Villa Francesca, Boston, Massachusetts Restaurant Details

Food:

Food was fine but deffinitly not worth the price. Waitress was not very pleasant. Also being seated in the basement surrounded by exposed wires and pipeing didn't really make for a nice evening meal atmosphere.

Food:

A friend and I were trying to go to Neptune Oyster but the wait was 4 hours, so we looked on OpenTable and got a spot here on Friday night. We were seated immediately right by the door and the hostess station--totally fine for a last minute resi, we were just happy they could take us (however... they reported to OpenTable that we didn't arrive for our resi and we did, so that's kind of weird).

The tables are small--normal for the north end--but they do the trick and had nice cloth tablecloths. I just wish the (battery-operated) candle contraption hadn't been on the table, it didn't offer any light and took up space.The overhead lights were perfect. The table next to us put theirs on the floor.

We got 6 Island Creek Oysters to start, they arrived on this giant, bizarre boat full of ice. It literally took up the entire table. It was laughably odd. The oysters were good and were served with horseradish, cocktail sauce, lemon slices, bruschetta topping (!?), pesto (?!), and tabasco, no mignonette.

The bread for the table was great--a fruit and nut slice, pullman, focaccia... served with EVOO.

We split the house salad which had tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas and pickled onions over mesclun. It was good, although the dressing was on the sweet side and my friend is not a fan of sweet flavors--it wasn't an italian dressing. Maybe a sweet red vinaigrette or raspberry vinaigrette? We should have asked before ordering. It was also drowning in the dressing.

I got the penne alla norma and my friend got the seafood risotto. Hers was good (although she was ill later that night and that's the only thing we didn't share). My penne was cooked more than al dente; I prefer al dente. The flavor was nice, but the ricotta was more strained than I usually like in this dish--I like it to melt into the sauce, but it was denser and harder than the creamy ricotta I usually prefer so there were chunks of ricotta throughout. Big portion so I took half of it home.

Service was so/so. Our waitress was nice and professional, but slow. We waited forever and ended up ordering our whole dinner and drinks at the same time. And my cocktail was wrong although they fixed that quickly. Also, they really push the $$ water on you and show up to your table with bottles of sparkling and still water. We had to ask the hostess for the check at the end of the night. The courses arrived well timed, though.

Overall, I wouldn't go back. Tons of great options in the NE and this was just wasn't up to snuff. Out bill was $75pp including tip.

Food:

Note : im not really Willie Nelson..

Beyond that, this place is a product of the generic over rated North End Italian phenomena in Boston. The food was OK, nothing that I would remember as the best meal of my life. What I love though is that you pay at least 30-40$ per person and they shove you down in the basement with too many people, but it's supposed to be rustic and charming.. it's not. I sat at a table that we couldnt make level, while the servers bumped into us walking by, and last but not least I had the pleasure of dining with a roach on the wall next to me. If you're not from Boston and you want good Italian food, don't go to the north end.

Food:

The food was pretty average for the North End and the service was fine. Average North End is pretty good though! Would I come back? Probably not soon. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely.

Food:

We had a fantastic dinner at Villa Francesca and would definitely recommend it as a five star place!! Our waiter was very charming and funny!! He made some wonderful suggestions since it was our first time there. We had the caprese salad and the baby spinach salad, which were really great. We shared two appetizers which were equally as delicious! Main course: lamp chops and a filet mignon-both were cooked to perfection. The entire meal was magnificent. The food, the service, the ambiance...it was just a great experience and one that we'll remember!!