Bigger, more roomy and open than the last location. Now lacking the "authentic Italian restaurant" vibe of close and loud, but it's not actually in Italy so that's okay Food, as always, was fantastic. I opted for the special - shrimp and a creamy cheese sauce on penne. Zero regrets. So good. Mussels as an appetizer and delicious garlic knots. Chianti to accompany. Perfecto. read more

The Great Impasta - Shrimp & Prosciutto in Creamy Cheese Sauce - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

Always a nice local place in Brunswick you can go to. In 1Q25 they moved to a larger location off Pleasant Street but brought their cute wooden booths. Doesn't feel as cozy on the inside but the wait was a lot shorter. Luckily the menu stayed the same, same yummy salads and garlic knots. read more

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Found zero of the issues I see others complain about. We made a reservation and when arrived even though it was very busy were promptly seated. The interior is warm in yellow tones and they have these cute bench booths. We sat in the upstairs area and the smells of seafood were just amazing. They do have quite a bit of seafood on the menu so we ordered the aragosta alfredo. This dish was a revelation, there was quite a bit of lobster meat. The pasta was perfect fly cooked and the Alfredo sauce was just the right amount of creamy and flavor perfectly complimenting the lobster. It also huge the wife and I shared it and we were unable to finish it. You can also add a Caesar salad for $2.50 which we did. I was expecting a small plate but this a full blown and very good Caesar. The service was excellent. read more

The Great Impasta - Menu 1 - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

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We needed to try the new Great Impasta, it recently reopened in a new spot & my 90 year old mom and I had heard negative things. We wanted to judge for ourselves. We had a bit of a long wait before our order was taken, and then we waited a long time for our lunch - we thought next time we should maybe have a salad before our main dish. I thought the garlic knots were great, doughy, cheesy - YUM! The portion sizes were just right - I had assumed I would be taking some of the pasta home but ate it all! Mom had a 1/2 Italian BLT and also ate the whole thing. Other than the wait we found the place charming and the upstairs bar (we spotted it on our way out) looked like a place to try! read more

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My daughters and I stopped in for an early lunch on a Tuesday. I had the bolognese and added the meatballs. I highly recommend adding them - they were 2 large meatballs, packed with flavor. One daughter had the build-your-own-pasta and ordered penne with alfredo, chicken and broccoli. The other daughter ordered the capesante proscuitto with gluten-free pasta - she appreciated the gluten-free option for both the pasta and the bread. As noted in others' reviews, the portion sizes are perfect if you aren't looking for leftovers. If you are, you either need more self-control or a smaller appetite than I have. The initial "welcome" and drink order took longer than I would have expected given the minimal number of customers in the restaurant. However, our food came out in a reasonable amount of time. read more

I would not recommend The Great Impasta since we had a terrible experience. We had a reservation for 7:15 and arrived at 7:00 and were told it would be just a short wait. We were seated at 7:55 after watching multiple parties seated ahead of us despite some of them being walk-ins without reservation. When questioning the hostess I was rudely told to be patient. After finally being seated it took more than 5 minutes before anyone even came to our table. When the waitress finally came we were ready to order and the first couple of things we tried ordering, we were told they were out of. At this point we made the decision to leave. I have been to restaurants in the past that were busy and can understand having to wait, however when we have reservations but are bypassed intentionally and treated rudely when asking about it, it is time to leave and warn others about the experience. read more

We have a wonderful dining experience every time! Yummy yummy food and nice people! Best place in town!!!

