So, I just got home from my latest dinner at Novara. To say it was weird is kind. I met a couple of friends there at the bar around 5. We know it's get crowded,so we showed up early. We each had a drink or two, then ordered some appetizers, some more drinks and 3 entrees. After we finished dinner we told the bar back we wanted to order some dessert and another round of drinks. We were given a dessert menu, but then no one came back. After awhile, at least 20 minutes, we caught the attention of one of the bartenders and said we wanted to order dessert and some more drinks. At that time we were told the bar staff had discussed and we were no longer able to order drinks. Nothing proactive, and no more detailed information. We decided to pay and not order dessert. On the way out the manager happened to be standing there so we asked what was going on. For the record, I understand if we were loud, berating the staff, or doing something else to call attention but we weren't. I'd also understand if someone from the bar staff had come over to us and asked us about our travel plans. If they had they would have found out I walked there, and my friends were taking an Uber. But, if we hadn't called a bartender over, I think we would have been there forever, as no one was going to come over proactively to have a conversation. The manager/host seemed to get offended at my friend who was understandably upset. But really didn't have a great answer except to say we looked at your bill and thought it was too many drinks. Look, I understand this can be a grey area, but our intent was to order our third course and a drink and go home. I'm writing this at 9 pm, and I've been home for 20 minutes. The food at Novara is great, the location is great, but I've felt for awhile the service is just not right. I totally get a restaurant has to be responsible in how they serve people, but... I also think they should weigh that with what is actually happening. I will not visit Novara again, which makes me sad. Also please look at my review history to get a sense for my approach. read more

Their brunch is great! I feel like brunch in the Boston area has become just late breakfast. Their mix of great and staple breakfast foods and lunch options makes for a great brunch! We did a bridal brunch here and it was awesome read more

A group of coworkers went to Novara for dinner last night and can I say we had the BEST WAITER, Antonio. He was so sweet, had the greatest personality, really knew the menu and was awesome w suggestions. I'm a gin drinker, so he suggested I try the Bohemian, a citrus cocktail that had a grapefruit, lemon twist. It was so refreshing and tasty. I ordered the Salmon dish which was so delicious but the Calamari Shrimp Mozambique was to die for. The sauce was incredible! So overall, the food and the service was phenomenal. Everyone left happy and we will definitely be back!!! read more

Warning: Never order via grubhub. Ordered from novara for the first time for a special occasion. After about an hour and twenty minutes after we placed our order, I called the restaurant and they explained there was a mixup and no grubhub delivery person had picked up the order yet, placing the blame on them (your drivers are an extension of the service you provide). No one from novara or grubhub contacted me. I was assured my food would be hot. Alas, everything was cold and limp. Horrible experience. read more

Had the best cosmo ever thanks to Pat the bartender! Novara has great atmosphere complete with old movies playing on a big screen smack dab in the middle of the dining room. The last time I was there the playlist was on point. I even said to my friend "they're playing the hits!". My girlfriends and I frequently come to novara for dinner and it never disappoints. I highly suggest the pork! read more

My wife and six year old wanted to take me out for my birthday so we made our third trip here. While our first trip was made because my wife is a New Kids on the Block stalker hoping to meet Jordan Knight we have continued to come here because of the food and service. Each time I have come I have tried something new, so this time tried the Mushroom Marsala and it was, as always fantastic. We started off with that awesome bread they serve and my wife and I joked again that we could happily just sit with a pile of that and a bottle of wine. We passed on the wine, but we know from previous trips that they have a nice list with pretty good prices for so close to Boston. And for those going with kids I should note the kids meal of sliders and fries looked great as well. Each time we have come we have had a different server and gotten similar service with each so I really do believe that the management deserves some kudos for hiring and training good people. Also I must thank the management for the spot on customer service, my wife mentioned that we had to have desert because it was my birthday when offered the desert menu and when we got the bill we discovered that management was kind enough to comp my delicious desert. We have become loyal customers, now if we can just convince Jordan to sing Happy Birthday to my wife when she has me bring her here for her birthday next November....... read more

I hope this place gives up so something good can move in. The ambiance is flashy in a similar style to the front yards of the housing stock outside the Newark airport - now add mirrors. The food is a bad impersonation of Italian and is way overpriced. Oh, and I had something really weird happen. My waitress offered me a free dessert as if she was being really nice, but guess what - she never returned! I finally had to get up and ask someone to see if my waitress could bring over the check (or if she had expired?). I was just so tired of waiting for said promised dessert I didn't want it anymore and just wanted to get out of that converted basketball gym cum restaurant! Avoid. read more

