Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Lynnfield

First the positive: The staff and manager who came by and chatted with us were great. I would very happily be served by them anywhere.

The negative- Atmosphere: While I do acknowledge that as someone with Aspergers Syndrome I have sensory issues this was obscene. We came in during a not busy day on purpose late in the evening. Still the acoustics are terrible, the level of white noise was very very high. To the point I could not hear the wait staff or my wife next to me till after I had been there over an hour and the place had mostly cleared out. It was still bad then but at least I could mostly make out what people were saying to me. It would be tortuous to be there on a busy night. The light as well was diffuse, multi-source, and high in glare while being low in usability. Given that the menu looked like it had been whipped up in 45 minutes by someone with the bares in grasp of layout and font use it was very very hard to make sense of my menu let alone my visual environment. Between the auditory and the visual over-stimulation causing great pain, I felt like I was being beaten to death with wiffle ball bats.

And while not bad, the food was all hat, no cowboy. For an appetizer my wife had a salad (arugula?) that tasted OK but like it should be on a sandwich or accompanying another dish. It could not stand on its own. As well we ordered a muscles & bacon dish that while OK seemed to be lacking in something, we also ordered a sausage, peppers, and tomato dish that was to me the best dish of the night as it was clearly one single thought well expressed, however I have had the same thought better expressed at a pizza joint as a sandwich that cost less.

For entree's we had a lemon ricotta ravioli that probably works better as an appetizer than as a entree and tasted fine once you had all the components on a fork but that is rather hard to do most of the time (other than that it tasted scattered), and a bolognese that was very filling and very very middle of the road.

Dessert was a Peanut Butter semifredo, and a panna cotta. Both were nice, and there was nothing wrong with them, but they tasted uninspired.

We spent over $110 on a meal that tasted like it should have cost $70.

TL;DR- Don't go here if you have any sight or sound sensory issues or of you're an Aspie or Autistic. The staff was very friendly to us but food will taste middle of the road. Overall it's like a WASP housewife decided to open a restaurant; was given too much money, and not enough oversight. This was then given to an Exec Chef with one week to clean up as best they could and he failed. It's not worth the money, you just don't taste it...

I went here for a double date with my wife and I. Best friends number one the service. The service was really good. The waitress was amazing at explaining which foods went very well with which appetizers and was very kind and sharing different steak sauces. So we were not stuck with only one option and also accommodated in having our drinks prepared. Just the way we wanted number two the food. I'll speak for myself on this one. Started with a tuna tartar which was perfect. Very fresh. The avocado was beautifully delicious. The citrus was perfect and the cracker that comes along with it is the perfect texture to compliment all the flavors together. My entree was a ribeye medium rare perfectly cooked, very easy to cut tender juicy. They went above and beyond to make sure that all the flavors were there without overcooking the outside the house. Steak sauce was my favorite of all of them. It had a citrus kick to it, yet it added a tender flavor to the whole steak. The asparagus was perfectly cooked. The black truffle risotto was definitely my favorite side although I did try the spinach which was okay. Number three the drinks. The water with lemon was great for the price. I'm glad we did not get tap water. I ordered a Moscow mule with agave nectar as a sweetener and it was delicious. Had to get a second one number four the atmosphere. We had to reserve our table 4 days in advance and it was worth it. When we got there it was packed a little loud but not too much. The lighting was dim and romantic. It was not overwhelming with sound. The music match the tone and our server was constantly there. I'm shocked that she was able to attend other tables and not make us feel like we had to wait a lot to get her attention. I'm surprised she could manage so much in the time span number 5 accessibility. I am completely blind. I was grateful that the menu is online so I can check it out ahead of time. But the server was good also at explaining the food, the drinks and the desserts number 6 desserts. I personally skipped desserts. I'm not a sweets kind of guy but I thought it was awesome that they bring out a cart with all the desserts on it to show you before they freshly prepare your pic number 7 expensive. Be prepared to pay for the experience, the food and the drinks but also the amazing service. It is pricey but well worth it. I would...

Went there for a mother's Day lunch and there were 8 of us. Service is great however my waiter forgot when I asked for another diet Coke but the next time I asked he remembered immediately. Also when they were cleaning the table, my mother wanted to take home her left over steak risotto and they asked and she told them that and to bring her a box but then they proceeded to take the risotto away.. so I told our waiter and he took the steak to box it up and had the kitchen make new risotto to put in the take away box. So that was exceptional service.

The place looks great and classic however the hallway to the restrooms is cool with towers of extra chairs. I don't know if they recently had an event or were preparing for an event that needed the extra chairs, but having them stacked like that makes it look like the place is either just opening up or going out of business and sitting down.

For soda, they don't have free refills and instead bring you a tiny bottle which is basically 8oz, less than a can of soda. Not the best impression for non alcohol drinkers.

The food was ok.. some dishes better than others, but nothing that was exceptional as a must order.

Ordered a dessert cause most of the reviews say you must and when you see the tray they have, they so look amazing so you do feel compelled to get something. While the panacota and the creme brulee would have probably been amazing (they looked like they would be great), I decided to order the tiramisu which I know is a harder dessert to make amazing do I figured I'd try that too have an idea of how amazing the desserts are. Unfortunately the tiramisu was around average. The butter cake though was indeed great. The other members of our party also really enjoyed their desserts which included the chocolate cake and the marshmallow coated dessert.

Everything was good with some desserts being exceptional (not the tiramisu). I would go back but it's not a top destination for me. Especially considering that it's...