Josephine — Restaurant in Somerville

I was looking forward to eating with my family at this new neighborhood restaurant, as we live in its proximity. Here's my quick impression: The space: very sleek, high ceilings and tasteful decor. It gets noisy when crowded, but overall it conveys a pleasant atmosphere. The food: I am amazed that it is branded as "Italian". I was born and raised in Italy, and this place is 100% Italian-American, which is a completely different cuisine. The meatballs were tasty, and made with good quality ingredients, however the sauce was en-par with a supermarket-bought one. The pizza wasn't terrible, but -- again -- no overlap at all with the Neapolitan pizza (which should be thin-crusted and slightly chew). This one was very doughy, with an absurd amount of mediocre cheese on top. The arancino was perhaps the best meal, although $10 for one seems really excessive. Terrible wine program, most wines are cheap bottles (at the wine store) with a x5 to x7 supercharge. A bottle of Sagrantino was $300. No sodas for the kids on the menu, you need to ask the server as an off-menu item. Home-made soda are priced around $8. Underwhelming cocktails -- they have Martini on draft, for $1 dollar less than the regular one, not sure what that means or accomplishes. I am sorry I sound bitter, as I understand all the challenges that restaurants have to deal with, but there is something really that bothered me in the overall management and approach of this place. Just not for me.

Just got the owner's response. Just to clarify, mine is not a "bombing" review, I have no interest at all in the letting people down, and I am sorry, albeit not surprised -- given my experience -- that the owner does not seem to accept any form criticism. Again, I didn't mean to sound offensive, and was simply reporting my impressions. Yes, I feel (pretend? haha) I know a bit about good food and drinks. Google should definitely ban bombing review, but this is not one of those cases.

Response for the owner shows it all. Customer does not like the food, hence she is an impostor who works in the industry. My original review, as seen above, is just about the food, not personal attacks. Please show some respect, and focus on making better food.

Edit: I gave Josephine another try, and I was pleased to have a much improved dining experience. Children had pasta and pizza, both excellent. The quality of the actual pasta (rigatoni) was fantastic, and so was the sauce, just a bit spicy hot for the kids but absolutely delicious. The chicken parmigiana was a delight, more than enough to feed two people, and the best of all were my local scallops served with streaks of 'nduja, a spicy hot paste based on pork meat from Calabria.The combination of flavors was surprising balanced, interesting and delightful. Finally, I found a completely overhauled wine list. We had a bottle of a refreshing bubbles from Veneto -- an interesting grape variety that I never had before -- for around $40. I hope the owner notes this, as I said there's nothing personal in my reviews, which genuinely reflect my experience. I am happy the Josephine has found his footing, and hope that it keeps improving his standards, as it is a really great thing for the...

My wife and I decided to switch things up a bit and head to Josephine for our date night, lured by good reviews and the promise of a great ambiance. Our first impression was pretty positive, despite the tricky parking situation. Thankfully, the valet service, tucked beside the hotel the restaurant is attached to, came to our rescue, though at a small fee of $15.

As we strolled through the hotel lobby into Josephine, we were met with friendly smiles and quickly shown to our table. We chose to sit outside, enjoying the cozy vibe under the warm heaters. Just a heads up, a jacket might be your best friend if the wind decides to pick up.

Our adventure began with a pair of mocktails. Though the names slipped our minds, the flavors sure didn’t, especially the slightly sour kick of the third one which we thoroughly enjoyed. We started off with mozzarella sticks and oven-roasted wings. The wings were the star with a sweet and smoky taste topped off with a crispy skin. However, two of them were a bit undercooked, a small glitch in an otherwise tasty beginning.

Moving onto the mains, I went for the La Frieda Dry Aged New York Strip. It arrived warm, not hot, and was a tad too salty for my taste. It was cooked medium rare, not medium as I’d requested. A squeeze of lemon helped cut through the saltiness, but for the price, it fell a bit short of expectations. My wife, on the other hand, tried the deep dish Jo’s classic. The 45-minute wait was a bit of a drag, and when it finally arrived, the crust was soggy and overflowing, though the mozzarella was a hit.

To pass the time, we nibbled on some roasted olives with orange peel and chilis, which were a zesty delight.

Dessert came in the form of Zeppole, but sadly, most of them were undercooked, hinting at perhaps too hot of an oil bath. The few that were cooked right were delicious, with a crispy crust that hinted at what could have been.

We wrapped up the night with a cappuccino and a latte, both hitting the right notes, ending our culinary expedition on a warm and comforting note.

All in all, Josephine offered a comfy setting with mostly yummy eats. Though there were a few misses in the kitchen, the flavors were on point and the service was friendly. The ambiance is definitely a big draw, and despite the hiccups, we’re looking forward to giving it another shot, hoping next time the food hits the table hot and fully cooked to enjoy the full palate of flavors Josephine...

I really want to love this place but every time I go it ends up being frustrating. The most recent time I went, I was told by the hostess I could go to the bar while I waited for my table (I had a reservation). So I did. I went up to one bartender and he told me it would be a bit before I could order a drink because it was busy, and hands me a menu to look at in the meantime. That's fine of course. But 15-20 minutes goes by and I ask, will I be able to order a drink from you? And he gets all frustrated and points to all the receipts from drink orders coming in, many of which came in after I originally stood at the bar, and tells me that he can't get to it until he is done with all of these. So I ask, should I go down to the other side of the bar then and order from the other bartender? If he told me to do that in the first place, I would have. And he says, you can try but he is probably busy too. I go to the other end of the bar and 2 seats open so we take those since our reserved table is no where in sight. My first blush with that bartender in the scally cap was cordial and charming, but after that, he was rude, made faces and gestures at me when I tried to ask for something, and it was pulling teeth to order another drink, or order any food, or even get the bill. I had to ask the bus boy multiple times for help and eventually had to ask him to ask the bartender to give us our bill. It was really frustrating. Everytime I come here there is an issue with service. I will say, all of the table servers I have had are very nice. But it takes forever to get drinks even at tables. One time my drink was made incorrectly and my server could not get another one from the bartender to replace it so they just took it off my bill. I will also say that the multiple times I have come in and drinks were delayed, I was told that one of the bartenders called out and that's why. I believe it for some of the times, but when everytime I've come here it's the same issue, I find it hard to believe that that's what is happening every single time. Going forward, this place will be a take out only for me. The food is great, the atmosphere is nice, but it is too much of a hassle and it's not the fun night out dinner I want it to be. I hope they can figure it out in a meaningful way--the issue has gone on long enough. Just hire another bartender...