Gufo is a new casual fine dining Italian restaurant in East Cambridge and if my experience is any indication, it is sure to endure for a long time. The service is excellent. We arrived a few minutes early and they set us up at the bar while we waited for our table. The bar has a full shelf of top spirits but the wine list truly caught my eye. They offer highly sought after labels from the west coast and Italy. For dinner, my date and I shared a plate of arancini and two pasta dishes, Mortadella Cappelletti and Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo. For dessert, we shared a delicious slice of olive oil cake that came covered with peaches next to a dollop of cream. Five star dinner at Gufo. The handmade pastas were incredible! I've never had anything like that corn and pistachio sauce, and I can't wait to come back to it again and try the other offerings, like the pizzas- they looked really tempting. read more

Great waiter, great Manager.....thanks Ted for always making us feel so kindly welcomed back. Broccoli Caesar, meatballs and grilled mushrooms are delicious starters. Spaghetti w clams nice chewy pasta and good spicy kick. Loved oxtail pasta dish. Thanks for tiramisu ....not as moist as many I've made or had but delicious and easy to share. Space is bright and cherry but not much character. SRV prettier and more intimate feeling. read more

Came in as a walk-in and they were able to seat us at the bar right away! For a drink, i got an espresso martini and it was great! Loved the vibe, and the staff were all very pleasant. They also have gluten free options for pasta! read more

This review is for the cafe. There are not a lot of vegetarian options. The people in front of me were served their coffee drinks in plastic cups so I passed on coffee. At 1 pm the plastic wrapped pizza slices in the bakery case looked old and unappetizing so I got the eggplant sandwich on ciabatta. It's a very large portion on a lot of bread. The caponata is very salty and cold and kept spilling out of the bread with every bite and I didn't have a fork to pick it up. Eating in the zero-atmosphere dining room was not very pleasant. I finished half the sandwich and took half home to see if I could somehow make it less salty. I really miss the Loyal Nine cafe, which presented the coffee and tea so beautifully in the perfect cups and glasses, and offered great cafe meals like toad in the hole and granola. read more

My wife and I went to Gufo for a date night. Reservation: We made a 7:30pm reservation during the week and arrived early around 7:15. We informed the hostess that we were here and would be at the bar. Our reservation time came and went and at 8pm (a full 30 minutes later), we went and inquired and were told it would just be a few minutes longer. I'm a firm believer that reservations should be honored in a timely manner. Perhaps employing one of those systems that texts guests when their reservation is ready would be helpful. We ordered dinner, drinks, and dessert: Rigatoni- a good portion though amazingly over salted. We were both quite taken aback by how salty it was. Arancini- flavorful with a good sauce though overpriced at $13 for only 3 of them. For that price, there should be 4 not 3. Fried Brussels sprouts- slightly under-cooked with a good balance of flavors Peara Cotta- quite sweet and slightly on the pricey side Von Trappe Oktoberfest- flavorful beer, but quite the heady, poor pour with only about 8 ounces of beer (for the 12oz expected pour) Olive Oil Cake- cake was moist with a distinctive olive oil flavor. It did not come with any whipped cream as pictured in some of the reviews. Was worth a try, but won't be ordering it again. Service- our server was polite and helpful to explain the menu, though he wasn't too attentive; he never checked in, bothered to refilled the waters nor asked if we wanted another round of drinks. Overall, a fair dining experience. The restaurant recently opened and we'll be back in the hopes that they work out some of their opening issues read more

Great food service was fantastic even though it was busy. Everyone was personable. Atmosphere was great. Overall a very good experience.

