Figured we'd try it and support a local restaurant that we had t tried yet. It was just ok. The food was decent. No tequilas worth drinking and the waitress had no idea what they had behind the bar. The service was slow and not attentive. Shrimp cocktail was grocery store quality. Not a great experience. Disappointing overall. Don't need to go back. read more

Eaten here a bunch of times. Excellent food. Have the blackened salmon at lunch. Best salmon I remember having, just a little salt and lemon juice. Went with co-workers a bunch of times and got a combination of appetizers. Everything we had was very good. They also use a great coffee company. I don't what it is, but its good. read more

Dined at Sam's this evening for my Birthday dinner, have been there a few times on the bar side with friends for apps and drinks and always enjoyed the food and service. Today was different because I was dining with my 2 young daughters and my parents just before 6pm. The service was excellent, hostess was kind, our server very patient with the kids, understood the simple suggestions from me against more bread or chocolate milk so the kids wouldn't ruin their meal. My folks were late coming from central MA and there was no pressure to rush us. Calamari was awesome, perfectly breaded and fried, oysters on the half were local (from the Cape) a bit sweet and not too briny, the food quality was all there. Menu options are American Bistro ranging from restaurant quality comfort food to higher end steak and seafood specials. My 6 & 7 year old girls devoured chicken wings with sides of mashed potatoes. They were in heaven. My father had a very tasty entree, bone in pork chop with vinegar peppers, sausage and potatoes. The pork chop is a static menu item. My mother opted for mahi-mahi with 2 jumbo shrimp which was high quality but the dish was confused... Wasabi mashed potato, pico de gallo and cilantro creme. Mashed potato combined with pico and lime juice doesn't go well together and wasabi did not belong on the plate, especially when it turns the potatoes green. Fish was cooked perfect and portion was abundant but it didn't flow. I ordered a blue cheese crusted club sirloin with fried leeks and truffle butter over mushroom risotto with grilled asparagus. I thought the cut was a club NY sirloin (aka strip loin). It was actually a top sirloin baseball cut. Thank the good chef in the kitchen it was cooked perfectly rare and was tender and delicious, it cut like a filet and probably saved me $10. The risotto was dry, missing the creaminess of a risotto finished with cream and butter and there was no truffle scent at all on the plate. Dessert was good and we weren't rushed out by our server at the end of the meal when the restaraunt was filling up. A good dining experience for the price, I will definitely go back. Would be 5 stars except for a few imperfections on 2 specials. I read some other reviews about a manager walking around the dining room in a chef coat and I saw him but he never spoke. If "Sam" is shy my advice is that he should engage with the customers, it will help the Bistro. read more

This restaurant was formerly SAMs Bistro and a couple of weeks ago was transformed into Fusilli's Cucina with a great new menu. We went on a Saturday night the first week it was open. The food was great great but service was slow. It took 90 minutes to get our food. I really was struck by the menu. I love Italian foods but I don't like a lot of breaded, stuffed foods. Fusilli's Cucina has many unique items on the appetizer and dinner menu suitable for a diabetic or just someone who doesn't like too many carbs. So, we went back last weekend with 2 other couples. We had a reservation and were seated promptly. The staff were properly attentive and knowledgable about the menu. Crispy bread with very good dipping oil,was brought out promptly Appetizers of very good shrimp cocktail, 5 jumbo shrimp with some good horseradish along side the cocktail sauce, savory and juicy chicken wings that could have been crispier, and a decent antipasto plate. Our waitress recommended the Sea Bass Special, a good sized portion of fish with lobster, asparagus, and I think hollandaise sauce. It was a winner! We also ordered Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Saltimbocca, and Mediterranean Chicken. All very good. The sauces with the chicken dishes were good, but a bit thin, as if the fresh pasta wasn't well drained. The entrees came with a good salad. We will certainly come here again. read more

