Monica's Trattoria

Went for dinner the other night with a small group of friends. Service was good, food did take a long time and other groups were served faster than we were. We have gone in the past and food had been better. Portions seem to be getting smaller and food is inconsistent. Drinks were the best part of the night, but we had hoped we would have had a better experience with the food.

10/10 everything! The staff was amazing and the food was incredible. I can't wait to go back and try everything on the menu. Its the type of spot you want to gatekeep but also want to make sure they get the recognition they deserve. Highly recommend the Parmigiana Alla Vodka you wont regret it.

Monica's Trattoria is my favorite Italian restaurant in the North End of Boston. The ambiance, drinks, food, service is excellent. Great staff, the kitchen and the intimate setting is perfect. My favorite entree is the Chicken Cutlet with pasta, great quality of ingredients and never disappoints! Check this great gem it and you will love it too!!!

Food is good. Price is reasonable. The service we got is subpar compared to other table. 20% gratuity was added for party of two.

As we walked up to the hostess table the three women standing there turned away or walked off. (Assuming it's not their job, but they could've informed us that the hostess would be with us. The atmosphere appears great, but the super loud dishes clanking in your ear ruins that illusion. As one of the employees was cleaning off the table the wiped the food off the table and onto my dates feet. The fried zucchini appetizer was a tasteless empty puff. The expresso martini was delicious but not strong enough. Our waitress was great. Very kind, helpful, and attentive. We enjoyed our entrees. Fettuccine with marinara and mozzarella.(Maybe a little too bland) Spaghetti carbonara.(Maybe a little too salty)

What makes this place better than the others? Their organic house made pasta! We had the sweet potato gnocchi with sausage. It was very tasty. Also had the chicken Caesar and the amalfi with prosciutto. The staff was very nice and the place gives off an authentic feel. Will definitely come back.

I'd heard so much about Monica's before my first visit that I was worried I'd be disappointed. If anything, the food was UNDERHYPED: the sandwiches were absolutely outstanding, with fresh and delicious ingredients perfectly arranged to make the best Italian sub I've ever had. I'm absolutely not exaggerating when I say that I was daydreaming about it a week later. The counter-only service was quick, friendly and efficient, and the prices are reasonable for the high quality of the food. If you like top-quality, fresh ingredients, or just love a good sandwich, Monica's is an absolute must!

Great food, good atmosphere, great service. Had the calamari appetizer and it was huge and delicious. The carbonara was great and the sauce on the ravioli was exquisite!

North end fun! Lovely restaurant Bevs were nice Food was nice Service was great! No complaints Was meeting up with family, so that was my focus and everything was lovely around us.

The food and ambiance was impeccable. They make their pasta fresh everyday, and the chefs were obviously talented and very well experienced. The parm's were SO GOOD! Everyone was so welcoming it really felt like you were dinning in a 5 table gourmet restaurant. Definitely recommend if you want a classic Italian dinner in the North End.

Amazing food. Great suggestions from our server. Beautiful place. A must when in the North End

Delicious carbonara in a beautiful environment. I love this North End restaurant and the service. The ambiance is perfect! It is like stepping into the past or your grandma's kitchen. The white bean dip that is served with the bread is a delicious surprise. If you cannot get into the restaurant, head to the bar -- another great and entertaining place to dine.

Review courtesy of my 10.5 year old son. I would definitely come back! My 7 year old sister is very picky but my mom convinced her to eat the ravioli here. I highly recommend the Scampi Con Fettuccine. In my words "Delicious sauce and very authentic shrimp!" A great vegetarian option was The Arugula Salad. My mom had the chicken Parmesan with vodka sauce. It was very good. The service wasn't too bad, but it took about 20-25 minutes to get all of our food. The setting was great, the lighting was good for a date night, but was pretty dim. It was also a bit loud, but the food makes up for it. It is great for kids and adults. Overall, I would definitely recommend Monica's Trattoria!

