One of my favorite spots for a summer weeknight. Great views over looking a river with plenty of parking that's surprisingly quiet for the location. They have a great set of specials (including a great 2 for 1 deal on Tuesdays) and you won't be disappointed by the cocktails as well. read more

Gorgeous restaurant. Whoever designed this place did a fantastic job giving it an old money/art deco/Gatsby-era vibe. The floor-to-ceiling window wall opens up onto the patio section which overlooks the Neponset River. Views are lovely and the atmosphere is so peaceful. However, the food is shockingly mediocre in relation to the whole scene here (and mediocre is generous to say). My friend and I ordered the eggplant rollatini to start. Half of it was COLD and the other half luke-warm. Makes me think it was a microwaved dish. For my entree, I ordered the bucatini & meatballs. The bucatini by itself was good pasta, but the bland sauce and meatballs ruined it. Both were lacking flavor and meatballs were so dry, they were crumbling on my plate. We ordered the tiramisu cake to share for dessert, which was easily the best part of my meal and what I'm giving 2 stars for. I would only come back here to sit outside and have some drinks, but can't say I would recommend the food here :( read more

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Over priced Very small portions very small Waiter inattentive had to go get him Would not return Porch filled with kids Strange atmosphere read more

We went to dinner on Sunday night for my parent's anniversary at 6pm. It took the waitress a while to come to the table and even longer to get the four drinks we ordered. They have a live band. It's quite loud in there. The drinks are small and tasted like they had no alcohol in them. We ordered but they were out of a drink called the Blush Crush that was odd. We got a limoncello sangria-had no lemon flavor. I got the mojito it tasted liked fizzy water. The water is room temp and we had to keep asking for refills. They had the doors open and I felt it was warm in there until it rained then we had a cool breeze every now and again. It felt like the heat was on near the front door. The apps came about an hour after we sat down. Dinner was a bit faster. The beet salad was by far our favorite. No notes on that it was delicious. The calamari was average had some heat to it. The Caesar salad was good a little heavy on the dressing and lots of croutons and parmesan crisps. The meatball was mushy we did not care for it. The octopus was cooked nicely, but was a bit chewy. Tuna tartare was meh. The mussels were good and in a nice light tasty sauce. Not sure the focaccia is worth the money. I've had better. The braised short rib was dry. The pork Milanese was over cooked and chewy. The lobster risotto was edible, but I personally would not recommend it. The cod was nice, plain nothing fancy and all the food did come out hot. We skipped dessert. read more

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I went to Madre Osteria for Mother's Day. I was the one who highly recommended that my family go there because of the previous experience of having a great meal. At this particular visit, the food was equally pleasing. My son needed to charge his phone and found an outlet behind the booth we were in. There was a cluster of rodent poop in the corner. He did inform the server, who looked at it, noted it, and was naturally surprised. She stated she would let the manager know. I believe they compted the appetizers. At the end of the day, though the food is good, I will not be returning. It's one thing to have obvious evidence of pests, but another for the manager to not acknowledge it and at least offer an apology to the customer. read more

First, our server Kelsea was great! She was very accommodating with wine tasting for my girlfriend, friendly, attentive, got our special request for fries extra crispy done (not always done when asked for at other restaurants), got us requested bread & butter for the leftover Fra Diavolo sauce and was all around very pleasant. She helped make the night a really good time out. My gf and I split the Fra Diavalo and the Burger. The Fra Diavolo as excellent in terms of taste, al dente buccatini (serious chew) and the seafood. What we didn't understand was why we got so little pasta in the dish. To be honest, it seemed like we got half an order of the buccatini which was a shame since the shellfish was great, sauce was great and again, pasta cooked perfectly. We will make sure to ask for more when we return. The focaccia and butter to mop up the remaining sauce at the end was phenomenal. We will probably try to order meatballs, sauce and bread & butter next time. It should be on the menu. The burger was also excellent. The burger itself was extremely tasty, I hope they don't move to cheaper beef due to rising prices. Add a dollar if you need to. Overall, a great night. I will say I think the deserts are a little pricey. We really wanted the baked Alaska but $14 seemed a little high. At $12 we would have ordered it. A mental thing I guess since the overall meal we thought was worth every penny. read more