Food was delicious but the drinks were extremely strong, the waitress was discombobulated and was forgetful! Our check had things ordered on it from another table and we wanted to take our dinner home and she only returned with our pizza and not our pasta/eggplant. We were disappointed to say the least as our first experience was much better but not sure we will return for a third time. read more

Mom-and-Dad date night here was very enjoyable. Filet cooked to perfection, other meats prepared masterfully. A bit too light on the meat, a bit too heavy on veggies. Delicious blueberry cobbler. Nice wood-paneled ambience. Our waitress rushed us a little, even though we told her we planned to take our time, and there were many tables available. The manager or owner was walking around. If he really had nothing to do, he should have walked among tables and briefly connected with his customers, and encouraged the waitstaff. I would have loved to stay there for hours with drinks and dessert, and I plan to come back. read more

It's getting 4 stars mostly because of our server. She was FANTASTIC. Her name was Lisa C. Very attentive and friendly. Like others said, the salad and bread were both plentiful and yummy. Another thing I liked was the fact you could get yummy well cooked veggies in place of pasta with ease and no strange glances. So I got the fra diavolo with broccoli instead of pasta. Sauce was awesome, broccoli cooked well, but for the price, I found it lacking in the seafood department. I got 2 tiny pieces of shrimp. 2 scallops, and I think 1 muscle. Rest was calamari. The muscles appetizer was delicious. Try'em. Also if I go back, I will save my cheat meal and get the actual fusilli. I had a bit of my daughter's mac n cheese and MAN WAS IT DELICIOUS. I will be dreaming about that for ages. read more

I've been here numerous times for dinner, always on Sunday nights. Sunday's don't seem to be too busy, as there are always plenty of parking spots and there has never been a wait for a table. I've been very pleased with the food I've ordered - I've tried a pasta dish, meatloaf (it was a special that night), and I've had their pizza repeatedly. I'd like to try more dishes on their menu, but I cannot stop ordering their Chicken & Broccoli Pizza - it's too good to pass up. I've also been happy with the drinks - they make very good martinis. read more

The night started out great. Until the drinks where served. Wine glass shattered all over over the place before our waitress put the glass down on the table. Causing a tsunami of wine to pour all over me and my father. So we got moved to a new table. Ok now it's dinner time, time to eat. Out of 6 meals 4 came out freezing cold, the "surf and turf" was so over cooked you couldn't even chew it. Nothing worse then cold mashed potatoes and asparagus served With chilled steak tips. The did comp the food which is a no brainer but what a bad experience. Not to mention the ass hole customer sitting outside on the patio who was atleast 50 years old running his mouth outside. This place is not worth it go to bk or McDonald's and save your money read more

Food was excellent. Party of 15; told we had to order food if we wanted more than one drink. Waitress couldn't figure out how to split the bill 3 ways. Kept telling us "this is why we don't split bills" as if it was our fault that she couldn't figure it out. Won't be back. read more

Went there for dinner with 3 friends last night. Started off well - friendly service, great martinis, and the caesar salad was great. Then the entrees came. Well, my 3 friends' entrees came, mine didn't. The waiter said it would just be 2 minutes and mine would be out. I said fine. But 2 minutes was more like 10-12. i had told my friends to eat so theirs wouldn't go cold. When my meal finally arrived they were a good halfway through theirs. The reason i was told as to why it was late was that they burned the shrimp and had to re-fire them. ok, they could have brought the steak and potatoes with the other entrees and then brought the shrimp out late. but instead they held the entire plate, which i suspect was put in the oven as the food was hot (great) but because of this, my medium steak was well done (not great). i know they know how to cook steak because my friend ordered medium and his was perfect. so after some conversation, they did ultimately comp my meal and gave us a free dessert. our waiter was nice as was the manager - certainly not their direct faults. we did have fun and the drinks were good, but i probably would not eat there again. read more

Love Everything, love the lamb chops, Monday night $1 oysters, cherry stones and shrimp cocktail Yum

