Awesome food, awesome price, awesome ambience. The workers were really friendly and accommodating

Loved this little place! Food was authentic Italian, with live music on the patio & fantastic service. I will definitely go back here again!

Wonderful little hidden gem. This is my regular place to take the girlfriend out to on a date, or to take my mother out. Definitely not a place to eat at every night, unless you've got some nice cash rolling in. Nevertheless, at around 40-50 dollars for two people, with food and service that give the North End restaurants a run for their money, it's the best deal in town in my opinion for that special occasion. Oh, and you can get pretty tipsy for not too much money, as well. The drinks are around 6 bucks, and the beer is even cheaper! Yeah, baby. read more

The garlic parmesan fries are absolutely amazing!!!! Prices are good... and the antipasti never disappoints... i love this place!!

Great food came here for the 2for1 special on Tuesday. The salads weren't bad at all and the bread and oil was great as well. We both got the penne alla vodka with chicken and tasted great! Also the dessert Canolli was great. The only reason why it isn't 5 stars is because our waitress wasn't good. She came twice and the bus boy had to do more work than her. If you go I'd ask not to have the blonde waitress read more

Went on a Friday night with a reservation and walked right in. Small but nice environment. Food was good with large portions and good service. read more

Our favorite Italian around. Really cute place, nice outdoor patio right on Shrewsbury St. The food is awesome and super fresh. Lots of choices and bread/oil while you wait. We like it much better than Via and it's much more appropriately priced! read more

I went here for the first time with my boyfriend. He has been before. The food was absolutely delicious, the drink specials were unique and delicious and the servers were very kind and efficient. I can't wait to go back! The venue is very small, but would be worth any wait! read more

This used to be a great place with top quality food and service .The food is just ok now and service can be rude.Prices are high also.These fools even took the keno out.Tried it three times but we wont be returning. read more

Disappointing classic antipasto....use to work here with the original owners (years ago)...the best antipasto with sausage anywhere...Was there last night and the meat is cut up so thin and small; also no flavor in the dressing. I'll have to go to the LaScala down the cape for the real deal...sorry folks.... read more

People in Worcester do not even know what good food IS. They rave about places that are absolutely terrible. This is another one of them. We had chicken marasala and chicken piccatta - pretty basic, right? Very bland, boring and we couldn't really eat them. Service was amateur, they were pretty inexperienced and not friendly. Even the cappucino was cold and it took too long to get, we were already ready to leave. For a restaurant on Shrewsbury Street, I would strive to be better in every way and it seems like they just don't really care. Get a chef and an actual wait staff and maybe a manager. You have too much competition to be this bad. read more

This place was just OK. We actually went here because someone in our party had been to a different place nearby and mistook this place for the first one. Ambiance was fine, not wonderful, but passable. The best thing I can say about the food is that it does come in generous portions. That being said, they use some sort of substandard marinara sauce that just wasn't good at all. For an Italian restaurant, I would think that the one thing they would really focus on making well would be their tomato sauce/marinara sauce. Not the case here, in my opinion. The calamari was pretty good, though. read more

Went there with family to celebrate bday, we were greeted by this waitress (Luv I think is her name) rudest somber face you can ever imagine. We felt like she didn't want us there with her attitude. I had to confront her after she was rude to my wife. Complained to the mgr. as well. Perhaps more training on proper etiquette with customers. Make your customer feel happy and welcomed when they go to your place not uncomfortable. We ended up walking out after paying for the appetizer and drinks. Went to a place down the street instead. Never again I'll step foot at La Scalia and I have been telling friends and families not to go there! read more

went to lunch there today (1-30-19) and ordered a cup of soup, VERY HOT and a veal parm. sandwich. the soup was tasty enough but wasn't heated extra and was just the usual warm. mentioned it to the waitress who replied with an off the wall comment, like it's so cold outside. precisely why i wanted my soup very hot !! it was the veal parm sandwich which was really horrible.it had been sitting around since last week or it was a cheap grade and no-one knew how to cook it ! it took me three bites to pull it from the rest of the piece.the edges were so bad they were un-chewable ! thinking the other larger half would be better i put the 1st one down and bit into the center of the second side. first bite ok but veal is thin & chewy. next bite as bad as the first side so i stopped eating. waitress came over like nothing's wrong even though more then half my meal still on the plate. told her i wanted at least HALF the sandwich comped to me that was un- edible.she went upstairs to the kitchen returned a moment later and says, your ok you don't have to pay anything ! just when i was feeling good about be treated right, the waitress then say to me : AND DON'T EVER COME BACK !!! shocked i said excuse me ?? nodding with her head toward the up stares kitchen, she says again, : YEA, SHE DOESN'T WANT YOU BACK AGAIN EVER !! i calmly told the waitress to tell the lady upstairs, whoever she is as long as she's serving old, overcooked food, i'd be happy to spend my money elsewhere and so would all my friends on social medias. LA SCALA RESTAURANT 183 SHREWSBURY ST WORCESTER, MA.01604 read more