We liked sitting outside this evening. Burrata grilled peach salad was great!. Tuna tartare, polenta and the lobster pasta special, were great! Our waiter was wonderful! read more

Ambiance is dope, servers are quick and the spot has nice outdoor seating outside! We came here for dollar oysters (which are at the bar only). They were busy with private parties etc and i can see why people like it. The oysters were fresh and not briny with all your condiments you'd normally want but would have to ask for tobacco. Comes with lemon, radish, cocktail sauce and vinegar! I think this would be the main thing i personally come for, hear the drinks are also good too but i wasn't sipping today. The fritte calamari (which is my favorite appetizer at any establishment that offers it) tasted fresh, some of the breading wasn't able to stick well. The rings were bland but the tentacles had all the salt haha. The pasta was the carbonara i thought the pasta was cooked well, the bites that had bacon in it were good. The chicken was on the edge of dry but still thought it was good to go. The sauce i thought was nice, but without a bit of bacon it it could probably use a pinch more salt and pepper (none were on the outdoor seating but that's fine) finished that dish! Our server was good, had a small issue and she rectified it quickly! Thank you! Would come back! read more

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I think I have to go a full 5 stars cuz things were great. We started with crispy polenta and goat cheese at about $13 which was delicious. Would have been nice to have 4 not 3 triangles. We both drank the 10oz mini carafe of house Pinot Grigio which was fine ($12). I liked the wild boar bolognese and my friend's carbonara w shrimp added on was delish ($26 and $34 w the shrimp). As was the tiramisu. Nice bar area, spacious pretty restaurant and nice servers. read more

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Great food and beautiful location for outside dining. Did not realize every sunday night there is live music. Ordered the buratta and focassia bread with dipping oil. Also martinis! Friendly staff as well. We will be back. Next time want to try a pasta dish read more

Madre Osteria & Bar - Espresso Martini - Wine Bars Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

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Our first time. Looking for outdoor seating for Sunday lunch. Gorgeous outdoor patio! Faye waited on us. She was incredible from beginning to end. It has been a long time since I could say I had a perfect dining experience: this was very close. I highly recommend this place! Great food, great drinks exceptional service! read more

Madre Osteria & Bar - Wine Bars Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

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Alrighty, so I came here tonight for dinner with my family & it was pretty busy during dinner time, 7pm. What we ordered: -Rigatoni pasta with "spicy vodka sauce" & breaded chicken -meatballs with bucatini -chicken parm bucatini -two salmon dishes -mussel appetizer -tiramisu dessert Thoughts: Food isn't that good, everything could use a bit more seasoning. One of the salmons that we ordered arrived raw still. Wouldn't have been a big deal if it was sashimi/grade A but anyways, we had it sent back to the kitchen. When it arrived back to us, it was still raw... Had to send it back a third time. All of the dishes we ordered took an unusually long time; when we arrived, they were quite busy & packed but as we sat and waited for our food to come, the place started to empty out a bit. The salmon was taken off the bill & we were offered dessert for this inconvenience. The last time I came here to eat (for their daily raw oysters), I had encountered an issue too. We had been charged full price for the oysters even though we were told we would be getting them for $1/each. read more

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First, when you pull up and see the beautiful lights and holiday decorations you are already in a festive mood. We had a reservation for 4 and arrived a little early and sat at the bar. We ordered some oysters and drinks to get us started and we were not disappointed. The bar staff was amazing. Now onto the best part. We were seated and our server Kelsea was just amazing. From the moment she greated us throughout the dinner she was attentive, warm and most of all just lovely. Oh and did I mention the dinner was divine and we finished it off with dessert as well. The manager also came over to welcome us which was another great touch. We can't wait to go back!!! Again the hostess, bartender, manager and staff were the best. See you soon. read more

