisions based on the toddler for several days. First impressions: We had no reservations but the hostess not only accommodated us but included the fact that we had a toddler with us in selecting our table. It wasn't first clear if this was a sign of him not being very welcome or an earnest attempt to maximize our experience, but we settled on the latter. Server: Shannon P was our server and she was as welcoming, accommodating, and helpful as she was beautiful and let me tell you, this young lady was stunningly beautiful! She was very gracious with her time even though she was clearly busy and guided us to menu decisions that were superb. When i gave her advice based on my lifetime of service in the F&B industry, she accepted it with graceful and earnest interest in making herself better at her job. This shows she cares about her performance and the guests' experience. We asked her about wine and the Wine Steward manifested as if Shannon had cast a spell! The Wine Steward (whose name I shamefully didn't catch) was super nice and gracious with his time. We had a wonderful conversation and we settled on a fabulous bottle that paired perfectly with the entree decisions suggested by Shannon. I was ashamed to admit to him that I held 3 industry designations for my Wine education because he made me look totally ignorant. This man knows his Wine and his passion shows through readily. If he told me MD 20/20 Orange Jubilee was the right choice for my next meal, I would order it without hesitation. This man is a treasure to the restaurant. Things I noticed: When a member of the kitchen staff stepped out to ask a question, her coat was pristine and her appearance and demeanor told me she would have been just as comfortable in the front of the house. You could see into the kitchen from the entrance the the bathrooms and it was not only pristine but was an almost calm atmosphere; no yelling or loud metal music or anything like any of the kitchens I came up in. So professional and on point! Other. Atmosphere, price, quality of food, and everything else you may want to know, was well above good even if I hesitate to call it great. The real story of Il Massimo is not as much a story of food, but a story of people. If I lived in this city, I would be here once a week if not more. If you dine here, enjoy the experience, but take 5 mins ro get to know the amazing people that work here. I have 1 more day in town and I'm seriously considering going...

Been this restaurant many times and had some wonderful experiences recently the last two times I was here i’m second-guessing choosing this restaurant as a go to restaurant to dine. Two weeks ago on January 6 a Thursday evening at 8:45pm I went to this restaurant and the doors are locked. I called and was told that they closed early because business was slow. What good are posted hours of a restaurant if they don’t honor their hours. Some people work long days and they don’t get out at 5 PM and he look forward to a nice meal when they get out of work so event restaurant says they’re open till 930 then the door should be open when a patron arrives. This is not the first time this has happened at this location. I came into this restaurant this evening and ordered the special which was a scallop wrapped in prosciutto over risotto with carrots. When the dish was brought to my seat it was lukewarm.I figured I would try it to be nice so I ate a scallop and 1/2. The house called Khalid the temperature the scallop was not warm and I felt was not cooked properly so I sent it back. The kitchen reheated it and brought it back but what was disappointing to me was that the management of his restaurant did not acknowledge the wrong doing of the kitchen. I was at the capital Grille on Saturday evening and had a New York strip that was overcooked. When the server asked how the meal was I showed him he was a palled and took my plate and went back to the kitchen within two minutes the general manager of the restaurant came over and apologized and said he would make it right. Vault 15 minutes later than the new New York strip in the general manager make sure he’s come to my liking as well as make sure he brought fresh sides so that my meal would be hot. He came over to me again at the end of the evening and apologized and said that he took the New York strip off my bill because he was embarrassed that his kitchen put that out. I told him that was not necessary but he said he felt that was the right thing to do. I turned around and made sure that I compensated the server properly and greatly appreciated the management of this restaurant. It is sad that the general manager of Il Massimo whose name is CJ cannot come over and at least acknowledge that his kitchen made a mistake. As a frequent diner I never look for anything for free but when a kitchen makes a mistake it’s nice when management takes ownership and acknowledges their mistakes. If it was not for the outstanding service of the bartender and the food runner I would’ve given a one star rating to...