Marcellino Ristorante & Bar
11 Cooper St, Waltham, MA, 02454
Marcellino Ristorante & Bar Menu
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Antipasti
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Zuppe
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Insalate
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Primi Piatti
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Secondi Piatti
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Scaloppine
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Pizza
Healthy Meal suggestions for Marcellino Ristorante & Bar
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Antipasti
-
Zuppe
-
Insalate
-
Primi Piatti
-
Secondi Piatti
-
Scaloppine
-
Pizza
Visit below restaurant in Waltham for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Waltham for healthy meals suggestion.
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Address :
11 Cooper St
Waltham, MA, 02454 - Phone (781) 647-5458
- Website https://www.marcellinorist.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
Sorry, Store hours have not been updated. If you are the owner of this restaurants. Please update the store hours.
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Garage, Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : Free
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : Yes
Categories
Italian Cuisine
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
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L B.
We were in the mood for a good pasta dish and found Marcellino on Yelp, recognizing it as the restaurant hidden off of Pine Street near the Embassy movie theater. It was the perfect spot for what we wanted. The bruschetta was delicious- good tomatoes, well seasoned on toasted slices of their excellent bread. My husband had oricchietti with bits of sausage, broccoli rabe and tomato. It was really well made. I had ziti with their excellent tomato sauce and bits of eggplant. The dish of parmesan that they put on the table was freshly grated and generous. A spinach salad with goat cheese, pecans and slices of pear was very good. We'll be back to try their home made gnocchi next time the pasta urge hits us.
(4)Jessica G.
My aunt had given me a groupon she had bought for here, so I took my grandmother out to eat. It was nice. Other than I feel like since the server knew we had a groupon she wasn't all over our table. Probably thought we weren't going to tip well or something. She was quite nice tho. The food was amazing and my grandmother and I left very happy and very full.
(4)Sean D.
My girlfriend and I went to Marcellino's on Valentine's Day evening for dinner. The food was delicious, the service was above average, and even though they definitely added in a few extra two-top tables for the holiday, it was still a very nice atmosphere inside.
(4)Patty S.
We went to Ristorante Marcellino about 5 years ago and it was great - we were taking an out of town guest here and I read the Yelp reviews as we were approaching the restaurant - YIKES! I don't know why the reviews are so negative, perhaps things have changed? I had the stuffed artichoke appetizer and it was amazing...and I ordered the Caesar salad as it had a good review on Yelp and it was different and delicious - we even took the leftovers home and it was great as a midnight snack - my husband have the octopus salad - which we loved and had leftovers for lunch the next day and veal saltimbucca - not as good as he makes at home, but better than the one we recently had in the North End - our guest had the steak and loved it - all and all, just as good if not better and less expensive than the North End -
(4)David B.
Excellent authentic hospitable - gnocchi was great got w bolognese not on menu - will return again soon !! Came in on a Monday not busy at all but all the food was fresh and hospitality A++
(5)Pasquale B.
I've eaten here for years, lately I've noticed quiet a few improvements. There is new wait staff, new menu, and renovations. I have become to know the owner Antonio on a first name basis. After dinner one night he walked over to the table to greet me and my date. I asked him about the menu and other changes. He said he has a new young chef right from Italy who has brought new life into the kitchen and that Antonio gave him the go ahead to get as creative as he wants. I thought it was a great idea and the food was awesome. I'm a customer for life.
(5)Todd B.
Went in recently to try something new, traveled about 35 mins to get here Walking in was impressive , cool photographs on the wall ( apparently from the region their from ) bartender was pleasant and attentive , had a cheese pizza to split as an app and a glass of wine at bar . Gotta say it was outstanding I should have stayed for dinner because the garlic coming from the kitchen was making my mouth water like crazy I will def be back
(4)B P.
Ristorante Marcellino has good food and a very pleasant atmosphere. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and the prices are reasonable for the quality of the food. I ordered a Caesar salad with anchovies on the side and not only was it fresh and delicious but the anchovies were seasoned with red pepper and other spices. It's that attention to detail that makes this place great. The spinach ravioli was no less exceptional, served with a creamy tomato sauce and garnished with a mini eggplant rollatini. Marcellino is an excellent blend of traditional and modern Italian cuisine.
(4)Michael M.
The server Derek was excellent, which was the only thing excellent about eating dinner there. The "roasted beet" salad had beets that were cold and not roasted. The dinners, veal saltimbocca and parmiginia were flavorless, chewy and drowning in the sauce and melted cheese. The prices were relatively inexpensive in what has become the restaurant area of Waltham. That should have been the tip-off of the terrible food to be served. Overall, a bad dining experience.
(1)Sonia T.
Italian waiters, delicious simple Italian food! Dont let the location scare you off! You don't notice it unless you are already headed to the parking lot behind the movie theater, seems a little strip mall-y but I actually like it a lot! First of all, if you enter by the bar keep walking until you get the hostess desk. We just stood there like idiots not realizing that we entered through the back. The décor is a little cheesy but overall looks nice. The bar was very pretty, I think I will definitely be stopping just to grab a little vino and bruschetta. Its also totally authentic, family owned and operated, I have yet to have a waiter that doesn't speak Italian, which I LOVE because I like to practice my Italian with them (by Italian I mean the 6 phrases I know to order food and wine). Some of our favorites are the bruschetta, the linguini with clams and gnocchi. The pizza wasn't great honestly though. We're fans and will definitely be coming back!
(4)Blair P.
I chose Marcellino because of a particular item on the website menu that I was looking forward to. When we got the restaurant, the item wasn't on the menu. Heartbroken, I asked our server if she could ask the chef to make it for me, and the chef obliged - and the food was delicious! My friend had the salmon and kept raving about the balsamic sauce, the bruschetta appetizer was great, and the panna cotta (sp?) dessert was delish! The atmosphere was great and authentic,
(5)Kimberly H.
Amazing restaurant, wonderful food, and it's very clear why! I meet up with some girlfriends on Wednesday evenings in Waltham and Marcellinos is high up there in the rotation! When my parents & my finance's parents were meeting for the first time and we realized Waltham was a mid-point I knew just where to take them! The restaurant was kind enough to make many substitutions for us but that was just the beginning. We had a little trouble picking out wines in the beginning (they were out of a few but quick to make recommendations and accommodations). My father is very hard to please. He likes his food just so and when I asked him how his veal was? "The best I've ever had" was his response. I got the eggplant like I always do because it's to die for here and everyone liked their meal. We thoroughly enjoyed everything. At the end they brought us some Limoncello on the house and apologized for the wine inconvenience at the beginning of the meal. As if this wasn't enough -- Sal (the owner) came over at the very end to apologize and we were really glad because we wanted to compliment him on the meal. He's straight from Italy (must be why the food and decor is so authentic!) and talked a lot about the country with my family. It was sweet. He mentioned his son worked there as well, did most of the daily admin stuff, and sent him over. After he left (and after we had already paid the bill!) he sent a bottle over to the table "compliments of the house!" Just so over and above in every way. We can't wait for our next experience there. I'm so thankful to the entire staff for making that such a pleasurable experience. Now we just have to plan the wedding! Guess we know where the rehearsal dinner will be held!!
(5)lt g.
The 2 stars is for service and restaurant. We went to this place for a function in which the room was very nice. We ordered veal parm which was veal patties. I haven't had fake veal since the 80's. The desert was cannolis which were filled with a lemon cream. The sauce was very red in color with no taste.
(2)Jude M.