This one experience--without even dining at the restaurant--earned this review. Previous visits to Madre have been solid. It was a regular in our rotation, a place I recommended without hesitation. I also recognize that I am going full Karen here. Still, the local community deserves to know how this situation was handled. Earlier today, I made a same-day reservation for 5:15pm for a party of six via OpenTable. I found it curious--borderline pretentious--that a credit card and cancellation policy were required, a practice usually reserved for fine-dining establishments where demand truly outpaces supply. Nevertheless, I proceeded, looking forward to bringing my family. By early afternoon, plans unraveled. My son's school called--he was sick and needed to be picked up immediately. Family dinner was no longer in the cards. I attempted to cancel the reservation through OpenTable, only to be instructed to call the restaurant directly. I did so promptly at 4:00pm, when they opened. What followed was an interaction that was not merely disappointing, but profoundly unprofessional. I explained the situation to the hostess and requested a cancellation. She responded, politely enough, that it would be handled--and that I would be charged $20 per person. I understand cancellation policies. I also understand discretion, nuance, and customer service. She elaborated that the policy applied to "large parties." I clarified that this reservation consisted of four adults and two children, and asked that the policy not be enforced under the circumstances. Her response: "Okay, we'll only charge you for the four adults." That is the moment when the tone of the conversation changed--not because I raised my voice or became disrespectful, but because it became clear that common sense and goodwill were nowhere to be found. I explained that my wife and I dine at Madre regularly, and that penalizing a family for a same-day cancellation caused by a sick child was not just rigid, but shortsighted. What I received in return was silence. No response. No acknowledgment. Just background noise on her end of the line. I asked if she was still there. Silence. I said I would come in to discuss it in person. Silence. Living five minutes away, I decided to do exactly that--on my way to pick up dinner elsewhere. I walked into an empty restaurant (they had opened roughly 30 minutes earlier). A woman at the bar approached and asked if I needed help. I asked if she was the person I had just spoken with on the phone. She feigned ignorance. "What's the name?" she asked. I explained the situation again, including my concern about being effectively ignored on the phone. At no point--then or earlier--did I raise my voice, swear, or resort to name-calling. She claimed she had been yelling "hello" into the phone and that I simply couldn't hear her. I found this implausible, given that I could hear the background noise clearly the entire time. I said plainly, "I don't believe you, but that's fine," and asked what was happening with the cancellation fee. What followed was a two-to-three-minute exchange marked by backhanded comments and defensive posturing. She remarked that "people who actually dine here think I give great customer service," insisted she had "never had a customer speak to her this way," and characterized me as "confrontational." She even went so far as to imply that I was making a fuss because I couldn't afford an $80 fee. Let's be clear: this was never about the money. It was about being charged for circumstances beyond my control--and being spoken to without professionalism, empathy, or discretion. Eventually, she said she would not charge my card and thanked me for driving down. I thanked her in return and left. The food and atmosphere at Madre are, in my experience, solid. Perhaps I caught this individual on a bad day. But hospitality is not measured when everything goes right--it's revealed when things go wrong. Long story short: Madre has been removed from our rotation. And diners should be wary of their reservation cancellation policy, even for same-day reservations--and especially of how rigidly and inelegantly it may be enforced. Service, after all, is part of the meal. read more

We are a group of 4 that enjoy trying out new places ....found this online and rated 4 stars here. ...My rating is a lot lower The restaurant is located across from Baker Chocolate ...bottom floor of a condo building. Very limited parking. I had to park in entrance to MBTA parking lot about 100yds away. Hostesses and waitresses were super. Apps were burrata and eggplant rollatini. Burrata was ok but rollatini was super dry with no marinara sauce. Focaccia was cold ... Entrees were Bolognese which I'm told was good. I ordered the chicken Parm with homemade pasta. Huge piece of chicken with mozzarella on top over ziti. I had ordered the homemade Rigatoni but got Ziti. No idea where the disconnect was. Desert was a flavorless limoncello cake and ok cannolis ... Biggest issue was a cockroach walking down the wall right behind one of us. I notified the Mgr and hopefully they remedy this issue. Overall the atmosphere and help are fine. The food quality needs an upgrade. It's a one and done for us. read more

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Yummy birthday dinner , beautiful view delicious portions were perfect We will be back. read more

