Came here tonight and sat @ the bar (Alex was an awesome bartender!!). We had awesome drinks - that margarita with the black salt rim is fire! The food was incredible - 1) rice fried calamari - so good and with interesting sauce not your standard marinara sauce. 2) awesome amazing buttery fish hake dish - as good as loyal nine in cambridge if not better! 3) the chicken parm was awesome. overall a wonderful vibe, fabulous service, and we can't wait to come back over Thanksgiving! ~Tamara & Arash read more

Ate here about a year ago and loved it so we went back last night. Prices are a bit high but the quality of the food is excellent. Focaccia was excellent Enza Salad tasty but light on the dressing. For meals we had the Campanelle, Ricotta Ravioli, roasted chicken and the strip steak. We all sampled each other's and they were all delicious. Pasta perfectly cooked. The chicken melted in your mouth. The steak was heavily charred on the outside and perfectly cooked inside. Had really good gelatos for dessert. The atmosphere is elegant but not stuffy The service was excellent too. Highly recommend read more

I came here tonight with a girlfriend for dinner. First the service is incredible. Truly the best service at a restaurant I've had in a very long time. Everyone was so attentive and kind. We loved everything we ordered. For drinks, the Italian 75 & espresso martinis were delicious. For appetizers, the ciabatta breadsticks are a must. The cheese dip for them is outstanding. The tuna carpaccio was also very delicious. For entrees, the lobster ravioli and 100 layer lasagna were amazing. The ambiance of the restaurant is so cute. I feel like I'm pretty hard to please and this place was absolutely a 10/10. read more

Bar Enza - Italian 75 - Italian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Delicious small plates and pasta. Great service. Enjoyed the focaccia appetizer and our pasta was great.

Waitstaff was excellent - our server was wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed my mojito(s), lobster mousse appetizer, and tortelli with roasted corn in a delightful sauce; my husband thought his spinach tagliatelle bolognese was excellent. I don't usually like goat cheese but the frozen goat cheese dessert with peaches was surprisingly delicious - accompanied by a very cute "Happy Anniversary" message. Thank you Bar Enza for a lovely night out! read more

Far poorer than previous restaurants at the same location in The Charles Hotel. Had late dinner in uncrowded restaurant. Service abysmal with almost completely absent waiter. Previous varied breads unavailable and bread served after request poor quality. Recommended dessert of pizzela had stale pastry. Avoid! read more

The food was excellent for our graduation dinner of 12. Service was first rate. Everything from the appetizers to the delicious sorbetto was a true Italian experience . We had a lovely room off the main dining area, so we were able to talk and it felt quite private. read more

Not good. We used to love this place (had been there 2 or 3 times in the past) but they just recently changed chefs (found out from the manager) and the food is just not anywhere near as good. The menu has changed drastically and the dishes we had were very bland. We had the black bass and agnolotti, both were underwhelming. The agnolotti was something I felt like I could have made at home better. Considering the price, this is quite a disappointment and we won't be returning. read more

I am puzzled by the average reviews of Bar Enza. I have dined here 5-6 times and each time I go they get better and better and better. Today I find it hard to imagine a single restaurant in New England that is better. If I was asked where I wanted to have my last meal it would be here and I would be sure to eat the 100-layer lasagna one layer at a time. read more

Disappointing evening. Celebrating our anniversary and were looking forward to a special night out. The drinks were very good and so were our salads. The meal was less than spectacular from there on. My husband ordered the lasagna. The presentation was nice but the flavor was mediocre and my eggplant dish was bland. Even the dense chocolate cake was lackluster. Overall, not a memorable meal. read more

The restaurant is pretty, but the service was awful. We felt rushed by a parade of dour faced servers who were grabbing our plates before we could put down the fork. Even though the restaurant was relatively empty we could not relax and dine at our own pace. The food was adequate, but the atmosphere was uncomfortable and the staff, counterintuitive. Appetizers came out before cocktails. Plates and utensils were rushed off the table, but empty drink glasses and food debris remained. After I commented to the waitress, she gave us dirty looks throughout the rest of our meal. I might have assumed it was just an off night, but others in my party had been there before and said the vibe was the same. It is certainly not a Michelin star level and lacks the professional service expected from an expensive establishment. A disappointing dining experience overall. read more

Everything was good, most of it was great, and the calamari, the the Caesar Salad, and the pistachio gelato were transcendent. My father said the pork milenesa was the best he'd ever had. Because they do a lot of different things we'll, this would be a good place for those of differing preferences to dine together. I'll be back read more

To start, Bar Enza is on the second floor of the Charles Hotel and there isn't a sign telling you where to go. The atmosphere was very calm, dim lit and romantic. The service was great, someone comes around and refills your water constantly. We got two cocktails each, and the only one we didn't like was the elderflower spritz. There wasn't much taste to it. The calamari was delicious. You don't get a huge portion, but the batter was nice and light. We just wish they put more peppers. But our entrees was delicious. For dessert, we had lemon sorbet which was excellent and Italian cookies, which weren't that great (about 5 cookies for $12). Overall, I think we'll come back sometime. Nice date night or special occasion spot. read more