Well, this was our second visit here, after about 2 years on our first visit - we bought a Groupon last night and made a reservation for 8pm. We showed up - no table - but we were 5 minutes early, so we waited at the bar - for 20 minutes. Nobody came over to offer a drink... so we finally got seated, and waited another 10 minutes for even a person to come over and give us water. We flagged down the water kid, and he rolled his eyes when we answered his question " no waiter has been over?" - not going well, we were about to walk out when he had come over ( the waiter) - asks us "Ready to Order?" errr..... there's some professionalism... Now - he brought us our drinks - but the place was slammed - obviously from a bunch of diners who bought groupons. They couldn't deal with the volume and our waiter was literally running back to the kitchen. Our antipasto was poorly executed, there was a teaspoon helping of cheese, a couple slices of cured meat, and an ok - eggplant thing. Dinner would get 2 stars - veggies were the best - although the pork loin was well executed, my lamb tasted old. by the time we got to dessert, the place had pretty much cleared out - and the desserts were great, and the grappa fruitta was excellent. But I am pretty certain they farm out the desserts, no no cred to them for that. Overall, very very disappointed and certainly off the list for these frequent diners. I think the Groupon is also off the list, we finally realized restaurants that have to offer big discounts to get business are probably not the kind of places to dine.
(1)Wendy G.
I was given a gift certificate to Ristorante Marcellino for Christmas, so my boyfriend and I decided to give it a try. Overall, we didn't have a great experience. We were seated at a booth in the bar area (by choice). We waited several minutes for anyone to come over to our table. It seemed as if there was only one server for the entire place. When she finally came over, she asked for our order but had not even taken our drink order first. At this point we had no water at the table either. We decided to place our drink and food order at the same time because we didn't know how long it would take her to come back to the table again. While she was taking our order she seemed annoyed and in a hurry to leave. After taking our order she left the menus on the table and walked away. Still no water. I called over the bus boy and asked him to fill our water glasses. Our drinks came shortly after, so did the bread. It was stale. Our food came out pretty quickly. My boyfriend ordered a pizza with potatoes, sausage and rosemary. All you could taste was the rosemary. I ordered the chicken saltimbocca. It wasn't bad, just very average. We will not be returning to this restaurant.
(1)Miriam G.
Warm, friendly atmosphere. The service was welcoming, and the food was delicious. I coordinated a 36 person party here with Maria, and while there were a few kinks in the details, everything ended up working out and being wonderful. The owner was also very kind, and the waitress that brought out our food was down to earth and hospitable. The antipasti was out of this world and included homemade meats and homemade sun-dried tomatoes. I also enjoyed the marinara sauce on the pasta, the homemade dressing on the Insalata, and the cannoli's and tiramisu. You can taste the lemon zest in the cannoli's, and the fluffiness of the filling was out of this world. Lastly, the bread and olives in olive oil were incredible! Can't wait to go back with just my husband so that we can try other items on the menu.
(5)Donna G.
Have no idea how they are still in business. AC not working, one waiter who when not serving or taking orders was no where to be found ( in the kitchen I think) When we mentioned that the hostess ( who was doing nothing) passed us by as she walked thru with water we were given water but told it was not her job to do the water. Food was not worth talking about.
(2)Benjamin G.
Went on a Tuesday night and sat at the bar. Service was amateurish, unfriendly and slow. I tried a few different wines which were all spoiled and tasted like they had been open since the previous saturday night, so ended up ordering a mixed drink. Food was good, but overall not a pleasant experience and can't recommend.
(1)Katherine D.
Favorite Italian restaurant in waltham! Megan was an amazing waitress but she unfortunately doesn't work there anymore. Everytime I go here its comforting and the food is delicious. Great Cesaer salad and chicken parm!
(5)Paul H.
Wow, where do we start? The food was OK. The best antipasto I have ever had. The wine pour was generous. Now the negatives. Had to ask for salt,pepper,bread and cheese to be brought to the table twice. Were informed right off that they had no ICE. We ordered our food as the wine was being served as we noticed other tables were having long delays. A table of ten were really complaining and left without finishing their meals. Later in the parking lot they told us the mgr tried to make things right with a discount and fruit plate that was delivered to the wrong table. The poor servers seemed totally overwhelmed and after presenting a rest.com gift card we waited 45 mins for the check to be "processed" and presented to us as we stood near the front door waiting to get the hell out of there. Paul H
(1)Jackie K.
Food is only okay but the service was great and I liked the ambiance. It is a large restaurant, good for groups and families with comfortable seating. There is also a parking lot which is great. I try to base my reviews on the food and this was okay. The ceasar salad was okay--a little bland and overdressed and the potato pizza was bland also. I would not come back here but wouldn't refuse to come here. The prices were reasonable (entrees were more expensive) since my pizza was huge--you could easily split it with three people.
(2)Amanda G.
So we had a restaurant.com gift card from here so we went-- we were the only car in the parking lot... So that wasn't a good sign on a Friday night.. We went in and the wait staff was incredibly friendly and the food was average nothing outstanding.. The bread was stale though... There was just something about the place that was off -- there was no music so it was dead silent -- just a very awkward atmosphere
(2)Ttt R.
Eh, nothing special....wouldn't return to this restaurant. Food tasteless and they add 20% gratuity without asking.
(2)Sean R.
I bought a Groupon for this place, and after reading yelp reviews on here I was terrified to actually go use it. I live literally across the street from Marcellino so I was hoping it would be descent Italian food. Other yelp reviews seemed pretty extreme in comparison to our experience but all in all it was just OK and my girlfriend didn't like her meal at all (chicken saltimboca). I will say the the bolognese is some of the best I've had, but the chicken parm was average at best and the bread was stale and burnt on the bottom. I would eat there again if it were much cheaper, but thier prices are way over the top. You could truly get a better Italian meal at Bertuccis. I will probably go back and maybe catch a game at the bar on a weeknight or something because it is so convenient, but there is so many other Italian restaurants in the area that I will be hard pressed to go back for a meal.
(2)Lucy C.
We were looking for a place to have our Wedding Ceremony and dinner with our immediate family. I contacted many restauraunts in Bostons North End and Waltham and surrounding areas. Most of the restauraunts wanted an extra fee for use of thier private room. also as soon as it was mentioned it was a wedding celebration, they wanted to charge by person. Well, I was certainly not going to pay a restaurant extra money to use a room on their premises! And altho I explained it was just a ceremony and dinner with no party, they still wanted to charge a crazy amount per person. When I first contacted Antonio at Marcellino's, he offered a buffet style menu. When I told him I wanted to order off thier regular menu, he didnt hessitate to accomodate me. My fiance and I had dinner the evening before Thanksgiving to experience the cuisine. As soon as we were welcomed by Francesca a waitress, I felt this was gonna be our place. She showed me both function rooms. We sat and had a delicious meal. Rustic Italian bread with olive oil and Italian olives was served before the meal..Delicious..I ordered Chicken Saltimboca. Absolutely no complaints..Tender chicken with a wine sauce. My fiance order haddock. He said it was cooked to perfection. The prices are reasonable and affordable. We spoke to Antonio before we left and booked our wedding ceremony and dinner on the spot. I'm looking forward to October 2015!
(5)Matt P.
I've gone here many times for business dinners, romantic outings, as well as family get togethers. The service is a little slow, but the food is excellent and the atmosphere is perfect. I would highly recommend the chicken parm and the bruschetta.
(4)Amy F.
Ugh. Do not go here for dinner at least. The hostess was unprofessional and ignored customers that came in while talking about a friend coming out of prison and seating friends that came in after people who had been waiting. The waitress either a.) never worked before or b.) doesn't care about her job. We got bread (no butter, no oil) no knives and no service. I think we were checked on 2 times over the course of our entire dinner. Food was average but definitely not worth the price ($24 dollars for pasta?!). Also there were three kinds of pasta in my dish, 2 of which were not supposed to be there. Maybe order a "Carona" to wash it all down, because that is how it's spelled on their strange menu.