First time here was August of 2023, came with my family for my birthday and we had a delicious meal and a wonderful time. Since then I have been back 4 times, with 3 of them being since March. The bar area is where we sit usually and it is decorated so beautifully and I love all the old pictures of Monica and her husband and family members. The service has always been top notch and each time I have been to Monica's our bartender has been Matthew. He is absolutely fantastic! He's personable, friendly and makes an unbelievable Martini too! His family should be so proud of him for doing such a good job and representing his family so well. Next trip into the North End we will be visiting Vinoteca DiMonica but stopping by to see Matt for a drink first!

Chicken parm with spicy vodka gnochhi Perfect carb loading meal while visiting for the marathon

The food. The food was generous and amazing. The staff was attentive. The atmosphere was incredible

About time we tried Monica's Trattoria and it lived up to their reputation of top tier Italian. I get their homemade subs across the street quite a but so this was a highly anticipated visit. Eating here felt special. There's a lot of people here that want you to have a great experience and are very personable. We were helped in picking our appetizers and the food was delicious. The pasta was al dente and the ragu and ricotta combo was incredible. It's a tightly packed, vibrant, and comfortable restaurant. Dimly lit and the ultimate date spot. If you like Bricco you'd like Monica's.

À friend and I came on a Saturday night with a reservation. The table was not quite ready when we arrived, so we chose to take a little walk around the block to kill time. The table was still not ready when we got back and so we ordered a drink at the bar. It was while enjoying a very delicious cocktail we learned there was a christening party that was going significantly past their reservation. We ended up spending about 10 minutes at the bar, with Fox News in the background. Then we were shown to our table and ordered straight away. We ordered the bruschetta, scampi alla fungi, and the caprese. The food was delicious and we were stuffed walking home! The service was efficient and we were seated by the window, allowing us to peer out on the North End street. The crowd leaned younger, with a lot of young corporate looking professionals enjoying a Saturday night dinner. Overall, the food was delicious and the delay was not the restaurant's fault. This is a great spot if you're looking for an Italian dinner date in North End.

I had one of the best pasta dishes here. The Capesante e Vongole Fridiavlo is the most delectable pasta dishes on Monica's menu. Scallops and little neck clams in spicy tomato sauce with over homemade squid ink fettuccine. The scallops and clams were fresh and it even had mussels, the squid ink fettuccine was chewy and lovely. I just wish they gave me more bread so I could mop up that sauce. I did order other dishes, but it didn't measure up to this one dish. The zucchini blossom, which I was really excited to get was such a let down. The fried crust was thick, just like the crust you get when you order Chinese chicken fingers. Yuck. The Caesar was not bad, I appreciate the anchovies added to the top of the salad. The Scampi al Pesto was ok. I'm not a pesto fan but it wasn't a dish I was digging much. I'm not sure I'd come back for one dish, but for now glad at least there was a dish that I did enjoy.

Our favorite go to especially with our kids. They always welcome our entire family and the food is delicious.

Olive Garden food. No seasoning. Server only cares about us ordering alcohol. The food is an after thought. Disappointed. Parking is impossible

This place is loud. It's more of the clink and clanking that you'll hear from the kitchen. There's music playing which adds to its chill vibe. The kitchen really gives its diners a headache when they have plates and pots clanking and being thrown all over the place in an open kitchen. What a headache. The host was welcoming and the Servers were nice & friendly as well. Good pour on the wine and plates can be shared by 2 people. It's more of a lively bar than a relaxing restaurant. I wouldn't visit again, too many choices in Little Italy. ** Polpette do Manzo - Delicious, great appetizer to share. Meatballs and Ricotta cheese was yum! **Caprese- Fresh salad the Evoo used is delicious. Perfect to share for (2) people **Spaghetti Carbonara- I didn't really find a good balance on the Pecorino Romano cheese and the Pancetta. It's a bit on the heavier, oily side - wish there was guanciale to add more flavor into it.

Ate there with friends last week- food fine but they added $40 to my credit card without authorization and haven't returned my calls to resolve. Check your bill and bank statement carefully if you go here. Very sad to know a neighborhood place will do this.

