Well...this is a problem…read more I just tried this Italian-Vietnamese fusion place that happens to be within walking distance of my house, which means my self-control is about to be severely tested. First off, the Lotus Rangoon--crispy, creamy, and made with actual crab. Not the "crab-ish flavored mystery filling". Real crab. Did you hear me ?? Real crab. And this amazing dipping sauce. The Vietnamese pork chop showed up perfectly seared, tender, and packed with flavor, served with fragrant jasmine rice and veggies. Delish!!! The wonton soup was incredible--tender dumplings, lots of veggies and noodles with a broth that felt like it could fix your entire life. Then came the chicken parm. When I say huge, I mean New England snowstorm eat for days huge. Crispy, perfectly cooked, sitting ontop of angel hair pasta with crusty bread on the side. We also tried the chicken and eggplant parm combo, which could easily feed a small family. Thin, crispy cutlets, perfectly breaded eggplant, marinara, melted mozzarella...just ridiculous in the best way. The prices are very reasonable, the portions are enormous, and the staff is genuinely warm and welcoming. So yes, you should absolutely try this place.

It's been a few years since I last visited Cafa Sicilia, and I was eager to visit again with the…read morenew owner and format. The menu shows a variety of both Vietnamese and Italian appetizers and entrees, plus just enough options which overlap in interesting ways. The inside is beautiful, but still small. The main dining area has 6 tables which can accommodate around 20, and there's more seats in the bar area at bistro tables and at the bar itself. We opted for Vietnamese fare on this return visit. Some of the items, such as our summer rolls appetizer, remain traditional in preparation and presentation, while others, such as our entrees, are what I guess you'd call elevated. Overall, everything was fresh, well prepared, and came out quickly. Our appetizer, the summer rolls, came with a dipping sauce that was rich and thick and quite flavorful, making us work to get every drop of it. The sauce for our entrees was equally rich and thick (not nuoc cham), and it tasted good on everything. We ordered lemongrass chicken and lemongrass beef entrees. These came with perfectly steamed broccoli and carrots, and a choice of jasmine rice or jasmine rice pancakes. The pancake was actually the jasmine rice mixed with additional butter and chives, shaped into a pancake. The chicken was not grilled pieces, but rather tenderloins with skin on them, evidently fried, both crisp and juicy. We did not order anything from the Italian portion of the menu, but I did see several entrees at other tables. The portions are generous. It was interesting to see the mix of choices at other tables - one party had ordered both spaghetti and meatballs and pho. I liked everything about my dinner here, and I hope their venture is successful.

One of, if not the, best restaurant in town. My wife and I go here every so often for a date night…read moreand it never disappoints. The food is amazing, the service is great, and the restaurant is cute and intimate. My wife's go to is always the bolognese and mine is the chicken parm.

Wow. This is the fastest I ever wrote a review after leaving somewhere. This was also the worst…read morerestaurant experience of my entire life, so the urgency is warranted. And I've eaten at probably over 250+ restaurants in my adult life. Why was it so bad? The salami on the antipasto salad was so rancid, my poor wife almost immediately vomited when she took a bite. And I mean she instantaneously gagged audibly and could barely maintain her composure. She felt embarrassed but when I smelled the salami I completely understood why she would react that way. It smelled like it was bad a week prior. We told the waitress, who took the food back. The kitchen staff had informed her they checked the salami and it was fine. My wife works in food service and said this salami was rancid. I have no such experience and could tell by scent and sight that this was badly spoiled. It was yellowish in some areas. I wanted to leave then, even though we had an entree on the way. I took one look around at the dated, cheap decor, the nasty blinds caked with dust and food particles, and thought to myself: this is one of those places from Kitchen Nightmares, where Gordon Ramsay would pop out, shut the place down, then go stick is hand in some slop in the back. A supervisor comes out and explains that they aren't saying we are wrong, but that the salami they checked was okay. That the portion we received might have been spoiled, but they assure me the rest isn't. C'mon. If the kitchen staff couldn't admit or tell this was revolting, then what the hell else were they going to serve me? I soon found out. We got the chicken francaise which is a cutlet dredged in egg and tossed in flour. It should be like a pan-seared cutlet with a slight coating. No, what we were served was a chicken cutlet inside an omelette. Swear to god. There was visible egg scramble layered on top and the bottom of the chicken. I was absolutely starving so I had a couple of bites. I commented on how it was like an omelette and my wife responded "that's what it is like!" And then commented on the egg smell. This was the grossest texture you could imagine. Our waitress had just come over to ask how our food was. We asked her to take it away and said it was the worst meal of our lives. I felt terrible for her. She felt so bad and was clearly nervous. We told her not to be sorry repeatedly as it wasn't her fault. It was the kitchen. They comped all the food, which we didn't really eat, but made us pay for our cocktails. Fine. Although considering the fact they ruined our night and we left hungry, they really should have comped those too. It was that bad. I had 7:45PM reservations. As I type this it is 9:14PM. I ordered DoorDash over 15 mins ago as you can see by the pics I have provided. All of this tonight that happened is true and I sincerely hope people read this and think twice about going there. I read another review that said it was the best food of their life. I joked that's because they died immediately after. This food was disgusting, low quality, and the place is a dump.

Thwaites is delicious! It's convenient and close. Always made fresh daily and satisfyingread more

I grew up in the Greater Lawrence Area, Thwaites always was and still is a great place to shop…read more Their pork pies and their tomato sausage pies are the best! (The other varieties are notable too!) The butcher shop has the freshest and best cuts of meat. All around a winner. As for ambiance, Thwaites is like a warm hug. It's a "Mom and Pop" store in the best sense. My only regret is that now I have over an hours drive to get there but it's still worth it! Patricia D.

