Vinoteca Di Monica

Last Saturday night, I ventured to the North End for dinner with my out of town guests, and decided to try Vinoteca Di Monica. We had reservations and were a party of six. We were promptly seated and the restaurant was bustling.
Enter our waiter, Joe.
I dine out regularly and must say, I have never experienced such a rude, condescending person. A member of our party asked if there was any dish with eggplant on the menu. «Umm no sir, I know who you are. You are obviously a cheese pizza and meatball kinda guy. You’ve come to the wrong place,» he said with a smirk and arrogant tone. My father went to order 3 appetizers. «Sir, we ask that you order appetizers and dinner at the same time.» Ok, I get it. The restaurant is busy. That’s fine. When my dad asked for clarification in the nicest way possible, the waiter yelled «Sir, I said no!» and walked away. Our party of six looked at each other in shock. Was this guy for real?
Unfortunately he was.
The rest of the meal consisted of slamming plates down, snarky remarks, and a snappy tone of voice. I don’t know if Joe felt this was his free pass, since tip is include for parties of 6 or more, but the terrible service made the whole experience lack luster and disappointing. The food was ok, but for a bill of $ 400,
I would like to have an experience where I was treated like a human being. There are many other places in the North End that respect their clientele. Take your hard earned money elsewhere.

Monica’s was once our favorite. Last night the food was over cooked but lukewarm when served. The sautéed rabe was sopping with oil and there was little flavor to the fish that I ordered. The service was very good but the kitchen needs some work in both preparation and presentation.
I hope it was just an off night…

I got the Nudi and the calamari. Both were well seasoned and fresh. Our server was friendly and the food came out quickly. Pricey, but it is the North End. Would return for a nice date night or special occasion!

So mediocre… had reservations still had to wait over an hour to be seated… food is okay.
is a tourist trap with over-​priced food… had the black linguine with scallop… that came
with 3 small scallops… topped with a watery sauce… maybe lunch would be better… for
parties over 6 20% gratuity is added… no issue with that if the service delivered… Very noisy.

Despite it being a rainy night and us being a few minutes late from our reservation, Monicas was accommodating and the food hit the spot.
The grilled calimari was cooked perfectly and served atop a bed of salad
The caesar salad, was perhaps overly sauced, but delicious
And the star of the show was the seafood linguine, which had an amazing broth, fresh seafood, and pasta.
Great spot for a quiet dinner. It’s easy to get a reservation, at least on the weekday and you won’t have to climb over another party for your meal

The first time I came here was for my commencement dinner. Came in with a party of five, we all had a great time and everyone enjoyed their food so I wanted to be sure to come back now that I live in Boston.
I recently returned with a friend. We had early reservations – 5:30pm – for two but they wouldn’t seat me until my friend arrived as well. They had a few available two-​tops and weren’t terribly busy, so I was annoyed.
When we’re finally seated, the server is a bit… odd. He was training someone, but completely ignored them the entire time and had an air that was just a little… off. I’m trying to think of a better way to describe it, but it was off-​putting enough that it became a running joke throughout our meal.
I ordered a gnocchi special that included prosciutto; it would have been lovely if the rest of the dish had been seasoned. Literally, the only seasoned thing in the dish was the prosciutto, of which there was not enough for every bite. My friend like her dish well enough though.
Everything seemed a bit overpriced for what it was, but it’s the North End. They gotta make rent somehow, right? That said, I won’t make it a point to come back until I’ve tried some of the other restaurants.

Came here a few nights ago without a reservation and a managed to get seated immediately at a high top by the bar. It was great to be seated so quickly, especially since it was prime time and two other restaurants we tried were full.
The hostess and the staff in general were fine, but a little abrupt and very clearly busy. The food was equally fine, but nothing to write home about. I had the fettuccine alla panna, which was edible, but not great. Also, the complimentary bread came out with a side of some kind of white bean purée, which was not good (cold and tasted like potatoes).
So in conclusion, not the busiest restaurant in the north end for a reason, but if you’re okay with not getting a reservation and getting moderate food, the place is fine.

