I feel like every time I write a review for a restaurant in the North End, I say "it's hard to find a bad meal in the North End". The same is true of Francesca's. Everything our large party had was very good. Lots of pasta, seafood, meatballs! We visited on a super busy Saturday night. And I was shocked that our large (7 people) party was seated immediately, without a reservation - at like 6 PM! Service was good, but our food was very slow to come out. (Again it was a busy Saturday night.) Our check arrived and we put down our credit cards right away. As soon as the slips came to be signed, the host came over to shoo us away. Like, the second they hit the the table, he was unceremoniously kicking us out. Yes, there was a line of people waiting outside, but maybe if the food came quicker, we wouldn't have occupied the table for so long?? Just sayin.... It's a minor point, and we were laughing about it as we were leaving. But with that being the final detail of the night, it definitely sticks out in my memory. read more

We go out to dinner 7 nights a week. Worst service we have experienced - given our food with no drinks. When we asked for at least water as the bar was too busy to give us a drink with our meal, we were given 3 glasses of water for four of us to share. Did not tell us specials - which then many around us got this additional table service with a meal that looked good. We asked our waitress at the end what that was - she said our special. We asked why she did not tell us the specials, she walked away. A very chaotically run restaurant that is not worth the money, especially with the poor service. read more

We loved this lovely place! Great wine selection and appetizers were great! We had oysters that were great.... Very fresh and tasted good. Calamari in an amazing marinara sauce, and baby clams that were in a very tasty buttery garlic/lemon sauce. All of our entrees were over the top perfect! Two of us ordered off the menu and they were more than glad to cook our order. Our waiter was great as was his staff of helpers. They were very attentive. We all loved the food and portions. Def going back! Great place and prices were less that Hanover St places. read more

Villa Francesca - Local oysters - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Food was not great. The servers were nice and so was the lady at the bar, she made a good drink other than that the food was subpar. The noodles were bloated , there was minimal flavor and the bread.... The bread was ok. This is a tourist trap that I fell for. read more

Incredible food incredible service! Katherine's service was breath taking -- their staff is the best! Would highly recommend. Authentic and excellent. read more

I did not like Francesca's here at all. I agree with recent reviews - we felt it was the worst restaurant we visited on the North End. I think they stay busy due to their location and "$1 oysters w/lunch" sign, which was our reason for selecting the place. Everything is trimmed in gold so you think you are going to get a great experience - NOPE. The service was bad and not attentive at all. The sever felt like she did not want to be at work...or was forced to be there. The menu didn't have much variety. We both wanted seafood and pasta, but could not really find on the menu what we had a taste for. We started off with the stuff lobster ravioli, which was great! However, there were only four on the plate... For $32, market price. Across the street, the next day, we found their offering was 6 pieces for LESS! I could not believe the bill when it came to me. We had Francesca's basic bread, as Yelp suggested not getting the garlic bread. I quickly decided due to service, menu selection, and prices to only have the app and drinks - and LEAVE We both got drinks - him a Mule, me the Lemon Drop. Both were good, thus the second star. Francesca's is a location to miss on the North End. We tried a couple more places and they were MUCH better. read more

Fabulous place in Bostons North End. Great food and drinks. Wonderful bar for a late night or really anytime.

Came here to meet with friends during the summer between semesters. Ordered spaghetti pesto genovese dish. Disappointing level of flavor; it was rather bland and required a handsome amount of salt to be tolerable. If you choose to go here, do not order this. Also ordered calamari for the table. On the menu it does say sautéed, which is fine; but it was far too chewy and did not absorb the flavors of the sauce it was soaked in. An underwhelming bite each time you nibbled a squid. It also felt like very little for $20, but maybe that was my perception from the "meh" presentation. If you choose to go here, do not order this either. Our server was nice, but service was not frequent enough for me to say that he went above and beyond; he did a pretty decent job. Decent service, bad food. Other comments: Fettucine was okay--nothing to write home about and I think I could make it better at home. Seafood risotto was flavorful, but on the pricier side. If you're prepared to spend $41, that's an option. read more

Classic Italian dining in elegant surroundings. We both had an amazing pesto pasta dish, caesar salad, and garlic bread dripping with garlic. The wait staff was very attentive and took great care of us. read more

Fantastic food was delicious, hot and plentiful. Service was great. Atmosphere was charming. Best dinner we had in Boston. read more

Walking through the North End, found Francesca's because of the "$1 oysters w/lunch" sign. The oysters were the best part. We had a dozen but also ordered pesto spaghetti and fettuccini alfredo. Both bland even after adding salt and cheese on top. Without the oysters, this would have been a bust. read more

Villa Francesca - The best part..$1 oysters! - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Friendly service, great ambiance and music. If you don't feel like waiting 45 minutes for pasta in Little Italy come check this place out!