Great dinner at the Great Impasta this evening. The decor is appropriately Italian themed, but manages to be unique and fun. Our server was very pleasant and attentive. I tried the Sicilian Mama for a cocktail - I highly recommend it! As always, the garlic knots were delicious. My meal of fettuccini with shrimp was also top notch. The kitchen was very slow , but the meal was well worth the wait. read more

The Great Impasta - Fettuccini Alfredo - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

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1st, said it was carbonada. It was their version as I was told of a carbonada. Just an Alfredo sauce with pasta. I'm sorry that is not a carbonada. The bolognese, well must have been their own variation as well. Along with the shrimp scampi. Not quite what we were thinking of. I'm sorry but I beleive Olive Garden had more authentic Italian food. With that said, the food served was not at all terrible. If you have never eaten real Italian food, you would love this restaurant. Waitresses were nice and helpful. Definitely a plus. Also how many authentic Italian restaurants would have imitation parmesan cheeseburger the table. Again, even Olive Garden uses fresh grated cheese. I think the name impasta was meant as imposter. read more

The Great Impasta - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

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A quiet, unassuming restaurant one might not even notice that it's here. A friend took me because it's one of her favorite local spots. We had a late lunch that was absolutely delicious. Service was friendly and timely. Each dish was served in a very nice presentation, and just the right amount of flavorful, wonderfully seasoned food. The buttery rolls with Parmesan were warm and a great way to start while waiting for the food. I highly recommend ! read more

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The food was good I'll have to try more offerings to get a good picture of the kitchen. Our server was outstanding she was attentive without hovering. Given the restaurant's proximity to downtown and walking distance from campus there was a very talkative table of students. The ambient volume dropped considerably once they left. read more

Not great. The garlic knots were doughy/slightly under baked. The salad was okay, but nothing special. I've had better eggplant Parmesan. I probably wouldn't go back. read more

Worst experience ever for our last night and meal in the Durham/Brunswick area. We waited one hour after the hostess totally messed up our check in and crossed us off the wait list. Finally we were seated and then ignored for 10 more minutes. No apologies for the screw up. We got up and left. read more

Bad food and bad service. Slow food and outdated interior. Would not recommend, nor will we be coming back.

We have been long time customers. The new space is bigger, however the noise is terrible. There were 2 of us at a small table, and we could not hear each other without yelling. Our server was delightful and apologized 3X for the noise. I left the restaurant with my ears ringing. We cut our meal short just to get out of there. The food was good, but not worth the headache. Will not return unless the noise issue is fixed. read more

In town for a wedding, I popped in for lunch with a couple other guests. I brought my pup and they graciously put some tables together to let us sit outside on their cozy patio. After a look at their menu, I opted for a glass of Prosecco and the mussels linguine. This dish originally comes with Gorgonzola but I'm not a super fan of that cheese. They allowed us to swap this with Parmesan which was the perfect switch! We were a large group and our waitress offered to split bills which is such a great service option when you're in large groups. On another visit to Brunswick I would def try a few other items off their menu! read more

Food is bland, service is horrible it's a want to be bar/ olive garden. All wait staff are young and need more training

Place was really busy with a long wait, our 15 minutes wait ended up being 45 minutes so expectations were high that food would be phenomenal. However, it felt short of that. First, my sangria was delish. Now, the food. Bread of the garlic knots were not good, had no taste, bruschetta toppings were delicious but again the bread was not. As for the mussels, it was fantastic. For main dinner, I got the seafood pasta with white wine.. fresh and tasty and BF had the steak medallions with cheese risotto and it was HORRIBLE. The meat was so sour from the lemon and with no seasoning whatsoever and the risotto was the most disgusting risotto I've ever tasted. Never in my life we sent a dish back to the kitchen but this was just not edible. Our waitress was nice enough and offered my BF another dish, and he ended up getting the same pasta dish as mine. Service was good, pricing was fair. But some of the dish were below subpar. My BF will never go back to this restaurant and I feel bad because this part of Maine need a really good Italian restaurant. Maybe I'll give it a second chance by trying another pasta dish. read more

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Great little restaurant, friendly staff and a wonderful menu. The bread in garlic and butter was to die for I had pasta with pesto sauce and it was wonderful. Make sure you make reservations , the place is small and it fills fast. Can't wait to go back. read more