My parents and I came here for their 25th anniversary dinner and soon found that the place was not the classy, fancy restaurant I suspected. We made a reservation and found ourselves placed directly beside the bathroom. I could have kept tabs on who used the restroom during the meal if someone had asked. The food was great and came relatively quickly. Our problems came from the atmosphere and service. Our waiter pretty much ignored us the whole time, and we had to ask the girl who was bussing tables to bring us more waters. The place was cramped and couldn't seem to decide if it was a sports bar or an upscale restaurant. The walls had TVs and sports memorabilia but there was also a distinct feeling that the place should be more fancy and reserved. The noise was also terrible; a large group of people sat beside us and were louder than ever. If they weren't there, perhaps our experience would have been better, but the acoustics of the place were so terrible that my family could barely hear each other and resorted to trying to spoil popular TV shows to the group over. Overall, the food quality of La Scala was excellent while the service was lacking. read more

My girlfriend and i had lunch @ La Scala this afternoon.Absolutely incredible.Food and service was top shelf.Antipasto was huge.Great grilled pizzas.Chx parm fork tender.Definetly going back. read more

Food was decent but was shadowed by the management. Owner was very rude to me and my grandmother. We made a reservation and they did not honor it, had us wait for 40 minutes past our reservation time. With all the great restaurants on Shewsbury Street I will never be returning. read more

Wonderful Saturday night find! Awesome waitress, out of this world antipasto, great dinner choices! We were both happy. Can't wait to eat my leftovers. Can't wait to go back! read more

Tried this place out with my husband last week. The menu looked great on the website, and it looked like they might have a good husband and wife team of chefs working behind the scenes. When we got there, we were shocked at how small the place was. Intimate is an understatement. This place might fit 30 people max. However, the dining room is very well designed, and eclectic. When we got there, the place was full, so we were offered to wait at the bar for when a table would be available. We were told 20-30 minutes, but the actual wait was closer to an hour. We were seated in a table toward the front. The tables are so close together, the hostess actually had to slide the table over so I could go around it (and not bump into the other diners next to us). We were also seated near people who had finished their meals and were nursing their drinks, and unfortunately the tight space didn't bode well with the noise level of the neighboring guests. Bread and oil was the first thing to arrive to the table, and while we were a little shocked that the bread was cold, we were very impressed with the bread. It was soft, dense, and delicious. The olive oil had just enough seasoning, and I was surprised that I liked it, since I usually don't care for dipping my bread in oil. I asked the server if they made the bread in house and she said they didn't, but they brought it in from a bakery in Rhode Island. I also asked her about desserts, and I also asked if the desserts were made in house. She said they didn't make the desserts, and even though she didn't know where they ordered the desserts from, she took the time to ask. I can't remember the bakery, but it's a place in Worcester. Since we didn't order dessert I can't comment on them in any more detail. We ordered a caesar salad to share, and unfortunately I was disappointed. The romaine lettuce was a mixture of white and yellow in color. It was as close to iceberg as a romaine could get. The caesar dressing had little to no flavor, and I was concerned it might be just mayo. The croutons were obviously made of the same bread we were served, and they were the best part of the salad. Our server was truly wonderful, the food was served quickly, our glasses were kept full, food was served hot, etc. We have no complaints with the service. I ordered a chicken parm, and my husband ordered the veal parm. We thought this would be a great way to compare La Scala to other Italian restaurants we have been to in the area. The portions were very large. The cheese on top was very good, but I felt it could have used more cheese. The chicken was cooked very well. The biggest let down for me was the sauce. I was hoping a home made sauce would mean a fresh tomato sauce, but unfortunately this was not the case. The sauce was very dark in color, and while it was not a bad sauce, it was not what we have come to expect at the best Italian places (fresh tomato, garlic, fresh basil--simple and full of flavor). The presentation of both plates was beautiful, and I'm sure if we brought friends from out of town here, they'd love it. Unfortunately, the food here was mediocre at best, and we will probably not return, since we enjoy other places much more. While La Scala is a really cute, well decorated restaurant with excellent service, their food just doesn't measure up to other options in the Boston/Worcester area. read more