The worst food I have ever had!!!! We had 2 of the so called special appetizers a stuffed banana pepper which was like leather and stuffed with cold feta and gross sundried tomatoes. The other was 3 small shrimp wrapped in procuito which was actually bacon. We ordered the prime rib which was not prime rib but a cheap cut of steak and salad was old and wilted. Dressing was balsamic vinaigrette and it tasted like dirt. The wait staff was pleasant but did not know if they had baked potatoes no one new. Overall a bad experience would never go back. Steve Quigley Melrose read more

I have been to this place a number of times and have always had a good experience. Yesterday, I went for lunch and the whole place seemed unorganized. One waitress seated my party of two and took the drink orders and food choices. What seemed like an extended period of time we were given bread. Our orders were gnocchi with a meatball and pesto chicken. When the food arrived the meatball was missing so we let it slide. The pesto chicken was served over penne. At the bottom of the bowl was a pool full of water. When the bill arrived we had to have the waitress adjust the bill as we were charged for the meatball. All in all, not the best experience. Considering the place was .somewhere around 1/3 full, I am not sure what the problem was. I would be hesitant to return. read more

I was expecting an average to poor meal based on previous Yelp reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. The waitress was professional, the ambience was appropriate, and most importantly, the food was on point. I ordered the chicken picatta and it was very good. My husband ordered the chicken Alfredo and enjoyed it as well. Each meal comes with a family style salad and a side of bread with their marinara sauce. Very unique! We will certainly be back! read more

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Meh. Service was excellent - friendly, efficient, ...waiter's name, IIRC, was Morton. Food was just okay. My friend ordered chicken broccoli Alfredo and really enjoyed it. He ate the whole thing. I ordered the pork chop medium and got it so overdone, it hurt to chew. Too salty. The rest of the spices and herbs were very tasty. Mashed potatoes bland. They could have used a pat of butter and salt or some gravy. Fresh string beans were fresh and cooked perfectly. Also, the complimentary salad. I learned this from my mom when I was in elementary school. Restaurant staff should know it. One thing to prepare a green salad in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. But you don't put the salad dressing on until serving. Wilts the greens. My salad was one step away from being slimy. I would go again, but I would order something else and I would sit as far from the bar as I could get. Too noisy. 4 stars for service and friend enjoying his chicken dish. Really would like to give it 3.5 stars but I can't because of overcooked pork chop. read more

Way overpriced for bad food. Tried to be safe and order a burger thinking that its a bistro it should have a good burger for $12 right? Wrong, over done with stale reheated fries and here is the best part... It comes on a stop & shop sesame seed bun! As for other parts of the meal, stuffed mushrooms that were loaded with cheese and obliviously microwaved, and one of our party members ordered eggplant parm with a non existing piece of eggplant. Bottom line is save your money, for $18-$30 a main course you can eat at just about every great restaurant in Boston/Cambridge that have real chefs and fresh ingredients. read more

Recently changed from Sam's Bistro. The prices are definitely much more reasonable. The atmosphere is upscale..much nicer then most local places. The food was above average. Caesar salad was well dressed and fresh. Chicken parm sandwich was very good, crispy chicken and bread. Tortellini Alfredo was fresh but way too much garlic. Our server was pretty slow but others seemed quick and attentive, so I can't fault them for that. We were in no rush so I'm sure in time our server will be just fine. We will be back to try more dishes and I recommend you come here for some fairly priced Italian food with a great atmosphere. read more

I have only sat in the bar area here, and it is a nice bar. More than decent wine list and some great beers on tap. I have never eaten in the restaurant area, it somehow always seems to be a bar destination for us. I have had the appetizers and they are great, a nice place to go to in the area. Hope to try a full blown mean soon. read more

