Hands down one of the best places to eat in Worcester. You need to call for a spot and must get on…read morecall to do so. Freshly made pasta, great wine selection. Sparse, rotating menu that varies weekly. I think I couldn't make this at home--a test for a place being worth the bill--so it's worth the price. It certainly felt authentically Italian. Service was great. It's a tight ship but they make it work. Ambiance was energetic being around the public market but the food is good enough that you can dress up. Wonderful date night/foodie spot. A few bar seats so definitely a partner or friend at max. Not a place to bring kids as it's dine in. Teenagers can walk around of course if you're having a couples night.

I usually take reviews of Italian restaurants very lightly in Massachusetts because if you use a…read morelarge restaurant review site to find suggested Italian restaurants in most cities, Buca de Beppo and Olive Garden usually make their filthy little way into the top 10, eroding all my trust in that site. (... and humanity) Case in point, most of the Italian dishes being reviewed by diners in cities like Worcester as 'very authentic' are fairly foreign to actual restaurants in Italy. There is TRUE Italian food and American Italian food (classic 'red sauce' joints) I will never besmirch a good classic red sauce joint like Dan Tanas, Rao's or even some of the Federal Hill joints. There is a place in the culinary pantheon for amazing spaghetti meatballs and veal parm ... however 'authentic Italian' they are not. What we got at Pasta Mani is TRUE Italian. In fact, we ate here not more than 2 weeks after coming back from Italy and I can honestly say that we enjoyed our meal here (from a taste perspective) more than many of the restaurants in Italy we ate at. (One with a Michelin star!) This chef's philosophy here is one embraced in Italy ... simple, fresh, cooked with care. The reason tourists go to Italy and geek out over the food is because we've grown up eating Italian food here which is good ... but not made with the same level of passion. Eating a dish of spaghetti carbonara in Italy vs. the US is like listening to the Beatles for the first time on vinyl, in mono! It's hard to find a chef with the knowledge and respect for the ingredients that are displayed here. The servers are knowledgeable about the menu. She was not afraid to make recommendations. She knew the dish's ingredients as well as the chef ... and she was as friendly as could be. The accompanying beer and wines matched the menu perfectly and also were mostly Italian. The menu offers not a lot of choices ... but there is something for everyone. It's not heavy on meat ... but nor are menus in Italy. Maybe a reason why folks over there are not often over 6 feet tall or 200 lbs. vs. many Americans whose 4 major food groups are bacon, burgers, chicken nuggets and occasionally lobster rolls. We had the octopus, which was done perfectly ... the flavors were spot on and the chef clearly knew taste profiles as well as technique. Watermelon and octopus! Who knew? He did. We had the peach pesto cavatelli pasta and the pasta Amatricana with pancetta. Both were amazing ... the favors combined so effortlessly but perfectly. Red pepper flakes, pine nuts, grease from the bacon, tomatoes. It was all just so ... great! All the pasta was perfectly homemade ... and available for purchase as takeaway. Before we knew it, we were regrettably too full for dessert. The chef came out of the kitchen, where 80's and punk music was blasting, and you could watch the cooking happen, to greet us. He had worked in some of Seattle's better Italian restaurants and apparently learned a thing or two. If he had said he worked in Napoli, Sorrento or Rome for many years, we'd have believed it! The only thing we weren't in love with was the actual 'food hall' setup which felt a bit industrial for our liking. But, it was oddly cool and comfortable in a Momofuku type of way. This chef and his team deserve a restaurant. 5 seats and a chef's table are too small for the talent level. This was one of the best Italian meals I've had outside Italy or NYC. In Worcester, near a ballpark ... go figure. We also noticed that everything in the 'restaurant' was spotlessly clean ... and I mean spotless! We'll be back for sure. Places like this that don't serve a fried brick of chicken smothered in cream sauce and melted cheese and call it Italian are few and far between in Central Massachusetts. A great vibe, a great staff, a great meal! If ya know ... ya know.

Amazing restaurant, the chef hails directly from Florence and has extensive experience in cooking…read moreFlorentine cooking. His rabbit and wild boar pepperedelle are heavenly

An authentic Italian experience, briugh to Bloomberg NJ. Their selection of boar, rabbit and wines…read moreis exceptional. But ultimately, what truly won us iver is their world famous carbonara. And Garo is very friendly!

Went to La Cucina today for the first time. It was my daughters bday. Michael was our waiter and he…read morewas fabulous. The food was very very good. Generous portions and not overly expensive!! We shall be back.

Eh... just a quick update. Got an order of penne and meatballs to go and it was better than…read moreexpected. The meatballs this time around tasted good lol. Adding a star.