This is my first time EVER ordering food for the holidays, but this year I did. I ordered lasagna, ziti with four cheese, antipasto and italian bread for 25 people. The food was amazing - great blend of cheese on the lasagna and ziti. The antipasto was chuck full of everything! Everyone thought the food was great and we had plenty of leftovers This will definitely become a new tradition in our home. Also the staff was very friendly with any questions that I had, read more

6/3/17 This was truly a disappointment. Our friends had recommended this restaurant. We went on Saturday night for a family night out. Restaurant was beautifully decorated and was cozy on the inside. The hostess was bewildered as she tried to sort out people's reservations. The restaurant and bar area was busy. The aroma of food was good. We were seated on the patio. As we settled in our bread arrived within minutes. Great bread girls! We talked as a family and ate our bread. Bread girls came back and collected our plates and empty basket. Still no waitress and no drinks. Table next to us had already had two rounds of drinks by the time our waitress showed up. She was apologetic and blamed the hostess for not communicating. Poor lines of communication. By the time we placed our order, there was another table seated with drinks and they already had their appetizers. We were Not impressed!! Dinner came finally, we probably waited 45mins before we ate. My order was a completely different dish from what I actually ordered. Waitress was apologetic and offered to exchange it. But, considering how long it took to receive the first meal. I declined. I had ordered the Chicken La Scala , but, received Chicken Marsala. Not even close to what I wanted. I tried it anyways. Flavor was interesting. Not in a good way. Bowl full of heavy meat based gravy. Chicken was full of cartilage. My husband ordered the chops. His meal was delicious. My daughter ordered the chicken fingers. Freshly made and delicious. For such a busy place. They really dropped the ball this past Saturday. Poorly managed service and not consistent. When you work hard for your night out as a family. We had high standards and high expectations. Extremely disappointed. With so many other restaurants in Worcester. Don't bother with LaScala. read more

I'm surprised at the negatives for La Scala. My roommate suggested it to my boyfriend and I for a decent "date night" dinner. We didn't make reservations and going on Saturday night, there was a wait of under a 1/2 hour. I liked the look of the place: small, two swanky looking booths in the corner, with about 8 tables around, and a full bar. We decided to get a drink at the bar while we waited. Good and fairly priced drinks ($10 for vodka tonic and Sam seasonal), and I saw the bartender make a couple of very cool looking martinis--would have to go back to try. We were seated about 10 minutes earlier than I anticipated, and got some very good bread and yummy olive oil/pepper flakes/parmesan medley. Our waitress was friendly, and took our orders in good timing, contrary to other reviews here. We got a large caesar salad to split and I ordered the eggplant pizza and requested extra garlic, and my boyfriend had one of their sausage/chicken pasta specials. The caesar came and it was HUGE. Definitely an overshot for just two people, and we should have ordered the small but it was very tasty; crispy romaine, excellent croutons and a decent dressing. It wasn't the absolute best caesar I've ever had, but it was much better than the average. Right after we finished salad, our entrees came. The pizza looked delicious; it was 6 fairly sized slices with a grilled crust (favorite!) and was covered in thinly sliced eggplant, red peppers and mozzarella. Yum! My boyfriend had already stopped making conversation and was just eating his pasta dish, a very good sign. In the pizza, I loved the eggplant flavor, which I was nervous was going to be masked by the breading, but wasn't at all. The best part?! Little nuggets of caramelized roasted garlic cloves underneath the cheese. Jackpot! I would have been happy with just some fresh garlic sprinkled over it, but this was a very nice unexpected (and delicious!) touch. I tried my boyfriend's dish and liked the spicy italian sausage. Personally, I could have done without the chicken, it wasn't anything too special, and would have liked a bit more spinach and tomato to balance the richness of the cream sauce, but he had no complaints and loved it. We wound up opting out on dessert, and the bill was just over $50 with tip. FYI, the pizza wound up being the best "bang for the buck", it was only $8! And I wound up taking half home. Overall: good drinks, very tasty and large portions of food. Loud, but we could still talk and hear each other. I'm looking forward to going back, but wouldn't go with a group larger than 4 people since seating would likely be an issue. read more