(1)Charles D.
As Italian fare goes, this was OK but not a place I'll return to. Marcellino salad was good - as was the calamari appetizer and the lamb entree. The gnocchi and parm dishes, however, were bland and uninteresting - and the biggest problem was the service. I'd give it a 2 on a 10 scale. Totally inattentive, no grasp of the menu offerings or specials, the level of ineptitude was actually awkward and uncomfortable.
(3)H P.
After trying Groupon I bought this coupon to try this restaurant .After I printed the coupon I checked out Yelp ,yes I do everything backwards .I notice the reviews were mixed ,some hated some liked it and a few raved about it.I noticed most of the reviews were a little dated ,so I crossed my finger and on a rainy night we drove to Waltham . The building was a bit of a turn off ,but we went inside where the ambience was nice .The waiter we got was very friendly efficient ,and quickly took our orders .We shared a shrimp scampi appetizer and then ordered veal marsala .It only came with potatoes no pasta ,not a problem for me I'm not crazy fighting with sphagetti.The meals came out quickly ,the veal was tender ,the marsala sauce was different than I was used to ,however I did like it .The Italian bread was a bit tough which was too bad because I like to dip bread in my sauce ,couldn't do that . All in all the meal was good ,portions not too big and not too small ,so not like Greggs in Watertown where we always wind up taking half the meal home .Service was very good ,if not for Groupon I might have baulked at eating here since it is a little bit pricey. Probably wont go back here because there are better Italian restaurants around like the afore mentioned Greggs at much lower prices ,more meat and very well prepared food .After 20 years or so I have never had a bad meal .
(4)Sarah M.
We had a restaurant.com coupon so decided to try it..we live in waltham and have always wanted to try it. The food was very good, the service was very poor. Our waitress was also the hostess, so she was very inattentive and really came across as not wanting to be there. We had to wave her down a few times as she stood at the hostess booth fixing her hair. She never once introduced herself or asked how our food was..at on point she actually came by with a bowl of parmesan cheese and threw it on our table as she walked by, not saying a word. She never came back and asked how our food was and the people next to us had to get up and go to the front to get her to take their check...When she brought the check, she threw it on the table and walked away, no thank you or anything..not one word...we will not be back!
(1)Ben E.
Very good food and great service. I had an amazing pasta dish with almost more lobster on it than pasta and that is an amazing thing. The spicy red sauce was delicious. I have been there two times and I plan to go back. I went there for a nice romantic dinner and the live music made it perfect. The host and waiter were very friendly. I plan to go back soon.
(4)Andrea M.
My husband and I dined there this past Saturday night...I bought a Groupon on a whim and did not have very high expectations...WOW!! was I wrong!! We were greeted buy the owner "Sal" - he is so warm and welcoming and (having grown up in Italy) we had a long conversation in Italian. Our wiatress Paola could not have been any nicer and the FOOD - The best, the freshest - everything was over the top!! we can't wait to go back and try their Fritto Misto - it looked amazing going by...my salmon was perfect and the homemade pasta was to die for :) YUM!! Bravo!
(5)Mary E.
My husband and I went to this restaurant tonight with a Living Social coupon in hand. The food and service we received far surpassed our expectations. We started off with the Antipasto Marcellino, which is a plate of assorted cold cuts, grilled veggies, and cheeses. Everything in it was fresh and tasty. Hubby got the Orecchiette Rustiche pasta, which had calabrese sausage, broccoli rabe, and tomatoes. The sauce was so delicate and flavorful. I had the Rigatoni Pasta, which had perfectly fried pieces of eggplant tossed in a lovely tomato sauce. For dessert we had the Tiramisu, which had to be hands down the best we have ever had. We split one between us, which was more than enough due to its large size. Everything was perfect, I have no complaints. The waitress Antonnella was as pleasant and professional as they get. The manager even came around at the end and asked us how we liked everything. He seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say. Will definitely come back to this place. The ambiance, service and food was definitely top notch.
(5)Nicole L.
Went to Marcellino with three friends this past Tuesday night for the first time. My bf and I had driven by many times on our way to park at the Embassy Theater but always with a, "oh, we forgot about this - I wonder if it's any good!" So, I was pretty excited when my 100% Italian (and I mean her parents were born in Italy) friend suggested we go there. The greeting was warm - the door was opened for us and we were welcomed inside by the *new* manager. Our waiter was on his second night (as it turns out, they take their ratings on service very seriously at Marcellino so they got a new manager who then got new staff to up their service). He was on a "trial" basis and I will say he passed our test with flying colors. Very friendly, attentive, and helpful with menu suggestions and the wine list (which is pretty darn fabulous). Speaking of helpful with the menu, the owner's son came over and gave me his own top picks when I was undecided about what to order. I didn't go with something from the wood-fired oven, but if you go, you may want to try it. The owner's son called out those choices and one of my friends got an amazing steak from said oven. Moving on - the food was great all around. We got a terrific antipasti (or "meat plate" as we were calling it) that included some amazing cheese and these salty wonderful sardines (something I had never had before but they were shockingly good). We also started with an order of lobster ravioli. It was very tasty, particularly the nice chunks of lobster layered on the outside/on top of the ravs. I got the seafood risotto which was perfectly cooked.Risotto can be awful (soggy, tasteless),but this was terrific and chock-full of delicious seafood. It was also more than enough for this hungry lady. I had to bring half home and enjoyed it again the next day. My friends all raved about their meals as well (chicken piccata, steak, and gnocchi). And as an added little treat, the manager brought us out a complimentary plate of several desserts to share. All were heavenly - the tiramisu (which can also be hit or miss some places) was my favorite. I can't wait to go back with my bf and not just because he'll pay! I want to try more on the menu from a restaurant owned by "the real deal" (Italians) and run by some truly nice folks. They're running a Groupon right now so if you're on the fence, go with that and spend half as much to prove me right. Oh, and why no 5th star? I just don't give out five stars - tough grader!
(4)Rick S.
We decided to try this place for my wife's birthday and I made reservations some wouldn't run into too much of a wait. I'm glad we did because the parking lot was full and the restaurant was packed. We had to wait a few minutes but that was ok. The restaurant looked very nice and could have a great atmosphere. I say 'could' because the atmosphere was a bit off due to the live entertainment. They had a pianist and a singer and, while both were good, they were way too loud. We were placed at the other end of the restaurant and it was still too loud to have a conversation. To make it worse, we were at a circular table and it was impossible to have a conversation with the people on the other side of the table. I get it. Entertainment during dinner is nice but when I go out to dinner with people, I want to talk to them, not yell over a table and have to strain to listen to them. The food was, for the most part, good. My daughter had the bolognese and my wife had a sausage and broccoli rabe dish and both were good. I had the risotto and I have to say it was the worst I've ever had. Bland, dry, no flavor. Did I say bland? Because it was. No salt, no pepper, nothing. All told, it could be a better place if they'd drop the music and add some flavor to the risotto. We probably won't go back.
(2)Stacy S.
I've been going to Ristorante Marcellino for years, at least 5 years. Over this time, I have seen the service and food quality decline. In the beginning the food and service was excellent, but as time went on, both started slipping. You could go in one night and have a meal that was excellent and then go 3 weeks later, order the same meal, and receive something that in appearance and taste was unrecognizable. I most recently went this past Saturday night (2/22/14). We started off by ordering a bottle of Pinot Grigio. When the waitress came back, she opened the bottle while telling us the kind that we ordered, they didn't have. She did not even ask if we'd like to try ordering a different bottle or going with what she brought. The white wine was also close to room temperature, which grew in temperature as the night went on, as no cooler was given. We had the Arancini, which was flavorful, but cold, and served with barely any sauce. (Sadly, we saw another table get this appetizer later on, and theirs came with a side dish of sauce). My boyfriend and I were hoping to order the Involtini di Mialle, but were bummed to see that this has been taken off the menu. This used to be an excellent dish. My boyfriend tried the new Filetto di Mialle dish and I got the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli. The pork was anywhere from medium rare to well done through the portion given. My raviolis were a bit under cooked, but did have good flavor. The ravioli came with friend eggplant in the middle of the dish, unseasoned and without any sauce. The eggplant was so thin it was if they just put grease soaked layers of breading on the plate. I really hope whatever is currently going on at Ristorante Marcellino ends and they get back to their amazing food and service.
