Real Italian Gusto — Restaurant in Medford

My friend and I decided to stop by here after having walked by many times and never having been inside. The place looks small when you first enter and from the outside, but once you walk in a little ways, there are many more tables and in fact a gorgeous view of the mystic river that you would never even get a hint at from the street.

The staff was honestly so great, probably the best staff experience I’ve had in many years. Right when we walked in we were greeted and while being shown to our table, several other waitstaff made a point of welcoming us. Julie was our server and she was absolutely incredible. I feel like since the pandemic I’ve gotten used to what would have been considered poor service pre-pandemic. So this was such a treat to actually have an affable server.

So now the bad news - the food is fine. It’s not incredible and I feel there are some easy fixes they could make. For instance, making fresh parmesan available is a reasonable expectation for any solid Italian restaurant and I think it would have helped the dishes a lot.

It also feels like a lot of the pasta dishes were under-spiced - it’s almost as if someone added a little too much pasta water.

We ordered the Bolognese and the pomodorini with tomatoes and burrata (august special) and I felt this was true of those dishes. I can’t speak for the others.

The other thing is, it’s so cool that they make all their bread and pasta there by hand and on location. But I really don’t feel like that shows in the taste. I was surprised to actually find out the pasta was homemade because it didn’t seem obvious- the noodles weren’t receptive to the sauce in a way that homemade pastas usually are.

Another thing I think this place did well was the lighting- it’s so cozy and nice! And yeah, it’s obvious they got the lights from ikea, but the effect is a much warmer, cozier atmosphere than what you would expect from a traditional Italian restaurant in Medford.

If they can work on some of the dishes, I think this place would be even more enjoyable! Regardless of any flaws, it was a really nice time and I would visit again (probably would try a...

DO NOT GO HERE - PLACE IS A DISASTER

We came here before attending a show at the Chevalier theater on Friday night . We made reservations 2 months in advance for 5pm .We sat no problem as the place was pretty empty. They place quickly filled up with others going to this 7:30 show.

We ordered drinks then appetizers everything came out fine. A little after 6 we were ready to put our entrees in . We waited and waited up to 7:30. Still no food. We noticed all the smaller parties that sat way after we put orders for our entrees got their food and finished but were all still waiting. We felt so bad for our server she kept on checking the kitchen. She did everything she could do and was so sweet. We overheard the Owner tell her that the kitchen lost the tickets and not his fault because there is only 1 cook. The owner did not care. One table said they overheard the owner laugh "We don't need these customers" I was furious. Shame on him for being ok with this. UNACCEPTABLE.

We were in complete shock there were at least 100 people in this restaurant and many just as angry as my party and and you have 1 cook???? from what we heard this is every night at the Gosto 1 pizza guy and 1 that does everything else and they just keep sitting more and more people. This is a normal night at the Gosto when there is a show.

We were not the only ones who walked out that night, other customers spoke to the owner - a complete deer in headlights standing there looking around avoiding all of the angry costumers. We told him we weren't paying for anything and we left. Table next to us got there dinner 5 minutes before the show and said the chicken was undercooked. Vegetables so cold. Not Edible. They paid. So maybe we were lucky not getting our dinners. We have all come here plenty of times with friends. Never again

The servers and the Cooks deserve so much better than this place. The servers where in tears, One table a man who owns several restaurants left them his card and said come work for me. I hope they do.

Itailian Gosto this is not how to treat your...

My friend and I spent about an hour yesterday night trying to find a restaurant in the area that was open late-ish (9pm), had walk-in dine-in options and didn't have a wait. After trying 4 different restaurants, Real Italian Gusto was our fifth try and we were warmly welcomed, promptly seated and quickly served. Immediately entering the restaurant, I noticed not only how everything seemed very clean, but also adequate spacing that seemed to follow Covid precautions that made me feel safe and allowed me to fully enjoy an evening to celebrate a belated birthday with one of my best friends.

Service was wonderful. Prompt, attentive, kind and not pushy. I can't remember my server's name but I believe it began with a 'C'. I drink tons of water and she never made me feel bad for all my refills.

My friend and I ordered a small sarda salad, a small prosciutto di parma e burrata (charcuterie), bolognese pappardelle, gnocchi sorrentina and a speranza pizza. My favorite was probably the pizza, beautiful mix of flavors. I would've liked the dough to be cooked a little more for a bit of a crunch, but I loved how chewy it was. The bolognese sauce lacked seasoning in my opinion and the pappardelle pasta was too thick for me. The gnocchi was inconsistent. Absolutely wonderful for a few bites, some gnocchi just melting in your mouth and other bites the gnocchi was much harder and solid.

Overall I would love to return to try other dishes and would recommend this...