Great area outdoors, but couldn't believe an Italian restaurant was out of Meatballs on a Wednesday night at 7pm. Everyone's food was just ok and nothing special. Everyone in our group of 4 gave it a C for average, and were disappointed that we picked the wrong Italian restaurant. Atmosphere outside A Food C Service D read more

The bread taste store bought, the entrees were bland and the service is horrible... it's like the waiters are teenagers that are annoyed that you are there. The risotto was obviously undercooked though the manager told me "maybe it's not creamy like the risotto you've had before because it's cooked in white wine". I tasted my friends dish and it was like watered down canned pasta sauce. Don't go here. If you do just stick to the oysters and a cocktail. Those were really good. Edit: I forgot to mention the risotto tasted like chef boyardee microwaveable chicken and rice. Good for $1.50 but not for $30. read more

Stopped in for a glass of red wine and an appetizer around lunch time. Bartender with a bad combover came over and rudely told us an empty seat was occupied. The bar was empty except for 2 people. The nice lady sitting next to the seat said no, in fact it was empty. We then sat down. The bartender seemed irritated that we sat there. He then walked away and stood at the end of the bar looking at his phone. After waiting several minutes, we left. read more

We came here for a nice family dinner with classic and real italian food. Everything was great and we had a great time! The service was good and the atmosphere was just what we expected. Everyone's food came out in a timely matter and it was most definitely enjoyed! We'd recommend coming on in. read more

Foods ok. Service is not what you'd expect in the north end. The manager took exception to my asking for silverware and I thought he wanted to fight. Lots of other options in Boston. Walk by this one read more

I've never wrote a review for anything. The food took an hour to arrive and it tasted like chef boyardee. Enough said I wish I was joking.

Food is decent, ambiance is nice but service is questionable. Servers seem very confused and lost. Ordered a steak medium well (well I didn't, my boyfriend did, I did not agree with this decision lol) and it came out extremely rare (again ordering steak in the north end and asking for it medium well wasn't a good idea) but server seemed annoyed when asked to cook a little longer. Unsure about this place, for the price, better service could increase tremendously. read more

GO HERE - great service (Giselle is amazing!!!) - immediately seated - GREAT FRESH PASTA - oysters were amazing read more

The staff are SO rude here but the food is delicious. The portions are also very small for a very very expensive price. The atmosphere is pleasant and in the warmer months it's fun sitting outside but the staff rush you to finish your meal so they can seat someone else read more

Sauce on my entree was all wrong, should have been a light tomato sauce with the veal valdastana , instead it came with a brown sauce????? veal was chewy and the red tomato sauce served with the eggplant rollatini had a burnt taste to it ....service was extremely slow with waitstaff just hanging around super expensive and not worth it at all will not be back read more

Awesome food and great service. We've been several times and we love going back. Fantastic pasta.

All in all, our party of 8 had a very nice experience here last night. When we arrived at 6:30 the restaurant was somewhat crowded, when we left close to 8:00, the place was packed and the line was well out the door onto the sidewalk. It was broiling hot outside, but the AC was fabulous inside. We were seated downstairs and it was a little dark for reading the menu. We ordered two antipasto platters (@ $19.95) and 2 bread combos (@ $6.95) for the table. The antipastos were terrific - cheese cubes, salami, prosciutto, olives - a very generous plate. The breads were good too - a mix of garlic bread and bruschetta slices. We sampled many of the entrees - Shrimp Fettucinin, Fettucine Calamari (with a substitution of Fra Diavlo sauce!), Penne Norma, Ziti, and an off menu spaghetti and meatball for our youngest diner. The entrees were all around $20 each and the portions were plentiful. Everything was very well received. Sangria was $12 a glass, a Parma Martini was $10.50, and a JD and soda was $9.50. Service was good, attentive but not intrusive. read more

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Great service and food, the ceasar salad was enough for 2 to share and the spinach ravioli and eggplant penne were excellent.