Very disappointed with this place. I ordered a Ceasar Salad to go today for $8.00 and received nothing but a dry pile of lettuce with a few crutons. Barely any dressing at all and absolutely no flavor. I would have been ashamed to serve this. Never again. read more

My husband and I ate dinner here for the first time last time and really enjoyed it. We sat on the patio, which was really great once the sun went down (a little hot before that). We had drinks, oysters (for him) and shrimp cocktail (for me) along with a basket of fresh bread and plate of dipping oil that every table gets. I'm told the oysters were good. The shrimp cocktail was very nice and served flat on a little plate with what seemed to be a homemade sauce that was slightly chunky and good as well a small mound of what looked like a horseradish spread (i didn't try it). For entrees I ordered a haddock special, which was delicious. I chose spinach as my side dish and I got a heap of it - lightly sauteed with a little olive oil, garlic and lemon. I could have made a meal out of just that. My foodie husband ordered the seafood diavolo and said it was "fine" (while he was eating I asked him to rate it on a scale of 1 - 10 he gave it a 4). He says that the shellfish was fresh and good but the addition of a piece of sausage seemed strange to him. Also, the dish was topped with about 10 pieces of fried calamari which was definitely odd and wrong - he likes calamari but not where they don't belong. He picked it off and did not eat it. Finally, he says the tomato sauce was far too heavy for the dish, which should have either a white sauce or a very light, fresh marinara. Since we'd come this far, we had to have dessert and they have one item, cannoli, but you can either have a plain/traditional shell, chocolate dipped or a plain shell with the ends only dipped in chocolate. They were fresh and delicious and the espresso was very good. Our waitress was terrific. We'd told her when we sat down that we wanted to just hang out for a while with our drinks and appetizers before ordering and that we were not in a hurry. Her pacing was great and we never felt rushed. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening and we will definitely go back. Our bill was about $100 before tip but you can absolutely have a good meal for much less. Someone at a nearby table ordered pizza and an antipasto and both looked fabulous. Definitely two thumbs up for La Scala. read more

This is not Italian food. This is sloppy American fare. Too much oil, too much cheese, too little attention paid to preparation or to patrons. You might as well get a pizza delivered at home than go out to eat at this place. read more

What a disappointment. We choice this place because we had a restuarants.com gift certificate. It was a Saturday night at 7pm. Calling earlier in the day and the lady on the line was extremely nice so I had high hopes. Got there at 7pm and was seated right away. Drink order taken quickly. Food order told 40 minutes. Just to take our order! Then the food took another 40 minutes to arrive! Service was just awful. The worst I have experienced. And the food, not so good. Surprised they did not say anything when they took the plates and they were more than half full. Much much better option for Italian in Worcester. read more

Took my family there for dinner. Food was EXCELLENT! Had the Seafood FraDiovolo and it was awesome. Great portions and very good. Highly recommend! read more

We were very excited to try La Scala and were dying to use our gift certificate that we'd saved for a nice night out. It is really small and intimate which isn't a bad thing and makes it really cozy. We grabbed seats at the bar and decided it was pretty comfortable, so we chose to stay there for dinner. The bartender who was also our server was really sweet and very attentive. The food was great! I had the seafood fra diavlo and my husband had veal rollatini. What's keeping this review from more starts is that the woman whom I"m assuming is the owner, was running food from the kitchen to the tables. As our seats were at the end of the bar and right next to the service door to the kitchen, plates were being placed next to me on the bar before being picked up and delivered to the tables. Curious to see what some of the food looked like, I happened to glance over at the plates that were sitting there. And that's when it happened. The woman snatches the plates back up and says, "those are not yours!" scolding me like a 5 yr old. I did not have a fork in my hand, nor was I drooling or licking the plate. I simply looked. I kept hoping that I misunderstood her or what she meant, but my husband, who is usually the one to talk me off the ledge if I get upset about things like this, wholeheartedly agreed that the only way to take this was that she was flat out RUDE to me. Meanwhile, she seemed very pleasant to other diners and made her rounds to check on everyone's experience. Pretty much everyone in the whole place - except us. I'd like to say we'll go back because it was so good, but it's not happening. I'm crossing it off my list. read more

