Gemma Ristorante

My boyfriend and I really are liking this place. They have a great pizza and beer deal that is to good to refuse. The staff is really friendly and nice. Also the pizza is really good!!!

It’s been awhile since they expanded to the larger space, and unfortunately, after reading a few reviews, it seems like they’re still trying to figure it out. I liked Gemma before, when it was take-​out/​only a few tables — good sandwiches, good pasta.
Came here last weekend to watch game 7 of the Celtics (which they lost to the Heat… ouch). I had seen the sign earlier encouraging patrons to come in and watch the game, which started at 8… however, they close at 10. My friend and I tried to bargain with them to stay open a little late, but we didn’t blame them for wanting to close on time since we were the ONLY PEOPLE in there.
The bar area is very nice, well appointed. You can see into the kitchen which is kind of neat-​o.
I was talking to the bartendress, to see what kind of drinks she liked to make. She didn’t know what a Bloody Mary was… not that I wanted one, but I just wanted to ask what her technique was in making one. Didn’t know what an Old Fashioned was either. So, have beer or wine or something on the rocks if you want to drink here. My friend and I each had a couple beers, left the bartendress a good tip, since we were sure she hadn’t collected too many that evening, and finished watching the game at Fusion Taste.
2 stars for now, as I didn’t eat the last time I was here, and the time before that was when it was takeout. I’ll have to come back and try the pizza — they have a deal where you get 4 Miller Lizzies and a pie for $ 22 or something like that — if they can stay open late enough for us to finish it.

Okay food. Very odd atmosphere. The place was empty. The waiter was trying to be charming but just came off sleazy when he kept calling my friend and I «darling» and insisting we read the dessert menu because «it would make him feel better». We were so weirded out we couldn’t wait to leave.

Gemma’s doesn’t know what it wants to be. They used to run a great little take out shop in a small space and expanded to this nice looking large restaurant. The problem is their food doesn’t match this space. The food is not plated well, and knowing you can get the same food at any take out joint, or this restaurant itself for half the price leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you get charged 18 $ for veal parm and actually got chicken (not sure who’s fault this was waitress or kitchen, but I hate sending back food in restaurants so decided not to). Pizza is listed on the menu as 12″ and some of the pizza’s are over 15 $!. This is absurd and should be changed to 16″. Just because it is dine-​in doesn’t mean you should rip people off. 12″ pizza’s should be cheaper than the prices listed. From what I’ve ordered a couple years back their take out pizza was good.
One thing I do love is their fried calamari app (9 $) with cherry peppers and a fresh tomato sauce. Fiancé had a cheeseburger which was dry and tasted like a frozen patty. I like their veal parm a lot but received chicken parm instead on this trip and this was just average.
I might give them another shot down the road since I love their calamari app and have had other good food from them in the past. Unfortunately the value just isn’t there for the dine in experience.

Hi guys,
Last weekend a friend and I spent lunch at Gemma’s. I’ve ordered pizza from the place when it was next door in the smaller space. I ordered the chicken cesear wrap which was really good and my friend ordered the pasta dish. The restaurant was empty and we only ventured over due to the fact that the place next door Medorna Tree (which took there space) had a healthy menu. Unforunately there was no space, lots of kids and they were apparently out of chicken! So here we are at Gemma. The meal was good, the waiter filled our glasses of water soooo many times, but it was very odd that they were the only ones in there! My friend and I paid separately and the waiter failed to bring her change to her! He was too busy watching the football game! I had to go up to the counter to get it!!!

We went to Gemma on a Sunday evening and it was almost empty. They had a football game on TV, the place was quiet and attractively designed.
As I’ve mentioned in some of my other reviews, service is a large part of the dining experience for me, and I couldn’t help but notice a few oddities during the course of our meal.
First of all our server took a while to ask for our drink orders, by which time we were ready to place our food orders as well. Also, it was a while before any bread was brought out to accompany the meal, even though the place was obviously not busy. After the food was brought out she waited about 10 or 15 minutes before coming to ask if we wanted any cheese on the dishes, which I thought was strange because we had almost finished eating by then.
The food was good and moderately expensive. I had the ravioli della cassa.
Overall 3 stars with an emphasis on the service. On another night, with more of a crowd, different server, different atmosphere, it might have been very different.

Stopped in for lunch with the family about an hour ago. Bland food, poorly described on the menu, overly priced. Something was off about my pasta/​chicken/​pesto dish, I’m currently curled up in bed with stomach cramps. Avoid!

Nice looking place. Competent waiter. I had the Shrimp Scampi. The food was only warm, the shrimp wasn’t fresh but frozen, come on! we’re only 5 miles from the seaport!, The linguine was from a box, the tomato they included was closer to raw than cooked, no white wine, no garlic, no seasoning. Too much lemon juice. On the whole a boring, sour, bland Scampi.
Why even bother if that’s the best you can do.