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It's really delicious, I ordered the ravioli with lobster , I fall in love The place is classy and the service is top notch read more

Nestled in the Charles Hoel, Bar Enza has a beautiful mid century decor and plenty of space. It had a great ambiance on Saturday night with attentive servers. Enjoyed the Enza salad and the hake. read more

Giving one star because they have nice ambiance. Be clear about what you are ordering but don't expect to get it. It became comical. Order one thing, ask for correction, get another wrong dish. The marinara sauce: tomato skins and seeds. Really it's embarrassing for an Italian restaurant. After a while we just decided to treat dinner as one big surprise. read more

Sat at the bar. Had a great Aviation made by Ruby and my husband had a Negroni made by Ally. Great, knowledgeable and personable bartenders. Had the Fritto Misto appetizer as our "soaker", as his aunt would call it. read more

The food selections especially small plates were deliscious and perfect for sharing.The wait staff , Manager, Somalia , all were outstanding. I would give them a 6. A member of our party had a medical emergency and the staff was so helpful and professional. I will definitely return to thi Priscilla read more

Great Food and Great Atmosphere, but our server, Gabriel made the entire experience just awesome!

One of my favorite Italian restaurants! The breadsticks and marscapone are incredible. One of the best Caesar salads around!! Steak was unreal. read more

The food is outstanding as was the service until there was only a few remaining tables of clients at about 10:15 pm while still finishing out dessert the house lights went up so the staff could start cleaning. We asked if they were closing and they no not for another hour or something --when we asked them to please turn the lights back down as they were bright enough to be distracting--the host said he would but never did. So unfortunately even with the outstanding food, great design and wonderful waiter to have this other wanton disregard for the remaining clients made the evening feel very pedestrian. They should be better trained. read more

We had a horrible experience at Bar Enza on Saturday night. Our reservation was at 7:30, and while we were seated right away and got food menus, no one came to check in on us and we didn't know who our server was. The manager came around to see how we were doing and we mentioned that we never got a drink list, so she brought us one. Finally, our server came by and took our drink order. Things progressed from there and we were able to order both apps and mains from her shortly after. We got both the apps we ordered, however we ordered the ciabatta bread for 4 people (we had 4 people at our table) and only received the order for 2. We asked for two more sticks because we didn't get the full order, but would be charged for the 4 piece order. After eating our apps, we sat and waited for mains for OVER AN HOUR, with no one checking in on us except the guy who was watering the tables, so we ordered another round of drinks with him. Then, our server came over and asked if we wanted dessert, and we were all very confused and asked her where our food was? It still didn't come out, but they brought us another ENTIRE round of the apps we had ordered (including the 4 piece ciabatta), which we sent back. Finally, our main course food came. At the end of the meal, they comped us the second round of drinks we had while we waited for our main course, but had double charged us for two sets of the 4 person ciabatta which we just paid for because we wanted to get out of there (it was now 10:15 pm)! We have not had such a bad dining experience in a long time and it really seemed like no one in the restaurant was communicating or working together. As a former server myself it was really frustrating to watch. For Italian food, go elsewhere (especially since there is world class Italian food very close by, and the food here was nothing special!) read more

I so looked forward to going to Bar Enza last night with friends. I couldn't have been more disappointed. Literally every course was disappointing--mushrooms with broccoli rabe, Angry lobster ravioli, the wine chosen by the sommelier, and very, very slow service. The tomato sauce on the ravioli tasted like it came from a can. read more

I really, really want this restaurant to succeed. It has a great location, beautiful atmosphere, an acclaimed chef and excellent service staff. But the food is a huge miss. We had the artichoke appetizer that tasted like an oily marinaded salad straight out of a jar. The Cesare's Red Wattle said it came with house made toasted focaccia and shaved pineapple but instead it was grocery store bread and something warm and mushy we initially thought was cheese. We then ordered the Eggplant Parmigiana Rollatini which was just odd. The menu description said the eggplant was grilled but it was tepid with no flavor except some dried spice literally shaken over the top. We would have ordered more food but just gave up after these three disappointing plates. The wait staff was very professional and attentive, and perhaps we should have listened to the waiter's recommendation to order the lasagna, but we don't go out to eat to pay $35, ($40 with meat sauce) for a plate of everyday pasta from an acclaimed Michelin Star chef. read more

I really want to give a good review but I just can't. I had heard a lot of hype about this new Italian restaurant in a hotel and at first glance, it's a romantic and classy environment. After ordering a few dishes, I was so let down. The pork milenesa was so bland and average. My boyfriend ordered the fagioli and it tasted just barely edible. The only saving grace is that the service is excellent and the cocktails were really good. Overall I would not come back. I truly don't understand why the ratings for this restaurant are so high. read more