10/10 - will absolutely be coming back! As most of the restaurants in the North End, the atmosphere is quaint and cozy with exposed brick and the open windows in the summer time. Such a lovely intimate ambiance. Our waiter was awesome, very attentive and kind. Everything we ordered was delicious, generous portions too. Incredible dinner experience.

We made a reservation for 10 people at 8:00pm on a Saturday night. The service was fine, the wait staff attentive, BUT the kitchen ran out of 4 of the 5 specials and half of their regular menu. We were left to order basic pasta dishes, warm wine (seriously, just throw the bottles in the fridge for 15mins) & a few apps. One last item was the seating - they knew we had 10 people (reservation was several weeks in advance) and they jammed us into a table that sat 8. Elbows rubbing all night... Definitely won't be going back anytime soon.

Food Expensive and Not Great Too many other options. Overpriced and very slow service and long wait for food from kitchen. Loud in restaurant and difficult to hear others in our party. Too many other options in north end and do not recommend this place.

So Monica's Salumeria (deli) Is fantastic! So we decided to try the restaurant. Very expensive! And not that great. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't good. Especially based on price. I think the thing that annoyed me the most was that they gave you a tall skinny Tom Collins glass with ice to the rim for a five dollar Coke. And then didn't tell us until three cokes later that they charged for refills. So we spent more on Coke and we did on alcohol! I'm sorry, but I will never go back.

It was difficult to identify the entrance door, so signage could have been better. However, I don't think they want to improve walk-ins! The place is intimate and perfect for group reservations in advance. We went to meet for business while in town for a conference. Noise level was lower than expected given the large parties seated within arm's reach. Food: Mussels in white wine and butter was 100%, as was bruschetta. The meals were perfect--- pasta and cheeses were fresh and serving size adequate (I hadn't eaten all day and cleaned my entire chicken parm AND ate half the mussels). Drink: All of us had cocktails (espresso martini was the best I've had in Boston ever) and some had wine. Recommendations from the waitstaff was on point regarding drinks.

The food and service were great! We had the calamari, veal gnocchi, and bolognese. All were delicious. The service was fast for a Friday night

Love Monica's, best Italian food and the vongole has been my all time favorite for years.

Months after someone raved about this restaurant to me, I finally had the chance to stop by for a Sunday dinner with two friends. We had reservations for 6pm, and when were arrived the restaurant was indeed quite busy, but we were seated after just a short wait. I ordered the parmigiana alla vodka which was quite good! The pasta was really nicely cooked to a great texture (I prefer my noodles on the harder side) and the sauce was tasty - rich and not too heavy. Chicken had a nice overall flavour, but the breading was a bit soggy and at times it just felt a little sloppily prepared in terms of consistency throughout. My friends had the spaghetti alla carbonara and the fettuccine al nero con capesante. Carbonara was delicious - pancetta was really flavourful and complemented the creamy sauce - but was a tad too salty overall. Fettucine was also great - the squid ink pasta was well-prepared (and certainly looked fantastic) and the scallops were a highlight of the dish. Service, however, was lacking. Our server was not very attentive to us, and it took ages for us to get anyone's attention, be it to order, ask for water, get the cheque, etc. Overall, though, not a bad experience, and while I think a bit pricey for the quality and quantity of food, I think I could see myself coming again to try some of the other yummy pastas on their menu!

The vodka chicken parmigiana was delicious. Amazing sauce and high quality ingredients. We also started with the meatballs and they were amazing! Our waitress was lovely and the environment was cute. The espresso martini was just okay, I've had very good ones in the north end and this one was basic. Despite that, I loved the winter theme on the espresso. I would recommend the strawberry basil martini. Perfect spot for a date night

Came here with high hopes and the food was good but for these prices we expected better service! The people filling our waters probably asked us if we wanted refills every 5-10 mins and looked miserable. Hostess that took us to our table looked underage and not wanting to be there. Other people coming around giving us bread didn't look happy either. I get it....times are tough with finding workers but these all looked either related or connected to the owner/manager perhaps? The 4 cheese raviolis was really good though! I enjoyed the sauce and it was not too heavy. Just the right amount of food. Others in my party had the Fettuccine al Nero di Seppia con Capesante and the Frutti di Mare con Fettuccine Nero. We all enjoyed our dishes...it was good Italian food but not amazing. The drinks were good and strong. Liked their old fashions! With so much competition in the area, I think the next time we come back, we will try another restaurant out. Took about 15-20 mins to flag someone down to get the bill.