I'm a huge fan of Abby Park and went here expecting a restaurant of similar caliber. For anyone in the same boat, you may want to reconsider your expectations. The most impressive thing about the restaurant is the set up. It is basically a very dressed up warehouse. They must have some great sound softeners because it didn't echo like most restaurants I have been to with similar set up. We ordered the mussels, cannellini bean bruschetta and arancini. This was my first time trying Arancini so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was very good and I would order it again. I didn't really enjoy the bruschetta or mussels, both of which are go-to appetizers for me when I'm out. The flavors just didn't work. The staff was intense. A female bartender overheard me telling my friend how excited I was to be there because I love Abby Park and they have the same owners. The bartender interjected telling us that they have completely different staff, different food, different drinks and different clientele (there is definitely some overlap with the clientele since they are literally right next door to one another and I am now a customer who has dined at both-am I the first?). She went on to say the biggest difference was that they didn't free pour alcohol here, but measured it unlike at Abby Park and therefore wasted less... It was so odd to be given all this information when we didn't ask for it. Luckily we didn't see her again although the bartender who ended up waiting on us was only slightly better. He was much friendlier and was able to place our food order without any problems. I had only had one drink while my friend had three. My friend literally had to ask for one of the drinks three times when the bar wasn't busy at all. I waitress and I know he was probably multitasking so he still gets a pass for this. He did manage to find the time at one point to come up and ask us if we had seen 5 women walk in and walk out in frustration from him ignoring them and not taking there drink order fast enough. We had no idea what he was talking about and told him we hadn't noticed. So much awkwardness. I am seriously debating whether or not I'm going to give this place another shot. I had such high hopes for this restaurant and between the staff and food they are pretty much crushed. I understand the two restaurants are different places but I expected similar professionalism from the staff and food quality from the kitchen. Oh well, it's still new, I hope they can make some changes and turn it around. read more

Love this place! We sat at the bar had drinks, truffle fries and a dessert. The service was fantastic, the atmosphere is really cool. They play old movies and makes for great conversation. Definitely will be back. It's a great local spot. read more

Stumbled upon this place while out in the burbs, and was pleasantly surprised. First off, the ambiance here is fantastic. The space is urban chic, or whatever the HGTV folks say nowadays. It was a weeknight, so they had this high school kid singing and playing guitar in the corner, who was actually pretty darn good. The bar is expansive, and there are plenty of giant TVs all over the place. The bread basket was quite good, which is always a sign of good things to come. The bolognese was quite good, as was the mushroom risotto - although not the best I've ever had. I thought the prices were a touch high for the burbs, but you can clearly see what they are trying to do with that whole situation. I wouldn't travel out of the city for this place, but if I were ever in the area again - its a great option. read more

The best part of the meal was the Tuscan Lemon Martini! The chopped salad was tasty and the burrata cheese was delicious, but the tomatoes weren't heirloom and they were swimming in olive oil. The meal went downhill from there. It was 6 o'clock and they were out of rigatoni. The waitress was very apologetic and explained they make their own. The zucchini parmesan with spinach pasta was extremely salty and had very little zucchini. The pizza was more like flatbread, didn't like it. Time for dessert, they were out of olive oil lemon cake and chocolate cake. The waitress was again very apologetic. She brought us a substitute hazelnut cake and Gelato along with Italian cookies and chocolate dipping sauce, complimentary. The biscotti were not traditional Italian biscotti, more like chocolate chip cookies. Certainly won't be back for dinner. read more

What a gem! Went in for a last minute dinner with my new husband on a Monday night. The crowd was sparse; that left a lot of open tables, which was great, because it seemed like there wasn't much wiggle room. The service is excellent. We were greeted immediately with water and drink order requests. Our waiter was on point with delivering drinks. And the food was awesome. We started with the tomatoes salad - my husband specifically commented that it was the best he's ever had (and he typically doesn't like the tomato mozzarella salad). We got the pepperoni pizza...also super yummy. We enjoyed the food so much we ordered the chicken parmesan meatballs - a dish the phantom gourmet website suggests you try. We were NOT disappointed - they were very very good. We were so full we didn't go for desert, but I kinda wish we had, considering how good everything was. Also, the service was so on point, we told the manager about our waiters exceptional service - Shelby. read more