Our family went here on purpose for Easter Sunday and it was meant as a trip down memory lane with our kids. The bruschetta to start was phenomenal. The carbonara was not carbonara. I should have sent it back immediately. The pasta was drowning in a heavy cream sauce and there were so many pieces of chicken in it that I thought I ordered something else. Why is there chicken in the carbonara? That is NOT carbonara and there was no mention of chicken on the menu. My daughter had the spaghetti al pesto genovese, gluten free (that is a nice option at least). The pesto was clearly not homemade. The bottom half of the bowl was entirely oil. Not good. The red snapper was completely overcooked and the risotto was undercooked. The restaurant is still beautiful and I wish it could have been better. I'll never go back. read more

I have to say, I'm very surprised at the 3 star average review on Yelp. Having lived in the North End for over a year now I finally got around to trying this one. And honestly, my meal was absolutely delicious. I got the pollo abruzzese. Be warned, it's a bit spicy but I like spicy and I can legitimately say it's one of the better meals I've had in the North End. It comes with tasty potatoes. The bar and restaurant itself are small but cozy and a nice old school feel. I think this is one of the longer surviving places in the North End and some of the older places I haven't enjoyed those as much as the upscale newer places, but I liked this one a lot. Very good! Glad I tried it. read more

This place is fantastic ! Easy to get to - and very accommodating (baby in stroller). Was so happy with the menu choices, everything was out of this world! Eggplant parmigiana was the largest portion - in a good way- had extra to enjoy later !! Haven't been to Boston in awhile, but will be returning much more frequent if only just to stop here. So worth it ! read more

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Ristorante Villa Francesca was one of the few restaurants participating in the Winter 2014 Dine Out Boston (aka Restaurant Week) that offered a 3 course lunch for $15. What a deal! Aquitaine Chestnut Hill, Ole Mexican Grill, and Turner's Seafood Grill & Market were the others, but none of those are anywhere near me for a weekday lunch. (I couldn't figure Masa and Venezia Waterfront Restaurant out online.) Their RW menu offering had a good number of options and looked tempting enough, so off I went with a compatriot. Perhaps they've been affected by the low carb craze and have decided to be proactive in lessening the waste of uneaten baskets, but I found it odd that we were asked if we would like some bread. For me, that's a no brainer, but then I'm not on a particularly restricted diet. The bread itself was nothing special and was served with a cruet of olive oil, but it was later put into service as being a carrier of sauce to my mouth. We shared the appetizers. Eggplant Bruschetta Eggplant, tomato & goat cheese ($5.95 a la carte) was a single toasted slice layered to a good height. It was rather simple and fresh, and gave us our virtually single hit of vegetable for our entire meal - not counting the tomato sauce since that is now considered a fruit. We went with the marinara option for the Mozzarella in Carrozza Mozzarella slices sauteed in white or marinara sauce - anchovies optional ($9.95), which reminded me of the good stuff of a lasagna. I love cheese, particularly melted mozzarella, so this was good, but I kind of regret not venturing forth and trying it in the white wine sauce with anchovies... I really enjoyed my Fettuccine Calamari Squid sautéed with fresh tomatoes, garlic and Italian spices ($14.95) because the sauce was yummy and the dish as a whole tasted quite fresh. The pasta, though not what I'd call al dente, was fine, and was a good pasta to sauce ratio. I sampled my DC's Vitela Francese Sautéed in butter, lemon, white wine and topped with mozzarella cheese ($16.95, with a side of pasta), which arrived as three thin pieces of young cow to the order, but as a RW entree, it arrived sans the pasta it is normally served with. It was tender and tasty, but I preferred my own dish of the two. The no alternative option Caramel Custard dessert was a good ending to our meal. The consistency wasn't quite the same through out, but it had a pleasant sweet eggy flavor. Regarding portion size - I ate everything (and a slice of bread) and wasn't super-full. If we had been presented with everything in their normal a la carte sizes, a lunch entree here might not be quite enough for a normal lunch time appetite all on its own. A rather sizeable handicap accessible bathroom was located in the far back corner, so I got the chance to see all three of their divided dining spaces, which likely helped to cut down on noise and lent an appreciated sense of privacy. There was a single step out front, but otherwise everything else is on the level. *** 3/2015 RW visit *** Their Dine Out Boston price went up from $15 to $20, yet I came back for the sizeable menu of options that Villa Francesca offered. Not sure if trying new things worked out for me this time though... Bread was served automatically this time, however, we noted that a neighboring table that had sat after us were offered fresh grated parmesan for their bread dip, when we had not. Fortunately, that was shortly remedied with no action of our own. For my Antipasti course, I had the Cozze Alla Francesca ($9.95 a la carte) steamed mussels with garlic and Italian spices in white wine sauce or Pomodoro sauce, which arrived in a low bowl numbering 11. It was fine, but I felt no yearning to drink the sauce. I felt a heavy leaning towards the Fettuccine Calamari since it was so good last time, but instead I had the Veal Penne Piccato $15.95 chicken or veal with penne pasta in a tomato sauce blended with Parmigiana and Romano Pecorino cheeses. Well, I did not regret the veal since it was tender and arrived as a good many sizeable pieces scattered among the penne, but the calamari still calls. This time dessert gave us a choice. Cannoli or Caramel Custard or Vanilla Gelato, on their menu $6.95/$5.50/$4.50 respectively. I was prepared for the cannoli to be small based on previous yelpings of others, but this was petite. About the size of the mini cannolis sold at Modern Pastry for $2. But they did fill it fresh at the table and I could opt for topping it with chocolate chips (why not?) and crushed nuts (okay!). At my urging, she gave me an extra swirl of the creamy stuff on my plate. And I'm glad she did as there was indeed an air hole in the center of my cannoli where the cream did not fill. Dairy good stuff indeed, and a pleasantly crisp shell were the result. read more