Had the best time here this past weekend. My boyfriend and I came to Boston for the weekend and we're excited to try this place out after reading some blogs online. It was exactly was we were looking for - amazing Italian food. I had ordered the gnocchi dish and it was phenomenal. My boyfriend had a chicken parmigiana dish and it was fantastic too. We had Cabernet on the side which was great as well. Overall the food was 10/10. The staff was kind. The ambiance inside was cozy and very festive for the holidays. And we were happy to have snagged a table without a reservation. If you plan on coming, I suggest reserving a table. Will return back here in the future for sure. Loved it!

Spent almost 4 hours here the other night for dinner. We were told it would be a 30 minute wait for an outside table, and we could come back or sit at the bar. We sat at the bar and started with drinks, I had the red sangria which was very sweet and strong, and he had a spritzer. I loved their ghost margarita. When we were seated about 35 minutes later, it took another hour to be able to order our appetizers, and we had to ask the bus boy to send a waiter over. He was the nicest and most attentive of all the staff. We watched him speak to the hostess on our behalf, and it still took another 15 minutes for someone to take our first course order. I asked for grilled calamari as an appetizer and they said they couldn't make it, so I ordered the Fried Calamari with the Deep Fried Zucchini Blossoms, which didn't have much zucchini in them. I wouldn't have ordered these again. My date and I ordered the Seafood Fradiavolo and the Spaghetti and Meatballs substituted with penne. They were both very good, but I did ask them to replace the clams with shrimp, and they gave us 3 shrimp which were on the smaller side. It took a long time to be seated, a long time to be offered food, and more of a wait to receive the food. Dessert wasn't even an option after arriving here at 5:30 and leaving at 9:30. They ended up being able to serve us the grilled calamari only when it was ordered as the Seafood Fradiavolo, and I would have not ordered the Fried calamari if they were able to communicate that. Presentation was nice, but the service was inattentive and a little negligent. Maybe they need better management. I wouldn't return for food based on this experience, but maybe I'd stop by for a drink at the bar.

We were seated promptly and our waiter was very friendly and attentive. For drinks, we ordered an Espresso Martini and a Spicy Margarita. Both drinks were very tasty and I would definitely order again. For our appetizers, we ordered the Burrata Bruschetta and the Zucchini Flowers. Honestly, I wouldn't order either of these again as they were pretty underwhelming. The Zucchini Flowers were heavily battered & deep fried - much different than the typical fried Zucchini Flowers that I'm accustomed too. The bruschetta was okay, the burrata was nice and creamy. Our entrees were the star of the show, especially the Capesante alla Pesto. The dish was homemade squid ink fettucine in a creamy pesto sauce with scallops. The Lobster Fettucine was also very tasty. All of their pastas are homemade and taste very fresh. I would recommend this place for a nice date night!

The atmosphere was relaxing and the service was great. We ordered Italian meatballs and soup and it was delicious. I ordered the chicken broccoli rigatoni but the chicken was hard.

Top notch service and food out of this world. Truly an old time Italian homestyle restaurant!!

Dinning at Monica's was a big mistake. It was 92 degrees outside so we were looking forward to a nice meal with air conditioning. I was astonished when I found out there was no air conditioning at all. I have dined in restaurants all over the world and Monica's can't even compare with a mediocre restaurant. Monica's charges $30 plus dollars a plate. I find it inexcusable that they opened in 92 degree weather with no A/C!! I ordered veal parmesan which was a special that night. The Veal was about 1/16 inches thick and dried out with no pasta sauce. It was like biting on a piece of bacon. It was included with Arugula salad which was a meal not even close to being worth $35.00. To sum it all up, it was a rip off and I'll never go back.

