Tonno Wakefield — Restaurant in Wakefield

Let me start by saying I am no restauranteur or a top chef. I can only tell you my experience as a person who has eaten at a lot of restaurants in my 50 years. I will start from the beginning. First finding the free parking was not easy and we did not see any mention of it on the website if it was there and I missed it I apologize. Second we made reservations and when we walked in the 2 people at the desk a man and a young woman both looked at us like we were homeless people and we were not dressed that way. They were very unwelcoming so that started our dissatisfaction. We sat at our table and we were brought bread and oil. The bread was not very good and was not very much to offer. The oil was just that oil, no flavor not seasoned it was just olive oil. I'm not Italian but any time I have had dipping oil it's always been flavored. My wife who is Italian was appalled. She told me her grand parents from Italy always flavored the oil with crushed red pepper, little salt and parmesan. The waitress was awesome and very nice until it got busy then she was not so. The woman who cleans up the plates was very aggresive just grabbing the plates and utensils in front of your face not even asking if she could take them flinging oil from the utensils all over my wife's hand. The table in front of us was very upset about how the plates had been removed from them as well. The food was good but was very bland again I'm no chef and only comparing with other places I have eaten. No salt on the table and we felt uncomfortable asking for it. If food is seasoned properly you dont miss it. We have eaten at a lot of restaurants that do not provide salt at the table and we dont even notice. Prices are reasonable so no issues with that. The outside area is very nice with fires and a lot of seating. Finally the engineer in me was bothered by the crooked sconce next to our table it was very crooked but that's me. So let me end by saying my experience may not be your experience and the things that bother me may not bother you I am in no way trying to bash Tonno just sharing...

Its like 2.5 star, not good enough to round up to three stars.

Ok, here we go. Friends and family say this place is awesome and I should go. So today I took my girlfriend for dinner and did the reservation. I'll start by saying it was clean and the waitstaff were nice. I knew going into this place I needed to prepare myself to spend some $$$, which I did. Put in a appetizer (rice balls) and ordered 2 martinis. App came out and it was okay. I ordered a lemoncello martini and the lemon tasted like it was lemon aid. I've had lemoncello many times before and it was not in this drink. My girlfriend ordered a different martini and she said it was good (can't remember which one). I ordered the chicken parm and the girlfriend ordered the half chicken with roasted potatoes. The pasta with my chicken parm needed to be cooked for at least 3 minutes more. The chicken itself was good. The order of the half chicken with the roasted potatoes came out bland. The chicken was moist but lacked flavor in a big way. The roasted potatoes were actually boiled, not roasted per the menu. It was very noticeable that when cooking the potatoes there was no salt used as they bland in taste and flavor. I do have to wonder how is it possible to only get 3 half baby potatoes with the chicken? Is this place hurting for money that they can't even give you a couple more potatoes? It's probably just as well as they weren't even that good to begin with.

My take is that if you go here, don't bring the kids, the atmosphere is definitely for adults.

To each your own, everyone has different tastes but for my money, I rather go to a local sub shop and been better off and getting a cold...

I’ve been been to both locations of this restaurant, Gloucester and Wakefield establishments. My experience in Gloucester was very good- the food, atmosphere, and service. My brother got the chicken Parmesan and said it was fresh and nicely cooked, and my meal was a swordfish steak that was great.

I went to there Wakefield establishment twice. The first time the food was okay. I got a fra diavalo which was average and my girlfriend a shrimp risotto which she said was really good. Our waiter was very rushed and wanted us to order appetizers at the same time as our entrees “ for convenience” which is not why I go out to eat.

Today I went again. The staff was much friendlier and they again had a clean nice atmosphere. I got the chicken Parmesan. The chicken was rubbery, and the bartender had it removed from my bill and gave me a separate meal to take home (all not asked for, I just mentioned I was not very happy with my meal) . My girlfriend got an arugula salad which was four strips of Parmesan and arugula ”very bland”.

Again staff and atmosphere were great but I’m waiting for the quality of the food to catch up, especially in Wakefield. I really want to give this a better review and they are almost there. to me with a little tweak in ingredients or quality you can take me we’re I want to be taken in my dining experience. I would still go there for drinks and apps not a bad...