Great drinks, great bread, okay food. We really likes their whiskey drinks with homemade grapefruit infused ice cubes. The bread is delicious but the food is less exciting. Wings were okay. read more

Went there opening night (Jan 7) with my family of five. We arrived at 5pm and were promptly seated. Seating was comfortable and not cramped. Our server was very attentive and "down to earth". Management came over several times to make sure everything was to our liking and helped us with menu descriptions as well as wine selections. TIP: All wine selections are available to try before you select.. Perhaps that is how it is elsewhere? Our entrees and appetizers were brought out quickly and very warm. My wife opted for the Tuscan White Bean Soup and Mushroom Bruschetta and enjoyed every bite of them. My oldest daughter chose the King Crab Scampi and thoroughly enjoyed it until she hit a wall halfway through her generous portion. My other daughter ordered the Margherita Pizza and commented on how big it was. UPDATE: She liked it even better warmed up around 9pm last night as did I today for lunch. It held its flavor and the dough stayed light and fresh. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan. Just like the other entrees, my serving was large and very warm. The chicken was tasty and not dry. My only small complaint was that my pasta seemed to be a bit "clumpy" in certain spots in my bowl. That could have been due to impartial mixing of the sauce before serving or just not enough of it. I suspect a bit more sauce would have remedied that minor complaint of mine. My 6 year old also mentioned the same thing with her pasta too. The homemade taste of the pasta was undeniable though. The Kids Menu was standard with a few "Italian" inspired choices. My daughter opted not to get the Chicken Parm Sliders (next time) but instead chose the Spaghetti and Meatballs. Her "kids portion" was quite large. She enjoyed playing with the supplied "Wikki Stixs". I thought that was a nice touch in lieu of the standard coloring page and four crayons. BORING!!! We finished our night with the Seasonal Gelato which I believe was either Salted Caramel or Hazelnut and Italian Cookies with Nutella dipping sauce. This was all shared by five of us and was a simple but nice way to end our dinner. I was quite surprised how fresh and delicious the cookies were. I forgot to ask if they were made on site or brought in. Either way they were excellent. All five of us agreed. So I give our overall meal a solid 4 stars due to the pasta. I have no doubt that will be corrected by the time we go back in as I chalk it up to "opening night jitters". The service was great, the food was hot and fresh, and nothing was sent back. I am a bit biased towards Novara due to it being right across the street from me. It will be my families new hometown eatery. Can't beat our the short walk. I look forward to returning and trying different entrees and perhaps sitting at the impressive 52 seat bar. It will be perfect for watching some football on the many large TVs and giant "theater screen" directly over the kitchen. VERY COOL! After a year of construction and minor annoyances I have embraced Novara as a welcomed addition to our small East Milton community. I anticipate that many of my neighbors and other Milton residents will, or are already doing the same. Cheers to the management, staff, and investors. Well done! read more

After hearing about a new restaurant opening up in Milton, I had to go out and give it a shot. I really only knew this place was a sibling of Abby Park and was Italian so I was going in with an open mind. I came out really happy to have another nearby restaurant that has a cool space and awesome food. We got in on a Monday around 5:30 and the place was pretty packed. We had reservations so we were seated as soon as we walked in and were seated at a nice high top table. The atmosphere is awesome here. It is a very large space with very high, exposed wood ceilings. There are accent pieces along the wall like old school lanterns and window shutters to make you feel like you are in Italy while eating the food. The space has a large bar in the middle surrounded by TVs with whatever ESPN is showing. I thought a really cool touch was the huge panel of TVs playing different movies and shorts with subtitles. It adds a nice cinema effect to the space. Overall very comfortable and interesting space that caters to a wide variety of patrons. The options on the menu looked great. We ended up getting the Calamari Arrabbiata and the Gorgonzola Tortellini for appetizers and then the Chicken Parm, Porchetta and Fra Diavlo pizza for entrees. The Calamari tasted very fresh and light. When combined with the peppers throughout the dish you get an amazing flavor. The Tortellini was delicious. Very rich, creamy and super flavorful. It was nice to have little chunks of pancetta throughout the dish as well. The Chicken Parm was pretty absurd. I'm not sure what hulk of a chicken they got the breast from but it was about the size of my torso. It came lightly breaded, well-seasoned and served on top of a bed of homemade spaghetti. The chicken was full of flavor, juicy and tender. Every bite I took was better than the last. The spaghetti was good but nothing crazy. I was expecting better for homemade pasta but it didn't really standout. I'll have to give their other homemade pastas a try next time. The Porchetta dish was a pork loin, pork belly, faro and broccoli rabe plate. It was amazing, probably my favorite dish of the night. All of the flavors worked perfectly together and left an incredibly taste in your mouth. Again, this portion was pretty massive. Lastly, the Fra Diavlo. This pizza was pretty impressive. It came out with a small mountain of fried calamari, scallops and shrimp in the center. The pizza was sprinkled with crush red pepper and some aioli. The seafood was fresh and worked perfectly with the pizza. The pizza was good but the seafood was definitely the star here. I was expecting special pizza here since it is all made in-house but it wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I'll definitely be back to try another one and hopefully change my mind. Every single dish was stacked with good, high-quality food. You definitely get your moneys worth here. Although the restaurant was pretty full, the service was quick and attentive the entire meal. I'm really happy to see another great restaurant option pop up in Milton. I will definitely be back here, whether for a game or for a nice dinner. read more

