Diners' Choice: Neighborhood gem restaurants in Central MA

OpenTable

Updated June 05, 2025

Looking for the best restaurants that are the best neighborhood gems in Central MA? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Clintons Bar and Grille

4.9

4.9 (1966)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Clinton

About the restaurant

Clintons Bar and Grille offers a vibrant and casual atmosphere with details in our custom lighting, a fully stocked bar area with lounge seating, and a focus on guest satisfaction that provides a unique dining experience in the heart of Clinton.

The detailed contempoary American menu leaves plenty of options for any of our guests' palates ranging from the ever popular butternut squash raviolis to our deliciously tender filet. Come experience a little slice of the city on High Street.
Outdoor dining will be available weather permitting.
Kitchen closes one hour before closing.

Top review

fred

Dined 5 days ago

Always so good, great server and food fantastic. Enjoyable experience.

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Baba Sushi Restaurant

4.9

4.9 (133)

$30 and under

Japanese

Worcester

About the restaurant

Baba Sushi Restaurant is an award winning sushi restaurant in Worcester. Not only does it serve up the most innovative and freshest sushi, consider the sushi making classes on Sundays if you’d like to learn how to make them at home. Baba Sushi Restaurant takes pride in offering a sophisticated atmosphere. The master chef and owner of Baba Sushi Restaurant was trained in China and enjoys pushing to bring more creativity and innovation to the art of sushi. The results are as entertaining to see as they are to consume. With sushi, starters, salads, soups, tori tori and entrees to choose from, every visit can be a new experience.

Top review

Rachel

Dined on Jun 1, 2025

we had a baby with us and they were super sweet and accommodating !

Piccolo's

4.8

4.8 (844)

$30 and under

Italian

Worcester

About the restaurant

A unique destination for Worcester's movers and shakers, Piccolo's has become the place to go for great Italian cuisine, a glass of good wine and an eclectic social mix not found elsewhere on Shrewsbury Street.

Top review

Matt

Dined on May 31, 2025

Everything was perfect! The food was absolutely delicious, the atmosphere was warm and lively, and the service was excellent. 👍🏼👍🏼

Lucia's Tavola

4.7

4.7 (1595)

$31 to $50

Italian

Ayer

About the restaurant

Chef owned and operated Lucia's Tavola is a fine dining Italian restaurant. Lucia's features a menu comprised of Chefs family favorites, Chef originals, traditional Italian & local ingredients creating unique Italian inspired cuisine.
Lucia's also offers an extensive cocktail menu and a complete, well balanced wine list.

Top review

Nancy

Dined 5 days ago

Excellent food once again and excellent service by Trish.

Dino's Ristorante

4.6

4.6 (191)

$30 and under

Italian

Worcester

About the restaurant

Dino's Restaurant is an authentic Italian restaurant located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dino’s has been serving its customers the finest Northern and Southern Italian cuisine, as well as a variety of American foods, for over 40 years, with seafood as a specialty. In that time, Dino's serves cuisine from both the northern and southern regions of Italy, with seafood, steaks, veal, and pizzas being the specialties of the house.

At Dino’s, we believe that our customers deserve the best. With that in mind, we ensure that all of our entrées are cooked to order, using the freshest ingredients, which are visually pleasing to the eye as they are to the palette. We also offer business, social and holiday function facilities in The Café, our private function room, which includes a full service bar. Dino’s also provides catering and delivery services. It is our pleasure to serve you and let us give you a little taste of Italy!

Top review

Tami

Dined 3 days ago

It was a wonderful evening. My husband really enjoyed his Father’s Day meal and our server Sarah was amazing. The only thing that was a bit of a downer was the little children screaming and running around and kicking the back of our booth. But that was to be expected on such a date where families were celebrating together.

