Limoncello Ristorante

My wife and I ate here for lunch. She had the meatball sandwich (ciabatta) and I had the Rosette Limoncello (their signature dish), a collection of interestingly rolled up wide pasta noodles with Montassio cheese, proscuitto and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce with truffle oil. Both were very good. The meatballs were smaller but more flavorful than the meatballs we had the night before at La Famiglia Giorgio's.

Limoncello and La Famiglia Giorgio were the two restaurants we wanted to try during our 36-hour stay in Boston. Limoncello is a fancier place, with white linen table cloths and napkins, and more interesting bread, and an olive oil & cheese mix to nibble on while waiting for our order. However, prices were much higher at Limoncello (especially wines, which had the traditional restaurant markup, whereas La Famiglia Giorgio appears to sell some wines at near retail prices). I think we made the right choice about going to La Famiglia Giorgio's for a family dinner and Limoncello for a lunch for 2.

Why have I never eaten here before when dining in the North End?!! The name alone should have given me a hint about what a gem this place is.  I dined with business colleagues on a Tuesday evening.  We had a reservation and by 7:30 the tables were full.  We all ordered the swordfish special which was just this side of a religious experience.  I rarely finish a full entree when dining out but my plate was clean.  We started with fresh mozzerella (clearly homemade but nothing special) and the meatballs which were reviewed by another diner.  These were good but since I'm not a huge meateater I only took a sample bite.

Our waiter was attentive and entertaining.  He recommended a great bottle of reasonably price Chianti which simply completed the meal.

This restaurant is quaint and small and clearly a family-run operation.  How I missed this right next door to the Paul Revere house I have no idea.  This place is now at the top of my favorite dining experiences in Boston's North End.

A little more pricier than most of the other Italian eateries, but nonetheless, still very good.  Their bread is unbelievably delicious.  Service is fantastic but my entree which was the black squid lobster pasta was good but not excellent.  I marked them down one star because the pasta linguini was a little hard and stuck on each other.  Try another dish.  Still, I recommend it highly as I'm sure other signature dishes are worthy of 4/5 stars.