We decided to go out for some pasta on a Saturday night in Worcester. There's a lot adjacent to…read morethe building and it was packed, but thankfully we found parking. We didn't have reservations and didn't have to wait to be seated. The restaurant decor was nice and lighting was more on the dimmer side. Our waiter was very friendly and quick. We had the Chicken Milanese with Italian sausage and the Steak with potatoes and broccoli. It was very good and plentiful enough to take leftovers.

Our waiter was fantastic, attentive, but didn't rush us by any means. We had a nice Sangiovese to…read morestart. The Arancini was an excellent choice for a starter. Although the menu says 2, it actually has 3. I had the Linguine Allan Carbonara. It was a little more pepper than I was used to, but it was very tasty. I may add more pepper when I make mine now. The other two orders were Chicken Parm with ziti and a twin filet special. I tasted each for scientific reasons and both were also very good. We got there on the early side (5:30) and were seated in one of the best seats in the house at the front window. It started filling up when we were leaving around 7. Wry nice interior and the bar area looks pretty cool too. We grabbed an on street parking spot right in front.

Went here for dinner last night, this place is absolutely excellent. We were blown away with how…read moregood the food and drinks were. We live in the area and this is our first time dining in, we ordered the pistachio pizza, pepperoni pizza and the rigatoni. They all were EXCELLENT - some of the best pasta and pizza i've had in a while. Better than some restaurants in the north end!! The atmosphere was very laid back and the inside is beautiful with those big windows. Our waitress was excellent as well, the food came very fast and she was very attentive. We can't wait to come back and bring our family!

I lived in Worcester for three years and somehow never made it to this place despite hearing good…read morethings about it constantly. We finally stopped in during a recent trip visiting some friends. They have a pretty extensive drink menu which I appreciate. I ordered the monky business and I have to admit, I was disappointed in it. It just wasn't that enjoyable. Don't think I didn't wash down every single last drop in there. It certainly got the job done in the intoxicating department. The service was great and the food was wonderful. To start, we ordered the arancini which were delicious. Crispy exterior and creamy interior with a nice savory bite. We ordered the due modi pizza with sliced potato, cape cod potato chips, mozzarella, provolone, scallion, garlic oil. This was DELICIOUS. I love the local flare with the cape cod chips however I don't recall there being any actual chips on that pizza. Maybe the cocktail and subsequent beers I consumed got to me. A friend ordered the vegano which was also really really good. Overall, it was a great experience and would definitely return

100% Vincent lives up to the hype. A dive bar that is known for their meatball sandwich, I have…read morebeen dying to check it out. Such a good atmosphere. The space is small, dark, and had a live band playing. Bartenders were very quick. Their menu is simple, each meatball sandwich is $11. We got two sandwiches and two drinks. And wow, this sandwich was incredible. First off the bread was perfect, it was super soft and light that soaked up all the flavor from the meatballs and the sauce. The meatballs itself were the best I've ever had. Tasted homemade, fresh, and I wished the sandwich never ended. Can't wait to go back.

Coming from NYC, going to a dive bar was common for a New Yorker. When searching for a place to…read moredrink and eat, Vincent's came up with high reviews especially for their meatball sandwich. The bar was in a more secluded area but we didn't mind. When we walked in at 9:45pm on a Sunday night, I didn't expect to feel... unwelcomed? Perhaps we were the only Asian (and only minority there) and everyone else was Caucasian. Definitely a lot of pauses and stares. The bar was full and no one seemed to acknowledge us. We walked right in and walked right out.

The food was genuinely good, everything came out hot, fresh, and well-seasoned, especially the…read morepasta dish I ordered which had a nice homemade taste. It was a bit busy when I went, so service was slower than expected and it took a while to get the food and refills. The staff were still polite and doing their best, just a little overwhelmed. The atmosphere was cozy and had that classic Italian restaurant feel, which made the dinner enjoyable overall.

The atmosphere was nice and relaxing. The food was okay, but it didn't stand out as much as I…read moreexpected.

The place was clean and comfortable, and the staff were polite. The food was okay for me, though a…read morefew things didn't fully meet my expectations..

I have been looking to try Dino's for a while now based on a recommendation from a friend. I was…read moregoing to a holy cross lacrosse game so decided to try it out. I ordered the clams casino appetizer they could have been hot instead of warm.... and after discussing 2 options with our server she strongly s the veal saltambucca ..... very different from any saltambucca I've ever had.....a tomato sauce base we got there at 4:30 on a Friday and it was pretty crowded service was kinda slow.Maybe I just didn't order the right thing