zipadee

Could you please recommend a good Italian dining experience in the North End for two out of towners. We'd like something yummy where the service is good and the atmosphere lovely (would prefer to be able to hear each other talk and not have to shout). Is that possible? An opentable.com restaurant would be a bonus. Thanks.

Yahtzee

Why don't you try Carmen?; not sure if they're on open table.

Efrem

Was very pleased with a visit to Bricco, 241 Hanover St., a few months ago. They're on Open Table. If it doesn't absolutely have to be in the North End, you might also consider Toscano's on Charles Street in Beacon Hill.

Blumie

Here are a couple of North End discussions on chowhound.com:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/732...y;topic-732995

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/448...901240_content

Analise

One of the things I adore about the North End is that you really can't go wrong wherever you go. Meander around, look at menus and then pick a place.

tkey75

Good place. Contemporary Italian cuisine. Liked the atmosphere.

A block off the main road is La Famiglia Giorgio, homestyle Italian-American cuisine. Best in the city, as far as I'm concerned. Large portions. Not an opentable restaurant.

TMOliver

A feeling of deja vu reading this thread...

I realized how long ago I first enjoyed Romagnolis' table, back then among the first "new style" Italian restaurants (in Quincy market, IIRC and in its first few years of popularity. In my youth, I had eaten in many of the traditional North End standards (and drunk often at the Black Rose, the cliche's (even then) Irish saloon, but after much Navy time in Italy and a new bride on her first trip to Boston, we opted for the new look in Italo-American cuisine. Sort of like my first visit to Durgin Park (cliche of cliches), 60 years ago, it still brings fond memories.

Just as I did long ago, trips to Boston, Baltimore and St Louis (now all too rare) can be exceptions to Thomas Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again", when visits to the North End, Fells point and "The Hill" are included. I'm so old school that I'd still look to Brooklyn for the best Neapolitan food, rather than the obligatory dinners in NYC's Little Italy. Jeez, I remember when Mama Leone's was new and chic, plus a trip to the Midtown West side for a Tuscan place as rewarding as Tuscany...

So many places still to go, and so little opportunity to experience them.... Lacrimas!

zipadee

Thank you. We considered Carmen, Bricco, Mama Maria, Preccia (sp?) and a couple of others. We ended up choosing Panza. It worked out perfectly cause my nice romantic dinner wound up having the family coming along so a place that wasn't too costly was good. The staff couldn't have been nicer. The food was good. And the atmosphere was wonderful. We enjoyed our dinner and would return. Every table was taken at the height of dinner. Considering we showed up 15-20 minutes early for an opentable reservation with 5 instead of 2...they were wonderful....we were prepared for a long wait or them not to be able to accommodate us, they did within just a few minutes and with a smile.

Efrem

Thanks for the update. Lots of people ask for advice, get some, and never say what happened at the end of the day. It's not required, obviously, but it's good to close the loop!

zipadee

Thanks. It drives me crazy when folks do it so don't want to be guilty of it myself.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord. Was so great we took the family back the next day.

EnvoyBoy

Another ^ for Bricco. Excellent food and service.

for Lucca. Food pretty good but service very poor. NOTE: if you go with a group, they allow a max of 3 credit cards per table.