Had very high expectations given the Michelin star chef. Was quite disappointed. The good: ciabatta sticks. Garlicky broccoli. Drinks were fine. Bus service. The bad: only vegetarian option was a wheatberry risotto which was spicy. There were no rosemary tots (they didn't tell us and just gave us fries). The service-so slow and many did not wear masks correctly. Inattentive service.- read more

The service was really slow despite the restaurant being half full. The high topped tables in the lounge made me feel like I was at an airport lounge. My martini came half full (aren't martini glasses short enough) with a huge black olive at the bottom that still had its pit. That left two small sips in the glass. Then the salad came which was literally dripping in oil. Inedible but the server didn't notice. Wine... pre-measured at 5oz a glass. Pasta was good but by the time we got it we just wanted outta there. read more

The beautiful interior, cozy booths and great martini can't make up for the very average fare. The Bibb Salad was a disappointment - chopped lettuce drowning in vinegar. The under cooked fried calamari and average risotto balls made the Ciabatta sticks the star of the meal. Hope these are growing pains and the quality improves. read more

Very expensive and very disappointing. So inferior to either Benedetto's or Rialto. Food was poor quality. Service was so-so.

My friends and I had really high expectations for Bar Enza after reading positive reviews, and looking over the menu. However, we unfortunately did not have the experience we thought we would. The service was nothing short of terrible - never checked in on how our apps were, our mains, or came over to ask if we would like a second round of cocktails. After ordering cocktails shortly after we sat down, we didn't receive them until after finishing our apps. The food was delicious, but it was tainted by the terrible service. For how much the dishes were, along with the terrible service, I will not be rushing back to Bar Enza. read more

The old saying is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion but for me, I don't know how you can eat at Bar Enza and not think about the fact that you are eating some of the best prepared food America has to offer. We had four courses last night and each were superb as was the service. Go here while you can because once more people know about this place the harder it will become to get a reservation. read more

For an upscale restaurant, the service was poor. We waited almost 20 minutes before even being acknowledged by our server. Drink order took at least twenty more minutes. There were several long waiting periods. At one point we got up to walk to our wine bottle in a holder and bring it to the table to pour ourselves. Our server apologized and thanked us for waiting several times. The restaurant was fully packed. I think if you run a fine dining restaurant you should limit your number of guests if you know you don't have enough employees to provide quality service. Unfortunately I think they wanted the sales more than caring about service quality. One of the 3 appetizers was very good, raw tuna with bright flavors. The pumpkin app was undercooked and lacked flavor and calamari was very oily with heavy fry batter. Entree of shrimp scampi was delicious. Friends liked the lasagna. The meatball was a bit dense. Sever accidentally threw away food that was meant to be boxed up to go. For the price it wasn't worth it given the overall experience. read more

Food was not bad, tasted good but underwhelming and small portion sizes, including the lasagna. Overall this is a beautiful restaurant, we had a very nice and funny server. Overall experience was not what we expected. Being with good friends made the difference. read more

Great vibes, nice service, amazing food. i liked the wheatberry and tuna carpaccio. the apps are phenomenal too!

I went here a few weeks ago to celebrate my 3 year anniversary with my boyfriend, and let's just say the food was not good. We were so excited to come to this place after seeing the amazing reviews, but suffice it to say, not our best decision. The waiter we had was very judgmental when we decided to not order dessert. He kept on trying to get us to order wine despite us saying no multiple times. I ordered the focaccia, gazpacho, and Eggplant Parmigiana Rollatini. My boyfriend got the Enza Salad and the Ligurian pasta pesto. Everything was way too salty and the eggplant felt like mush and tasted like nothing. The description said: "Grilled eggplant," but the eggplant was soft and mushy. We also ordered the breadsticks, and they were hard as a rock(definitely took the word "stick' too literally). Definitely was not worth the price for us. read more

Food and service was outstanding! The location is perfect and has a elegant cool vibe.

Sadly we were very disappointed with the restaurant. It opened with such hype and we were shocked when the Charles suddenly replaced the fabulous Benedetto with it. We sat on the patio on a lovely Friday evening - without a reservation - and that should have been the first sign that it wasn't living up to the hype! It really wasn't very good. The salads we ordered were good (hearts of palm and mushroom) but the "Meatball Gigante" was under-cooked in the middle! And the waiter, who had offered lackluster service already, told my husband that it couldn't be undercooked because it was braised for hours! Thankfully, the eggplant dish was ok, and to do the waiter credit, he did take the meatball off our bill - after reiterating his stance that it couldn't have been under-cooked. He also complained by asking us sarcastically if we would be needing anything else because we tasted the meatball and the eggplant dish and asked for hot pepper flakes, and then asked for salt - our mistake but who knew the food would be so under-seasoned? read more

miranda!!! there aren't enough kind words. she goes ABOVE and BEYOND. she made our evening so wonderful and the service was amazing. thank you so much for the best first time experience here at Bar Enza, read more