Wednesday night... a few weeks after opening. Had a 7pm reservation for my wife and I... we were on time. Not seated until almost 8pm. Scene was pretty great, huge bar... lots of bar staff -- but unfortunately the bartenders were on the disgruntled side. Pretty terrible for a brand new spot. No smiles, no warm interactions. Waitress was nice, obviously some kinks to work out with the service flow... (bread came out after apps, was offered water that never came, wine refills were very slow) --- and food was very blah. Wife had the spag/meatballs. Pasta was not good, meatballs were just ok. I had the short rib/risotto special... very fatty and overcooked. Was hoping for a much better experience. Maybe this place will take a turn for the better after some time to settle in... and hopefully a few replacements behind the bar. read more

Let me start this off by saying that I know this restaurant has only been open two weeks, so they are still working out the kinks. With that said... We (my husband, two kids and I) walked into the restaurant and immediately I commented on how cool the space is. The ceilings are super high, the decor is sleek and modern, and I was immediately impressed. The bar is gigantic, and the tables are all on one side of the space in three rows. As soon as we sat down my daughter looks at me and says "mommy it is really loud in here." We could barely hear each other talk - and this is at 5 PM on a Sunday night. It just got louder as it got more crowded. To the point where my kids were uncomfortable. There is really nothing they can do about that now! There is a gigantic projection screen over the kitchen area, to which my daughters' eyes were glued all night. It was playing the oddest things ever. At one point I looked up and thought I saw a man whose face was covered in blood! And then there was some skit about a dead fish? Is that really what you want to be seeing when you are eating food? That needs to change STAT. Our server, Brian, was great. He was noticeably stressed and crazy busy, but he was really charming and accommodating. The food was decent. We are huge fans of Steel & Rye, and I don't think this is at the same level. Burrata was served with under ripened tomatoes, and my Pancetta dish was over cooked and tough (the pork belly was good, but tenderloin was very dry). My husband had the steak and it was average. My kids loved their meals (pizza and sliders). Also there is something in the kitchen/service area that makes a very loud chime noise - constantly. I am assuming when orders are up? It sounds like you just won coins in a video game - and it was driving me INSANE. We will definitely come back, without kids, when we don't want to talk to each other :) Did I mention it was loud? read more

the staff is great, the atmosphere is great, the food is not good. Too bad. There is also a really nice bar in the restaurant. We had Jeff, a mgr help us with the wine, he was awesome, just wish the food was better. read more

Food was very good, so was the service. No complaints there. So why the one star? That's for the owner, who for some moronic reason installed a gigantic TV screen over the dining room that played cartoons and movies during dinner, which competed with the three other giant screens over the bar playing sports. It's impossible to look at your date/spouse/friends without the distraction from one of these screens. Is this a semi-trendy restaurant or is it Dave and Busters? It's a shame really, because I would go back and take the whole family. But I'm going to take them elsewhere. If my date/spouse/friends/family are going to ignore me and stare at the TV during dinner, we may as well stay at home. read more

I came to Novara and sat at the bar with my boyfriend. I love how the bar is the center of the establishment simply because it's so big and beautiful. Alyssa was our server. She made such amazing drinks for us based on a few questions she asked. She just knew what we would like and she was right. She made us feel comfortable and was just awesome. Will definitely return! As long as Alyssa is working! read more