(3)Krista B.
I went here for the first time on Saturday night with my husband and another local couple. We are from central MA so we were really hoping for a great Italian meal since we were driving about 45 minutes out here. We made reservations just to be on the safe side and when we got there we were very glad we did. The parking lot was full and so was inside. When we got in we had to wait a minute while they set our table but got right in. When we sat we were all chatty and it took us a while to order but the waiter did not rush us. We ordered a couple of apps (an antipasto and caprese salad) both were as expected in a nice Italian Restaurant. We ordered a bottle of wine which was exceptional and we savored every bit. When we finally ordered our dinner it came out in a speedy amount of time and everything was cooked perfectly. Dinner was very yummy and again, what you would expect at good place. The prices were fair and the food matched the prices. I would certainly go again and since we sat there for almost 3 hours and did not feel rushed it was a wonderful evening. The best part of the night was the live music that they had while we were there. They had a Chelloist, pianist and singer. It was wonderful. Although I think some people might have thought it was a bit loud but the people I was with did not mind it and it gave a great ambiance! If we are ever in Waltham again we will absolutely go back, and I know the couple we were with will too!! Thanks for a great evening with great friends!!
(4)dan w.
Very friendly place- but too many flaws to go above the 2 star rating. Noticed one experienced waiter- but our waitress, though sweet, was completely untrained. Not really her fault, but management should know better. Actually had one of the worst spaghetti carbonaras ever. It should be moist with eggs, olive oil and parmesan cheese- but this one was actually dry- almost crunchy- and not from the bacon. The place was busy on the Friday night we came- so they don't seem to have an incentive to improve. Too bad.
(2)Marsha W.
Ristorante Marcellino, you RUINED my MOTHER'S DAY. Thank you for opening on a Sunday, but please next time DON'T if what I experienced is the result of what was put out. First, we were seated and the older man at the stand was nice. I can only assume he had to be the owner since he later sat down and dined with what looked like his family as well for Mother's Day. We were truly looking forward to this dinner due to the seafood options that were offered. We skipped the many restaurants that were open that Sunday because my mother had a craving for some Italian food. Since my sister had previously dined here, and according to her the food and service was great, this was an obvious pick. The ball started rolling towards a bad experience right from when our waiter approached us. He looked MISERABLE. He was monotone, and we had to repeat our orders twice to him. So not also did he not look like he wanted to be there, but he had no familiarity with the menu or waiting service at all. We shrugged it off anyways since usually the food makes up for it. We ordered: PEPATA DI COZZE CAESAR FETTUCCINE AI PORCINI SPAGHETTI VONGOLE INVOLTINI DI POLLO EGLEFINO AL FORNO Sounds great right? We thought so too. Let me first tell you that we are no strangers to food. We not also love going to restaurants, we love cooking, and we have owned restaurants. With a background in such, we know at least the difference of fresh, frozen, overcooked, and OLD. Most foodies can tell the difference of all of the listed above. It doesn't take the experience, but it sure helps. First, the mussels and ceasar came. The salad was drenched in dressing, and the mussels were covered in what looked like a red sauce. We totally forgot that what we ordered was suppose to come in a white wine sauce, but it didn't even matter because what they chose as a sauce to put over the mussels didn't cover even 50% of the mussels they gave. It's a shame they didn't or they may have been able to mask the disgusting taste coming from the mussels. The portion was huge, and in most cases would have been a delight, but the mussels were dry. When I say dry, I don't mean sauce less dry. The mussels had clearly been sitting out for while as some of them were cold and the taste that came from them reminded us of day old seafood cooked and reheated. We each had two and did not touch them after that. We usually are pretty tolerable of unfresh seafood, but what we can't do is un-stomachable seafood. The mussels were horrible. My whole family was clearly upset, and while we rarely complain since we all come from the service industry and have always been pretty tolerable to bad food, this was one of the very VERY rare times we felt compelled to say something. We believe it came because we could not put aside the insulted feeling that a restaurant could serve people the quality of the mussels they served us and be okay with it. We most of all was hoping just for a reason. We would have gladly paid for two portions of the mussels had we just been given the reason behind the bad dish. After I politely shared our concern and observation of the mussels to our drone of a waiter, he simply went. "oh...I'll let them know." We made a few jokes that our dinners were doomed cause of it (thank you Bourdain). What looked like a manager in a t-shirt came up to us and said, "Hi, I heard you didn't like the mussels?" He seemed genuine enough, so we repeated t him our observation and what hoped like a genuine interest in an explanation of what happened, but we did not get it. He simply apologized and said he would take it off the bill. I wanted to scream I DON'T WANT IT FREE, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHY!??? I just thanked him and told him it wasn't his fault, we just needed to let him know. The rest of the meal can be summed up in one word. BAD. It was a true shame because I was probably just as much hoping for redemption as they were (at least I hope they were). My pasta was undercooked, and I LOVE AL DENTE, but this was not. It was also tasteless, and they did not have salt or pepper out. Which I'm pretty sure was an oversight versus a statement of some sort. My sister's pasta was the total opposite in which hers was sea water drowning salty, and I LOVE SALT. Her clams were not washed, so the whole dish was filled with sand and the ungodly crunchiness of broken shells. Of course I did not know this till I had mixed her plate with mine in hopes to balance the salt/no salt. Both dishes ruined. My mom had bones littered in her fish, and the breading was heavily salted. I almost still want to blame the kitchen for this experience and hope that the real chefs were enjoying Mother's Day. The waitstaff...perhaps were all family in which explained the lack of service professionalism. I feel truly bad that I had such a horrible experience here since I almost thought I would love it. I hope they never open on a Sunday again.EVER
(1)Charles O.
My wife and I went to Marcellino for dinner last week. It was an even better experience all around than it had been in the past for us. I always found the food to be excellent but the service a little slow and inconsistent. This time, I had the duck, shared with my wife, along with a Caesar salad and an appetizer du jour. It was an excellent meal. We are looking forward to visiting again soon.
(5)Liz B.
Boy, it is hard to believe this place stays in business. We went here on a whim after missing a movie (couldn't find a parking space in time.) The fresh mozerella and tomato salad to start with was decent enough. My husband had chicken parm which was overcooked and rubbery, the chicken tasted like it had come out of a fryer that the oil had not been changed in for weeks. The tomato sauce was just terrible. I have had Ragu out of a jar that tastes better. I had the spaghetti carbonara - dry with no flavor. And $7 for a mediocre canoli? Are you kidding? It is a cute little place and I expected more...
(1)Laura D.
