Come early to this restaurant, which fills after 7. The ambience is excellent and the cuisine imaginative/northern Italian. Fish dishes are especially good. While the prices are moderate to high, the portions are generous, so appetizers can easily be shared. A fine dining experience, and one to which we will return.

Run by an Italian from Napolo - this is the real deal.

Excellent service with an entertaining sassy attitude. The prosciutto app was sublime, and I greatly enjoyed the risotto entree.

We can't wait to go back and try the fresh pasta tossed in a wheel of pecorino (or maybe it was parmigiano?) and the pizza. We had a burrata special that was outstanding, and two delicious homemade pasta dishes. The owner is very hands-on, taking orders, checking in with diners to make sure they are enjoying themselves, etc. This may become our new go-to place for a casual night out.

Excellent food--I had the pappardelle with 1/2 lobster (would recommend they take the lobber out of the shell though--messy to deal with, despite the extra napkin!); my friend had a black pasta with shrimp and clams. Service was attentive and very friendly, ad not in that over-the-top annoying way. Wine suggestion was very good with our meals. Will definitely go back!

Amazing food! Amazing service! The best expresso martinis ever! Charming and intimate atmosphere.

Great service by Luigi. Mixed meats and cheeses appetizer was very authentic and delicious. Pizza real Neapolitan style was excellent and seafood w/pasta was great. Tucked away in North Cambridge. Fruit cake desert was not what we expected but still very good.

Had a good time but experience was not exceptional or noteworthy. My lobster pasta was over cooked

Great food and great waitstaff. Our two young kids were entertained and well attended to. A terrific experience!

One of our favorite places for a good quality, good attitude dining experience without the added cost of downtown boston eateries. Neighborhood feel with food prep comparable to many more highly rated boston resteraunts. Highly recommend the chitarra for pasta lovers.

We keep coming back for the truffle pizza and the specials

When you go to an Italian restaurant where most customers are Italian you know you've nailed it. Gran Gusto has never disappointed. The menu is outstanding and Antonio will make sure you feel welcome. The staff is respectful and efficient. The food is outstanding (my personal favorite is the Chitarra). The Gelato is out of this world.

Food is delicious. The fresh pasta just makes the dish. I had the short rib ragu and I can’t wait to go back and eat it again.

A special visitor from out of state.

Positives: Waitress was extremely nice and patient

Negatives: Wait times pretty long in spite of making reservations
- Food preparation was good but actually taste was mostly flat
- When we informed the maitre d’ about our concerns about the food, he essentially walked over and yelled at my wife.
- The only reason this place got a 2 star is because of the waitress.
- I will not be returning here

Excellent food, friendly but sometimes distracted wait staff.

We were there on a very quiet evening, the restaurant was almost empty. Nice surroundings. The service was good--not great. Our server never came to check if everything was OK after our food was delivered, we had to flag someone down for more bread (took a while to get it), and the same for water.

The food was good, but not great. My dish was super salty, the portion was not generous, but the homemade pasta was nice. One person at the table wanted to order additional pasta and we were charged for 2 full meals, which made for an expensive evening.

I guess we would try Gran Gusto again. No restaurant is 100% consistent and maybe we were there on an off night.

Gran Gusto is a small gem that I must go to more often. The service is super attentive and the Carbonara was outstanding. I made a last minute reservation late Saturday afternoon for that evening. Parking was easy. The restaurant was full, but noise levels were comfortable.

Fabulous as usual - the food was wonderful from our usual appetizers to the specials presented in mouth watering detail. Always my favorite place to dine and never disappointing!

As usual, our meal at Gran Gusto was delicious. We took guests from out of town and they were suitable impressed. The food tasty and the service is friendly and attentive.

Would not go back for business! Ok for a weekend meal with family.

Have been before and had good experiences. But this time went for a business dinner early 5:45 pm. on a Wednesday, the service was poor. Waiters were bored because it was empty and more interested in socializing among themselves than taking care of the few tables they had.

