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- Hours:
Tue-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Sat
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
9 reviews for Caffe Italia
I've eaten here three or four times. All in the summer. The windows slide open or remove, to make the place practically open air. My experiences have all been good. The frutti di mare is tasty. Service has been decent, even when they're busy.
I'll agree that the music is a little too loud.
Delicious.
Their complimentary bread and oil starter is an instant mood lifter... I love that they let you add the parmesan and red pepper yourself so you can adjust the heat to your liking.
The first time my fiance and I ate here, we shared a pizza and both thought it was quite good. The second time, I went by myself and ordered a pasta dish with spinach, roasted red peppers, chicken breast and goat cheese from the specials menu. When the enormous dish arrived in front of me, I remember thinking, "How nice, there will be plenty left over to take home and have for lunch tomorrow." The next thing I knew, I was scraping the last piece of penne from the bottom of the bowl. On my third and most recent visit, after being sad to see that the goat cheese dish was not one of the specials that day, I promptly got over it after my fiance and I each ordered a different chicken dish and found them both to be excellent.
The atmosphere is very nice - I am really looking forward to dining here in the summer some time when they have the big windows open. The service at the bar, where I have sat during each visit, has been friendly, timely and perfectly courteous.
We have been to Caffe Italia twice It was great booth times. But the atmosphere was tainted by music that was too loud (coming from a live band).
For a small town with a limited selection of restaurants, one would think that a mediocre Italian Restaurant would strive to be the best in service and delivering that which the customer orders; NOT Cafe Italia.
Our waiter's ineptitude was not just that of being new to the restaurant. Many things were overlooked throughout the course of the meal - such as no ice bucket for wine, no cutlery when firsts were cleared, the waiter not taking two of our main orders until flagged down, no second plate for a meal being shared, as well as two wrong mains brought to one diner at the table.
An argument ensued with the manager, which was uncalled for and off base.
In response to the comments posted:
I wish you could have been there to have the experience we did from start to finish and I think you would have walked away feeling less then satisfied as well; but then again maybe you were as I have a sneaking suspicion that you are closely associated with this establishment. I had been to Cafe Italia before and it was fine, but nowhere near the likes of a 5 star dining establishment; that is laughable. I find it quite offensive that you say we are better fit for 7/11 hot dogs with our budget - when you know nothing of the diners at the table; nor do I wish to have a pissing contest about net worth and our respective palates.
The manager should have taken away the second wrong dish after saying he would take it off the bill, rather than leaving it and then going back on his word. This comes down to the principle of sticking to your word when you say you are going to do something, not the money. Being treated the way we were was uncalled for and unprofessional. It seemed as if the manager forgot that evening that "customer service" is his profession. The supposed owner and manager were the ignoramuses the night we dined with you, "devoid of manners and social grace."
In response to the second comment's posted by Dorothy:
Sorry, the only Sawyer I know is on "Lost;" the TV show. I am just being honest about what happened when my friends and family dined with you. I have no relation to other reviewers and think it extremely odd that you are that worried about my one review. Hopefully you all will learn from my experience and grow better from it as a company. This really should stop with the reviews directed back to me; please do not attribute other people's reviews to my experience and subsequent review.
I didn't have a chance to actually eat here, but a bunch of us ended up at Cafe Italia after a wedding reception. If you can say that Marblehead has a scene, this would be as close as it gets.
There was a cool cover band playing, so extra props for that.
I've eaten here twice now and I have mixed feelings about the restaurant. The atmosphere is very nice and both waiters I've had seemed very nice as well. The food is nothing special, but standard for Marblehead's Italian fare... which unfortunately is not exactly a vote of confidence.
The reason I feel I have to give such a low rating is because of my experience the second time there. I made it very clear I cannot eat milk products because I'm lactose intolerant. I asked the waiter to make sure with the chef there would be no dairy in my dish. He returned with my risotto which was prepared with cheese... but in the sauce I wasn't sure. Without trying it, I asked the waiter to check again to make sure that they didn't put cheese in it, so he went back and returned saying the chef assured him no milk products were put in the risotto. So I ate some of it, assuming I must have been wrong. Judging by my stomach's reaction, I clearly was not.
I don't know whether it was the chef or the waiter (which I doubt -- he seemed like a really nice kid) but I will not return to the restaurant. If the food were amazing then I might have given them another chance, but I don't see the point.
I was pleasantly surprised by a meal that I had at Cafe Italia recently with my sister and niece. We traveled to Marblehead looking for a Mexican Restaurant that used to be in this same spot. I was really looking forward to the Mexican and tried to con my sister into driving up to Saugus to the Border Cafe. She was having none of it, so we stepped into the Cafe Italia.
I liked the atmosphere, open windows on a nice June night. I ordered a special salad with grilled pears, walnuts, and blue cheese (at least I think it was blue, could have been some other kind of fancy goat cheese). Followed by scallops with a pasta and pesto sauce. The scallops were sweet. I even asked for the remainder of my pasta to be wrapped up (which I never do, I know it's wasteful but I never seem to have the time to eat the leftovers and end up throwing them away two weeks later)...so that I could have it the next day for lunch, I reheated it and ate it all.
My sister had the lobster ravioli...yum, and the niece at chicken brocolli and fusilli. Loved it all. Would have rated the restaurant higher except for the service, which was slow but our waiter was new. Not bad for Italian on the Northshore.
The food was good...nice atmosphere, well lit.....I brought my boyfriend here for Valentine's Day and there was a live band playing...Unfortunately I couldn't hear anthing he was saying from across the table because the music was too loud!
Same concept as the original cafe Italia in East Boston. Italian dishes trattoria style are prepared with care and are always good. Hope they will soon open one nearby my town.