We went here for dinner last night. We’d made a reservation somewhere else but ended up going here instead based on a recommendation. When we arrived, my boyfriend (who is English and has an accent, uses British terminology, the whole nine yards) went to the host stand and told the host, who I’m thinking was also the manager/​owner, that we had a reservation under his surname. The man stared at him like he was an absolute idiot. «Surname? SURNAME???» He proceeded to laugh in his face for a solid 30 seconds while we both stared back in silence. Once he was able to compose himself, he was sure to mention that English slang was ridiculous. We managed to sort of laugh it off and play along while he walked us to our table, where he also mentioned that he was expecting my boyfriend to be Asian because his last name is Lee. 0 points for Vinoteca so far.
After being seated, we waited a good fifteen minutes before anyone came to our table. We saw at least four waiters look at our table and then keep walking. Finally, some young frazzled looking guy comes up and asks if we’re ready to order. He takes our drink orders and then all but runs away. At this point, the man who sat us came by to drop off some bread and ask my boyfriend more snarky questions about being English. The bread was burnt and came with some weird, cold, chunky sauce. It almost looked like someone accidentally put a ramekin of salad dressing in the basket instead of butter but no one cared enough to fix it.
We ordered our food and after 10 – 15 min, we overheard our waiter reading the daily specials to the table next to us, which we suddenly realized we had never gotten. I don’t know why he didn’t give them to us, but I was pretty annoyed because the truffle gnocchi special sounded fab.
The appetizers came and they were good, nothing amazing. We had the fried olives and some fried prosciutto wrapped around mozzarella. Our dinners were meh. I had the roasted haddock with littlenecks. The clams were too chewy to eat, I kept having to spit them out. I think I was able to get down one of the four I tried before I finally gave up. The fish and the sauce it came in had no flavor. I was extremely appreciative of the lemon wedge that came with the plate, I DRAINED that bad boy on top of the haddock just to give it some sort of taste. My boyfriend had the margherita pizza, which he said was fine.
Our evening continued to be punctuated with unsolicited visits from the man who sat us checking in for more gawking/​British slang. He came up to me while my boyfriend was in the bathroom to ask what other «weird» things he said. He stuck his head in through window we were seated near while we were eating to make fun of him some more. I assume from his inappropriate behavior that he’d just never met someone from another country before, but by the end of the night the whole thing had really pissed me off. There’s absolutely no reason to repeatedly stop by a table to make fun of a paying guest.
Between the bizarre service and the average at best food, they’ve made the decision to not come back an easy one.

We were a group of friends that stumbled upon this restaurant as we made our way around the North end trying to pick a place to eat. We didn’t want to go to the Hanover St tourist traps, so this was perfect.
We were late, so missed most of the dinner rush. The restaurant was still fairly packed but they seated us immediately. It has a nice urban chic ambience. Unfortunately along with that came a snooty server as well. He wasn’t very cooperative with making substitutions in entrees, which is very unusual for a place like this, as our party was entirely vegetarian. Also had a patronizing voice when we took a few minutes to decide our drinks. The reason I still give it 5 stars was because the food was delicious and another server kept stoping by and was very hospitable.
Oh we had the pasta olio (?), mushroom ravioli, bruschetta, margarita pizza and marinara sauce pasta. Everything is recommended!

Outstanding.
A stop on our Boston Reunion
We were a group of 18. 18! We made our rez about 3 months in advance. They were fantastic on all aspects of the service side (we were a cooperative 18), but 18 none-​the-​less. We had a variety of dishes, and nine bottles of varied wine. They had a team serving our table. They could not have been more accommodating and more professional.
Oh, and the food was top-​notch.
We’ll be back.

To be fair, we only came here while we waited for a table at Mare… go there instead!
We ordered two drinks, which were very good. Mine was the frutta something made with prosecco. We ordered the fried olives, which were tasty. Then, the problem happened. We ordered beef carpaccio and it was served at room temperature, almost warm. I had to send it back and they brought it back the same way. The waiter was very nice about it but this other guy, I assume he was either another waiter or a manager, literally came to our table to tell me I was wrong, that the carpaccio came from the fridge. Guess they don’t believe in «the customer is always right»…poor form. Won’t be back.
PS: there was barely any air ventilation

Waiter was very helpful and pleasant. I had the prawns over capellini in a tomato sauce and it was quite delicious. Price was a bit steep at $ 26 with six prawns. About the size of medium shrimp.
Would return in the future as per North End standards lots of dining space than other restaurants.

Vinoteca Di Monica, since you’re the first solid brunch option in the North End aside from North St Grille I want to love you more! The food is delicious (and huge) but the 2 drink minimum might deter me from coming back if I am trying to get my Sunday-​funday on. That being said if you are just in for brunch and two drinks then this place is solid. Really can’t beat the prices either.
Long story short — I’ll be back, but please please please lift that minimum to at least 3.
OH and I had the Fenway. Not a fan of the bread at the bottom but the rest was delicious and filling.

What’s really the point of this review. Sure, I had a poor experience, but this restaurant was packed, so its clearly popular and whatever they are doing works for enough people. It’s not like anything I’m going to write is going to affect what they do. I also doubt it will affect many Unilocal readers. It’s Italian food … generally I dont like Italian food, and Vinoteca Di Monica didnt really do anything to change my mind. So do I rate them compared to other Italian restaurants, and so give them something like 4 stars? Or do I rate them compared to all restaurants, in which case maybe they would get 3 stars for the food, minus 1 star for the service? I’m going to go with the higher standard, mostly since I had a bad experience and so feeling a little annoyed. Honestly, I think if you like Italian food this place is fine. Not amazing, but fine.
So what was this bad experience I keep referring to? I’m glad you ask! There were two incidents. The less interesting one is that they brought me the wrong order and didnt really seem to care. Whatever. Moving on. But then comes the bathroom. I know what you are thinking … poop on the walls … needles in the trash. No, nothing that horrific. Rather, the lock on the bathroom door didnt work well, and someone walked in on me while I was standing there, having a nice relaxing pee. The person quickly closed the door and apologized. 20 seconds later the door opened again! And closed again! Did they want a second look?! So anyway I finish up, wash my hands, and step out. I expect to exchange at least a humorous glance with my intruder … but they didnt even look at me! That just makes it even more awkward. I felt like we really had a connection!
Anyway, to finish off this rambling pointless review: food is decent italian food if you are into that sort of thing, service is meh, probably because the restaurant is packed and they don’t need to care, and finally please make the bathroom lock on the men’s bathroom not be so temperamental.