A great addition to the Milton dining scene. My husband and I were there the first Friday after they opened and the restaurant was packed. They are clearly still ironing out opening kinks, which is to be expected--the hostesses were still being trained and took a few minutes to great us as they were talking logistics amongst themselves when we arrived at ~8:30. Rather than offering a time or offering to put us on a waiting list, they directed us to the (packed) bar to find a seat. But no one at the bar was moving. After standing around for a while, I used my phone to make a 9:15 reservation and we were seated right on time. The bar staff can also use some work--we had difficulty catching the bartender's attention to order drinks and settling up took about 20 minutes. He was clearly still finding his way around the bar and searching for ingredients. I'm not faulting them on any of that, though...again, it was right after opening. Be warned: the restaurant is LOUD. My husband and I (mid 30-somethings) could barely hear one another across the table. Would not be a good place for a larger group as a result. Our waiter was friendly and accommodating and didn't seemed stressed at all at the end of what must have been a very long night. Our food was hit and miss. We shared the chicken meatballs (basically chicken parm in meatball form--denser than I'd expect from a meatball, but crispy and delicious!) and a fungi pizza. The pizza was excellent with a great mix of flavors and wonderful crust--would have been delicious even without toppings! We also had the Caesar wedge salad which I cannot say good things about. The anchovies were excellent and flavorful, but the lettuce was only so-so, and the presentation wasn't very appealing. In general, the food is tempting (the bronzino looked wonderful and I'm anxious to try the gnocchi), but I'd like to see some attention to sound dampening now that we know how this space resonates with a full house. read more

My wife and I went here for Valentine's Day and I have to say we were pretty disappointed overall. We'd heard a lot of good things about Novara and so our expectations were fairly high - also, with a baby at home, we don't get out often, so when we do we really do our best to pick a place we expect to be great. On to the details: It started off poorly as we were seated at a high-top table by the bustling bar. As we looked around and realized we were the oldest couple seated in that section, we determined we'd been screened as "young enough not to complain about our location". For an trendy and fairly expensive restaurant, I'd rather not have had a TV showing the cross-fit games above my wife's head on Valentine's Day, nor to have people constantly walking behind my chair and bumping it. Next came our waitress who accidentally shattered my water glass when reaching for it. I'm not high-maintenance (though it sounds it here!) and was sympathetic b/c it was totally an accident. I didn't even mind terribly that there were shards of glass in my lap. But what put me off was no effort to make amends - it's Valentine's Day, you're a fairly new/expensive restaurant hoping to make a good impression, and you don't even comp a drink to make up for this? The manager came over and introduced himself saying 'whatever we need, no problem'. What did that mean? Awkward interaction and not a thing was comped. Our appetizers were the highlight: fried calamari could have been crispier but was pretty good and turkey meatballs were delicious. But despite delaying our entree order until apps arrived, entrees were brought out before apps were finished. My wife got the short rib, which was decent, but my king crab scampi was sitting in a pool of oil and several time I had to pick shells out of my mouth from the lump crab meat. We both got dessert and then two bites into it, our waitress just dropped off our check (?). I guess we were done with our evening at that point. No offer of coffee, drink, or even the courtesy of patience when we're spending $34+ per entree. All told, we spent about $185, plus $50 for the babysitter, and thoroughly regretted our choice of restaurant for a special occasion dinner. Overall: we felt very rushed and the entrees were far overpriced for the quality we received. We trust the positive reviews we'd heard previously and the restaurant is fairly new, so maybe the business of Valentine's Day overwhelmed them. We will try again on a less busy night and hope for a better experience. We live in Milton and really want this place to succeed. One tip: Start by endearing yourself to the locals, Novara. read more

Had the chicken park meatballs to start which were great. I had the beef tenderloin which I could cut with a butter knife and my wife has butternut squash raviolis, which she said were excellent. read more

I finally got the chance to see why everyone is talking about this restaurant The food is fantastic and the staff goes out of their way to accommodate you. The bartender, Kerri, was outstanding. She was very attentive and gave us detailed descriptions of the beers that were inquiring about. She was very patience with us! Novara offers a wide selection of beers on tap, which we decided to go with since we ordered two of their pizzas The bar manager, Josh, helped us in deciding which pizzas to order. We chose the margherita and zucca. Both cooked to perfection! I am thrilled to have this restaurant part of the neighborhood. read more

we had high expectation for this place from what we heard. very nice setting and vibe but we do agree with previous reviewer that the tables are pretty tight together. Service was friendly but timing was not great, long wait in between. the drink menu looks good. but when I got my cocktail (grapefruit juice, Campari etc), I was really surprised at the size, it was literally 4oz for $13. very overpriced if you ask me. chicken sliders for kids were great. chicken parm was good. but in our party, nobody was impressed with their "home made" pasta. It just didn't taste right in terms of texture, very disappointed with the pasta. Texture simply too sticky without elasticity and springiness. read more