Ordered chicken marsala, the chicken comes with a bone in it, which the waitress did not share nor was it on rhe menu as bone in. It was also very tough and the mushrooms were extra large and tough and the prosciutto looked like a piece of bacon not cute up and to top it off the sauce was flat! This is the worst meal and I've never written a bad review in my life.. when we brought it to the waiters attention as our waitress completed her shift, he said the waitress should have told you there was a bone in it yet did not offer to compensate us or even suggest a free drink or dessert I will never return to this restaurant .

Found this gem in Little Italy (North End) while walking in Boston at lunchtime. We wanted authentic Italian food, and were thoroughly impressed with our selections. I had a chicken parmigiana with vodka sauce on penne pasta. My sister and our friend had the sweet potato gnocchi. Everything is homemade and cooked when ordered. Fresh mozzarella cheese was delicious. A must try if your in the Boston area.

The staff is great. They did not leave us at any moment with our cups empty. The chicken Parmesan (Chicken Parmigiana all's Vodka)was incredibly delicious, and the veal is juicy (Vitello Al Marsala). The latter dish also has gnocchi, which is potato pasta. This is a pricier restaurant perfect for celebrations and date nights. It does not have wheelchair accessibility, however.

The hospitality from the hostess's, servers, kitchen staff and owners was amazing. I had the pleasure of filming with the owners and chefs behind the counter on a Friday night. The breakdown of the meals and the importance they hold to the owners working there was amazing to see. Legendary fresh seafood locally sourced and handmade pastas galore, I was enthralled. I will absolutely be back many times and implore you to pull up and grab a plate for a great night as well! Stay Eatin' Bruh!

I was visiting Boston with my boyfriend and wanted to check out an Italian restaurant so we went to Monica's Trattoria and overall we had a good experience. We started with some drinks. I got an espresso martini and my boyfriend got the strawberry basil martini and both were delicious. We got calamari for an appetizer which was really good. For dinner I got the bistecca alfedo, which I will be dreaming about forever. It was soooo delicious!!! The steak had amazing flavor and the pasta with the alfredo sauce was perfection. I'd go back just for this pasta dish. My boyfriend got the spicy parmigiana alla vodka which was average. I've had better penne vodka and chicken parm many other places. The sauce was more of a spicy tomato than a vodka in my opinion. We wouldn't order this again. Overall a really good experience, I'd definitely come back here!

Not good - accidentally booked this Monica's instead of the other one. Big mistake, pasta was watery and service was poor.

Would not recommend this restaurant. First off, the service was awful. We did not have reservations so we put our names down and they said it was a 30 minute wait, which was expected, so we put our names down and they said they would text us. We got a text that our table was ready so we returned to the restaurant and went to the host stand. She was frazzled because she had just given our table away to a different group so we had to wait longer. This was extremely frustrating. We finally got seated and it took 15 minutes to get water and have our order get taken. Bad service overall. In regards to the food, I was not impressed. The best thing we had was the Caprese salad, simply because of the fact that they were fresh heirloom tomatoes which were delicious. The lobster fra diavolo was overpriced and very hard to eat. The lobster came in half a shell, which they should have mentioned on the menu because it was a very fussy food. The rest of the seafood was decent, however, I really enjoyed the spicy red sauce. The pizzaiola was plain and tasted like something you could get anywhere. The chicken did not have much flavor and it seemed like minimum effort was put into the dish. We got the lobster fettuccine in the spicy red sauce instead of the pink cream sauce. The lobster itself was fresh and had a good taste, but the pasty was over cooked and chewy. Both lobster dishes were $36, which was overpriced in my opinion. Definitely would not recommend going here, there are a lot of restaurants in this particular area, so I would go somewhere else.

Our waitress was amazing but the wait for our food was awful. We were a group of 4 with a reservation. They sat us right down but it took the waitress over 20 mins to finally come over to our table. Then we waited over 1.5 hours for our apps and dinner. We ended up leaving without eating dinner because we had a comedy show to go to that we couldn't be late for. Very disappointed that they did not comp our drinks for the horribly slow service. Will not be going back

Everything was wonderful, the food, the service and the ambiance. It was recommended to me by a couple of locals. I was so glad I listened to them.

