da LaPosta — Restaurant in Newton

I was a regular customer of this resturant, frequenting twice a week on average. But I will never be visiting this resturant again for several reasons:

They are completely overpriced, and their prices just continue going up.

They have very long wait times

They consistently make errors with take-away orders

Their portions, especially for take-away orders, get smaller and smaller

They continuously changing working hours and do display this on their Facebook site or website or telephone messaging system. Many times I made the far drive to their resturant only to find is closed for renovation, closed for events or change in opening times, or no take-out orders for a specific day. If this was a once off it would be fine, but it it happens often and is disrespectful of customers time.

Lack of consistency with food. Sometimes the funghi marinati is excellent and sometimes the dressing is not quite right. Same with the marinara pasta sauce.

The pizzas are heavy on cheese, too thin and way overpriced.

Whenever you come in the resturant, no one is at the podium and you have to wait for a while for someone to come up and serve you. There is also no respect or appropriate treatment of regulars. They do not go the extra mile for regulars, nor do they smile and converse. It’s all strictly business $$$.

The wait times at lunch is long. They are also always short-staffed at lunch. You wait a long time to get your order taken, to get the food and to get the bill.

Too noisy

They have staff that is inattentive and rude. Despite seeing them getting trained in that regard consistently. On my friend’s birthday (that I convinced her to celebrate at this resturant), we had an atrocious waitress that barely came to the table, made mistakes with our orders and the cherry on the top, when we told her about the birthday girl she said there is no desert on the house nor any candles or songs sung by staff. When the whole table gave her a tip accordingly she banged the table at the bar with a first and cursed.

To be truthful, all of the above did not bother me from being a loyal customer and continue coming. The owner seems really nice, the su-chef too, and the list of things that needed improvement I was willing to overlook. What tipped the boat for me was the following:

I came in yesterday to make a take-away order. They open at 4pm and I needed to pick up my older son and youngest and then daughter so I was stressed for time. But since we were away, I had no dinner and depended on this. When I arrived, as point 5, they were closed till 4:30 due to an event. I went into the resturant and asked the manager if I can just get my order in and I’ll come back to collect. He seemed reluctant but agreed and make a thing about showing me that he is doing a regular customer a huge favor, but I was grateful nonetheless and he told me the order will be ready by 4:45pm, I told him thanks. I drove to the other side of Newton to fetch my son and called at 4:30pm to check the order they said they forgot to put it through and will put it through. Just before 4:45pm I called to see if it was ready so I would not be late to fetch my youngest son and they said no they have not started. I asked why we said 4:45 and I got the reply “so you still want your order or not?”. I said I have no choice and yes. There were more very rude and unpleasant things said by the manager (all the while knowing I’m a regular and not caring). I landed up getting my final order at 5:15pm. 30 minutes after he promised and 1:15min after I ordered. This is without: A. compensation B. An apology

I wrote a message to the owner of the resturant to contact me, but a day has passed and I have heard nothing.

I realized I better find a new place to support. My regular support of this resturant is not appreciated and I am glad this unpleasant situation occurred for me to understand that.

Had the owner bothered to reach out, I may have changed my mind, but as always, bad management is usually a...

I went to da LaPosta with my family, and we all agreed there was almost nothing good about this restaurant.

I accepted that the price was going to be high for the food when I came in the door, but I expected to at least enjoy my food. We ordered bread for the table, which most places would give for free, and it had no flavor. The dishes that we ordered were chicken parmesan, gnocchi with mushrooms, hot honey pizza, and a bowl of spaghetti for my 10 year old.

The pasta had a strange taste and my daughter did not care for it. Seriously, how do you mess up plain pasta?

The gnocchi was very oily. The mushrooms that came with it tasted ok, but it was a tiny appetizer size portion, that cost $30.

My kids shared the chicken parmesan, which was two cutlets, sauce, and the melted cheese. No pasta, but a side of roasted broccoli. The chicken was over cooked/burnt, and everyone tried the broccoli and said it tasted bad. Seriously, how do you mess up roasted broccoli? Also, I tried the sauce for the chicken, and it was extremely bland, no flavor.

The hot honey pizza was ok, but kind of an unusual taste. That it was the best part of the meal was just sad.

For desert, my daughter and wife ordered a scoop of vanilla gelato and a scoop of Hazelnut gelato. It was not mine to complain about, but when my wife’s scoop came, it was completely melted. Literally liquid gelato. She wanted to be polite and did not say anything, but later said she was disappointed that the gelato was melted. There is a picture attached where you can see it looks more like a mousse than gelato. My daughter’s had looked ok to me, but she also said that hers was soft and liquid after a minute.

All in all no one left feeling they had a good time. The waitress was ok and kept refilling our water. She cannot help the poor quality, size and taste of the food, but I am surprised that she would bring out gelato that was melted. If it had been my gelato, I would have said something. It is no different than getting food and finding out it is raw.

My opinion is that this is a bar, masquerading as a fancy restaurant. If you want to get together for a drink, be my guest. If you want to eat and enjoy your food, I would suggest going somewhere else. Going...

I have been to da LaPosta several times and I have always been very satisfied. I rarely rate the places I frequent because I generally express my pleasure or displeasure directly to the staff and/or the owner. Some of the latest negative reviews are disgraceful hit jobs with one customer going so far as to say “F this place.” From my experience, one of the first things I notice is the quality of the oil Mario cooks and marinades with. It is true unadulterated extra virgin olive oil. This is virtually unheard of in most restaurants. I noticed it immediately when I first dipped his homemade focaccia in it. The pasta is high quality and always cooked al dente. The prosciutto, the cheeses, the tomatoes and the wines are fabulous along with Mario’s knowledge of what he sells. There is a caveat, however, the portions are normal genuine Italian style portions, not a North End style plate of low quality pseudo Italian grub that will feed you badly for a week when you take it home. Additionally, the pizza is an authentic Neopoletana cooked at 900 F. It is supposed to be thin, light and seared to perfection in 90 seconds. It is not Papa Gino’s or Sal’s enormous tasteless pies. Note to the lady who complained about the pepperoni being sold out: pepperoni does not exist in Italy. Mario is forced to offer it in desperation for those who do not know any better. Another note to those who complained about the chicken parm: that, too, does not exist in Italy, but, alas, business requires compromises. In sum, I wrote this review to defend some really fine, generous and hardworking people. Sometimes, it is also incumbent upon the customer to want to be curious, to ask questions and to understand what quality and authenticity really are (practice diversity, equality and inclusion instead of solely preaching it). Rather than write an angry and scathing review with impunity, why not communicate in person and face to face? Give people, their culture and their life’s work another chance. What is the worst thing that can happen, one makes new friends? One may learn something new? Ohh, what an Fffing...