Fusilli Cucina was absolutely fantastic! Great wine, beer and cocktail selection. The food menu is spectacular and really speaks to everyone. We had the chicken parmigiana, which included a fresh, well cooked chicken breast lightly breaded topped with provolone. The pasta was cooked perfectly! We sat at the bar with Liz and Leslie, who were extremely friendly and very knowledgable about the menu. They really showed enthusiasm and lead us in all the right directions! A must try, for sure. Enjoy! read more

My wife and I decided to try Fusillli's on a Saturday night and our meal awesome. The service was also very good. We ordered a Trout stuffed with shrimp and lobster and a seafood risotto. Both meals were so large that we had to take them home. One thing to mention that it would be a good idea to make a reservation on a Saturday night. read more

I like this incarnation better than Sam's. I particularly recommend the meatball appetizer, as it goes well with the bread they serve. Their specials have always been as good as they sound. It's not high end like Sams was trying for, but it's solid, tasty Italian done well. read more

Went last night around 7:30pm. It was busy initially but slowed down. Waitress didn't get our drink orders until 25 minutes passed by. She also never brought water to the table. I had to ask twice for bread after our appetizers came. Luckily another woman stepped in and got us salads. Overall disappointed. Asked for steak with two veggie sides and got a gross pile of squash looked absolutely terrible. I first came to this restaurant two years ago and it was outstanding, now the wait staff just seems either inexperienced or lazy. read more

Wow!!!!! Started with pink lemonade martini. Delicious. Had shrimp scampi appetizer. Excellent!! CHRISTINA the bartender was very warm and friendly. One more pink lemonade martini and prime rib sandwich. To die for.coffee drink plus dessert to go. Will come back many times!!!!! read more

went to fusillis tonight with the family got the carbonara all fatty pieces of panchetta nasty big pieces of chicken not good kids ravioli dry not good at all french onion soup was good thats it waste of 80 dollars read more

I'm very disappointed that I'm writing this review. The 2 stars is based upon service. The past two times I've been in here the staff have either gotten my order wrong or forgot to put order in. The food is very good. Not sure what's going on here because this use to be my go to local Italian restaurant. Not worth going if the service isn't up to par. read more

Dined here for the first time a bit early last Friday evening, when my wife and I arrived it was only 5:30pm, restaurant was just opening for dinner, and since it is during Lent and we weren't eating meat we decided to give this restaurant a try. Our waitress was Hailey, once she learned it was our first visit she was determined to make sure we had a great meal to which she successfully accomplished! I chose the special seafood soup they were serving as my appetizer and I was immediately glad I did, it was the BEST seafood soup I have ever tasted! It had a wonderful seafood broth with mussels, fish and shrimp, it was absolutely delicious and I would have been happy eating just a pot of it for my dinner!! I asked for and graciously received a nice plate of lasagna (which was a lunch special but they gave it me for dinner) with some nice garlic bread on the side. My wife chose Eggplant Parm over homemade fusilli pasta and we both got complimentary house salads as well. My wife couldn't finish her entree since the portion was so HUGE so Hailey wrapped it up and ( added a nice container of extra sauce) so I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day! Since both the food and the atmosphere were so wonderful and the staff were all so nice we have decided we MUST RETURN to try their meat and fish entrees! Thank you to the restaurant manager (we didn't catch her name) and Hailey our waitress for making our first visit to Fusilli's Cucina a most pleasant experience! Looking forward to our next visit (maybe we'll return this Friday)!?? read more

Good cold beer and great cheese pizza Good dough great sauce . I think I know my pizza and was pleasantly surprised. read more

This was the first time we ordered from here. We ordered 2 cheese pizzas and a wedding soup..... The pizza was OUTSTANDING! And the wedding soup is craving worthy! Will definately be ordering from here again!!!! read more

Fusilli's Cucina - New American Near Me - Reading, Massachusetts

Great seafood and pasta in a great location with plenty of parking. The restaurant is very clean, quiet and spacious. The Nantucket pie, lobster ravioli, seafood risotto and shrimp scampi are our favorite dishes. The staff are super friendly and the atmosphere is always very comfortable. read more

Best prime rib egg rolls we ever had !!! The bartender friendly and makes a kick ass Cosmo !!!!