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Brunch is back! They used to have brunch here but stopped serving it for a year or so. Now they're serving again and I'm so glad. Loved the tiramisu pancakes, triple espresso martini, jalapeño margarita, and short rib burger. We also always enjoy the oysters here. I'm not a breakfast sandwich person but it was enjoyed by others in my party. The meatball and egg dish was okay, the antipasto board was okay too (the salami or mortadella was too thick and meaty for us). Service was great, the ambiance is great- definitely a hidden gem in the Milton area. read more

Cute little Italian spot in Lower Mills! Beneath a luxury apartment building with nice outdoor views in the summer. Cozy vibe with fun decor and wallpaper, ask for Megan she was super sweet and had great recommendations. read more

I wish I could give them five stars but the three are very generous, The atmosphere was great warm and friendly,the seating was great with options .and the service from our waitress was awesome other than occasionally asking someone else for help was not as good. The most important food, my meal and apps was great actually the Bolognese was one of the best , desert the tiramisu was out and settle for cannolis and a lemon cake with the strawberry syrup on it didn't help took away from the lemon. Now the difficult complaint which ruined my whole meal. As we were finishing up a big cockroach, decided to climb a vent and come down the wall right beside us. I'm not afraid of them just disgusted. read more

The server asked if we were there for a celebration and my friend said, Yes, we are celebrating friendship. The five of us shared items from the first course menu and all were delicious. Then four of us ordered chicken parm which was excellent. There was a guitarist playing background music and she was quite good. read more

This place turned over a few times before it became Madre but it's always had so much potential in a great location on the water. The patio is really cute and they redid the dining room so it's much more appealing now. Love the bar area and they have $1 oysters at the bar every day! For apps, burrata, meatballs and eggplant rollatini are all great. For entrees, the wild boar ragu is delicious and so are the chicken marsala and salmon. Love the house wines that come in a carafe - great deal! read more

Madre Osteria & Bar - Wild Boar Ragu - Wine Bars Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

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I was in the other day and let me just say the customer service was EVERYTHING! I think her name was Hannah? She was fantastic. I spilled my sangria all over myself and she helped me clean up! Such a sweet girl. The food was to die for,got half dozen oysters to start and the chicken parmigiana.... Fantastic! I had a bad day being stood up by my date but Hannah made it all the better by having great conversations with me! 10/10 recommend read more

The drinks (prickly pear margaritas) and dollar oysters were delicious and would go back for them. However the mussels were very bad, the size of cashews and stringy. The sauce had no flavor. After trying these we didn't want to put in entrees. Very good service though, bartender was friendly, attentive and quick. read more

Madre Osteria & Bar - Dollar oysters - Wine Bars Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

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Made an early reservation for four adults and two young kids. Restaurant is lovely and we were welcomed. Service was excellent, and so was the food. Two people ordered the short ribs, one the burger, and one had steak frites. The kids split a plate of buttered pasta which was brought out quickly. The burrata appetizer was enough for three to share. The need for gluten free food was addressed efficiently and all ingredient questions were answered. Gelato for dessert was really good! Special shout out to Fay (Faye?) who was not only a terrific server but was a lovely person to the kids. She invited them to help her put some holiday ornaments up and they were very excited to go help her for a bit (it was early so not super busy) and felt very special. We were visiting from Chicago but would definitely plan on returning and our local kids found a great place to eat that made the grandkids feel great and everybody got fed! Thanks so much. read more

Wonderful design although extremely noisy inside so we opted for the patio, which was chillier than expected. Having available blankets/shawls is a nice touch at some restaurants that they might want to adopt....or patio heaters. Nonetheless the setting is terrific. Food was great although not stunning but we got somewhat lost in the shuffle by our waitperson, who was very attentive at first but then seemed to get mired down by her responsibilities inside; our neighbors at another station seemed to fare much better, however. Nonetheless we would go back, mostly for the outside patio. read more

A great experience with great food. The bottomless pasta on Tuesdays for $28 is an amazing deal considering you can definitely get your money's worth if you come hungry. I ordered three pastas which would have come down to $68 thereby saving me $40 which is incredible. The tuscan sausage gnocchi was creamy and had great texture. The bolognese was flavorful and the spaghetti they used was thick and bouncy. The meatballs for the spaghetti were a little tough but the sauce was still good. Our server was okay, not the most personable. The food runner was great though and very nice. The interior was gorgeous. Would absolutely come back for bottomless pasta again. It's just too good of a deal! Highly recommend. read more

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Wasn't a fan of the fungi risotto. Pretty bland and uneventful. Nice to sit outside though. Great view.