If I could give it a zero I could. This started what I know refer to the weekend long bad restaurant adventure. We came here to celebrate my soon to be brother in laws birthday. We made a reservation but really it was unnecessary as we where the only ones here. We told the hostess and our waiter it was his bday and they said they would do something to embarrass him. We took our seats and waited 15 minutes for water. We ordered a seafood appetizer which was supposed to include calamari, haddock, shrimp and scallops. First there was no shrimp, no scallops and a small piece of fish. It was all calamari. I live calamari but this was so over cooked it was inedible it was too tough. Not to mention they had no tomato sauce and they are an Italian restaurant. We also got bread which was stale and crunchy. It was awful. The olive oil for dipping was ok it had whole olives in it which was nice. The fiance and split a pizza. It was burned, the toppings where raw and I can easily say it was the worst pizza I have ever had. I also woke up with food poisoning a few hours later. My future mother in law lives in a assisted living and she loves anytime she can go out and eat. She had chicken picatta which was absolutely not chicken picatta it looked like marsala but she said it was good. Again, this is based from a woman who eats cafeteria food every day. My future brother in law ordered veal parm and got chicken parm. It came with veggies and potatoes no pasta. He did not care for it or the fact we where charged for veal. He also ordered a soda half way through dinner that never came, The waiter never checked in, we ran out of drinks and I had to walk to the bar to get refills. If I am going to be my own waitress I do not expect dishes to be this expensive. Honestly I have no idea how these people stay in business. I will never go back the food is bad and the service is even worse. By the way they also never acknowledged his birthday.
(1)Janet S.
Free pizza on Wednesday nights at the Bar! De-e-e-e-elious! The Oricchiette Calabrese is fantastic. A total surprise was the Mozzarella/Tomato Salad. The imported cheese melts in your mouth like butter!
(4)Jennifer M.
My boyfriend and I went to Ristorante Marcellino because we had a restaurant.com voucher and figured we would give it a try. It was AWFUL. Probably the worst overall restaurant experience I've ever had. The hotess was fine, she offered us our choice of tables and told us that the piano player was going to start and it would be pretty loud, so she recommended a table away from the piano. Great. Our waiter, however, was awful. He didn't want to be bothered to answer questions about the menu, and when I asked about the carbonara, he was totally dismissive, waved his hand and said "fantastic, best thing on the menu." I'm pretty sure he would have said that about everything on the menu. I figured I would try the carbonara anyway. Wrong choice. It was clearly boxed, dry spaghetti, not fresh in the slightest and didn't have much of a creamy carbonara sauce on it at all. It was tasteless except for the ridiculous amounts of pancetta they put on it. It was disgusting. My boyfriend had a very unimpressive chicken parm. We didn't see our waiter again for a long time. Never asked how anything was, just showed up after our plates had been cleared and asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, we said no, but that we'd like another drink (we had finished ours a while before but the waiter never came around to check). He asked if we wanted to move to the bar because it was quieter. My boyfriend said something about him trying to rush us out so he could go home the waiter said something about having a couple drinks before he left and to take our time or something. I told him he could bring the check with the drinks if he wanted to, so we could close out so he could go home and we didn't have to waste more time waiting for him. Drinks show up. No check. Drinks finished. No check, no waiter. I see him going into the kitchen, then hanging out at the bar for probably 20+ minutes without once coming to our table or even looking in our direction. We tried to get his attention and continued to get more and more mad. Finally we asked another waitress who was setting a nearby table if she could grab our waiter and he came flying over with the check but ran off before we could give him our card to pay. The waitress we asked before saw this and took our card for us. We wished would could have tipped her since she was more attentive in 5 minutes than he was the entire time we were there. We left the restaurant feeling like we wasted time and money and we will definitely never go back. If you want good Italian food, or even just good service, don't go here.
(1)Marcella M.
Started our meal off with delicious appetizers. From the beef steak tomato and the buffalo mozzarella to the fresh calamari, the apps were very good. The pizza was fresh, our server was great too. Our party of seven ordered quite a few different things. Everyone was definitely happy with our food. The place was clean and had a nice family feel. The owner Salvatore even came over to make sure everything was good. We will be back. I recommend Marcellino's.
(5)Ranjit V.
After having a horrible experience here back on 6/21/2011, the manager invited my back for a second chance. The food was fine and they were very nice. The 2nd half of the restaurant still is basically a sports bar, so I would stay away if there's a big game that night. They added some live piano with vocals which was nice.
(3)Greg J.
Went there for dinner, but it was a pretty bad experience. The food was poorly prepared. The pizza we ordered was burned (twice - we sent it back once!), the salad was oily, the sauce for the pork loin roulade was also oily and completely flavorless, and the spaghetti carbonara had decent enough spaghetti, but it was lacking the usual sauce, and just piled high with a load of really fatty bacon pieces. The servers were in the weeds when the room was just half full, and once the room filled up, it was bedlam. When the food was dropped off, we were short one fork. The server never noticed, and it took three requests to get a fork so we could eat. We couldn't get our water glasses refilled for love or money, even though we asked twice. It took 10 minutes just to get the check after we requested it, and when a completely different server came to bring it to our table, she immediately ran away and nobody came back to pick it up. My wife finally brought the check to the hostess stand to be processed. The manager saw her standing there and walked in the other direction, leaving the frightened waitress behind the register to handle the problem. It was very disappointing all around. We don't plan on returning. That area of Waltham is loaded with much better restaurants, and any one of them would have been better than this.
(1)Amanda M.
I'm surprised that this place received such good ratings. I went with my boyfriend for a special goodbye dinner (he was leaving on a business trip) and it wasn't the fancy night I wanted. I read all these great reviews about the Antipasto Marcellino, specifically about how good the meats and anchovies are. We ordered it and did not get any anchovies. I brought it up to the waitress but she said they weren't on the menu (they definitely are online). The meats were kind of dry and flavorless and the cheese was just awful. Not worth $17. I ordered the lobster ravioli which was mediocre and my boyfriend ordered the risotto di mare. He said the shrimp wasn't fresh at all and wasn't a big fan of the plate overall. Definitely not worth $22 and $24. Overall a completely "meh" experience. I will not be going back.
(2)Adriano B.
Great dining experience..we were greeted by a nice girl on the front desk and promptly seated. The waiter had to be new..but he was nice and recommended the oven cooked gnocchi. My wife got the seafood risotto which she liked a lot. Place was somewhat crowded and a little loud but we will go back for more
(5)Michael P.
I really can't think of anything bad about this place. The atmosphere is fantasic and the staff is very pleasant. Best of all the is the quality of the food and the portions are generous. The food is out of this world good and the wine selection are second to none. Best of all is probably the homemade bread that is baked daily in the homemade stone oven. I've had a quiet dinner for 2 and also had huge functions here for my office parties and they always a success! This is my first 5 star review in the Boston area, but I really can't find anything to take away from this place. Except I wish it were next to my house. :)
(5)Carol R.
I bought a groupon for this restaurant for tonight and what a mistake!!! i wanted to take my son and his girlfriend out for dinner and after reading the great reviews I thought 'this will be great!' WRONG...while my company was great, the food was overpriced and, at best, subpar!!!! Don't waste your time or money!
(1)David W.
Four of us went to Marcellino's for the very first time tonight, and we were very pleased with our meals and the service. I had the Melanzana pizza which was delicious; others had the Spaghetti Bolognese, Pasta Carbonara, and the Veal Piccata all of which were very good, too. Richard, our waiter, was attentive and very helpful. We will definitely come back to this restaurant soon!!
(4)Scott Y.
I'm not sure how to rate Marcellino. I ate their two or three times before moving out of Waltham. At the time, I wasn't exactly making great money. The first time I tried their bone-in veal saltimbocca, it was without question the best thing I had ever eaten. Maybe I built it up too much in my head, but the second time I ordered the same dish (a couple of weeks later), it was honestly average at best. It was a little overcooked, and definitely dry. It's great to overachieve, but if you can't do it consistently...
(3)Tamar T.