The space at Gufo is beautiful but it's incredibly loud. I started with the broccoli Caesar which was great. Then I got the Rotolo entree which was really disappointing. It was over cooked and tasted like a frozen meal from the grocery store - actually I've had better frozen meals to be honest. These two small little rounds of overcooked pasta filled with spinach and cheese for a whopping $26. This is the kind of thing that makes a person not want to eat out. My friend didn't like her chicken entree either. The dessert was phenomenal though - we got the chocolate cake and the soft serve with chocolate shell. I would go back for the dessert but I'm definitely going to skip the subpar entrees and I might choose to wait until their patio is in use so that I can hear myself think! read more

Really good first experience. Really nice space (inside + outdoor) Enjoyed everything we ate Would definitely return again read more

Food was terrific Service at bar was attentive and the follow up was on point Loved the open kitchen and dining area read more

I love Gufo! We had a party of 10 for a birthday dinner and the service was very efficient, and we got a great table. The ambiance is super cute, and the food is phenomenal. I highly recommend the cacio e pepe arancini as a starter, and the chicken milanese. I worked with the events coordinator to set up the reservation and she was so easy to work with, even when I needed to change my reservation slightly! I highly recommend Gufo for a party or just a nice dinner out! read more

Best recent meal we had out with friends -- and it's not even close. We slid into Gufo last week with a group of friends (7 of us total) who we haven't seen in forever. We knew we came to the right place the minute we were greeted by the owner Ted who then escorted us to our table. The vibe & drinks from the bar were great and our meal did not disappoint. We came hungry and ordered a bunch of stuff to share; - Snap Pea Caesar salad - Pork & Beef Meatballs - Fried Dough - Squid Ink Bucatini - Pepperoni Pizza - Merguez Sausage Pizza - Roasted Mushroom Pizza My friends and I will 1000% be back. Huge thank you to the Gufo staff, I will be dreaming of that snap pea Caesar salad and squid ink bucatini. Until we meet again... read more

Great ambiance, friendly staff, and the most delicious food! Gufo went above and beyond with everything! I highly recommend the half chicken, roasted mushroom pizza and rigatoni! This is my new go to spot!! read more

Great food, great service, beautiful interior. Would love a few more selections on the menu.

Awesome ambiance, food, unique menu (both the food and cocktails) and excellent service/attention to detail! read more

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The food was excellent, the service equally so, and the ambiance was very pleasant. The server was helpful and attentive and accommodated my diet restrictions very well. My group had a fun time here! read more

This is a great space with Delicious food. Excellent service. Highly recommend to everyone

Favorite new place in the Boston area. Came originally for the head-on shrimp, stayed for the fried dough w/ prosciutto and snap pea caesar. Don't skip the mortadella cappelletti. Actually, don't skip anything. Will be coming back. read more

Friendly staff, great ambiance, people seem like they genuinely enjoy working there too! Always nice to eat great food when the servers are happy :) read more

Very yummy! The Bocce court was very fun. A variety of seating options. The patio was nice and the restaurant was beautiful inside. Great Italian spot in Cambridge. read more

I am sure they have other fine dishes here...1st time for us...ordered take out pizza...Margarita....on the small size especially for $16....crust is so so...not crisp...flavor was just ok. Doubt we order pizza again but will try dine in at some point. read more

Very disappointing, one and done for us. We are Italians and we are demanding regarding Italian restaurants. We were excited to go to Gufo since the reviews seemed to be decent. The atmosphere is nice, a little noisy though. The service was adequate. That is the reason why it gets 2 stars. We went with a small group and we swept quite a bit of the menu, as we usual do in our first trip. The appetizers were below average. The mushrooms not well cooked and the brussel sprouts overloaded with a lot of conflicting flavors. Italian cuisine is the simple, harmonic marriage of few , fresh ingredients. The dishes we tasted had nothing of that. Then we tried the pastas and a couple of pizzas. The rigatoni bolognese had nothing to do with a decent bolognese sauce and the pasta format was not even rigatoni. The "radiatore" pasta is a combination of several flavors not well assembled. But the most painful part was the pizza. The edge of the pizza was hard and the bottom somewhat burned. The pizzas were loaded with a lot of ingredients which clashed with each other. They have no idea how to prepare a decent pizza. We will not eat there again, it is not an Italian experience at all. read more

Not good. They screwed up our order which was for a mushroom pizza to eat there, and a cheese pizza to take home. They immediately brought the cheese pizza--which was supposed to be ready later to go home with, and our mushroom pizza took forever. The cheese pizza was like cardboard by the time we left--because they just let it sit somewhere, and the pasta for one of our party came immediately while we waited for the apps and the mushroom pizza. All food was average at best, in spite of their creative efforts, which were not successful. Not going back. read more

