Dino's Restaurant

Went to Dino's for the first time last evening. Pay attention to your directions especially if you have never been there before. This restaurant is located within the end of a residential dead end street, thankfully there is a sign on the main thoroughfare. The service is amazing from start to finish. One lady taking care of the restaurant portion and she gave everyone such a on point experience. Unfortunately, the restaurant in the interior is very tired and dated. Very much needs all seats reapolhtestred, freshening up on painting, a very pretty mural that needs tlc. Food is good though very basic without fresh spices. Drinks were excellent.

The food was very good. The atmosphere was welcoming and cozy. The server was polite and friendly. The food was very good, but I didn’t care for the lasagna. The pesto was REALLY good and the soup was my favorite. I’d come back here without a doubt

My wife and I had reservations for dinner on New Year's Eve at Dino's. We had been here once or twice in the past. It's one of the few places around that I know of that offer whole wheat pasta. So, as I'm drinking rum & coke, shoveling Italian bread into my pie-hole, and otherwise binging out, I can tell myself that I am being "healthy". Our reservations were at 8pm. The place was moderately busy--not too crazy though. After standing alone in the tiny vestibule for about 10 minutes, we were greeted by a friendly hostess who promptly sat us. So, we sat there unattended for about 15 minutes or so. No water, no anything. Our waitress then kind of did a drive-by just to say that she would be right back with bread & water. Another 10 or so minutes later she did so. We weren't overly perturbed or anything; l it did look like she was running around like crazy. Understaffed maybe? When she did get around to bringing the bread it was accompanied by a little dipping bowl of chopped up tomatoes & onion swimming in olive oil. Both the bread and dipping oil were really good TBH. Sadly--that was the high point of our meal. We ordered a large beet salad for an appetizer, my wife ordered the Cheese Ravioli & Meatballs, and me, the Chicken Piccata over my "healthy" whole wheat Penne pasta. Also, in keeping with my healthy meal delusion, they were nice enough honor my request to prepare my Piccata with olive oil vs butter; so that was nice. The beet salad came 1st. It was "ok". Way too much goat cheese in globs in the center though. As I mentioned, we got a large meant for sharing. We didn't have any plates though. Our friendly waitress said she would get us a couple. After 10 minutes or so, we just started sifting through the hunks of goat cheese and both ate from same bowl. Not a big deal--even though I was just getting over a cold and my wife hates my germs (even when I am healthy). Our plates did finally come, but by then, we had just about finished. If my wife catches a cold I will be in big trouble. My wife's Ravioli & Meatballs dish looked like 2 giant meatballs sitting in a bowl of tomato soup looking red sauce (I should've taken a pic) No Ravioli's were visible, but they were indeed submerged in there. I tasted the sauce. Keep in mind, my name is ANTHONY and I grew up in an Italian family, with a mother who made the best--real homemade sauce ever. So, I guess I may be a tough sell, but this sauce was just plain bad. Luke warm, no hints of basil, oregano or garlic, but sickly sweet. It was also way too bright red in color. Red #40 comes to mind. I didn't taste the meatballs or ravioli, but if it's any indication, my wife mentioned Chef Boyardee more than once. Absolutely not the North End. My "healthy" Chicken Piccata came with a decent amount of chicken breast sauteed with olive oil, capers & mushrooms over a generous amount of whole wheat pasta. It was just OK. Way too many capers, way too salty; but otherwise not horrible. The chicken was cooked nicely, and very tender. So, I give thumbs up on the tasty Italian bread and unique dipping oil, the whole wheat pasta and generous portions, but the quality of the food (or lack of it) coupled with the choppy service will probably have us looking elsewhere next time we are in the mood for Italian.

I really wanted to like Dino’s, but my visit was disappointing from start to finish. The atmosphere felt unwelcoming, and the service was slow even though the restaurant wasn’t busy. My meal arrived lukewarm and lacked flavor, and it didn’t seem like much care went into the presentation either. For the price, I expected better quality and attention to detail. Overall, I left feeling let down and won’t be rushing back anytime soon.