I have to give this restaurant a great review!! I had the best shrimp scampi ever! Came with a salad for $22. Drinks were above average. Bartender very nice, informative and helpful! I came on a Saturday at 6pm and was happily served with no issues!! read more

We went to Fusilli's with a large group and everyone went home extremely satisfied. Great food, atmosphere, and service. We could not have been happier. Everyone's salads were fresh, eggplant parm was so tasty, and the chicken alfredo was the best that I ever had. I highly recommend Fusilli's the next time that you are looking for a home-cooked Italian meal and warm, attentive service. I will definitely be headed back there the next time I am visiting. Thanks for making my meal an unforgettable experience. read more

Our family had lunch here, our waitress was Sophia, she needs to be retrained. Our beverage order took about 20 minutes to get delivered, instead of filling an empty beverage, we had to ask, even though she walked a number of times past our table. The food was nothing special, pasta was cold and had quite a bit of water in the dish. We complained about a burger that was supposed to be cooked medium well, came out medium rare, her response was "well I put it in to be cooked medium well". Never saw a manager, so I can only assume that she never mentioned it? We will never return. Too many other great Italian restaurants!!! She clearly couldn't handle the number of tables that she had... read more

Went to Sam's as a family and was thorougly pleased and pleasantly surprised given the harse critism of the first review. Our server - Julie was lovely and the service all night was fabulous - timely and her willingness, on multiple occasssions, to accommodate special requests was admirable - we changed the cocktail mixers, the appetizer and dinner offerings - without a hitch. I loved the menu and am excited to go back because it offers an opportunity to have a really nice meal without a long drive - I have to say every plate was executed perfectly and portions were great. I had a sea bass with lobster ravioli - cooked to perfection and my family all fought over the ravioli's. there must of been at least a half pound piece of bass. My husband has seared scallops and carbonara risotto - again - perfect and flavorable. My sons ordered adult plates and they were excellent. My only advice for the owner would be that the menu item my son chose was listed as Chicken Broccoli and Penne. It was in fact Broccoli Rabe in the dish. Its much more pungent than traditional broccoli and although cooked perfectly - its not universally received by all and I would suggest changing the menu listing to reflect Broccoli Rabe so consumers could make an educated decision We ate til we "hurt"...loved every bit of it and cant wait to go back A WELCOMED ADDITION TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD - WELL DONE. RTC Reading,MA read more

So I've been curious about this place since it opened. They tore down that utterly ugly and dated "bazaar" place and put up a brand-new restaurant in it's place. - Now, I didn't know that this place is owned and run by the same people that run the Stearn's & Hill Bistro in Melrose. I love that place. I do not love this place. - Sam's looks really nice. We went in on a Saturday night and it was busy but not packed, and we were seated immediately. There's a really nice bar room off to the left that was DEAD! I mean NOBODY in there on a Saturday night! I felt bad for the bartender! Anyhow - the restaurant itself is really nicely decorated and has that standard american restaurant vibe going on. I looked at the menu, and it looked really familiar - then turning over the menu I saw the signs for both Sam's and Stearn's Bistro. The menu is IDENTICAL. I was disappointed, because if that's where I wanted to eat, I would have gone there. I wanted something new. But no matter, I was excited to try it and see how they do here. I got prime rib, and my guest got steak tips. - I think we got the same thing. My prime rib looked more like sirloin, and the steak tips looked like chopped steak. Each dish had a glob of mashed potatoes and a glob of squash. (I hate squash). Seriously - we joked about being in the army when we got our plates. It looked like mess-hall food. No vegetables? Yah ok squash is a vegetable - but two mounds of mush are not appetizing. The prime rib was fatty. I am no steak expert and for all I know they gave me the wrong steak. So, for that I say this was the worst prime rib ever. My guest didn't eat a lot of her steak tips. And so we didn't have the greatest meal. We stayed awhile talking, which we didn't feel guilty about because the place emptied out during out stay - so there's no competition for a table. Again, the bar was dead on the way out. - The place LOOKED nice, I was dissapointed in our meals given that I love the stuff over at Stearn's & Hill. I was going to give three stars, but I have to say I'll probably never go back. If I want to eat this food, I'm going to my standby in Melrose. (see my review of that place!) - * I encourage you to read the "filtered" reviews here. (bottom of page - click on lower left). Interesting. Defintiely keeping the 2 stars.... read more