The Great Impasta - Mussels in wine, DELICIOUS!! - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

We ate here for downtown Brunswick's July art walk night. It was so sticky humid that night, we were incredibly thankful for a shaded outdoor patio table with a breeze. The waitress was the same age as my daughter, and she was so sweet and friendly. The menu here is really nice, really well put together thoughtful beautiful dishes. My chicken was served topped with luscious strawberries. The antipasto salad? Omg! I've dreamed of it since we left, it's THAT good. The garlic knots are super tasty. Everyone of us enjoyed our meal. We didn't t have room for dessert, though I've heard it's very good. When they give you your check, it comes with a mint chocolate truffle. Totally puts Olive Garden's mediocre Andes candy to shame just saying. Knot Basket Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Beet and Goat Cheese Salad read more

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Garlic knots were served cold at our lunch and stale. Asked for fresh ones. They came out hot but doughy as not fully cooked. This USED to be one of the best things served. Our meals, "meh". Gave them another try, still doughy garlic knots, but at least they weren't cold and stale. Suggested they go with some delicious Italian bread from Standard bakery and give up trying the indigestible garlic knots. read more

Pretty good food and a nice little restaurant. The two servers were nice and quick. Not a destination restaurant in my opinion but it fill the bill with a couple of vegetarian and vegan options. read more

We dined at this popular restaurant on our first evening in town. Menu prices are quite reasonable with entrees including both garlic knots and a side salad, the latter upgraded by diced beets, goat cheese and a honey balsamic dressing. My wife chose veal saltimbocca alla Romao with pasta as entree while I went with Pescatore (clams, crab, shrimp, scallops, mussels, and tomatoes in a creamy ricotta sauce over linguini). She was disappointed in hers while I was happy as a clam with mine though my dish included few. Service was reasonably efficient. read more

My wife and I have been eating at The Great Impasta for the better part of 38 years and it never disapoints. Their new location on Pleasant St. is bright, clean, and spacious. Service was spot on and the food was absolutely delicious. The bar was a nice addition as the former location didn't have one. The GI will continue to be our "go to" restaurant. read more

My friend and I were majorly impressed with ALL of our food. I had the seafood lasagna and my friend had carbonara. We loved both! Amazing actually! Highly recommend this place! Highly recommend! read more

The Great Impasta - Carbonara and Seafood Pasta - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

Haven't been here in a few years ( Covid) a heard they had new owners since we last came . Well things haven't changed at all lunch was just wonderful. My wife had the Pumpkin Ravioli and I had the Haddock special . Both dishes were perfect . Great spot we live in Kennebunk so it's a ride but we'll worth the trip. Our server was also great We will be back read more

My initial visit for take away left me very pleased. I had gotten the shrimp scampi and it was exactly what I expected and wanted. The free included garlic knots were disappointing. The dough to sauce was way off 3/1 dough and these must be a wheat dough, because the taste was like a wheat loaf slice. Wheat knots can be good, but these aren't. I can only assume as a free item, the attention to ingredients and process isn't afforded them like the other menu items receive. The included salads were tasty, if disproportionate. (Salad 1 had a single chickpea and salad 2 had at least a dozen of them.) The meatball app was obviously made using the knots dough and made the whole (too oily) mess inedible for me. On our 2nd take away visit, I got myself 2 lunch pastas and the bruschetta to share with my wife. She got the turkey half sandwich with chips. She was happy with her food, tho we agreed the chips had to have been store bought and not house made. As for my dishes...disappointing, which is extra sad since scampi and aglio e olio are almost identical. This quite simply had NO SALT on it...at all...whatsoever. How? The garlic was a muted flavour at best (which is wrong cuz the name says garlic and oil) and the herbs on top were not minced enough to avoid catching in my teeth EVERY bite. The pesto was not the fresh quality I had hoped for either. It tasted almost creamy, but wasn't an alfredo option, so that tells me too much cheese was added in the blending. I paid the up charge to add chicken to the pesto. It was (half?) a breast worth and very noticeably over cooked. The pesto on it did nothing to help restore moisture to it. The star for both of us was the appetizer. The focaccia was tasty and soft. The tomatoes fresh and the balsamic delightful. 3 wedges for each of us yet we both could have had a whole order on our own. read more