We celebrated a birthday here and had a great time. Friendly service and the food was great. Very reasonable prices and large portions. Eggplant lasagna was very good, seafood bianco, pesto fettuccine, and the sandwiches were all good.

Giving it 2 stars because my friend loves their chicken Alfredo. But we got food delivered and it was truly atrocious. The sauce was very bland and tasteless. Meatballs had weird texture and no flavor. Their bread with cheese is just a ton of cheese on the bread. It's honestly just gross. I got linguini pasta dish with veal. The sauce they use is bad so every dish was pretty horrid. For the price, this was totally not worth it.

We have dined at Dino's for at least 30 years!!! Each dining experience has been wonderful - from the staff, to the food & the lovely ambiance!!! Thank you for keeping it EXACTLY the way remembered - we had a great evening ❤️

The restaurant was extremely crowded during our visit, and the server seemed overwhelmed, which affected the quality of service and overall attitude. Given all the positive reviews we had heard, we were a bit disappointed. That said, my family and I plan to return at a less busy time to give it another chance.

We went to Dino's in Worcester to celebrate my birthday. Our waitress Melissa was excellent! My daughter ordered a bottle of Chianti, which was excellent. We started off with the assorted appetizer plate , which was excellent! We also ordered clam casino and it was great. I had the veal Parmesan with penne, which was excellent. My mom and my wife had shrimp scampi, which was out of this world. My daughter had the gnocchi Sorrento, which was amazing. My grandkids had chicken fingers with fries. For dessert we finished up with spumoni. I can't say enough how great this restaurant really is. This is the second time in a month that I have had dinner here. I will be back to test their pizza soon, so stay tuned Dino's is amazing.

Craving eggplant, ordered a side of eggplant for $15.00. Three slices of eggplant. THREE. FIVE BUCKS A PIECE. NEVER AGAIN!!

Dino's is an institution. Is it still the best? No, frankly. But the food is incredibly solid and you really can't beat the atmosphere. Everyone should at least make it there once. My parents first went almost 50 years ago.

What a disappointment is all I can say Service was mediocre at best. Waitress was very personable, but obviously had too many tables and would disappear for extended periods. Soda refills took forever, and water glasses were NEVER refilled. After our meals were brought to the table, not once did the server come by to see how everything was, or if we needed anything. Sausage and meatballs came almost 10 minutes after entres. Been coming to Dinos for special occasions for years, all I can say is WHAT HAPPENED??!!! I had eggplant and chicken Parm, both cooked perfectly, yet the sauce was bland, tasteless, without flavor and spices. Appears the chef just opened a can or crushed tomatoes and dumped it over the plate. One companion stated, this was the WORST meatball I've ever tasted. Another dining companion had a veal dish, again bland without flavor. Last companion had a $40 seafood dish, same bland tasteless sauce, but loaded with red pepper to cover the lack of flavor...just imagine spicy yet tasteless I've never seen the quality of food go down this quickly....dined there last March, and hard to believe it's the same restaurant. Did they fire the chef, new kitchen staff. Restaurant is loud and impossible to hold a conversation, other than with the person sitting directly next to you Unfortunately yelp doesn't give the ability to grant a 1.5 rating....2 is too high, but they deserve more than a 1 Sorry but you've lost a long time customer

Nope...unfortunately both food and service needs attention! Apps were good! Entree's were too salty and seemed rushed. Salmon was overcooked and mashed potatoes were way too salty. Service became lacking the longer we sat and had too find our waitress to pay the bill.

Our Party of 4 had a reservation and were seated promptly. Comfortable large Booth, Mellissa greeted us and took our Drink order. We lingered over the drinks and caught up on the several years since we had last gotten Together. We were not rushed, were given time to look over the substantial menu. Dinner arrived together, hot and plentiful. We all enjoyed our selections which included Fish, Chicken, Meat Lasagna and the show stopper Which was a mix of their most popular, I would call it A Taste of Dino's. All were fairly priced. Dino's is a lively family restaurant. It can get loud at times but remains pleasant.

This restaurant is simply the best of the BEST!! Excellent food (the calamari is to die for), impeccable service and the nicest folks on the planet!! You simply can't go wrong with Dino's. I've been to quite a few Italian restaurants in my day, and they are at the TOP of the list!