I have never eaten here before but the reviews seem decent so I tried to do a takeout order. I wanted Spaghetti And lobster in fri Diablo sauce which was 30 bucks and that was cool. So when I went to call in my order the woman could not help me so she put this gentleman on the phone. he told me that they ran out of lobster and I asked him okay if I wanted to do shrimp in fried Diablo sauce how much would that be and he said it was the same Price. so I told him how could lobster and shrimp be the same price when lobster is seasonal. Shouldn't that be more? he just dismissived what I asked him and with a rude tone just told me that's the way it is. Now to me 30 bucks is nothing to spend on a nice dinner I can take home. I have spent 60 on a plate in the north end before but it was the way that he spoke to me that was rude. I don't know about anybody else but I Definitely won't be back there. It's a shame too because the establishment looked beautiful but the customer service was very poor.
(1)Monica M.
I came home for the weekend to visit my parents and they told me that we MUST go to this restaurant! Right when we walked in we were greeted by the owner Sal who is so kind and welcoming. The restaurant is very lively due to the energetic wait staff and the terrific piano player on Friday/Saturday nights. In addition to the fabulous ambiance, the food was incredible!!! We ordered a caprese salad to start, followed by the spaghetti bolognese, the spaghetti written up in the Globe (fresh pasta with garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes), and the spaghetti carbonara. All were absolutely to die for. The lemon sorbet was a perfect dessert! I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for both a fun and cozy night out. No regrets!
(5)Amy L.
Though we have lived in Waltham for many years, we had never tried this restaurant before last night. I had bought a groupon and am so glad we had a reason to visit! Our meal was superb and our waiter was very friendly. We loved the atmosphere, which included a piano player who sang. My husband ordered chicken marsala, a favorite of his, and proclaimed it among the best he had ever eaten. My stuffed eggplant was also terrific, as were our appetizers and dessert (chocolate mousse). It is such a charming restaurant, and we hope to visit again soon. It would be a nice place to go for drinks or dessert, as well as for dinner.
(5)Brian S.
Meehhhhh - could be better. Def. other better choices in Waltham. I went with my family on a Thursday night around 6 - we were the only people in there until about 7pm. They still had trouble figuring out our table situation, even though we had made a reservation. Good notes: Our waiter was pretty good. Very knowledgeable on the whole menu, the drink list, how everything is made, and the specials. He was able to put up with my nutty family who ask a million obnoxious questions. (hey, thats how we roll - I'm cool with it) nice ambiance, the pianist playing all night was a nice touch. My chicken saltimbocca was tasty, although not enough of the side dish. Caesar salad was good. Bad notes: it was pricey for what it was, Poor disbursement of side dishes with the entrees, some people had massive amounts, while others had next to nothing. The lamb was tough and overpowered by a garlic oil of some sort. They also didn't have mint jelly to compliment - My nana flipped a lid - haha. The lemon chicken (might have been called something else) tasted like salt and lemon and that's about it. My sister's stuffed shells were crunchy - like full of sand or something ridiculous - not even tasty either. They had also run out of simple things that should be in a restaurant. Overall, we left not very impressed with the food at all. I don't hate the place, I just have no inclination to ever come back. Nothing about it made me think "oooo this is good". I couldn't even recommend it for someone to try. ehhh, almost 3 stars, but I had to land on 2.
(2)David C.
The good: Service is phenomenal, our waiter was super amazing. The bread is amazing too, and they give an olive oil dip with real olives in it, so yummy. I could have had that for my entire meal. My girlfriend and I shared the Mista Salad, which was delicious too. Also, the building is so cool inside, very classy, and rustic. It is a beautiful restarant. The not so good: Honestly the food was not so terrific, not terrible or anything, but just kind of ehhh. We asked the waiter to make recommendations of what are the most popular items on the menu. From his recommendations she got the FETTUCCINE AI PORCINI (Fresh fettuccine, porcini mushrooms, garlic and extra virgin olive oil). She thought it was too plain, not enough seasoning, and hardly any mushrooms in it! So $21 for a big plate of fettuccine.... Towards end of dinner we heard the waiter tell another customer they were out of porcini mushrooms; wish he told us that, we must have got the scrapings of what was left before they ran out.... I ordered the chicken Marsala, the waiter said it was a favorite too. It came with roasted potatoes which were terrific; I wish there were more though. The chicken and the sauce was unique compared to other marsala's, but nothing special, I wish I tried something else. Overall, it was ok at best, maybe we ordered the wrong items, but for the price, not sure we will come back to experiment again.
(2)Sarah Mead R.
Went to Marcellino with a Groupon. Concluded it was not worth it even at half-price. Perfectly nice but quite incompetent staff. Terrible wine. Had the grilled lamb salad, but they forgot the lamb... brought it out eventually. Lamb was very tasty. Salad greens from a bag. Pasta was gummy, sauce tasted like Heinz soup. No parmesan offered. When we asked for it, it was that powdery stuff from a can, which they offered to spoon on. Stale bread. Not worth a visit. Oh... and watch out for the website! It says they serve lunch, but they don't. It says they take on-line reservations, and it appeared to do so, but they had no idea when we got there.
(1)Lynn S.
This is a great local find in the area. I have been here 2 times and both were great. The food was delicious and the atmosphere is friendly. Its a solid italaian restaurnt with home style comfort. The only thing I recommend is don't fill up on the delicious home made bread.
(4)C K.
I have eaten at Marcellino's several times and have never been disappointed. I love the authentic Italian food. On a recent visit, we enjoyed a lovely meal with friends from Italy who were thoroughly impressed. Our friends were from the same region in Italy that the owner, Sal, is from. They struck up a conversation and we were treated with some additional TLC and complimentary regional favorites. We decided to order a variety of foods so that our fairly large dinner party could try multiple entrees. We started out with the antipasto and amazing homemade bread baked in their own brick oven. We tried a few of the pasta dishes, including the gnocchi and lobster ravioli. And, for dessert, we enjoyed cannoli's and Tiramisu. Looking forward to going back again and again.
(5)Jessica S.
Yummy Italian comfort dishes. LOVED the bread and that they give you whole olives in the olive oil. Good wine list. Good atmosphere. Service was ok, a little slow . . . could have been because we had a restaurant.com gift certificate. Definitely a fan, though, and we will be back!
(4)Karen S.
Disappointed to see so many bad reviews as I've always had consistently good food and service here. Have eaten here every couple of months for more than a year now without being disappointed. I've also found them to be quite flexible when I am being somewhat picky about my meal - I don't eat seafood or mushrooms and have never had a problem getting a substitution. It's rarely full but to me that's a blessing in disguise.
(4)Victoria M.
This place is great! We have been coming here over the years, and have always had a wonderful experience. The food is phenomenal, and the service can not be beat. You can even rent the place out for small events. We have been to anniversary parties, and birthday parties. Fun times had by all. They always seem to go above and beyond what you would expect. The owners are super sweet. And are always ready to make your time with them an unbelievable experience.
(5)Emily O.
For a large party - maybe not the best choice. We had a party of 18 here on a Saturday night. The service was excellent. The ambiance was great for a three-generation affair, as is not too trendy but not too "old fart" either. There's a live accordionist. The problem for us was the food. We had a pre-selected menu, so it's hard to say all the food is bad here, but for what they produced in mass for us, it wasn't great. In particular, most of us could not believe how SALTY the SALAD was!? Who adds salt to a salad? Fortunately we had a chef in our mix, who later explained that salt is added to a lower end Balsamic Vinegar, along with water, to make it go further. It went right to Sodium City. The appetizers weren't anything special. The Bruschetta was too hard to bite into and it tasted like they may have used some sort of seafood derivative in it, which doesn't taste good and doesn't make sense. The calamari was great, but there was no sauce to dip it in and the breading didn't have enough spice or flavor to go without. There were three entrees to choose from and here's how we liked them: Homemade Spinach Ravioli with Cheese Filling (B-), Fettucini Alfredo with Shrimp (C+), and Chicken Piccata (C-). All in all, it's hard to know how good the food can be when it's cooked to order rather than prepped for a larger party, but I would hesitate to go there again with so many Italian restaurants to choose from.