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They never Disappoint.... The bruschetta and fried mozzarella is a great start. This visit we have a veal Parmesan, which is not featured on the Evening Menu, but you can requested it any hour, and I enjoyed the shrimp scampi. We staff is always pleasant and attentive. Tiny little restaurant but you never feel crowded. We will return read more

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From entrance to meal, this place offered a great experience. This is a quaint authentic Italian eatery offering made from scratch dishes from lasagna to flatbread pizza. I got the eggplant pasta which was delicious. The pasta sauce is obviously homemade and the best I've had. My husband got the seafood lasagna. He loved it and said it was extraordinarily flavorful. They bring free baskets of garlic knots out to the table. They are absolutely delicious and very warm. We got bruschetta as an appetizer. Again, it was cooked perfectly. The restaurant was very clean. The service was impeccable. If I had to choose a complaint it would be the limited seating. The place is quite small and you may have to wait if you go during a busy time. But this place is worth the wait. read more

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Visiting with family from NY. Just had late afternoon lunch. Went with the dinner menu. Had the best pasta in a long time. Great salad and finished of with a cannoli. Service was excellent too. Highly recommend a visit to this place. read more

The Great Impasta is doing a good job of surviving through this pandemic. They offer socially distanced seating inside and outside of the restaurant. The staff were all wearing face shields that they had "bedazzled" themselves! The staff were very friendly and helpful throughout our experience. I felt safe eating here with my loved ones. Now for the food! I had the Carbonara which had bacon in it. It had a LOT of bacon. So much so that I had a plateful of bacon on my plate after I had eaten all of the pasta. My boyfriend ate it haha. He had the Pescatori with mussels, scallops, and shrimp. He said it was good, in his words "I'd give it 4 stars". He felt there wasn't enough sauce. Another entree that was ordered was the Butternut Squash Ravioli. Honestly, I almost chose this myself. When it came out to the table, I was so glad I hadn't ordered it. It was six small ravioli's on the plate. She literally ate it in a couple minutes then watched the rest of us eat our meals. It was a little awkward, I wanted to shovel half of my pasta into her plate. I did order half a carafe of the Chianti. This was very good and reasonably priced. (The food was rather expensive for small portions). Also, you get free french bread for the table to start. I would come here again :) read more

The Great Impasta - Carbonara - Italian Near Me - Brunswick, Maine

We went here based on a recommendation of good friends who visit regularly. We made a reservation (absolutely necessary!) and still found we'd have a (shorter than some) wait. no worries, we wanted to eat outside and could be seated right away. In the small space, it was much noisier than on the sidewalk on a busy corner. The food was a mixed bag. We ordered Zuppa Pesce and it was really good. Plenty of fish provided a robust flavor to this version of what's basically chowder. not over salted, hot and savory. This came with our "antipasto style salad." The salad was not over dressed and was a perfect compliment to the zuppa. This also came with the famous garlic knots. We had high expectations for these, based on other reviews and the t shirts that the wait staff were wearing "got knots?" This was a disappointing presentation of bread that was "supermarket" quality, not the kind you would expect at an Italian bakery or eating establishment (have had better at chain fast food places). Yes. There was garlic and butter, and parm (the powdery kind), and we did eat them, mopping up the zuppa. Point is that it seemed like they weren't trying. For entrees we had lasagna and seafood lasagna. This was good and bad. The flavor of each was "good" but the noodles were mush and the seafood lasagna had to be sent back to heat it up. Once we were finished, we sat for a long time waiting for the check. The plates were all cleared, but eventually I had to go in and ask to be checked out. Overall, a place with good potential that seems to be coasting. read more