I attended a private function so I can only comment about that, and not the entire facility. We drove from Providence to Worcester and had no difficulties finding this venue using GPS. They have ample parking. The facility was immaculate. The staff members were so friendly and personable and were right on top of our requests. The food was spot on delicious. It is a lovely place for private events. In fact, we enjoyed it so very much we are planning on going back to experience the main restaurant.

Went there Saturday night. It was so loud.... like a school cafeteria. I got chicken parm. The chicken was sooo good. The pasta... Ehh. It was a little hard honestly. It was in a separate dish from the chicken and definitely had a different sauce than what was on the chicken and it wasn't anything special. The sauce on the chicken was delicious. The service was great. It was a little pricey which would've been okay if the food was amazing. I use a cane so I wasn't in love with the stairs to get in to the place because there is quite a few.

Prices have drastically increased, portion sizes have drastically decreased.. Service is sometimes excellent, other times not so much depending on the staff. It may take a hot minute to be noticed for seating; when you walk in. You could probably make similar versions of all the entrees at home for way cheaper, and you'd have leftovers. Nothing extraordinary taste wise.

When it comes to good old fashion Italian comfort food, Dino's cannot be beat !!! Dino's is an institution among Italian restaurants in Worcester. Food is terrific and ambiance is like a Frank Sinatra classic song.... Five stars

Pros: -Pre-meal bread & tomatoes/olive oil mixture -Pizza! (if you like it thick and doughy, get this) -Cute vibe with white string lights and subtle murals on the walls

I used to come here when I was a kid almost 20 years ago... the food was always known to be incredible. Just had an amazing dinner with my girlfriend for her birthday and everything from the food to the service was as good as I remember it. Thank you!

Came in for dinner last night with high hopes but left disappointed. We started with the Zucchini Flowers stuffed with cheese for an app, which was one of their specials for the night. In my experience, these are typically very light and delicate, but they came out heavily battered and doughy. Nonetheless, it was one of the better things we ate here. For drinks, we got an orange cosmopolitan and a strawberry banana martini, both were pretty good, not too sweet or too boozy. I decided to give the shrimp a chance for my entree despite some older unfavorable reviews and ordered the Shrimp Palermo which includes tortellini and broccoli in an alfredo sauce. The shrimp were a little tough, possibly frozen or just overcooked. The broccoli was great, and the tortellini were decent, but the sauce was way too thin and watery for my liking. My date got the Veal Saltimbocca with spaghetti, which was served in a red sauce that was also very thin. The veal itself was pretty average. The portions were generous, but both dishes were lacking in flavor and presentation. Service was a little slow despite the place being relatively empty on a Wednesday night. Not sure I'd be back again soon.

This review is for takeout only, which we had delivered through Grub Hub. We ordered zucchini fritters, a house salad and chicken piccata. The zucchini fritters were actually zucchini blossoms, not zucchini, and they were stuffed with cheese and deep fried in heavy batter. They arrived ice cold and were very bland and heavy. They were served with a packet of grocery store ranch dressing, which might have been good with breaded, lightly fried zucchini but it did not help the lack of flavor or heaviness of these cold, greasy cheese bombs. The salad was fine - probably the only part of our meal that we finished. The chicken piccata was tipped onto its side at some point before reaching us, so all of the sauce ended up in a puddle at the bottom of the bag. We were left with a tin container of sauceless over-cooked pasta and dry, flavorless chicken. Maybe they do a better job when you dine in at the restaurant but I would not recommend getting takeout from here.

Delicious! Their meatballs are so good. I recently had their meatball sub and they gave a big portion along with fries. My friend loved the chicken Caesar wrap

Best Pasta Bolognese! Portions are large but great for take home meals the next day !

Not as good as they used to be. Won't be going back. Before I wouldn't mind taking the drive but the last few times were a gamble. I ordered the Dinos platter and it was cold and soggy. My wife ordered Haddock and that wasn't very good either, although they didn't charge her for the Haddock it was still disappointing.