(3)Jackey B.
My boyfriend and I went to Marcellino's for dinner tonight and halfway through the meal all I could think about was how much I wanted to come home and write this review. It was AWFUL. Let's start with the service. The waiter seemed like he was miserable and didn't want to be there. We usually take our time ordering so we can enjoy ourselves, and believe me, it's not like it was crowded, but he was obviously rushing us to order. He came over twice while we still had our menus open to see if we were ready to order. My boyfriend thought he whispered for us to hurry up as he was walking away. Not surprised. Finally, we were ready to order and I ordered an appetizer for the two of us. I told him about my allergies and he then thought that was my meal. I told him my entrée and he asked my boyfriend if he also wanted an appetizer.. I had just said it was for the both of us.. it was a bit awkward to be honest, not a hospitable and personable experience that you expect at a nice restaurant. Next, the food. I am Italian and enjoy good Italian food. We go out to eat quite a bit. If you're looking for good Italian food, this is NOT the place to go, this is NOT Italian. I make MUCH better at home. It's truly an insult to Italians. We got the seafood appetizer and were thoroughly unimpressed. There was absolutely no seasoning on it and no dipping sauce at all. One positive was that they did give a large portion. If you're not going to season seafood, you need a sauce! Not to mention, the seafood was definitely not fresh and WAY too overcooked - rubbery and tough. We were hoping our main courses would redeem ourselves since we'd heard good things about the restaurant (no idea who would like this place..). My boyfriend got the most bland chicken parm ever. The sauce had no seasoning at all - no basil or garlic flavor or anything. I got the lobster ravioli.. oh wait, I mean frozen cheese ravioli with chunks of overcooked lobster - how do you ruin LOBSTER??? Terrible. We couldn't wait to get out of there. Again, no "thank you" or "nice to have you" from the waiter while checking out. Just awful. Please don't go here. Also, prices are way to high for quality..
(1)Karla M.
This review is mixed, and the restaurant deserves a second chance. Staff was poor, but the food was delicious. We were told there would be a 10-15 minute wait, so we sat at the bar for a drink. The bartender was personable and efficient (he had quite a few people to tend to)... after 30 minutes of waiting, my fiance was told it would be another 10-15 minutes. 15 minutes went by, and the girl at the desk repeated to me 10 - 15 minutes, and I asked to talk to someone. We were seated instantaneously by the man I spoke with. I was pleased with his quick response, but he acted very put-off about the whole thing. An apology would have been much more appropriate. We had a very nice, eager waiter. He was attentive given the many tables he had. The food was pretty good. I'm picky about eating Italian since I am Italian, and have been spoiled by authentic Italian cuisine. Their gnocchi were fantastic. The tiramisu was okay. The major downfall (aside from the incompetent teen at the desk) was that there was a large, obnoxious party of people right behind us, comparing zippo lighters on their iPhones. For the price, you will get a decent meal. The pasta e fiagoli is worth a try, as is the gnocchi. Just try not to go when there is a large party and don't always trust the girl at the front, as she didn't seem quite with the program.
(3)Beth G.
While I don't think this is the BEST Italian restaurant in the area, you could certainly do worse..(I know that's not a glowing start, but it gets better, I promise!) The boy & I brought my parents here for dinner, just to hang out and have some food. The waiter was useless. He was easily the least personable human waiting tables in the Moody Street area. He spoke very quietly, hovered rather than prompted and we heard a table near us with a different waiter get read the specials! We got no specials!! We weren't rude, loud or cheap, so I'm not sure why we weren't granted a reading of the specials, but I was sad. we had the bruschetta to start which was cool and refreshing, the tomatoes looked a little gray, but the taste was good, the bread was crisp, not soggy. The table had the gnocchi, a salmon dish, a seafood risotta and the tortellini. Everything came out of the kitchen HOT and we all declared our entrees a success. The tortellini was amazing and the gnocchi was PERFECTLY cooked. The sauce was lacking and a little too....sweet? I don't know, but something wasn't doing it for me. Overall, I'd certainly go back and try other dishes because I really enjoyed the food, however if you're looking for an amazing waiter to really MAKE the experience, hopefully you won't have ours ... Maybe he was just shy. I don't know. But really..NO SPECIALS?
(3)scott a.
We were very hungry last night, so two friends and I decide to go to a nice italian restaurant on North St Newton. The lines were out the doors 45 min. wait so we went to marcellino's, first only a couple of people there. We sit down the menu was over priced we ordered our food I will never go back. It took the waitress 20 min. to get a sprite and 15 min. to get bread. The service stinks but the food was worse. I have had way better meals at lower end places. Folks save your time and money try burger king before going here. I eat out 5 nights a week at different restaurants this one gets a negative star!
(1)Philip M.
I went to Marcellino a few weeks ago (my third time at the this restaurant) and had a wonderful time that solidified it as my favorite restaurant in Boston. We sat in a booth, and were made very comfortable by our waitress. She told us the specials, and recommended the Eggplant Divana, which she courteously noted is the longest of the appetizers to prepare because it's eggplant baked in the wood oven with homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese which takes about 20 minutes. We tried it, and wow; without question worth the wait and the most enjoyable way I have ever had eggplant prepared. We were surprised to find out that the wine menu features many wines that are imported directly from Calabria Italy by the owners to their restaurant. The prices are very reasonable and it was fun to see the wines a restaurant focusing on being from somewhere other than the places you hear about every day. For my main course I had a tender pork loin stuffed with a little prosciutto and mozzarella cheese, it was so flavorful. One of the most enjoyable things about this dining experience at Marcellino, was an overwhelming feeling that we had arrived at our destination for the evening. There was no waitress rushing us to order, an older man lightly played the piano near the entrance, the manager who I think is the owners son made sure to come to our table at the start and end of the meal to check-in on us, and when we didn't order dessert her had a few biscotti's sent to the table on the house. The ambiance was lovely, with the perfect balance of casual/elegant. I highly recommend Marcellino on an evening your hoping to spend "taking in" the true Italian dining experience, which Marcellino does best.
(5)Jeremy K.
we've been here before, i didn't care to go back, couldn't say what the rational is, the place was dead when we went and when we waited for any sort of service we wondered what the hold up was. standard fair, i didn't like the bread nor the attitude of the waitstaff. you can do better in waltham
(2)M. Deloris D.
The food here was DELICIOUS. We shared a reasonably priced bottle of wine with salmon and fettuccine alla vodka, seafood orecchiettie and broccoli rabe. Truth be told, I'm a broccoli rabe snob and this rabe was just okay but the pasta was delicious and the seafood was incredibly fresh. They also had live music (the pianist played Benny and the Jets!), the dessert wasn't spectacular but the entrees alone earned the restaurant 4 stars. I can't wait to return.
(4)Arik C.
I have no idea why people think this restaurant is actually good. The food is really terrible, not one authentic Italian dish that makes you want to come back. The flavors are bland, and quality is very poor. I was astonished how BAD the wine list was. Really crappy wine with Opus One in the middle. Who are they trying to kid? If you have a large group I can see it being a good deal as prices are ok but after eating at the Tuscan Grill and Il capriccio, this place is just for red sauce lovers
(2)Ruthie C.