My friend & I met here for dinner. A minute after we were seated a girl came over asking to take our order. I had just taken my coat off and hadn't looked at the menu. I told her we literally just sat down. She came back about three minutes later. I told her we hadn't seen each other in a while and were catching up. A different woman came to our table a few minutes later. We were still deciding what to order. A different one came to ask if we wanted drinks. I felt like we were being rushed but didn't understand why given there were several open tables. Then we looked at the menu & were ready to order but sat there for about 40 minutes. Finally someone took our order. Clearly they weren't trained to read people & cues. The food wasn't great. Mine was really small and I was still hungry so I thought I would order another drink & maybe dessert. I turned around to look for a waitress ( I wasn't sure who it was because we had several different women come to our table) and a Kardashian wannabe gave me a very dirty look. Not sure who she thought she was. We sat there for a while and someone came by and cleared the table but didn't ask if we wanted anything else. We continued to sit there and wait noticing that 2 of the waitresses were sitting at the bar drinking. Finally someone came over and we asked if we could order drinks & see the dessert menu. The service was rock bottom. The servers timing was off, we didn't even know who our actual server was, we weren't treated nicely - it felt like they were doing us a favor by letting us order food. The food itself was mediocre and we decided we will never go back. It's too bad because the decor is cute but in a service industry the experience matters. None of this happened: Knowing when to help and when to give guests space Taking a beat before checking in so guests can look at the menu Asking customers if there's anything they can do to improve their experience Thanking guests for dining with them read more

Fantastic meal, undeniable service and ambiance. The food was delicious and the cocktails even better. Highly recommend!

Oh well. Another terribly mediocre, overpriced restaurant in metro-Boston. Honestly I had three appetizers and they seemed like they were sitting in a fridge already prepared for the whole day and then microwaved. And it's not cheap, either. Seriously Olive Garden might be better. $1 oysters at the bar till 8 everyday, tho. Go for that and that alone. read more

The dining experience at Madre Osteria & Bar was simply AMAZING! The location and decor inside this place were both very appealing to the eye and appropriate for the area. All of the employees from the hostesses to the wait staff, were all very friendly and accommodating. Both the short rib sandwich and the tuscan artichoke salad were well executed dishes as evidenced by the cleaned plates at the end of our meal. read more

Amazing little hidden gem! Great food, service, vibes. Will definitely be coming back!

They offer dollar oysters at certain times of day but only at the bar. Because we have kids, in the past they have been flexible about this rule, as one cannot sit at the bar with children. Last night we went at 4 when the place was empty to grab a drink and some food with my husbands friends and our 2.5 and 5 year old daughters. They refused to allow us to do the oysters unless we sat at the bar and the kids were not allowed at bar. Eventually my husband and I sat with the girls near the bar and his two friends sat at the bar to quickly eat the oysters. The manager stared us down the entire night AND then proceeded to stare my daughters down until we left. I'm a little confused why this was necessary. Taking kids to restaurants is hard enough and we chose a time to go when we wouldn't bother other people. I actually spoke to the manager after because I couldn't believe her attitude. To be clear, we followed their rules. read more

We had a wonderful evening at Madre Osteria! The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. We'll be going again soon! read more