Pesto Pizza is out of this world!! When you sit down you are provided an amazing bowl of fresh cut tomatoes mix. Their red sauce is delicious!! Everything here is so good!!

Ordered catered trays of food for college football tailgate: full tray of baked ziti with meat sauce and 2 trays of meatballs. They were EXCELLENT!! Big/honest portion and size, good value, great flavor. We are from NY/NJ and traveled to Worcester for away game. Wanted to order instead of make food for the convenience and to make sure it was hot when served. Food was ready when we got there, right out of oven. Excellent. Worked with Santo - who took great pride in the quality and value of food he prepared for us. Thank you Dino's Restaurant, Worcester MA! ~ Dianne & Mike

NEVER again! Everyone's meal in a party of 8 had issues ranging from poor taste to poor conception to just down right what the hell were you thinking. If you want to know what it was like to have Bad Italian food in 1975 this is the place. The ambiance, the bathrooms and the menu haven't been updated since then I dare say some of the ingredients as well. The salad came out wilted, soggy and just plain unappetizing. The appetizers were double fried you couldn't taste what was supposed to be under the layers but only after you got through the layers with a chisel. I ordered stuffed eggplant with spinach and ricotta cheese. The cheese was gritty, yuck, the sauce was so sweet like a bucket of sugar had been dumped into the batch. I ate a third of it but had to stop. My sons chicken parm was served on sliced bread, it immediately started falling apart as the sauce drenched the bread and couldn't be eaten, SUB rolls work best in case you haven't left Worcester in 40 years. The dungeon, aka, bathrooms were atrocious, cold, rusty just keep driving.

The Food was delicious and the staff was great! The prices are very reasonable! The meatballs were YUM!

So glad to be back at Dino's. Place was hopping, staff was great and food was amazing.

Great old school traditional Italian. The atmosphere and service were excellent! I got the Dino's platter which was amazing

Pasta with shells had no spinach all, and no mozzarella. The mussels are outstanding. Avoid the pasta unless you are easily pleased with quantity but no quality.

We love Dino's! We always do take out but it's fresh, the portions are good and the food is delicious. I'm Italian and it's one of our local favorites.

Old time favorite- food and service was very good nice to know there's a place like this to get a good serving of pasta without ridiculous prices

Four of us went for Easter lunch/dinner. It started well but went downhill. Through no fault of the server, it took an unacceptable amount of time for the food to come out. "The kitchen was backed up" was the explanation we received for the delay. When we did finally get our meals, they were very, very good. Our reservation was at 1:00 and we were seated within a couple of minutes. No problem there. The prices were just a tad high, but certainly not unreasonable. Our waitress Alicia (who was very nice) took our orders at 1:10 which was perfect, but... our food didn't arrive until 2:25! Naturally, we asked for the manager after we ate. She apologized profusely and explained with complete candor, that this was only their second time opening for Easter and assured us that they will have a better handle on it next year. We were grateful that they were even open on this religious holiday and were able to accommodate us with just a day's notice. In light of that and their honesty, we decided to cut them some slack. As a result, the manager comped all the drinks (2 Martinis and 4 bottled beers), 4 delicious desserts and an appetizer, which I felt was generous and acceptable. We thought we should give them the benefit of the doubt in this isolated case, and we will definitely try this restaurant again. If not for that long delay, this would have been a 5-star review. The moral here is "you get more flies with honey than vinegar". I'm confident that the next time will be better.

Living on Grafton Hill, myself, my grandparents, and my parents have been coming to Dino's for years. In line with other reviews, the food is typically wonderful, but the service and hospitality continues to suffer. The past several visits to dine resulted in extended waits to be seated in a half empty restaurant, and long waits for food. One thing that is also annoying is the lack of soda refills, its leaves a feeling of cheapness, and often comes up as discussion at the table instead of how good the food is. I get no refills on bottled soda, and wouldn't mind the option of a glass Coke, but fountain soda is literally the cheapest thing to skimp on. My last visit was during the lockdown, so take out was the option. Calling in the order at 3:30 for late lunch before the dinner rush, we were told an hour, then 45 minutes. We were there at 4:10 to pay and pickup. We never left until close to 5:30, over a full hour later than expected. We only waited because we had a gift card to dump. I can't imagine the experience for people who had placed orders during the typical dinner rush. On top of that, while the two entrees were hot, the pizza that was ordered was cold, and must have been sitting ready closer to the original pickup time. Service and hospitality is some that can make up for mediocre food. Good food can't make up for poor service...