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Absolutely the BEST Italian restaurant in Southern Maine. Not only do they have fantastic lasagna, fettuccine, meatballs, etc., their garlic knots are to die for! Seriously!! read more

This was a choice made by the somewhat good reviews and to hopefully make up for the overpriced Italian meal in Boothbay the night before. I visited with my mom and sat outside because there were a lot of people inside and it was too warm in there (it's a small restaurant). I ordered a white Sangria (I actually ended up having 2) and they were quite tasty, albeit a bit smaller than I expected. But for the price, they were fine. The meals came with some free garlic knots and antipasto salads. There was a mix of white and wheat knots and they were thick and doughy so they weren't my favorite but they tasted fine. The antipasto salads were good. The meal was where it got iffy. My mom got the Fruitti di Mare Risotto which had good flavor. It was definitely the winner of our meals. The seafood was cooked well and there was a good amount of it for the price. I was trying to eat somewhat healthier and got the Pesce Cipolla which was tasteless and drowning in oil. There was literally a pool of oil that I had to spoon out of the plate. It also had absolutely no flavor. It came with pasta and a garlic (oil?) sauce but that also had absolutely no flavor. I don't think salt or pepper were used at all. There must be multiple cooks because I couldn't fathom how one meal could have good flavor while the other had none. The worst part is, I informed the waitress after we got the check that my meal had too much oil on it and she (rather hilariously) told me that it's an oil sauce because "aglio" means oil. I speak Italian and no it doesn't. It means garlic. Nowhere on the description does it say "olio" which is oil. The description is "haddock baked with caramelized onions, taleggio cheese and aglio". If it said "aglio y olio" that would have been a different story. But even if it did say "olio", it shouldn't have been in a sea of oil. And it should have had some seasoning on it other than bland onions and tasteless garlic. read more

Had lunch 2/05/24. The putenesta sause was very dry, very spicy, very not Italian. No black olives. No capers. The lemon tart was very dry. The crust was too thick. The whipped cream was melted. Sorry. Bob. read more

I have eaten at The Great Impasta for over 35 years. Love their salads, shrimp scampi and of course their rolls! The service is always pleasant and polite. read more

We went to the Great Impsata after the matinee performance at Maine State Theater. Great find! Garlic knots were complimentary...yummy! The main course was very good with large portions. My husband actually had my leftovers for breakfast. They have a very nice selection of gluten free options as well. read more

Delicious 2pm late lunch with my son. Started with a great salad with fresh veggies, chick peas, salami on abed of crispy greens. Amazing garlic knots - fresh, piping hot, and oozing with yumminess. We both had aglio olio with linguine. Again, cooked very well. Five stars. We'll be back. read more

If you want to go here, make a reservation. Whether or not there are people waiting, they seat people with reservations first. They will take your name and continually seat every other party first. I was part of a party of three and there were two two-tops about to clear, and the hostess seated a party of two with a reservation in a location where a four top could fit. I realized that I was never going to get a seat because they were going to continually seat everyone with reservations before any of us who were waiting in the very tiny lobby. If that's your policy, that's fine. But don't encourage people to wait when you actually have no intention of seating them. read more

Service is excellent here. Food above average . I got the pescatore which was scallop, shrimp and mussel on linguine in a white sauce. I was expecting a smoother creamy sauce but here it was made with ricotta cheese which was still good. The plate came out piping hot which I like . I don't like dishes coming out semi or lukewarm hot. The entree had a salad and garlic knots to accompany it. The salad was simple but yummy. The dressing on it was fine but my hubby wanted a little more dressing which was fine. Personal preference. The seafood in pasta was cooked just right not at all overlooked. The garlic knots was a little doughy not light as I had I hoped. Nonetheless still a good meal all around. read more

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