This restaurant is within walking distance to my house so I wanted to like it. I've been here in the summer and sipping cocktails outside on the patio is the way to go. Dinner with a group of 5 on a Saturday night? Not so much. It was a bad sign when we arrived for our reservation and were seated at the one banquet that is positioned between the bathroom and the bar. The hostess said "this is the best seat in the house" when we sat down but....not so much. After sitting at the table for 10 min with absolutely no one coming over, we had to ask the hostess if we had a server. The hostess was very helpful and called our server over. She was great and took our orders immediately. When our appetizers arrived about 15 min later we still didn't have our drinks. I think this was perhaps due to the older man behind the bar who was talking loudly the whole time, maybe a manager, distracting all the staff. Our drinks arrived when we were about half way done with our appetizers. This seemed like a huge oversight on the part of the restaurant because we likely would have had multiple rounds but decided against it due to the terrible wait for them. The entrees in general were adequate but for a restaurant that makes such a big deal about their meatballs, these meatballs are small, tasteless, and .....sad. I wouldn't order them again and we actually had them as an appetizer and two in our party ordered them as their entree before the apps had arrived, big mistake. Overall, I would only return here in the future for drinks and apps on the patio, dinner was a let down for sure. read more

I usually only post reviews when I dine in at restaurants but we were too busy to go out to eat last night. My husband wanted spaghetti and meatballs so we decided to try out Madre Osteria. I saw that it says "mamma's" spaghetti and meatballs so I assume it must be an amazing home recipe. I dine at Italian restaurants quite a lot because I love italian cuisine and you can never go wrong with pasta. Needless to say we were very disappointed with the portion size and taste of this mamma's spaghetti and meatball. It's $20 for the main entree and $10 for a side dish. We order the main entree but got a side portion. It's 1/3 of the take out box and you can literally see the bottom of the box. I understand price of food has gone up, not even complaining about the 4 meatballs, but the portion size of the pasta. Not enough sauce, pasta was quite dry. Luckily we order the roast pork. That is the only reason why this post got stars. The pork was soft and flavorful. Hopefully dining in experience would be better. We will see, to be continued... read more

Madre Osteria & Bar - Mamma's Spaghetti & Meatballs - Wine Bars Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

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Location hidden but great spot looks like great summer spot been wanting to visit so first time there on a Sunday night , even the decor is spot on but couple things that left bad taste in my mouth actually dumbfounded . After asking for a bottle of Rosso di Montepulciano $45 and told they are out but mngr comes out with bottle of Brunello di Montalcino$120 saying they have it , I say ok but can I see bottle first only to see its 120 not 45 one I ordered. As I figured they sound alike yet listening is a hard task these days, after receiving correct bottle I ask for red wine glasses as I have been given white. Only to be told they have none , oh really how about the 6-8 on bar shelf " OH THEY ARE NOT POLISHED" Well ok then so one would think 30 seconds to polish 2 glasses can be possible but guess not. Sorry lil lady unable to get me Wine glasses for my bottle but wrong answer..... Food arrives only to see my reheated short rib that was online as a softball size juicy looking on FB but not much alike to maybe my 3rd time cooked hard crusted reheated cooked golfball piece I got.... So to top this bs off I finish and girl asks any dessert, decline although girlfriend still eating only for 2 seconds later checks dropped at table. Now if ya shifts done ok but party of 6 still eating so WTF.... Hate to speak truth but this wowed me .... read more

Great ambience and service. Mussels and polenta was really good. Chicken Marsala was not. It was very bland and had very little chicken that was in small chunks rather then a whole piece. Cocktails were good. read more

This restaurant has a nice space inside, with lively atmosphere and they serve traditional Italian fare. The service when we went for dinner on a weeknight was good and timely. They had a nice assortment of cocktail choices, we opted for wine and margaritas. Both of which were good. We tried the polenta appetizer to start, which was delicious, but a really skimpy portion with just 3 small pcs for $12.00 We then chose the risotto and the salmon entrees; they were cooked just right and very flavorful. The parking was confusing, no spots for restaurant, only marked spots for the offices and condos. They should be clear about where you can park. Would definitely return to try this place again. read more

Awesome atmosphere, subpar food. We've gone a few times in the hopes they were working out the kinks and been very disappointed. Most recently ordered the rigatoni w vodka sauce (tasted like ketchup) and sausage pasta which was very bland. Was really hoping they'd step it up, but unfortunately won't be back. read more