Black & White Grille

4.6

4.6 (739)

$30 and under

American

Worcester

About the restaurant

Welcome to the Black & White Grille & Pizzeria! We are family owned & operated, we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best quality product and service as we would to our own families. Together with our staff, we devote our time to creating entrees that cater to all taste buds. We hope that you enjoy your time spent with us as you dine. Our goal is to make your experience one that will leave you coming back for more.

Top review

Amy

Dined 2 days ago

Absolutely great food, great service, great everything!

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Experience

🪄 Magical Tuesdays

Nuovo Restaurant

4.5

4.5 (1596)

$31 to $50

Italian

Worcester

About the restaurant

Nuovo Restaurant is located on 92 Shrewsbury St, with ample parking in the rear of the building (Hill St), and complimentary Valet Parking service. Nuovo Restaurant in Worcester is known for their friendly and exceptional serving and food quality. Serves Italian cuisine with Mediterranean flare and provides an extensive wine list. Perfect place to have dinner with family, a group of friends, or a date night.
For reservations of 7 guests or more please call at 508-796-5915 or text at 508-826-8053.
The 2 private dinning rooms with dancing floor and WIFI available are ideal for a seat down dinner up to 90 guests, or a cocktail party up to 150, and everything in between.

Top review

Richard

Dined on Jun 6, 2025

We have dined at Nuovo in Worcester, MA on occasion during the past 12 years, and they have never disappointed. The food quality and service are excellent, as they were when we dined there on June 6, 2025. Our waitress was superb, and the food, wonderful. However, the prices, particularly for drinks has become excessive (as they are in most good restaurants) when added to the overall bill, but we will continue to dine here (at least on special occasions) because of the food quality and service. We recommend them for special occasions.

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4.4

4.4 (212)

$30 and under

Italian

Northborough

About the restaurant

Casta Diva was founded on the idea that the people of Central Massachusetts shouldn’t have to go all the way to the North End to get real, fresh Northern Italian cuisine.

Top review

Matt

Dined 4 days ago

Surprising dinner that was outstanding. Quiet atmosphere with great view of the water.

Leo's Ristorante

4.3

4.3 (444)

$30 and under

Italian

Worcester

About the restaurant

Leo's Ristorante offers excellent Italian cuisine at inexpensive prices. The Turo family has been providing quality Italian cuisine for over 50 years. Our beautiful decor and comfortable dining room is a great start to a memorable dining experience. Come see for yourself.

Top review

AliceVIP

Dined on Apr 21, 2025

We were out of town and it was our 51st wedding anniversary. Finding a restaurant that was open on a Monday wasn't easy but Leo's turned out to be close to our hotel and the food was very good. We shared a special antipasto, he had fettuccine alfredo with chicken and I had eggplant stuffed with ricotta with linguine. Portions were large so we only finished half but took the leftovers to go. Service was slow but friendly. Most of the room was a bar and nearly all the tables were high tops because they had a large party coming in that used all the low tables, but they found a regular table and chairs for us (climbing onto a tall chair would have been difficult). The waitstaff wore shirts that said the restaurant has been there since 1910 so that's pretty impressive.

The Neighborhood Tavern

4.3

4.3 (222)

$30 and under

American

Northborough

About the restaurant

Diverse menu, Craft Beer Selection, 33 Sports TV, Neighborhood Vibe, Saturday and Sunday Brunch. American Bar and Restaurant. Our restaurant is designed to be a high-spirited entertainment destination for people of all ages. With a focus on creating a lively atmosphere, we offer an extensive beer list featuring close to 50 draught options alongside a modern and elevated pub fare menu. Whether you're here for lunch, dinner, after-work cocktails, or a special event, Tap Neighborhood Tavern provides a comfortable and enjoyable dining experience. We are thrilled to join the dynamic Northborough community and look forward to welcoming you to our new home!

Top review

I Robin

Dined on May 23, 2025

Once again, My compliments to the owners....as a long-time Northboro resident, and local merchant myself, it is such a pleasure to go someplace, that really has great food, great staff, a friendly welcoming experience every time. Thank you, June; for the best service.

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