Love the Burlington location. Mainly stick with the subs. Bravo Italian is my favorite, but will…read morealso get a steak bomb. Pastries are a must too..either the Key Lime or any of the cheesecakes. Then grab a loaf of Scalli bread before I leave.

I happened to be driving by La Cascia's with my son and told him that I used to stop by there every…read moreweek almost a decade ago to get the best steak tip subs in the state and he was in for a treat. So I get a large Chip's Tip sub and a few pastries for snacks. The bill was steep for what I got but I thought it would be worth it for my son to try the sub. After getting it, we split the sub and ate it in the car. Let me tell you that this was not the same steak tip I remembered. It was so bad, we tossed it in the garbage at the gas station next door. The steak was very tough and hard to chew - almost like the tips had been cooked earlier and then reheated for my order. Everything just seemed greasy. We also did not enjoy the raspberry turnover or yellow cream cannoli's we got for dessert. Maybe it was us or maybe it was the food but I will never go there again. We are not food snobs by any stretch of the imagination, and I rarely will say anything bad about a restaurant experience but we ended up going to Augusta's which is just a little bit down the road, for chicken just to erase this experience from our mouths. I know a lot of people will swear by their steak tip subs and that is great but it's just not for me anymore.

Clam chowder the best I've ever eaten. Broccoli cheddar soup, out of this world…read morePurchased stuffed scallops, lobster bisque, chicken pie, Salmon burgers with spinach and feta, Mac and cheese and marinara sauce which I am waiting to eat but know they all will be delicious

Excellent products - never disappointed! Clam Chowder soooo very good and wide selection of frozen…read morefoods as well. Can't go wrong here at this tiny looking space.

I'm not from the North Shore but I had to try my first beef.. Buddy of mine suggested I get the…read morethree way and it was an experience. It was a Goliath of a sandwich a with roast beef, their sauce, mayo and cheese on a perfectly toasted onion roll. If this is the standard for most beef's then they set the bar pretty high. Chris is the man, he greeted me and we chatted and he gave Nick's a homey feeling for a first timer. Would recommend!

This place is amazing! The portions are hugeeeeeeee! The value and taste is insane! Extremely…read morefriendly people, make me feel right at home. It's so good I almost wanted to gatekeep this place. Will be visiting at least once a week.

Made a visit to the Tewksbury location (due to the great Stoneham location no longer in business)…read more Business location is hard to find as it's located on the backside of a row of storefronts. Walked in on a Thursday afternoon and was the only customer there. Looked for their famous Caribelo wings but there was only one package left. Bummer. All the other wing styles had plenty. Got tips and potatoes. Why three stars? We know the Caribelo wings are the most popular yet they either didn't stock correctly or someone bought extreme amounts of these. Secondly, the employees don't really seemed to be enthusiastic about being there. No can I help you, no interaction. Maybe it's the location ? Kind of out of the way. My advice, move to the rt 38 side or maybe closer to the brewery. Your beer drinkers are bbq guys.... As a frequent visitor of the Stoneham store, that location had a lot of foot traffic, visibility and across from a liquor store so one stop shopping once you park. Also the employees there were always helpful, motivated and knowledgeable . I'm hopeful that they stick around as their meats are flavorful and tasty.

Received a gift card for this place and went to use it just to find out there was nothing on the…read morecard. Women behind register stated she is the one who puts the amount on the card when bought. So either the women never placed the amount on gift card, or the VFW who gave gift card as a raffle gift to seniors may have used the card for themselves and then gave as a gift raffle. Ethier way, I made some contacts to have this investigated. Im sure we are not the only ones being scamed.

We were staying in Billerica at a hotel and needed something quick to eat and this was the only…read moredecent looking option. The outdoor igloo seating seemed like a risky choice (it's only outdoor seating or take out here) but we went for it anyway. You're seated in your own igloo, it was about a 40 degree night and we stayed comfortable keeping our light jackets on. We enjoyed our time and our food eating-in, that we will order from this market again in the future. We both ordered the spicy mango margarita, which tasted very good. I don't think the drinks are made fresh? Can't confirm, but I believe I saw something premixed poured into the glass I was served. We ordered the charred veggie hummus and it was some of the best hummus I've ever tasted. If they're not actually making that stuff fresh they had me fooled, so I will guess that they are. The pita was warm, fresh, and fluffy. We each got one of the bowl entrees -- the steak and a salmon bowl -- the portions were generous and the fresh, veggie forward entree was exactly what was needed for an out-of-town stop (you can only eat so much bar food out here). Overall, I've read the bad reviews and can totally see how this place would be a gamble depending on what you order. But from my experience I had no truly bad remarks, and I would definitely return.

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand all the great reviews. I'm not one of those people who…read morelikes giving bad reviews. I always try to give credit where credit is due, but this place REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. I ordered a classic burger and the truffle tots and was completely shocked at how bad it was. The patty was dense and bland and had scalloped edges!!! Wtf. Clearly bought from a food service company. And worse, it was completely over cooked. I could have overlooked the industrial patty had the flavor and the burger fixings been good, but unfortunately not. No lettuce, no tomatoes, just a couple of pickles and a sloppy amount of chipotle aioli. I don't think that's a "classic" burger in most people's book. The aioli had SO much chipotle powder in it that it overpowered the entire burger with bitterness. I find a shitty burger to be an unforgivable restaurant sin given how little effort they are to make properly. It's lazy and inexcusable. The tots (which I'll give you, are a slightly more acceptable item to be out of a bag) were so drenched in truffle oil that they were greasy and overpowered by artificial truffle flavor. I also got a piece of cake. How bad does cake have to be for you to toss it after one bite? Pretty stinking bad... it had a weird chemical taste. I feel disrespected as a diner that this market eatery thinks people don't taste the difference between industrial food company food and the real, freshly made thing.