Wow I am surprised at all the nasty reviews about this place. I don't get to go out very often being a mom and all but when my fiance and I and another couple we are good friends with want to go out for dinner we always go to Biaggios. Uh I am so tired of that place. We had been saying for a long time that we really wanted to try Marcellinos so we decided to go for it. I'm very glad we did. We started off with wine and 2 apps. We had the pino griggio they had which was nice and we ordered the brucetta and the calamari. The brucetta was really nice, crunchy slices of bread with fresh tomatos tossed in a light balsalmic dressing. I don't eat calamri but it looked nice and everyone else seemed to enjoy it. For main dishes I got the stuffed eggplant which was huge but I thought quite good with a small serving of el dente pene on the side my fiance had the spaggetti bolenese which he really liked our friend had the lobster ravioli and i did try one of those. Very rich and full of lobster it was nice to have one cuz that would have been to rich for me to eat alot of but he gobbled them all up and was satisfied. His girlfriend got a sausage and pasta toss and she loved it as well. Now we either were REALLY sick of biaggios or dare I say not good judges of italian food? I think I'm a pretty good food critic. All things aside we had a very nice time we drank alot we ate alot we were in the company of good friends. What more could you ask for? I'm sorry most of the 20 reviewers of this place didn't have a nice time. I think people are way to picky about the little things. I was just glad to be out and if you want to go eat some yummy italian food and have a good group of people to go with I'm sure you will enjoy this place as much as all of us did!
(4)Randy C.
TERRIBLE--RIP OFF! Group of 10 on a Saturday night with an 8:00 PM reservation. Seated at 8:20. Food and service were "ok". Fun began when the waiter presented us with the check for $650. We were charged just under $200 for appetizers that the waiter selected for us without consulting us on the price. We had no clue that they would amount to even half of that. We were also charged for drinks that we did not have and a $25 coupon was not deducted from the bill. And then the icing on the cake was when we paid the check we were advised we were $20 short, even though the money was triple checked. When we questioned our waiter on this he told us to act like adults (our group is mid 50's to mid 60's so not a problem). We will never return. A night out with good friends was ruined by this idiot. If you go, be sure to scrutinize the bill and if they just bring you food be wary.
(1)Matthew H.
The pizza is phenomenal (5-plus stars) and everything else is very mediocre. If you order anything at Marcellino's besides the pizza, don't say I didn't warn you. But, the pizza is nothing short of the best pizza I've ever had in the U.S.. It is the only pizza i've ever eaten in the states that truly tasted like it was from Italy. It has that thin crust and deliciously fresh ingredients that are perfectly blended together. While the rest of the food is ehhhh, it's definitely worth going for the pizza (although I believe they don't serve it during peak hours on Fri/Sat.)
(4)S W.
Firstly, I need to comment on a restaurant trend I have been noticing since the recession- turning down the heat to the point that patrons need to wear coats inside. This was my first impression of Marcellino's. The temperature alone should have been a reason to turn around but my dining companion was hungry so we stayed. First of all, the prices are outrageous. I payed 7 dollars for a chicken tortellini soup appetizer. The soup tasted like mildly salted water with pieces of carrots, celery, and what tasted like frozen tortellini and a few pieces of chicken. It would have tasted better even if they used canned broth. I had to oversalt it to make it have any flavor whatsoever. I then got a personal pizza for an entree and it was okay. It was a bit undercooked and doughy in the center and the sauce was pretty underseasoned. I am not really sure how they stay in business with such a competitive restaurant seen in this area. I just felt like we wasted a lot of money on the worst "italian" food i have had in years.
(2)Sogol G.
I liked the food. The service was OK and atmosphere was OK as well. 3 starts is good. I will go back again.
(3)Rebecca Y.
OK, I loved this place. We had a great meal! The food was very flavorful. I liked the red sauce! It was on the sweet side, but tasty. I thought the food was reasonably priced. The service was terrible, but we enjoyed our meal nonetheless. I had the spinach ravioli and my boyfriend had the chicken parm (his staple). I can't evaluate this place as Italian (I'm not even a little Italian), but I think upscale classic Italian places outside of the North End are hard to find. This one was worth the trip. Also, check out restaurant.com for a gift certificate before you go.
(5)Mikberly ..
Not only am I disappointed in this place but I'm shocked phantom gourmet even lists it on their website. Granted I didn't order a traditional Italian dish and mistakenly chose fish instead but that is the only reason I'm not rating it one star. The vegetables appear frozen and they didn't even include flatware with the take out! I would not ever go back to this restaurant for take out or otherwise. There are far too many superior restaurants on Moody. Try Biaggios or Tempo.
(2)Stellina M.
Well, it is not so bad....prices are reasonable and if you are used to Italian/american food (i.e. spaghetti and lots of red sauce..) you will like it!~ If you are Italian.............do not go! That's all!
(3)Liz K.
Went on a Tuesday night. Got a chicken dish and it was great. There was tons of food left over to take home. Out waiter was a little over attentive, but that's probably because it was Tuesday night and not crowded at all.
(3)Kate S.
After reading the other reviews, I didn't have high hopes for Marcellino, but it was the only Italian place open for lunch and my parents wanted some good Italian before they left the area. When we walked in, it was completely empty. Mario came out to seat us, and he was very pleasant and chatted with my parents about Italy. I had a panini with eggplant, portobello mushrooms, tomato, and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious! The veggies were covered in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the bread was crunchy and light. My dad got a delicious pasta dish with bolognese, and my mom got the minestrone. Everything was hot and delicious, and Mario was an excellent host and server. Good food, good service, and open for lunch...try it!
(5)Melanie H.
My experience at Marcellino's was a while back and it still remains the worst dining experience of my life. I wish I could give this place 0 stars. My husband and I went there based on a suggestion of a local. I think they were playing a cruel joke on us. As soon as we walked in and saw that the place was essentially empty at dinner time we both thought we should just turn around and leave. I really wish we had. A big distraction through out the meal was the man that kept coming out of the kitchen and hanging out in the dining room dressed in a ripped dirty t shirt. Which at the end of the day I would have over looked if the food was good. Sadly it was not. We both decided on meals and gave our order to our waiter who was really helpful and also slightly deceiving . He asked us what we would like soup or salad in a way that led of believe that they came with the meal. We learned later they were an additional cost. 7 dollars of a plate of literally nothing but watery lettuce splashed balsamic vinegar (it was the most simple and yet disgusting salad ever). 8 dollars for watery disgusting soup. Our entrees were also extremely disappointing. I had the veal saltimbocca. This is usually one of my favorite meals. I have tried it at many restaurants and enjoy experiencing the different versions of it that chefs make. This saltimbocca was an embarrassment to food. My husband and I eat out often and love trying new places. We don't mind spend a lot of money on a meal as long a it delicious. Marcellino's was expensive horrible food. Please save your money. Don't go here.
(1)JOHN C.
If I could give this place 0 stars I would.... Hardly anyone in the place (that should have clued me in) and dated, dreary decor. Service was friendly, but slow, especially given that there were only three tables of people. All three pasta dishes were overcooked (even mushy) and way over-salted. One entree was scalding hot while the other two were barely warm. Sauce was sweet and had an odd taste, as other reviewers have mentioned. Terrible wine list - they were out of the Mark West Pinot (the one halfway decent staple on the list) so I opted for a $9 Chianti that tasted like it came out of a gun. Gelato was really poor as well. The only highlight was that the waiter was very nice to my kids. Where are all the good Italian places that I keep hearing Waltham is known for??? As lousy as I think Fiorellas has gotten over the past 5 years, I'd go back there over Marcellino in a heartbeat.
(1)Sonya J.
If the way you decide if a restaurant is good is based solely on the wine list without ever looking at the menu, then you won't like this restaurant (I caution people against writing reviews after they've dined at a restaurant only for a private event when options are likely limited due to a host's budget). No, the wine list isn't fabulous, but Marcellino's is not deserving of a review less than 3 stars simply because the food is prepared well, is tastey, and you receive a decent-sized portion. And in terms of the wine list, if you're not a wine snob (like most people) you'll probably find something decent on it to drink. If not, order a martini and move on.
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