Favorite North End Restaurant! Never disappoints!

Very slow service. Food was good, not great. Veal saltimboca very salty and overcooked. Sirloin was perfect. Seafood pasta very good. It seems hit or miss with the menu. Prices were reasonable.

Excellent food in a warm environment. Service was excellent. We will definitely return.

Where do I start. First of all, we showed up having reservations with a huge line outside. The hostess immediately took us inside ...but we were taken to the top floor where only one other table was occupied. (Passed first floor as well as well open 2nd floor and not sure why we were put in the attic). Still tried to make the best of it. Couldn't find wines by the glass but they showed us a section of wines (choice of 5 or 6) that only showed by the bottle prices. 12 dollars per glass.....poor wine and way too expensive for that quality and pour.

To top it off, had a plate of pasta ($28) arrive with huge hair on it. So what to they do...get another dish....10 minutes after. No apologies from mgmt and even charged us for the meal.
NOTHING.. from mgmt.

So upon leaving, we went to the hostess to ask why in the world we were taken up 2 flights of stairs, while there were open tables all over the restaurant. At first, she stated that I'd asked for it on my reservation. When I told her she didn't even ask my name when we arrived and therefore that excuse was not true, she then said the owner told her to put us up there. Note: the owner was no where around when we arrived. Complete lies to cover up pitiful customer service and frankly, they could care less.

I wouldn't waste your time here. Low class and poor quality. Many other options.

Good food and value. Traditional Italian fare. A bit small so if it gets crowded, could be a bit noisy (so keep that in mind for business or romance).

But conveniently located and enjoyed the meal. Very well portioned.

This is my go-to place every time I travel to Boston, at least a couple times per year. I love sitting in the window and watching the people go by, but the real draw is the great food and sweet staff. I've loved everything I've eaten here, especially the pasta carbonara. The staff is always very friendly, Tony particularly. Love this place!

We were sat next to the busing station and paired with drills they gave the new bus boys to rearrange the dinning area it was very unpleasant.

Hostess did not care about having an open table rsvp and immediately had us follow a her up two flights of very narrow and winding stairs to third floor. Had to wait to go upstairs as others were coming down and there was insufficient width on the staircase to get by. On third floor the crowd was packed in tight and the noise level was excessive. We were seated at a small freestanding table less than six inches from an adjoining table with two other people. The noise from people trying to talk with each other was so loud that we could not hear each other talk across the small table without shouting. We got up and left at that point. Nobody seemed to care, including the hostess who had seated us.

Excellent food and service. Really enjoyed not being hurried along! Made for a great night out with friends.

Excellent evening overall. Great food, service, and ambience!

Great service! Great food!

The restaurant was very crowded and on the smaller side until you get downstairs. The food was good but not great. Prob wont be back

Very good food
Very good service
A little noisy but it comes with a small restaurant
I will go again

The Spaghetti all'Amatriciana at Ristorante Saraceno was indescribably delectable. I'm confident the other pasta dishes are just as authentic and cannot wait to go back and try them! Highly reccomend.

Perfect setting. Perfect meals. Never a bad time at Saraceno's. I highly recommend it.

Very tasty food, well prepared and fresh. I had heard a lot about the North End and had been looking forward to visiting. It was better than I had expected.

I made a reservation months ago at this restaurant to celebrate my graduation this past weekend. My party of 8 arrived on time, but we were still greeted rudely and forced to wait in the rain for over 45 minutes. The restaurant was clearly overbooked or took too many walk in tables, because three parties of 8 were booked for 8:00 pm. Even though my party arrived first, the other two were seated and my party was left outside without even a clue of when we would be seated. When we inquired about the status of our table, the hostess gave us no information and quite frankly hid inside the restaurant. We wound up leaving to eat elsewhere. Frankly, I’m disappointed that I chose this restaurant to celebrate something special and was treated so rudely. It is ridiculous for this restaurant to even use OpenTable if they cannot accommodate or honor the reservations.

The reservation we made did not matter. We were not seated until over 30 minutes after our reservation. The food was great, but service was not.

Been there many times. Always a great experience.

I found this restaurant on OpenTable ( I always check the site to find good restaurants). We are in Boston for my son’s graduation from Boston University and wanted to find good restaurants to eat at while in the area. Saracena was AMAZING. Everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. I had the spaghetti carbonara... life changing :)
The staff couldn’t have been nicer....from the woman that met us at the door and seated us , to the busboys that kept refilling our water-glasses and breadbasket . There are three levels to the restaurant , we were seated in the basement level...it was clean and lit by hundreds of little white lights...it felt / looked magical. If you ever find yourself in Boston and are looking for really great Italian food in a beautiful, cozy, warm setting make a reservation at Saracena. You will leave with a happy heart and a smile on your face.