Great place to eat!! My husband, our children and myself went to dinner on a Monday night for our first time here. Our server, Gaetano, was amazing! Our food was great! There is something for everyone! We definitely will come back!! Thank you Fusilis!! read more

Ate there today and didn't expect anything great. But. The food was AWESOME! I got AN ORGANIC FREE RANGE roasted CHICKEN. Fantastic. Wife got arugalla salad pizza. Also awesome . service great. And prices were really really good. read more

Ok so my wife and I have been wanting to try Sam's Bistro for a while and tonight seemed like a good night.... Well lets just say we are now at home and my wife is making herself a pb&j sandwich for dinner. we had Calamari as an app. it was cooked just right nice and tender but I dont know what used to bread it very dry and not very tasty.... For dinner I order the meatloaf and my wife got the shrimp scampi. The meatloaf did not have very much flavor at all i would almost call a bunless hamburger with a little mushroom gravy.. For $16 I really I could go to any mom and pop dinner and get 2 order of very good meatloaf Ok now on the the real winner my wifes $20 shrimp scampi.. The first time they brought it out to her the shrimp were so over cooked that when I tried one I thought it was made of rubber. We let our server know and she said she would have the kitchen remake it.. So by the time the 2nd attempt is brought to our table I have finished all of the meatloaf that I could take.... The new scampi looks really good nice large shrimp my wife tries one and still a little over cooked but much better.. So as my wife gets to the 2nd shrimp on her new plate she notices that it's got a lot of BLACK on it side. She asked me to look at it I thought it might have just gotten a little burnt on the the side while it was cooking so I told her I would try a bite to make sure it was ok. I take my bite and spit it right out......SOMEONE FORGOT TO SHELL THE ENTIRE SHRIMP.. AND THE SHELL IS BLACK (maybe its from the gulf coast) .. We call over our server and let her know that now my wife no longer wants the scampi... server apologizes takes the plate away... comes back 10 min later tells us they will take scampi off the bill then takes another 15 min to bring us the check so we could get out of there. Not once did the manager come over to apologize for the multiple issues with my wife scampi or see if there was anything that they could to make our dining experience better.. This was out first and last trip to Sam's Bistro read more

So... Even with all the negative reviews, I decided to give it a go. I tend to be critical of "neggies" as I refer to them who bash a seafood restaurant because they got an awful hot dog for lunch, or a lobster roll at UNO's. Any way, back to Sam's. First course fried calamari... Gross. I would be bold to say one of the worst. All oil, no flavor, I'm not lying here, right down the street at the hilton (old crown plaza THE BEST). Even the side marinara sucked. There is a think called salt and pepper, try it out I promise it won't hurt! Next came my Salmon BLT... Ehh! I wish my plate was all fries, but that's not saying much either. The coleslaw was all right, average but who says "oh man, the coleslaw at this place is amazing". The salmon was alright, but the way the waitress played it off I was expecting to be transported to the cape, sitting surf side... But alas, No! The waitstaff was very nice and did everything to accommodate us. I feel bad for the guys behind us, who were having a problem with steak tips... They have a location in Melrose as well, how that is, I will never know! God speed foodies. read more