Great food in an incredible setting. Service was excellent. We had snap pea Caesar, pork and beef meatballs, mafaldine puttanesca, olive cake amd soft ice cream with chocolate topping for dessert. Just amazing food. Highly recommended. We plan to return to try more of the menu. read more

Inventive dishes with very enjoyable ambiance, including a bar, inside and outside dining. The service was top notch and engaging. Great for larger parties as well! read more

Welcome to the neighborhood! Walked to this former Loyal Nine space with some fond memories of the cafe and patio. We were warmly welcomed, enjoyed well-crafted cocktails, and chatted with our friendly server Ella. The four of us doubled down on eggplant caponata. A nice hint of spice was soothed by the whipped ricotta. Moving onto the sugar snap Caesar, a favorite of our table, we were pleased by the snap of pea pods and contrasting crunch of watermelon radish and breadcrumbs. I'd have it again and again, all dilly and fresh! Norah loved her mortadella capiletti, as Ted, Rachelle and I fought over the squid ink bucatini. Really people, Ella saw me spooning sauce from an empty plate and immediately brought a plate of spongy focaccia to mop up the remaining goodness. The littlenecks were abundant and the pasta perfectly Al dente. After some negotiation we settled on pepperoni pizza...I'm coming back for the bacon, but the castelvetrano olives were a great touch on a perfect crust with a bright and fresh sauce. I am definitely not wading into any pizza wars but this pie was very, very tasty. Three of us then had soft serve (hell yeah...chocolate vanilla twist with herb and nut dukkah for $5 from an itinerant loyal nine machine?? Serve it up!) I'd also recommend the torte, with a serious quality chocolate custard in a crisp shell, and a sprinkle of sea salt and drizzle of EVOO, it was fab. Four forks. And five forks to Toni and Ella, both who lingered at our table, sharing laughs and convincing us that the loss of our beloved Atwoods does not mean we'll never have another great neighborhood gathering spot. This place is going to have to keep up the high energy and service to meet that challenge long-term, but we urge you all to give Gufo a try. Gufo means Owl, by the way...after learning that, it seemed like a wise choice. read more

Such a treat! Delicious and inspired small plate Italian. Tried 8 smaller plates with our group of 5. Ordered duplicates of the La Tur and honey, the meatballs and Arancini. Wanted to try it all. After multiples small plates, only had room for 2 pizzas to share. Bacon was incredible! Will be back to try the pasta dishes. Really nice wine list and atmosphere. Desserts were also delicious. Olive oil cake and apple tart were especially great. Great addition to East cambridge! read more

New place in East Cambridge, took over Loyal 9 so big shoes to fill. Cafe is nice and it's cool that it is open and lazy during the day. Coffee is a little weak and there's a small bee problem in the back, but that comes with outside territory. In general, vibes are immaculate, so I'm excited to what they add to the menu at they become more established in the area. read more

Beautiful home made food that I couldn't even attempt to replicate. Delicious! Well paced meals, delicious cocktails. Don't change how you do things Gufo, it is perfect. Arancini, chicken, mushrooms, pizza, all delicous! read more

DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE ABOUT THIS PLACE! This is just another ordinary Cambridge restaurant with mediocre food. Black Squid pasta with clams was not good - the spice level did not make sense to the dish - very spicy and the pasta was like glue - could barely swallow it - clams were flavorless. Formulaic - limited options. Pizza looked very dry and ordinary -- but I did not try it. Staff was nice. read more

The food here is unbelievable. The fried dough to start with prosciutto and butter is a must. Roasted mushroom were amazing. The pasta was great, and their olive oil cake with sliced peaches for desert was perfect. You've gotta try this place. read more

We got the fried dough, meatballs, arancini, and bolognese - everything was delicious and came out in a timely manner. The patio is really nice, and the interior is beautifully decorated. Service went smoothly, and our server was friendly and did a great job explaining the menu. Overall, a great dining experience, especially considering they opened a week or so ago. I look forward to returning! read more