Bertucci's - Needham

Service good but meal was not as good as expected

We did not keep the reservation. We had requested an outdoor table. When we arrived we were told the did not have outdoor seating.

Considering they were extremely understaffed because of Covid I had a great experience at this location. The manager made our strong and delicious drinks while the only waitress who was working made sure we had everything we needed.

Very tired store and lousy front of house management. I had the same lousy experience the last time and i did not learn from it. Should not go to the Needham location.

This is my favorite Bertucci’s!! The parking and location is great. The service is consistently good, and friendly. I so enjoy lunch here.❤️

Lack if attention from server — had to chase around d restaurant to ask for things for the second time.

Took very long to get food and restaurant was not busy at all. Food came at different times for each patron.

Food and service was excellent

Service needs to be a priority at this location...food is always good.

When we arrived for a 1:00 pm reservation we were told that there was a 20-25 minute wait because the restaurant does not take reservations. Even after checking Open Table and finding the reservation the host insisted that the restaurant does not take reservations.

Horrible experience!!! I made a reservation through Open Table, drove to the restaurant (meeting someone who drove from Lincoln, MA), only to arrive and be told that there were no tables left! They had my reservation, but the host said “Well, the general public came in and took all the tables. We only ha e one big table for 10pp left, but you are a party of three so I can’t sit you there.” WHAT? This boggles the mind. Open Table, you let me down by contracting with a restaurant who doesn’t understand how reservations work. A small grace period to turn a table can unfortunately happen but this was something else entirely. Huge frustration. The host never apologized either.

Upon arrival there was a line with groups waiting. I mentioned that we had reserved via opentable and was told that they were short staffed but would seat us next. The group in front of us (who I knew) were waiting over 40 minutes. The host mentioned again they were understaffed and would seat us before the group that had been waiting for 40 minutes, which I didn’t feel was the right thing to do hence me telling the host to seat them first. We eventually went to another Bertucci’s but were unable to cancel the original reservation via online to take advantage of rebooking to another location.

Had a great night with friends. Have to say service has improved!

I am from Needham and this place has gone down hill in the past 5 years. It takes forever to get your food so make sure to order your kids food first and the service is lacking. The place is always a mess. They need a good buss staff to help clean tables to get the line of poeple waiting seated.

Service was fairly slow. We were a large group but took almost an hour for our food to come after ordering.

Frankly my friend picked it out. I am gluten sensitive and there is little to select. I got tomato soup that was pulpy and salty. I got Caesar salad minus croutons and I would have like more lettuce in it. There is no tuna fish on menu and I often get salad with tuna fish. I like salads with broccoli and mushrooms and onions and artichokes and avocado and many other veggie choices. So my disappointing tomato soup and plate of lettuce was not a good value and very limited for me. Simpkybthexsringcrestaurabt! The server was extreme nice and made the visit pleasant. I did not tell him the food was not good for me. I will recommend for pizza eaters, but I will not go back.

Neil is excellent

Great waitress! (Molly)

Food was bad. Service was not the usual & I was informed that I did not get any points for this visit. Very disappointed

Overall I enjoyed the experience, and my son and his friend enjoyed there pizza. Service was excellent. However, the cod picatta was bland. Given that is was a special, I was disappointed.

Nick did a great job!

The service was super slow, perhaps because we were a party of 10 on Father’s Day. Waitress was fine though! Probably was the kitchen

Great for kids!

We had a great time and the staff was very accommodating!

I live in NYC, but have been to Bertucci's several times while visiting my son's family; originally in Cambridge and now in Needham. I believe this was the second time in Needham. We chose Bertucci's because of young grandchildren and an "adult" menu . I have always regarded the food as OK - that is not gourmet and not terrible. On this visit, we had a minor problem. One of my grandchildren eats only plain white pizza (which we were able to order). My other grandchild ordered the pepperoni pizza and my wife ordered a sausage pizza. I ordered the eggplant (which is not relevant). The first order to arrive was the two child pizzas - one was correct, but the white pizza had pepperoni on it. The (male) waitperson took it back and ordered a plain white one. I then got my food and after a while my wife had not. So, we inquired of the (female) waitperson who had taken the order. I'm not clear on all the details, but she indicated that the rejected pizza had been the one with sausage (although it was clearly a white child sized pizza with pepperoni slices not "crumbled" sausage). She then checked and said that the original (sausage) pizza had been discarded and we had to wait for my wife's pizza to be remade; this time it was correct - it was clearly larger than the one that had been rejected and it was clearly with sausage. I understand, errors can happen and although it was a bit of an inconvenience and nuisance, they did make it right. NOTE that my recommendation is somewhat qualified in that it's an adequate reasonably priced child friendly restaurant in Needham.

It took forever to get served our meal. A green salad without any protein should not take twenty minutes, especially when the dining room is only half full.

The staff here are always so wonderful to our toddler. Ten out of five for service :)

This was not our first visit. But it will likely be our last. Yes, it was Mother’s Day. However, when we arrived the place was more than half empty.

Our server rarely came by to see if we needed anything. I had to go get us plates, and a pitcher of water. Two of our three pizzas were essentially raw when they arrived.

Top to bottom this was a horrible experience and will likely keep us from returning to Bertucci’s which has long been a family go-to.

It’s not hard to understand after this experience why they are closing so many branches.

family neighborhood spot, not recommended for quiet evening

We had a nice time as a family of four. Two adults two kids. The portions could be a little bit bigger though.

Had a great time as always. The new spring menu is coming and I think they are dropping some of our favorite items, so I hope we still have enough to keep going back to. We shall see.

As always, a lovely experience. VERY busy, but what else can you expect on a Friday night. Always good to our toddler.

I waited almost 15 minutes for the host to appear at his station, and then another five minutes while he dealt with other people before I finally got fed up and walked out

Wonderful meal excellent service. A much appreciated meal fresh and healthy

The only issue was that the kids extra meatballs weren’t ready w the meals and were brought out late .. and cold in the middle. We were in a rush to get to an event so we didn’t bother complaining... service was great and i’m sure would’ve been accommodating.

When we arrived, there were only a few tables filled. We were seated quickly. The waitress was initially attentive but inexperienced. It was New Year's Eve and I can only assume they were understaffed. It took over an hour for our food. When we got the food, some of our meals were only ok. Overall, a disappointment for Bertucci's.

quality of the food was quite low. Even the famous breads were worse than the other Bertucci branches.

The manager himself was helping to serve the food and talking to the customers. This is a man who really cares about the quality of his business.

Family friendly. Only remaining moderately priced place in Needham where you can bring kids.

It is amazing how some parents just sit there and drink wine while there kids run around and scream at the top of their lungs. The poor wait staff has to dodge them while serving each table.

Need to bring back the focaccia bread to the children’s menu.

Taking reservations is a big plus and the only reason we will return.

It's absolutely my favorite location of the chain: good food, great service, and (most importantly) they are always WONDERFUL with my toddler.