Really tinny place and uncomfortable tables. I wouldn't call it a restaurant, but just a bar with a few tables. Plus the food was poor quality!!! Half of the salad was bad and the rest we had didn't taste that great. I'm sorry to do this review but I didn't have a good experience. The name "LA SCALA" do not match with this place at all!! La Scala in Italy is the theater of the theaters, it is the best. This tinny place is is not!!! Sorry... read more

I had an order of their tripe (which I realize is not everyone's favorite choice) and it was delicious. They seemed to back off with the hotness making it very tender with a small amount of carrots a potatos to add, but not overwhelm the tenderness and flavor of the tripe.I look foreward to going there again.!! read more

They seat you on time if you make reservations. After ordering, we didn't see our waitress for another hour. The apps are good but it took an hour and a half for our dinner to come out and the food was small portioned and mediocre at best. Their food isn't very flavorful and expect bad service. read more

REAL Italian food!!!! Great place, unique spins of dishes and great prices! Small place so seating can be tough but WELL worth the wait. Don't waste $$$ on some giant place down the street with a neon sign. This is the real deal. read more

My wife and I ate here last night with 2 other couples for the first time, what an amazing place to dine at. The seafood is so fresh and cooked outstanding, service is excellent and I'm dreaming about my next antipasto. MMMM Good, thanks LaScala for making a great night out with friends, See you soon!! read more

Staff was super friendly. Food was nothing short of spectacular. Try all you can eat chicken on Wednesdays!

I ordered catering trays from here for my swim team at our championship meet this year. I have never been served with more professionalism and respect. Kevin, who brought us our food each night, was one of the nicest, most accessible, and professional person I have met in this industry. The food was delivered each night, on time, without fail, set up and ready to eat by the time we arrived at our hotel. Amazing service and amazing people! read more

Up until yesterday, La Scala was my favorite go-to restaurant in Worcester, as they serve some of the best fried calamari around. That may still be the case, but after the two of us decided to have the $5 baked chicken special, it dawned on me that the price was so low because these pieces of chicken were the leftovers from their Wednesday night all-you-can-eat chicken. Instead of either donating the leftovers or using the meat to make into chicken salad, these pikers decided to squeeze an extra 5 bucks from unsuspecting patrons! The chicken was hard and tough - no surprise there- but as our plates were covered with heaps of salad lettuce, we didn't notice the large chip on the top of the plate on both our dishes. I don't particularly care to take a chance ingesting shards of porcelain from such a dish, and until this restaurant changes its health practices, I just might go up the street to another Italian restaurant! read more

we had been meaning to try la scala for some time but had just never gotten around to it..till last saturday. we walked in around 7:45pm (they only take reservations for 4 or more) and the inside dining room was mostly empty. this of course is because it was a beautiful night and everyone was out on the patio. we asked to be seated there and were told they didn't have any room, instead of giving us a wait time, which we thought odd. the hostess did let us know there was a bar outside and we grabbed two seats there. we decided to eat at the bar because it didn't look like any seats were going to be vacated anytime soon, which was totally fine with us. often we prefer bar seating. the bartender was nice and got us our drinks quickly, and gave us the menus, salad, specials and regular. there were a TON of choices. i love a place that has a menu where you want to order more than 3 different things off of it. if the food was good, i knew we would be coming back to try them all. we started with the special arancini, which was made with italian meats. the app came in about 10 minutes and was excellent. in addition to the gooey melted cheese, there were zesty chopped italian meats in the piping hot center of the perfectly fried rice balls. for entrees, i ordered the "godfather" which was a jacked up version of their house specialty chicken. it was a giant breaded chicken breast, layered with eggplant and grilled sausage and "twice the cheese". she had the mussels marinara with shrimp. my dish was very good, but not OMGICOULDEATTHISEVERYDAY. she enjoyed her mussels very much as well. when my dish came out, i had just unwrapped my silverware and was about to cut into it when the owner came up with what was actually my dinner and apologized for sending the wrong one. in the waitresses defense, the two dishes looked exactly alike - and that stuff happens all the time. not a big deal. 4 glasses of wine, an appetizer and two giant entrees brought the bill to around 75-80 bucks, which was what we expected. it wasn't as fancy as some people on here have made it out to be, but the decor was very nice, the patio was pleasant, service was good and the drinks were not too expensive. while i wasn't blown away by the food, it was definitely very good and we will be back to try many other menu items in the near future. read more