Joseph's Trattoria Downtown — Restaurant in Haverhill

Was a long-time patron of the old location and am glad to see they found a new place to be in Haverhill, and have many of the same dishes on their menu (which has been pared back a bit and streamlined, always a good sign).

New location is much lighter and more airy with large windows in the dining room letting in a lot of light. We were quickly shown to our booth table in the dining room, but we all found the booth a bit of a tight fit for the four of us. None of us is overweight or particularly large, it's just that the booths really aren't properly sized. Each side of the table needed like another 6-8 inches of space, and the table itself should be 1 or 2 feet larger. So all night we felt a bit cramped with little elbow room. Ask for a table if that's of concern (had we known, we would've done that).

As mentioned, the menu is pared back a bit, but all of the great pasta and entrée dishes seem to be there. I got the lobster ravioli and my wife got the chicken that was pan seared in an apricot/orange liqueur glaze. My ravioli were a bit plain (but fresh!) and lacking in a rich lobster cream sauce. The lobster was a bit dry and small in portion size, and the sauce was watery and not super tasty. The chicken was a bit weird. I wish they had just a wonderful roasted 1/2 chicken like they had on the old menu, as this sauce was sweet and the flavor was a bit off-putting. It wasn't great.

Our dining companions' food was satisfactory, but again, nothing to write home about. We felt like the quality of the food suffered a bit in the new location. We gave them time to get settled in before we visited them here, but I feel like in an effort to refresh their menu, they've left something out. I just remember the food being better than what we experienced.

The service was impeccable, and everyone was friendly and attentive (although our initial drink order took awhile to get out to us). The wait for food was just right, and they do provide gratis bread (thank you!). We'll probably be back because we do like Joseph's, but we're hoping they take the feedback to heart and try and do better with the food in the future. And fix the booths -- they're...

The Food was pretty good usually it's amazing, I got the pork chop dinner and my wife got the lamb dinner , but we ordered the calamari fritti for both of us and the portion was basicly halved for a dollar more and I asked the waitress for sweet potato mashed and I got grilled sweet potato that was kinda greasy and basicly less than half of a portion of the sweet potato mash is usually I'm just not used to getting nothing but the best food from josphs I told the waitress she said she thought I was aware of the menu change the carmalized apples on my pork chop dinner wur so tiny and thin and not really carmelized its prob the first time iv Ben disappointed going there the calamari was amazing just half portioned maybe it's a covid thing due to cut backs on portion sizes to save money but I paid 121.00 dollars with tip for my meal I think getting proper portions like b4 sweet potato and calamari really isn't to much to ask calamari is expensive but sweet potato is not apples are not expensive at all,I was just disappointed that's all there sweet potato mash was amazing instead I get grilled sweet potato and have to scrip it out of a greasy chard skin my self and then get a half portion I didnt go there to pay more and do more work and get less quality food and less food. I haven't been there since covid started basicliy maybe 1 other time because iv been going to work and going home staying away from people and quarantining like I'm suppose to. the service was too notch and the food was just ok / good calamari was great but new serving size s made it really not worth it and that says something because their calamrii is freaking amazing no one...

We had been entirely loyal Joseph’s patrons for many years- at their original location. And although their new downtown location is still relatively new- we were there last night and my meal was not good. I have to say we keep going back hoping they improve. Chicken was over cooked again, dry and tough- pasta dry- no sauce left, it was completely absorbed into the pasta. My wife wanted me to send it back but I’m not one to make a scene with many people around me over a $30 dish. I got the Marsala last time and it was overtly sweet :( and overly starchy- gross. That time I sent it back as I couldn’t eat any of it. Like they are using a jarred sauce.

So many reviews on how authentic their food is. It’s simply that in this area there are few Italian choices because authentic is not an adjective to describe anything on their menu at this time- whatsoever. Drive 30 minutes south and find real authentic Italian.

Unfortunately, we are not coming back here anytime soon. Maybe in a years time they can recover to their original quality.

Of note- the service and drinks are very good. They have done well developing a nice atmosphere. The original venue was the real deal- an old fashioned Italian joint, and it is missed. It’s a shame that the flooding of that Summer was so severe and devastating that they had to close.

** 08-17-24 My wife loves the Salmon so I agreed to try again. I ordered a very wilted fishy Caesar salad and over cooked raviolis. The waitress agreed with my humble commentary and said I must have bad luck. I just cannot believe how great they once were and where they are now. That piece of bread with the salad was old and...