This is a Brunch review. And a good one at that. A friend and I heard that Vinoteca’s had started serving brunch so we jumped at a the chance. Perhaps because brunch is a recent development, it was fairly quiet and slow for a Sunday morning. I can’t complain about that, seated immediately and no rushing us out the door. The menu is full of Italian inspired breakfast dishes as well as the classics.
I had the breakfast pizza – egg, bacon, potato and cheese, what’s not to love? I was slightly apprehensive upon seeing a runny egg on a pizza but the appearance is deceiving and the yolks are cooked most of the way through. I finished the whole pizza and was full the rest of the day. The Bloody Mary’s were very tasty, not a lot of spice, and for $ 3(!) who can beat it? However, on the online menu it indicated only two per customer. We got two each and were promptly delivered our bill. Theory is almost certain although I would be happy to go back and test it.

Great place. Love the lobster pasta. It just lacking some basic fresh pepper and salt but otherwise delicious

We decided to take a friend here for her birthday so we made reservations. When we arrived, we were brought to the table closest to the kitchen. During the course of the meal, the foot traffic, as you can imagine was just insane. The other tables were «reserved» for their regular patrons, so we stuck it out at our table. It was hard to enjoy the atmosphere though. We could barely hear the waiter when he was introducing the specials so we asked him to repeat what he said. That seemed to annoy him, but I don’t think it was an unreasonable request especially when the kitchen was right there and the patrons around us were chattering away. Anyway, he repeated it and we got some time to decide on our orders.
Service aside, I do think the food was good. I ordered the pumpkin ravioli and it was sweet but not overwhelming. Perfect for a fall evening, in my opinion. I also ordered a side of truffle fries, which to be honest, I liked it more than my entrée. Then again, it’s hard to wrong with truffle oil and fries, really.
My friends ordered the lobster ravioli and the local seafood pasta. The portions were just right so we managed not to waste any food. I do have to say that I was hoping my dish would be bigger in portion because I really liked it. Pretty heartwarming to make up for the service.
I’m not sure I’ll be back again as there are many options in the North End, but if this is definitely a good place to go if you’re looking for something new to try in the neighborhood.

I went here for a friends birthday dinner and thought that Vinoteca di Monica’s was just an ‘ok’ night out. For appetizers we tried the Di parma pizza (with prosciutto and arugula) and it was very good. The fried calamari was also quite good. The Polpette di Ricotta (spicy ricotta fritters) were mediocre and I would definitely not recommend them.
For entrees I got the spaghetti carbonara and it was just ok. Due to my recent fascination with Unilocal I literally tasted some of my friends other dishes. The lasagna was pretty tasty and may have been my favorite. The chicken tortellini and gnocchi with Italian sausage ragu were also good. The gnocchi dish was extremely salty but at least the gnocchi itself were fluffy and cooked right. The green spaghetti and turkey meatballs dish was the least liked dish of all the meals.
They have a full bar so you can order a specialty cocktail drink and they didn’t use as much alcohol as I would expect for a $ 12 drink, so I switched to wine. They do have a nice wine list. The service was really good, so I definitely have no complaints there. The size of the restaurant is quite big for North End standards so it was comfortable despite having a large group. Overall, nothing was bad, I’m just sometimes a food snob and it didn’t quite live up to the expectations of some of the restaurants I love in the North End. With rating just the food I would have to say that Trattoria di Monica is better than Vinoteca di Monica (same owners).

I had dinner with a large group at Vinoteca di Monica this past weekend. I was able to make reservations the day before and they accommodated my request to change the number in our party twice.
The service was excellent throughout our meal. Our server brought us as many baskets of bread as we wanted. Everyone seemed to enjoy their entrees as well. I got the 4 cheese ravioli and my husband had the gnocchi. We were there celebrating my birthday, and at my friend’s request, they sang happy birthday to me and brought me a complimentary piece of chocolate cake. The cake was very tasty. I also tried the tiramisu and would highly recommend!

This place is amazing. Not only is the staff very energetic and know everything about the menu, the food is delicious! Ate there with my family, a total of 6 people. The food didn’t take long. The bread spread they give is just delicious. I had the risotto special of the day which had lobster and shrimp. It was super delicious, I finished it completely. The dessert was also delicious.
The reason for the star off is only because the waiters take too long to notice that the water glasses are empty. We actually had to tell them multiple times.