We were disappointed with our meal. The food may have been good at one point in time but our meal was definitely lacking in flavor. We could tell that the pasta was cooked without salt in the water and it's hard to come back from that in Italian cooking. The pasta dish we ordered also stated that it was spicy and we didn't taste any spice at all. The bar area isn't big but it is lively. If you are looking for a true italian meal and you want a mom and pop feel then definitely don't come here.

Sorry no pics on this one but great news is we went family style so I tried many things so an even better tasting opinion for you. First, the Caesar salad is the best version I think I've ever had (exceptional) . The whole table said the same. The meatballs were tender and tasty (very good). The veal Marsala that was panchetta crusted (special the night we were there) was my absolute favorite (exceptional). I'd go back for just the veal and Caesar. The frutti di mare was just good, was more like tons of mussels with squid ink pasta pasta vs. a true frutti but the sauce and pasta were good but not what I expected and not good enough for being so off with all the other seafood. (good). The pappaedelle bolognese sounded great but was quite flat. Everyone's least favorite (ok). We got desserts too and they were limited choices but good enough and a nice last share with the group (good). Very generous pours on the martini's and quite tasty too, definitely worth considering (great). We liked the vibe so four star overall. Good service and we had fun so what else do you want?

the food was amazing. portions just big enough for leftovers or not if you really want to go for it. the drinks were awesome. surprisingly the margaritas were the best! especially the peach and mango. the strawberry basil martini tasted a bit cough syrupy. but some of us liked it. everything was to die for.

BEST CARBONARA IN THE WORLD! I haven't stopped talking about it! The drinks and service was amazing anyway but this carbonara is a must try!

If I could give 0 stars I would. A few of my girlfriends and I went to Monica's on Saturday night. I've been many times before and the food has always been delicious. My friend got her meal and went to put red pepper flakes on top and the cap fell off and left red pepper flakes all over her dish. The server asked if she wanted to "scrape it off" and she said no, she'd like a new dish since it was no longer edible. The head chef/owner, Pat Mendoza, was working in the kitchen and clearly in a terrible mood (screaming at his entire staff all night). We received a new dish and it looked like they had forgotten to drain the water from the pasta - it was disgusting. I asked to speak to the manager and the chef screamed from the kitchen and said "I can f**K off and get the f**k out if I'm not happy with the meal". I was so taken aback - he then came out from the kitchen and started screaming at me and again saying "baby girl, if you don't f**king like my food you can leave (and was doing the FU gesture with his hand). The whole restaurant went silent and just kept saying "get the f**k out of here - I've had a terrible day - I don't care if you don't like the f**kin food." I'm a 35 y/o female, 5'4" and was left trembling by a man who towered over me and continually screamed and pointed in my face. I was also with a friend who was pregnant and terrified. We all eventually left because we felt scared for our safey. The servers were all very kind but clearly terrified of him as well (we left the server a cash tip and didn't pay for the meal). Don't give this guy your business - not worth it.

Ok so the ambiance and service is great. Love the decor for the holidays. But the food was disappointing. Charged me $30 for spaghetti and meatballs. Then $38 for the special " Frutti de Mare" and there was no shrimp or scallops? all mussels and calamari. The pasta and sauce was ok. Not sure this is the Monica's I remember. Over priced and mediocre. Sorry guys, really hope you can step things up.

Excellent quality freshly sliced cold cuts, mozzarella and daily specials are superb! Owner is out temporarily but when he's in his warm, welcoming and knowledgeable personality and attitude is super customer friendly. Two sides to either order and go or sit, relax and enjoy your meal.

I absolutely loved my experience at Monica's! The appetizers were so good especially the antipasto and mussels. The chicken parm and the fettuccine all'aragosta were amazing too! Also, their tiramisu was to die for. The inside is super cute and cozy too. The only complaint is that we weren't too crazy over our drinks but I'm sure that's just based on my preference! Overall, would totally come back again.

The food took a while considering there wasn't that many people but it didn't disappoint and the portions were substantially big as well.