Seriously?
The harp, the open kitchen, the oohing and ahhing from friends, the pricey menu…
When we sat down in our soccer clothes, I felt a little unworthy, despite the waiter’s flirtiness.
But not to worry! At Gemma, I was treated to some of the blandest Italian food ever. My eggplant parm? Bleh. My husband’s pasta and chick dish? Double bleh. My stomach was upset for a day after. Sabatino’s makes a tastier marina, at 25% of the cost.
If you want some real Italian, head across the street to Buona Vita. This was absolutely horrible. After eating, the harp suddenly seemed really out of place.

We love the pizza. Its thin crust and they have great toppings & special pizza combinations. We usually order delivery from Foodler and they’re fairly quick and always hot and fresh.
However, tonight we ordered delivery and were given the wrong pizza, pepperoni instead of the «speciale» pizza. We called and they already knew, because the pepperoni people had called just before us. We were told they were making a new one and they’d be by in 15 – 20 (usually an hr. on foodler)… so not so bad for a mistake.
HOWEVER, the driver then came by about 5 minutes later, empty handed of course, so I walked down with the pepperoni and asked if he needed it back. I thought it for sure he would say no… I mean, is it «sanitary» to take back a pizza from a house? How do they know I didn’t touch it or what not? Weird right?
Waiting for the «remake» now… which better not have come from someone else’s house!

I feel badly for this place. The food is good, but something is off. I guess others are thinking the same way because there doesn’t ever seem to be anyone in here.
We’ve been twice and each time were waited on by nice, but not-​so-​on-​top-​of-​it servers. And both times the servers informed us that the pizzas were individually sized, even using their hands to show us how small they are, and recommended people in our party each getting one. And both times what came out were LARGE pizzas, big enough for at least 2 people to share. So, are they intentionally misleading people I have to ask?
The pizzas themselves are good. My husband and I shared the Greek and his cousin the Italian sausage. The only downside to the Greek is that they atop it with much too much arugula. Makes it hard to eat.
The side salads are huge and the house balsamic is addictive.
I won’t be in a rush to go back.

They mean well but neither the food nor the service is very good. Note to cook: there’s a Farmers Market every Wednesday two blocks away.

Upon entering the establishment we were confused as to whether they were open or not, they were. I wish they were not. Our entire party left dissatisfied.
1. Restaurant was nearly empty on a Saturday night.
2. We were seated at the table that we had requested. (+)
3. Waitress was disinterested or it was her first day waiting tables.
4. It took 3 attempts to get iced tea. They ended up brewing hot tea and pouring it over ice.
5. We were asked if we wanted bread, who would would even have to ask that in an Italian place — after the bread was served we realized why they had to ask… they were hard little rocks of rolls that they had to unearth from somewhere. SKIP the BREAD if you must go here.
6. Salads were middle of the road, caesar was too heavily dressed and croutons were too big to eat. However, the garden salad eater was happy with her choice and so was her husband who shared it with her as it was a fairly large side salad.
7. Eventually 5 of 6 ordered entrees arrived. The waitress then cleared the remaining rolls away as though we were through that course in the meal.
8. The 6^th entrée for our remaining diner never arrived at our table, we told them after approx 10 minutes of waiting to keep it.
8 ½. The chicken parm was extremely pedestrian and we were unable to finish it… would rather be hungry than eat unappealing food and I was sharing with my hungry husband who was left without dinner.
9. They graciously brought out the «special» when we were done and stated that it was free. It looked horrendous. No restaurant should say «we rushed this chicken». Yuck.
10. We then had to ask for dessert/​coffee menus, they brought the only 5 they had for the 6 diners at our table.
11. After only ordering dessert to «test out the final course» we were displeased with the treats we ordered. The tiramasu eaters reported that it was «pretty darn good», the cheesecake eaters likes the «sara-​lee like’ cheesecake but were VERY unhappy with the warm, runny whip cream dripping over the side. The cannoli was just wrong. It was only stuffed at the ends, limp as spaghetti, and the filling was hard because it was obviously filled days ago. Completely inedible to someone who can eat anything. The chamomile citrus tea was steeped to perfection.
12. We were then asked if we wanted the check, we should have said no.
13. The prices were high for what we got. However, then they comped the meal we did not get/​told the to cancel and they made anyway, then they discounted it 10% — which was thoughtful, but the dreadful food will not have us coming back unless Gordon Ramsey comes in for a Kitchen NIghtmares episode.