Went for dinner on Saturday night with my wife. The overall look of the restaurant was good. A little loud but that is indicative of the need for more restaurants in the area. The service was subpar, we were waiting on menus, then waiting on the server to come back and take our drink order followed by him cutting us off after ordering our apps before we could order our mains. It took forever for him to check in after each plate had been delivered which normally isn't an issue for me but the food was subpar that had he come back in a reasonable amount of time I would have mentioned it. We ordered the Lolla Rosa Salad which was strangely presented (almost a head of romaine) and accompanied by over-cooked and mushy carrots, beets and what were supposed to be crispy shallots. The Artichoke Fritto was tasty but over salted. A dish with olives and prosciutto does not need further salt on the dish. The Nonna's Meatballs were incredibly dry which was disappointing as I had read great things of them. The noodles were cooked right but unfortunately the sauce disappointed as well, lacking flavor. The Scallop Risotto was ok, a strange combination by adding in the tart apple. The scallops were themselves good but the risotto was undercooked. All in all I felt like I was at a restaurant that had opened a week ago, not one that has been opened for almost a year. Not sure if they have not heard this feedback before or that people are so starved for local options they keep their comments to themselves.. Needless to say there are better options locally including Abby Park (their sister restaurant), the Townshend or Steel and Rye where I will spend my time and money. read more

First time dinning at Novaro with a group of 5. Service was excellent and dinner was superb! Will be back again soon!

I really wish I could give this more than five stars... First and foremost Brian was our server to start and by the end of the night was a friend. The service was impeccable by the entire staff and the food recommendations were second to none. I am not an easy person to please and this place delivered on every level. From the time we walked in on a Saturday night everyone was more than attentive making sure everything was to our liking. If you've pondered coming here...ponder no longer. I look forward to my next visit!!! read more

It's a bit pricey for Milton/ Quincy line. You got to understand. This is a local seen, and it's not Boston. You can't charge Boston prices In a cafeteria style place. Big is not always better. I do love the layout. I think it can loose a few tables. There just lined up all in a row like a cafeteria. They should make it more warm. The prices are are very high for what they offer. That's going to be the biggest challenge for that place. Not in a rush to go back. read more

The food and drink here is unreal. When we lived in Quincy this was our go-to spot since we had discovered it. We'll drive back down to the south shore just to grab dinner there! Awesome!! read more

Disappointed, came here for my birthday. It was quiet but we had reservations and were seated right away. Directly on top of another couple. The tables are so close together that you feel like you are sitting with this couple next to you. It was also not busy at all so they probably could have spread us out a little. We waited for a while probably 15 minutes for our waiter to come over to give us water, we had already decided our drink and order but he came over and showed us the menu again and then walked away. Another 10 minutes went by and s came back and we gave him our drink and order. Our drinks came probably 10 minutes later so now we have been sitting for over 35 minutes and just got our drinks, seems like bad training, I can only imagine how the service is when it's busy. When the drinks came I asked if we could have some bread since the other tables had and he said yes it's coming out of the oven. About 15 minutes later our food is brought over and then the waiter comes over with bread ... He said this isn't our best bread ... Who says that? But he was right the bread was either burnt to a crisp or so undercooked it felt like you just eating dough. I don't know how you mess up bread but if you don't think it's your best bread.. Don't serve it. I got the Chicken Parmesan and my husband got the short rib, I liked mine, he wasn't a big fan. Took forever for the waiter to come over to take our plates that we decided to skip dessert because who knows how long that would take. Went elsewhere to have drinks and dessert. Prices felt on the high side considering our experience but portions are large. I want to give 1 star but the decor and style Is great and I enjoyed my meal and I like to give the benefit of the doubt that the service and bread issue is just the kinks being worked out.. But I'm not rushing back. read more

Novara Restaurant - Plenty of open tables but so close to the table beside us. - Italian Near Me - Milton, Massachusetts