When asked if they had a bottle of red Primitivo from Puglia, the waiters response was positive, the waiter then came back to the table with an expensive S. Italian Primitivo red wine but not from Puglia. Wine did not live up to its promise from waiter. The restaurant was cold. Waiters kept fighting over raising and lowering the lighting. Caesar salad dressing was bland (not enough garlic) with to much shaved cheese, had to ask for ground pepper. Had the pasta (Pacci with Short Rib Ragu) the ragu meat was tough and stringy, had to ask for cheese. If I had the advance time, I would rather eat at Guilia or Pammy's for the same amount of money.

Awesome experience and food!
Will definitely be a go to restaurant.

My friend and I were going to a concert and wanted Italian food. We decided to try Gran Gusto, which was nearby. We were given a lovely table by the window. The service was attentive. The food was authentic and delicious. We would probably go back if in the same area.

Excellent neighborhood find. Food is consistently tasty across the menu. Comfortable atmosphere as well makes this a great spot.

Worst restaurant experience of my life. We sat down and tried to flag down a waiter for 30 minutes, and the wait staff simply REFUSED to serve us. The two waiters would look at us and just look away. After 30 minutes of waiting, we left.

Not to mention, the tables were roughly two inches apart from each other.

A little bit out of the way but once you find it, you'll keep going back. the food is all home made and Luigi and Antonio make you feel so welcome.

The food was delicious the service was very fast! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Good Italian food. Nothing over the top but good if you want dinner out as if in Italy.

I go to Gran Gusto regularly so usually have an idea what to expect. But this night they were definitely off their game. Though it was not busy, the service was slow and irregular. We had to call our server over multiple times and even had to ask what the specials were. Since this was a birthday dinner I splurged on a fairly expensive bottle of wine which turned out to be a mistake. The 2009 Brunello had probably not been stored improperly and showed much more age then a Brunello from that year ought to. The tannins were gone and it had none of the rich textured flavors that that region is known for. The Gran Gusto wine list has a number of excellent wines for about $50 (e.g. the Foras Cananau) so I would stick with those.

The food was OK. I ordered the chitarra, which is one of their specialties, pasta prepared at the table in a large round of pecorino. But this time it was more gloppy and grainy than it ought to have been but the flavors were still quite good. My companion ordered the arctic char special, which sounded good when described, but the fish was a bit dry and overall she did not find the flavors much to her liking. I enjoyed the Tiramisu which had an interesting touch of almond extract.

I found Gran Gusto pretty highly rated on Foursquare. We arrived at a quiet time between lunch and dinner. The service was prompt and professional, but not overly friendly. We enjoyed a calamari and two pasta dishes, all of which were served piping hot and fresh. The restaurant offered a quiet warm ambiance with a few locals favoring the window seats. Overall, we had a good experience with satisfying food and service.

As usual, food was excellent and service was on par. Ore pizza is outstanding and a good appetizer to share for small group. I highly recommend Gran Gusto.

It seemed to be an unusually busy night for the restaurant as the staff appeared a little flustered, but they pulled it off. The food was very good, the seating was a little tight, but it was still possible to maintain privacy in our conversation.

Love this place. Food is always cooked to perfection. Has the ravioli with eggplant and fresh tomatoes.

This Tratoria style restaurant much calmer, and in most ways more authentic than the north end. Delicious. I go there often.

Couldn't have had better or more attentive service. Pasta (only thing we had) was good. Wine (chianti) so-so, but that's usually true of chianti. Many other options I will try next time. Good parking in back, although we found one on street. The evening we were there, a Wednesday, it was not crowded and not at all noisy which my friend and I appreciated.

Very great Italian restaurant that I recommend to everyone! The food is authentic Italian!

Love this place. Excellent Italian food! Excellent ambience.

Grangusto always delivers. I am Italian and we are regulars there. The pizza is better than what I could get in many many places in Italy. Appetizers are to die for. Antonio and his team do everything they can to make you feel home in this absolute best-Italian-pizza-in-Boston spot! We just love it.

Welcoming atmosphere.

Al dente fresh pasta and actual neopolitan pizza. Salads just ok. Grilled calamari is nice.