Dino's was the most disgusting restaurant I have ever visited. I don't think they have made any upgrades to the place is decades. As soon as walked in the front door and noticed the hacked up and dirty up walls I was ready to leave. Then I had the opportunity to admire the disgusting black caked on dirt carpeting. When was the last time this place was cleaned? I would hate to see this place in the light of day! Whoever owns this place should be embarrassed. As far as the food goes there were six of us and there were mixed reviews. My meal was horrible. The best thing I can say is that the bread and tomatoes were the star of the night. Avoid this place like the plague.

The Italian ~atmosphere~ was exquisite. I had hoped to go to the speak easy below but it didn't seem open during COVID. My meal was fantastic, as were the appetizers.

We recently started going to Dino's after several years. I could say that the service is great and the food is still fantastic.! We will go back again soon.

Food was warm and not tasty and expensive. Waitress was great for a party of 7. Would not recommend this place.

Hole! Worst place ever! Never replaced the rugs, smells old, very disgusting!!! Bathrooms down deep stairs not accessible to handicap people. Should be looked at by Health Department and closed. They are just milking it, sad that this landmark is so bad

I didn't expect much but I was blown away by the baked ziti! I enjoyed the atmosphere too. Service was also good

Honestly the best northern Italian in Worcester county!!! Disclaimer we got engaged here!! Really nice for dine in especially by the tree. During Covid they have offered great family meals! Italian classics for takeout on the weekend if your still apprehensive about dining out. Amazing red sauce and Italian bread! Service is always amazing!

Had a great meal with my grandfather and aunt this evening. We had not visited in at least 10 years! Our waitress Kaitlin was very friendly and attentive. I appreciated that she was patient with my 93-yr-old grandfather despite having several large parties. My Gnocchi Sorrento was terrific. Italian bread and meatballs were standard Italian fare, but that does not mean lackluster. My criticisms add up to the 4 stars. Everything came on extra plates, the meatballs were on far too big of a plate. Seems like a silly critique but it took up so much space and made it awkward to handle. The hostess was very friendly, but her eagerness almost came off abrasive as she said "You know there's no stairs around back?" as my grandfather hobbled up the front stairs. With the HP spots out front, this is not apparent. Though she was helpful and patient in leading out, after dinner, through the kitchen. I have no shame about that, but it could feel awkward for people who need to use it, plus disturbs the cooks. They should consider posting the accessible entrance more clearly AND creating a front entrance that is accessible. Thank you for keeping the Italian tradition alive in Worcester.

This is absolutely my family's favorite restaurant. Growing up, Dino's was always a go- to restaurant for birthdays and special events and it continues to impress us every time we go. Really great family vibe. The pizza is awesome, the chicken parm is great, and number one, I love the cheese lasagna with the sauce on the side! Yum.

The service was terribly slow. We only got drinks and entrees and it took us two hours in the restaurant. I don't mind sitting for a while and enjoying dinner but waiting for food or waiting for the bill is really not great. I got Seafood Bianco, and the seafood was all clearly frozen. Rubbery scallops, flavorless shrimp and calamari, and the pasta underneath was really bland as well. It was really a waste when there are four or five other Italian places in the city who can do the same dish at a far better quality. Also, more weirdly, due to "rising food costs," the restaurant charges $2 for a soup or salad that used to come complimentary with the entree. I can't think of many Italian places that charge extra for a house salad, but it just seemed a little odd to me. I would not come back here again.