I took my niece and family to Ristorante Saraceno to celebrate her MSW on Friday. We were seated immediately in a corner in the basement. It was a beautiful day and evening and I was sorry to miss the daylight, however this spot was really perfect on a busy evening - we were tucked out of the way and so could hear each other and enjoy a lovely meal. I found the past all' arrabbiata to be the perfect spiciness. The fettuccine all' alfredo was more buttery than creamy, but tasty. The chicken piccata was deemed to be well prepared but a little light on the lemon. The clam pasta was also good. We shared a Cesare salad - some might consider it over-dressed but I thought it was perfection. We also polished off multiple baskets of bread and glasses of wine. The service was wonderfully attentive and helpful. This place remains one of my favorite, although as an introvert, I like it a little better on a quiet night in the dead of winter. They did a fabulous job creating a relaxing atmosphere on a ridiculously busy day.

Mother’s Day

Hello,
My husband and I took our 3 kids 17, 15, 12 to dinner at your restaurant tonight. We ate upstairs. We left frustrated and disappointed with our entire experience.

The service was horrendously slow. Our water wasn’t refilled, our drink orders were slow or never came. Other tables that sat after us were served long before us. Our meals were served to us in big, actually outrageous gaps. Therefore some in our party’s food got very cold. With all these issues we were never given an update as to why we weren’t being served or why it was so slow and we were not offered an apology.
My son had plain pasta and a side of meatballs. His pasta was swimming in oil. Honestly it looked like soup. It was disgusting. We didn’t return it as he was so hungry and we just wanted to eat and leave.
My husband wants to leave a negative review on Yelp. I told him not to and instead I’d contact the restaurant itself. We were given a complementary limoncello because the wine my husband ordered was never brought to him.
We came to your restaurant for a birthday celebration and for Mother’s Day from the north shore; we paid $25 in parking and left so very disappointed and frustrated.
I thought you’d like to know.

Love almost everything about this place! The food is fantastic, the restaurant itself is very quaint and warm, a bit noisy, but that isn't there fault. The one thing that I think they can improve on is the waiting staff. I seem to consistently get the same waitress, who without fail seems to forget about us. I have a child with food allergies and the waitress seems to get annoyed when I ask what is in certain things and isn't willing to ask which makes my child feel uncomfortable. I've been going to this place for years now and the wait staff was always warm, friendly and accommodating. I can't say that now.

As usual, the food and ambiance were outstanding. There was clearly not enough staff on to handle the demand of the amount of guests. The woman at the door was rude. The bus boy who brought the bread did not bring cheese and olive oil. The waitress was asked to bring olive oil and parmigiana cheese, she did not until asked a second time fifteen minutes later, while she was observed bring it to other tables. Once the restaurant had guests leaving the service was impeccable and it was as good as it always was. The waitress provided us with limoncello for free at the end of the night. We love this place to death and never go anywhere else. The food was awesome.

We sat by the dishwashing area in a basement. We got bumped into repeatedly by waiters and bus boys.

The food was mediocre at best and the ambiance in the basement is horrible

Great North End Restaurant! There are soooo many choices in the North End and this is one of the best. We went here for a graduation celebration. The menu has everything from pasta to chicken to steak to seafood to veal. There really is something for everyone. The portions are healthy but not overwhelming (well except for the lasagna, which can feed 2). Like any North End restaurant, it is not overly spacious, but it has 3 floors with plenty of tables. We were a party of 7 and fit comfortably on their mid-floor. The service was at a nice pace - not rushed at all, which can happen in the North End. The food was DELICIOUS and the atmosphere was very nice! I would go here again in a second.

Owner was fabulous!

The owner of this restaurant was so wonderful. We were seated right in front of the window and he asked what type of food we liked. From there he brought us all his favorites and every course was delicious. Homemade pasta and the desserts were the best!!! Great place!! Went back the next night and it was every bit as good!!!

Quiet and good service. But very expensive for the quality of food received. The osso bucco was bland and the sauce was watery. The caprese salad did not have enough dressing or fresh basil.

First time dining here. We were brought downstairs through two seating areas past the bathrooms to a third seating area. Felt like we were in a cave. There was a large party of businessmen which made the small space seem even smaller. I had eggplant parm which was very good. Husband had veal parm which he said was average. Daughter enjoyed her shrimp scampi. We have a favorite in the North End, but had decided to try something new. Probably will not go back here.

We had a reservation after the Northeastern graduation which is held within walking distance of the restaurant. The table - in a great spot with a view out the open restaurant facade was waiting when we arrived. The service was great and the food delicious. We appreciated that the menu included so many good choices for those who do not eat meat.

Incredible meal and the service was awesome.

Very nice foods and excellent services.

We had a reservation and stood outside with several people that had reservations. There was no method to how they took people (parties of 2)into the restaurant; the hostess was not acknowledging the reservation times or who arrived first. The food was good. The wait staff was excellent.

Good time your a fav of my son.

A great warm and friendly place. The host Franky is superb. The food is great and the ambience is fine North End . Better than many more advertised places

Had about 40 seats upstairs, never made it downstairs. Several tables right near door that only inexperienced dinners would accept. Food was O.K. but North End offers better options. No wine list to speak of and service was a bit disjointed. I wouldn't say don't go but if you do grab a table away from the door and kitchen, get a cocktail instead of wine and enjoy your meal with limited dining expectations. Chao.

The food was very good - everyone in my party of four had sizeable portions. I had the ravioli and received a much smaller portion than others (6 pieces only). Wish I had a larger portion for the price. But enjoyed each piece!

Great restaurant