daph24ne

I am new to the Boston area and have family coming to visit this week. We are planning on taking the trolley tour of Boston and would like to end with a good Italian dinner in Boston's North End. I did a search on here of North End restaurants and although several are listed, most of the postings are pretty old.

So, I'm hoping for some recommendations for restaurants over there that are a little more recent. We are looking for something tasty but also affordable ($20 or less per plate). So many of the restaurants listed on Yelp seem to be over $20 a plate. Pizza would be fine, too. Thanks!

bachslunch

The North End can be pricy at dinnertime -- many of the best places tend to be expensive, and some of the cheaper places definitely aren't worth going to. Your best bets for reasonably priced dinnertime food in the North End would likely be Pizzeria Regina (the original on Thacher Street), Pagliuca's or Rabia's (Southern Italian), Daily Catch (Southern Italian seafood), or Antico Forno (Southern Italian baked items as well as a decent pizza). Saraceno's is also very good if you stick to red-sauce basics.

absolutkz

I haven't been in awhile, but twice I've taken my parents and they enjoyed.

http://lasumma.com/dinner.html

daph24ne

Thank you both for the recommendations! I appreciate it.

KathyK

I second Pizzeria Regina on Thatcher.

Judy24

We enjoyed Antico Forno 2 years ago when visiting Boston w/friends. It was recommended by the hotel concierge. We found it to be good, decent fare at reasonable prices with large portions. Certainly nothing fancy.

Where ever you go, I would suggest not having dessert in your restaurant, but instead walking over to Hanover Street afterwards and sampling something from Mike's Pastries or Modern Pastries.

Will007

La Summa is a good one, although the decor is definitely on the dated side.

Al Dente and Panza are a couple of more worth considering. Huge portions of good, not great, food at Al Dente.

I love Regina's for pizza, but the waitresses definitely convey a snooty, i don't care, kinda attitude. That attitude has been a part of the original North End location for years.

So, if you don't mind having your pizza dumped on your table then watching the waitress walk away without saying a word, then by all means go there. The pizza more than makes up for the rude service.

Oh, and it's pizza and salad only there, so don't go if you're expecting a more expansive menu...beer and wine are served in plastic cups.

Ackislander

I still like Artu. They have veal parmigian and eggplant parmigian that will float off your plate, but my favorite is fusilli with sausage and rapini. It has enough garlic to move the crowds off the street when you breathe. Very reasonably priced.

I love the Daily Catch, also known as the Calamari Cafe. Elemental food.

Try very hard not to go on Friday or Saturday nights, when suburban kids and their older siblings crowd the streets.

daph24ne

Many thanks all for the great food recommendations! We went to the North End this morning -- spent the later part of the morning and early afternoon touring the USS Consitution and then headed over to the North End for a mid-afternoon lunch. We ended up eating at La Summa and thought it was quite good. We also took Judy24's advice and had some cannolis at Mike's Pastries (we passed Modern as well -- was a real toss-up but decided to go with Mike's this time around). For a group that had never had a cannoli before, we really enjoyed it and thought the whole experience was fun. Thanks again for the other restaurant recommendations. Since we're now living in the suburbs of Boston, I plan on filing them away for what is sure to be another trip down there.

socialworker

This is a place where we used to go with friends. The food was great and the prices reasonable. I cannot find any other info online beyond the name and address. They served Northern Italian back when it was still a rarity in the North End. Has anyone been there recently?

Florence Restaurant
190 North St
Boston, MA 02113
617.523.4480

Will007

Restaurant no longer exists, socialworker. It's now called Limoncello Ristorante, and they've been in business at that location since 2005.

socialworker

Thanks for the much needed update Will!

The last 3 or 4 times over the last several years, that we have gone to the North End we have sprung for the uber-hip Lucca's which we like very much, but we need to branch out!

absolutkz

Ooh, I like Limoncello. I've only been for lunch; I took a client from Italy and he approved.