We had our Christmas party at Dino's last night. They had a private room for us that was warm and set up so beautiful. They even had Christmas music playing. The wait staff was friendly and accommodating. All our food was brought out in a timely manor. The food consisted of the following; Shrimp Cocktail (very fresh and tasty sauce) Bread and bruschetta (excellent) Antipasto that tasted like my MAMA! Penne, Chicken Parm, Meatballs, Sausage, Haddock, Steak Tips with onion and peppers, and for dessert HOME MADE huge cannoli's! Everything was PERFECT! I re-booked for next year! If you haven't tried Dino's...its a must. The gravy (sauce) tastes like mama made! Thanks Jay and the team....see ya next year! Nancie and the others

Ummmm yummm Been eating there for just about 20 years now and WOW! Great Family style restaurant. Or cozy for two Best Italian restaurant in the city

Place was recommended and I give it 5 stars for the whole shabang! It's a welcoming retro, relaxing restaurant that's been around for generations!! Staff is great, food is fresh and flavorful!! I enjoyed the old feel and nice Italian music playing on the speakers, ahhh!!! !! Nice selection of wine too, oh yeah!!!

I came here regularly as a kid, and recently returned for the first time in years when I was back in Worcester visiting my parents. Dino's hasn't aged well. The food certainly isn't made by Dino (or his grandmother); I know Sysco marinara sauce when I taste it, and it's applied liberally to all of the food. The decor is nearly identical to when I visited in the 1980s, and there is an unpleasant smell that permeates throughout the dining rooms. When we received the bill, we found out we had been charged $2.25 and $3 per refill for soda and iced tea without ever being told that refills were not free. It's certainly their prerogative to charge for each refill, but in this day and age it's unusual (and unexpected) at a casual restaurant like this. It would have been nice to either see it printed or be told when ordering. I might come back out to Dino's again of nostalgia, but for Italian food in Worcester there are better options out there.

I recommend going elsewhere. Atmosphere was from 1970s and not in a good way. The food was horrible. All 4 of us hated our meals. I hate the "taste of Dino's" which is a taste of 4-5 different menu items. I took 1-2 bits from everything and it was not good. We had "gulf shrimp cocktail" it was very disappointing. Same with the fried calamari, maybe the worst I've ever had. On the bright side out waitress was nice.

I had dinner at Dino's tonight for the first time. It was excellent! Old school Italian. Loved it! Highly recommend. The waitstaff was on point. I can't wait to go back!

Nutshell; the food was good, the service was terrible! We were a party of 4 and we showed up around 6 on a Saturday night and we were told we could be seated in 30 minutes. We decided to wait and had drinks downstairs while we waited. A little over 45 minutes later, we were seated. We ordered right away (since we figured out what we wanted during the wait) and got served bread and salad right away. However, OVER a hour later, we got our meal... and mine was room temperature at best! So disappointing. The waitress blew off our complaints by saying it was a busy night.. but there was multiple empty tables around us. We'd maybe come back is they learned how to efficiently run a restaurant! PS; we even had to pay in cash because it took the waitress so long to come pick up our credit cards.

YUM! I read about this place online, and it does live up to it's hype! It's a classic Italian dining place, but the food is really really good. If it's the weekend you might have a bit of a wait, but it's never too long. I recommend the cheese tortellini, but I really go for the bread and the salad, haha :D

Came here at the recommendation of a local friend. White bread and bruschetta toppings was nice. We were not asked for a refill, but would have loved one. I didn't ask for one in fear they would charge me. After ordering drinks, we learned the sodas and iced teas did not come with a refill ($2.50ish each, I can't remember the exact change). I had the eggplant parm - four rounds of eggplant. They were tasty, not the best I've ever had, but decent. There was a good amount of cheese on the top. I had pene as a side. It was cooked al dente and I'm not sure if it was the sauce or pasta, but it was so terrible tasting, I stopped eating it. Sauce in the parm was good though! Waitress was fine, kept the water filled. While the portion was average sized, a soup or salad was an additional $2. The menu had a note added on which said they had to charge due to the rising cost of food. Would not return. There have to be other options.

Food was delicious - and well prepared. We had chicken parmigiana where the chicken was fresh, coated nicely with breading and not too heavy with sauce. The fettucine Alfredo with chicken was amazing, sauce was well dressed and chicken was delicate and tasty - could have used more chicken though. Baked ziti also a home run!