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I was very disappointed by this North End find. We ordered the pasta alla pollo e broccoli. The only positive was that the chicken was cooked appropriately. The pasta was a little soft and the sauce was watery and extremely salty which was clearly an effort to cover up the lack of flavor. I also received the most expensive Aperol spritz I have ever had $16. The bread was also room temperature and came with unseasoned olive oil, just olive oil. Frankly, if I had to choose, I would be torn between this an Olive Garden. It's a little cheaper than the other spots nearby but not worth the bargain (or the price for that matter.) read more

Amazing food, we ordered raciolis filled with lobster... to die for! Very friendy and moderate prices. read more

Villa Francesca - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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I loved this place and the Italian style. The food is delicious and fresh. I had the ravioli with shrimps and God its tasty. And my desert is the artwork on 2018. Make sure you visit this restaurant in you happen to be in Boston. Say Hi to Daniel from me. Thank you Daniel. read more

Villa Francesca - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

This is my first time in little Italy, Boston. This establishment was quaint and delicious. read more

Villa Francesca - Eggplant parmigiana was perfect! - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We were doing the Freedom trail and could smell the restaurant. Lol. We walked right in without a reservation. The hostess at the front was kind and sat us right away. Within minutes we had our server introducing us and taking our drink orders within minutes. You can tell this place prides themselves on excellent service and amazing foods. Our meals were absolutely delicious, had impressive presentation, did not take long, and pricing is a little pricey, but I do feel worth the value. This restaurant is not real big. But seating is not too packed in. There is seating by an open window for some fresh air, regular dine in seating, and bar seating as well. Valet parking or something like that out front, as parking limited. They had a lemon drop martini special which was ok. I'm a huge lemon drop fan, and it wasn't the best cocktail. A little too "lemony." But still, drinkable. I guess I wouldn't have a drink a "special" if the bartender hadn't yet mastered the drink. ‍ But other than that, I felt like the service was great, food was delicious, Portion sizes were rather large, the environment was clean...I would definitely eat here again. read more

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Have not been back to this restaurant for 25 years. Just as wonderful as I remember. Maybe even better. Wines by the glass (Prosecco, Pinot Grigio, Sangria) were excellent! I had the Seafood Fra Diavolo which was wonderful and was surprised to find that it included swordfish; I substituted fettucine for the spaghetti and was pleased with the pasta. We also had Shrimp Scampi and Penne Porco alle Erbe. Everything was great! read more

I was charged double the amount when I checked my card statement. Instead of $60 they charged me $205 big difference.

Amazing food but absolutely horrible service. We had a reservation for 2 at 7pm which we made same day a little before 3pm. We intended to be in for an hour have some apps and some drinks before our next plans. Our waiter Harrison had an extreme attitude about us not ordering an entree and even when we told him we would only be here until 8 (after getting seated around 7:15) he asked us to move to the bar. The remainder of the service felt incredibly uncomfortable and rushed. Whenever he was approaching our table he made negative faces and just felt extremely unwelcoming. I asked for something that was on the online menu (an Appletini) which he proceeded to look at me like I was an idiot for and told me that he's never even heard of it and I provided a different drink. When the final bill came out he had charged us for the appletini on top of the replacement drink. Additionally to lighten the mood I made a joke to him that he wished we would leave, his response was "you said it not me." Only come here if you're ordering multiple courses and intend on staying for a long period of time if you want mediocre service or more! read more

I was VERY disappointed. I got the risotto, and the only reason for the 2 stars was cause they actually did a good job on the seafood. But wow, the risotto itself was terrible. It was as they just boiled some Arborio and then threw some sauce on top at the last minute. It barely had any flavor, cheese didn't help... had to add lemon, salt, and pepper and it was still trash. As someone who makes risotto regularly at home, to call this risotto is offensive and not accurate. $34 for that? OBSCENE. Also service was hella slow. read more

Everything was excellent . The service , the food , the atmosphere excellent . Can't wait to go back . Had calamari and ravioli with spinach and finished it with vanilla cannoli's! Yum read more

Found this place walking through the North End. The service was good and food was great. It is a bit snug where we sat but family friendly. A great find! read more