Massimo's - Ristorante Massimo — Restaurant in Portsmouth

I had high hopes for this place. There are lots of good reviews online and I'm a sucker for a good Italian restaurant. Not to be.

We started out with the meatball appetizer, which was quite good. No complaints there. The balls themselves were very flavorful and cooked very well in an abundant red tomato sauce that we dipped some pieces of bread in, that we had to ask for. No biggie, although as far as service goes, I would have thought that at a fine dining restaurant such as Massimo, bread would be offered naturally with every meal.

We had read several gleaming reviews of the carbonara and decided to both put in a dinner sized order. This was a mistake. The dish was mostly sauce and far too creamy, rich, and salty for our liking. I've had better carbonaras at local non-high-end restaurants where the chefs are backyard citizens and do not purport themselves to be a top tier cook. After two or three bites of this dish, it became very difficult to eat. It's extremely heavy and not all that flavorful in a good way, so it was a real struggle to make it through the entire plate, which ironically wasn't that big of a portion anyways.

We finished off with a tartufo for dessert, which was tasty, but about the size of a tennis ball. Overall, kind of a letdown for the price point.

If paying over, let's call it $150 for 2 people, I expect the portion size to be larger and the food to be a knockout. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic, but I do think that if you are going to pay large amounts of money for fine dining, the dishes should be unforgettable and the service attentive. What we ate was slightly above average pasta and a dessert that I could fit in the palm of my hand that didn't pack a punch with flavor, as it's designed to do.

Final complaint, it took quite a while to get served at this restaurant. I'm not sure if this is by-design or if they really are just overwhelmed with the amount of floor space they have to cover, but it took about 20 minutes for a waiter to come over and say hello to us after being seated. Only then were we offered a drink. It took another 20 minutes after that for another waitress to come ask us if we had any questions about the menu. This is very unbecoming and off-putting to someone who is here for an experience and is looking forward to having what is supposed to be top-notch food. If the strategy is to keep you waiting for as long as possible to build suspense and hunger inside the customer's belly, it doesn't work, because the payoff is so average that you just end up being upset you had to wait that long for a mediocre over priced dinner.

And of course, how can one get excited for the food when the attention the wait staff is giving you is likely the same level of attention the chef is giving the food?

Overall, I was let down and walked out feeling half-baked and frankly upset by the amount of money we ended up spending for the quality of food we were given. Go here one time to see the inside of the restaurant and to tell your friends that you've been. Don't go a...

Man, I hate this. Look at my other reviews and you’ll see I don’t blast a restaurant very often. First, I will say the food was great. Apps, main courses and deserts were all excellent. Food wise, best so far in Portsmouth.

Now, for the negative…. We had a 6:30 reservation. Finally seated at almost 7 pm. Not a huge deal, but did make us miss a comedy show we had booked. If that was it, would have still been a 5 star review. But, my wife had a small wad of hair while she dined. We figured it had to be her entree as it couldn’t be the wine. But alas, upon further inspection, there was also a hair in my wine glass. We finally surmised it had to come from the decanter. No way it was in a $160 bottle of wine. The waitress was great and immediately apologized. Massimo himself came by and asked what would make it right? I told him we obviously weren’t going to finish the wine and he offered a glass of wine and my wife got an espresso martini with our desert. Obviously at this point, we weren’t making a big deal out of it - we even ordered desert! I figured no way they’d charge for the wine (we drank probably 60% of it before the hair was discovered) and the complimentary wine & martini were enough for us. Then the bill comes - and the waitress says “Massimo gave you a discount on the wine.” It was a 20% discount on the bottle…. I told her I’d be glad to pay for the “complimentary” drinks but there was no way I’d pay for that bottle in any amount. In the end, she went back to Massimo and when the check came back, the wine was removed but he did take the liberty of charging for the 2 complimentary drinks.

Very short sighted and a horrible way to do business. I guess he figured since we were out of towners we’d never be back, so why not stick it to us as much as possible. Shame, as it would have otherwise been the best meal we’ve had in Portsmouth. I can guarantee I’ll never be back at Massimo if I’m here again. Can’t support a business owner who thinks this is ok. I understand stuff happens, and the late seating and even the hair would not be deal breakers for us. But the greediness in charging us for a bottle of wine that was served with a wad of hair, then going back and charging us for the “complimentary drinks” (total of around $35) is just mind blowing. Hard to believe he’s been in business 30 years and thinks this was the way to handle it.

I will note, the waitress was great and I tipped as if I had ultimately charged for the bottle of wine. Not her fault at all. I pride myself on not being “one of those people” who find fault in every dining experience and roll with the flow most of the time. But dang, this was beyond what I’ll...

My girlfriend and I chose Massimo's as our spot for our anniversary dinner, and I am so glad that we did. This place is so incredibly special and something I believe everyone who lives in or visits New Hampshire should experience. We booked our reservation for the downstairs portion of the restaurant which is absolutely stunning and really captures the beauty and character of Portsmouth.

We were greeted immediately at the door where a delightful individual took our coats for us. We were then whisked away to the beautiful backroom where we were seated for our dining experience. Our server's name was Jillian, and she was one of the best servers we have had in quite some time. Jillian had an attention to detail which brought this experience over the top. She was also incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. She went out of her way to make sure that our anniversary felt more special than it already was.

Jillian steered us in the direction of a nice bottle of wine to start and then recommended we start with a small portion of the carbonara to get a taste of the hose made pasta. What an incredible recommendation, the flavor was unbelievable and had us melting in our seats. For our entrees, I had the bone-in veal ribeye chop, and my girlfriend had the duck. We were both amazed by the food and left in silence as we processed the amazing quality of food we were experiencing. The portions were generous and well worth every penny spent. We wrapped up our experience with some canolis and a pistachio martini which really rounded out the dining experience exquisitely.

The owner took the time to check in on us, which was an incredibly personal touch which brought this experience to the next level. The attention to detail the owner and his staff put into the food and experience uplifts this already amazing place to another level.

If you are thinking about trying Massimo's, please just go ahead and do it. Book it for a special occasion, or for just a casual night out. I believe everyone who takes the time to experience this true gem in Portsmouth will find themselves coming back for years to come.

Thank you so much to the ownership and staff for making our day so special. As people who have lived in the area for a while, and had Massimo's on our list for quite some time, this will now be our go to place to celebrate special moments in our lives, or just to treat ourselves. Truly a special place in this beautiful...