I have been to Gemma twice now since it expanded into the former Krazy Karry’s space and find it to be very hit-​or-​miss.
On the first visit, my 9-​year-​old daughter and I were looking for some lunch, having been unable to get a table where we originally wanted to go. I was expecting a casual Italian place, but was surprised to find that they had redecorated the space into a very nice dining room and had a dinner-​focused menu of traditional Italian entrees. No knock there, and, in fact, I think the space is lovely. My child ordered fettucine alfredo, and I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza. Her dish was fabulous, but I took one bite of my pizza and sent it back — totally inedible.
Last night she wanted to go back again for the fettucine, so in the name of second chances I said okay. This time my wife was with us as well, and both of them had the fettucine, while I ordered the seafood risotto. Again, they LOVED the fettucine. My risotto was good, though not any better than that, and someone needs to tell them you don’t mix seafood and cheese in traditional Italian cuisine. The desserts, however, obviously came from Costco, and it doesn’t seem like they sell too many, since my wife’s cannoli tasted of freezer burn and my peach sorbetto in a hollowed-​out peach was frozen solid and covered with ice crystals.
So, maybe these guys are over-​reaching a little, having just recently expanded from a smaller space and a more limited scope. They need to figure out how to be a «real» restaurant if they want to live up to the look they’ve created for themselves. There are too many average Italian restaurants around for another one to make any headway, and Arlington Center is overcrowded with restaurants as it is.

Panini = cold, moist, untoasted subrolls. Someone needs to tell this place that panini and sub are not synonymous. We ordered two paninis (meatball and sausage). Both came as wet subs… when I called and asked why they aren’t panini’s, the nice girl on the phone explained «…i try telling the owner that all the time but he doesn’t believe me». Regardless, if they were tasty subs I wouldn’t care that they are called paninis, but both of these subs were horrible. My wife and I couldn’t stomach finishing the meal and threw most of it away. Feel free to check it out for yourself, but there are plenty of other great food options in the area so i don’t think i’ll be returning to this place.

Gemma had so much good food inside of her, she had to expand into the storefront next door! Opening the extension in the fall, Gemma’s gonna have tons of tables, a swanky bar, and more flavor in her pinky finger than Krazy Karry’s had in it’s entire body.
If only there were a way to make more parking spots…

Verdict:
They are closed. Sad to see them go, but understandable. They were OK as a small shop, but as a restaurant, the quality of food did not attract enough clients to keep going.
Update:
I had an chance to sit down and eat dinner. As a restaurant, the some are OK, and some are better. Simpler food, such as pizza, most of pasta dish, stuff like Eggplant perm are fine.
However, for seafood section, the flavoring, texture, etc. is not as good as places I like (Out of the Blue, Daily Catch, etc.). The flavor was rather brand and texture was boring. The pasta was slightly overcooked for me, which was a little disappointing.
Today’s soup was Italian wedding. It’s a salty soup by definition but it is slightly off the mark in terms of yumminess.
Garlic bread was really good, the salad was crisp and fine.
Overall, it is a OK restaurant, a little pricey for sleepy Arlington center.
However, I still like their sandwich for lunch.
I hope La Bouna Vita and Gemma both survive, and both gets a little better. I think Gemma’s food is slightly downward from the takeout only days.
OLD:
Italian dishes are very well made, and pizza is great. It’s not a top notch but in sleepy Arlington center, Gemma and La Bouna Vita just across the street both deserve to stay as both serve good to great dishes at reasonable price range.
My fav is Shrimp scampi which is wonderfully garlicky, and pasta is almost always done right. (Since it is take out only, you need to make sure that the pasta does not get mushy.) Pizzas are better than Bertucci’s.
Paninis are good but you can get better ones elsewhere. (like Nellio’s)
I like the speediness, and very well priced for the quality I get.

We’ve only ever gotten pizza from here, but I’m a big fan. Very thin crust, sweet sauce that tastes of fresh tomatoes, a moderate but not skimpy amount of cheese, spicy pepperoni, and (this is the crazy part) little pockets of caramelized onions. The tiny bits of impossibly savory onion blew my mind. It took me most of a slice to figure out what that mysterious aroma was, but the whole time I kept thinking, «More… mmm… MORE of whatever that is.» *mmf* (That’s the sound of me with a mouth full of pizza.)
I can’t wait to try the chicken parm.

My son and I went out to eat. We ordered a Caesar Salad, and chicken Alfredo Pizza. My son thought the pizza was nice and crispy. I would like to go back, again, with my wife and order the Gorgonzola Pizza. Then I can really judge this establishment, because I am a big fan of Gorgonzola cheese. And this rendition, has carmelized onions. Yummy I hope.
The service was really good, as we ate in.

this is Gemma???
oy!
Unilocal gods, you figure it out.