First visit was 2/25/16. The space is great, much larger than expected. The service was fast and friendly. The noise level is too loud. It reminded me of an Italian version of Steel & Rye. The food was just average. My wife had the Chicken Parmesan. She thought the chicken was too thick as she prefers thinner cutlets. I had the king crab scampi. It was mushy and at $33 was not a good value. I'll probably go back for drinks, the bar is awesome, but will not dine here because there are much better options for Italian near by. My draft beer was $9 but I get that you're paying for the ambiance. I can see this place being popular with the local Milton crowd but for my money I insist on better food. Update: Returned to have pizza and drinks at the bar and it was delightful. Great pizza and festive atmosphere. read more

My family and I made reservations at 4:00 to celebrate my mothers birthday. We parked in back. We proceeded to walk in the restaurant and the valet person just got there and told me I had to move my car because they have valet I said I was sorry I didn't see you. I than asked how much and he said oh it doesn't start till5:00 I could leave my car there but at 5:00 I had to drive it out front so he could park it. I thought this to be very poor managing. Either pay the guys to start at 4:00 on weekends or have a sign saying no parking. I wasn't about to leave my dinner to bring my car around so he could park it. Otherwise we had a delicious meal.Actually, we had 5 scrumptious dinners. We had the pleasure of having Brian and Jack as our servers. They were both excellent. We never needed a thing. They were both very attentive. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience at Novana. We will gladly enjoy a return visit to this restaurant knowing what wonderful service that was given to us by Brian and Jack. Way to go guys! read more

Fabulous dinner! Delicious drinks, wonderful food, and the molten chocolate cake was phenomenal.

I dined in at Novara a couple of times last weekend with some friends during my Labor Day Weekend visit in Boston & we had a wonderful dining experience! The first night we sat in the dining area, it was classy. Deirdre, our server, was amazing & attentive, we also got to meet Chef Tony DeRienzo himself who was very friendly & welcoming! We ordered Burrata, Polenta Fries, Calamari Arabbiata, Fra Diavlo Pizza, & Sei Strati Cioccolato, all of them were delicious!! The cocktails were so refreshing, we went for New Fig On The Block (yes, it sounds like New Kids On The Block) & Lavender. I never considered Italian food as my fave but now after Novara, I have to reconsider it. The second night we decided to sit at the bar instead of dining area, it turned out to be another cool dining experience. We felt the atmosphere was totally different & yet both were just side by side. The bar area was more casual, we had a drink & enjoyed the late night menu, Chicken Parmesan Meatballs & Cacciatore Pizza. The wine selection was impressive, had a bottle of sparkling rose of Brachetto Boston Winery. The price range I would say it's not overly expensive but also not cheap. We came to the conclusion that Novara is not only for a fine dining but also a cozy spot to hangout. I'll def come back! Next time, I'll sit at the patio to experience another dining moment. read more

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Good food, and an awesome cocktail selection. Kiley the bartender was awesome, super attentive and very careful that my order came out to satisfaction. read more

My first visit was December 2016 when a friend took me out for dinner for my birthday . We shared lemon parmesan chicken wings. They were excellent. Then one of the best antipasto with chunks of meats, cheeses, plus. Then bolognese. Finished off with the best tiramisu I've ever tasted. Ambiance was impressive. Yesterday my grandson drove down from NH to take me out for lunch. I suggested we go to Novara. So looking forward to those delicious chicken wings & antipasto. Disappointed that they changed. Neither was as good. Our server was less than attentive. I think we were her only table. She was so busy chatting with another server that I couldn't get her attention to ask for more water. Unfortunately this time did not live up to my expectations. read more

Went with 3 others for lunch. Decor was nice. Ordered beet salad.. Small salad, with about 7 leaves of spinach, a small Spoon of goat chess, a few flat pecans, For $13? Added 4 shrimp $9. Wouldn't fill a kid, never mind adults. Decided to have a veg. Panini and split it 3 ways Came burnt and small. Lucky to get a piece about an inch wide. They did give us a small piece of cake free because the panini was so bad. We all said we would never go back. Small portion. And expensive.sick of getting ripped off in restaurants. read more

It is a big open space which is cool but also loud. The apps we split for a meal were tasty. The waitress was awesome and funny. They had the various games on the tvs throughout which was good too. read more

Food is so delicious. Free wine tasting when you walk in was a great touch. Ask for Bryan- he's the best.