Papa Razzi

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE — I used to think this Pappa Razzi was an enjoyable place — decent food, excellent service… I’ve noticed things have not been quite what they used to be recently, but tonight my son and I had an experience that decided me to never re-​visit the place again. When the waitress brought out our drinks, my glass of wine and my son’s bottle of beer, she somehow tipped the entire bottle of beer onto the floor, my son, his trousers, shoes and coat… there was a small lake of beer that started to run down to the adjoining table… accidents happen, not a problem… but the problem was that the waitress literally disappeared for almost 10 minutes after a single mention of ‘sorry’ — there were no napkins on the table to wipe up anything with as the setups were incomplete, adjoining tables remarked about how no one was showing up to attend to things… finally two young men in suits came over, with one napkin to try to deal with the issue — we asked them to please bring additional napkins, pointed out where the small river of beer was running to, two tables over by now, requested water (no water had been poured despite two requests for same earlier)…they smiled a lot and made a few noises and then they also disappeared… magicians…we could see our waitress waiting on other tables, she finally made her way over to us after another 10 minutes had passed, no mention was made of the beer spill… she did bring another beer in a glass… the food was just ok, was delivered lukewarm, and I thought well, maybe not a great night here, things happen… but when the check was delivered and WE WERE CHARGED FOR THE BEER THE WAITRESS SPILLED ALL OVER MY SON and the floor, and never dealt with, that was that for me. I find it hard to relate to the complete lack of responsibility taken by the waitress and the rest of the staff… any other restaurant would have offered a free drink and would certainly not have charged us for the beer the waitress spilled!!! gee, somehow that was not the restaurant’s responsibility, our problem, along with the dry cleaning bill we’ll also have to cover for the coat and trousers.
I will NOT EVER RETURN TO THIS RESTAURANT AGAIN, the service we received was nothing less than atrocious… and I have been visiting this place for years. Another one bites the dust… or worse things found in the dust.

Save your money, the food is average at best and the service is terrible. Check out Vincenzos or one of the other great restaurants in Concord.
We were seated at the bar immediately and our initial drink order was fine (after the bar tender finally noticed us). It went downhill from there.
We ordered our food and after 10 minutes or so a bar back asked if we wanted bread (felt like an afterthought). Another 15 minutes pass before our starter arrived WITH our entrees. The server barely responded and offered no recourse when we said we had asked for the Calamari first. The bar back came by a few minutes later and asked if we wanted our entrees re-​fired. We said no, at this point more interested in getting to the end of the experience.
My wife’s salad was fine, my spaghetti w/​clams was edible but unimpressive.
During the meal the bar back put a printed check in a shot glass in front of us. After ordering 2^nd glasses of wine we asked for the check and she rudely said «it’s right there.» Another 5 – 10 minutes goes by before we can get the attention of the bartender, who finally brought us the bill that included all of the charges. The glasses of wine we had ordered were double the price listed on the menu (the bartender hadn’t asked if we wanted the large or small portion). He said something about having «discounted» something or other, but there was no evidence of such on the bill. It took another 10 minutes for him to come back and take our card.
Went in feeling relaxed and happy for a night out, and left feeling tense and irritated. A great use of $ 75 and an evening out with my wife!

Seems overpriced for what you get. Not a huge variety on the menu. I like Vincenzo’s better.

If you have no other options just convince yourself that you can skip a meal!
Olive Garden type of Italian but maybe not as good (which doesn’t say much — well trained cooks or overall staff is a real issue)
Don’t sit anywhere on the right side of the bar with visibility to the kitchen as you won’t gain confidence, comfort, or any sense of positive reaction.
Sloppy sloppy sloppy ingredients prep
Lots of food waste which ultimately leads to higher prices or smaller portions instead of fixing the problem
Too many physical touches of food with hands — sanitary issues concern me
To go orders are dealt with much worse than others — thrown together is the best description
Expediting is weak
Communication and coordination isn’t good which leads «speedy» behavior vs «accurate and a sense of finesse»
Cooks with little attention to detail or accuracy
Resembles more of high volume diner than a pleasant /​family friendly Italian restaurant
Eggplant app came out like warm at best
Arugula salad too much dressing and sloppy presentation
Grilled shrimp app had shrimp medium rare (not a great idea) with other ingredients luke warm and really watery with little to no flavor
Ambience is nice
Friendliness of staff is good
Those are the only two reasons for two stars vs one
Really not a good experience

Met a friend for a beer on a Monday night, something we have done there a few times over the years. Bar area was crowded — we were told we could take a seat in the bar area when someone got seated for dinner. We put our name in for a table and were told it was a 30-​minute wait. While waiting we noticed a gentleman settling his bill at one of the 2-​person high tables at the far end of the bar. We sat down at the table when he left. One waitress came by and cleaned the table and took the gentleman’s check & tip.
A few minutes later, a different waitress came over and in no uncertain terms told us — quite RUDELY — that we could not sit there because there was a waiting list for the bar table. She insisted that we leave. No sign, no indication this table was reserved. We were shocked at how nasty she was. We have always sat at the high top tables without an issue — first come first served. We left and will never return.
Also have eaten there many times with my family due to its convenient location — but the service has been mixed over the years. But this was the icing o the cake. Terrible customer service.

Great little gem that could easily be passed on Hwy 2. The interior is far more inviting. I ordered the eggplant pasta, it was ok. My colleagues however ordered meatball sandwich, full salad with chicken and fried calamari and those completely hit the spot for them.

I’ve lived in Concord for 25 years — I was here when papa razzi opened and have seen all the different mgmt changes etc. papa razzi has always just been Ok but in the last year it has progressively just gotten gross. Tonight I couldn’t eat anything I ordered. Salad had wilted, frozen awful lettuce, spaghetti was smothered in canned crushed tomatoes (yuck) and pizza tastes like cardboard — I would give this place a zero but I couldn’t — blech!

1^st time ever there, wasn’t at all what I expected, from the outside 1^st impression it was a nice Italian place to grab some nice home cooking. It was way BETTER than I expected, a very nice, upper class restaurant. And the food was top notch, And that comes at a price ! Service was excellent. I got the lobster ravioli from a past Unilocal review, was great, 6 stuffed ravioli ‘s and that’s it, no soup or salad for $ 22. Salad was 8.50, enough for two and Margarita was 10, and excellent ! Just a little pricey in my book, for a special occasion well worth it !

Wow. I ordered takeout and actually threw my food away, which is something I never, ever, do. Their salad was wilted and half rotten, and the pasta e fagioli tasted like Campbell’s tomato. I contemplated taking the uneaten food back and asking for a refund, but it was too much hassle. On the plus side, their Caesar dressing is quite good.

It is a very nice restaurant. The food is good and is located in a quite and nice environment. Staff are very nice and accommodating.

Absolutely the worst service experience I’ve had in recent memory, hands down.
I get seated. They come by 20 minutes later and ask if anyone has been by to check on me… I say no. A manager comes over finally and takes my order. A bus person comes I’ve after another lengthy delay and asks if I am being waited on since she’s seen me here for quite a while. She apologizes and brings me water and some bread, apologizing and saying «at least now I have something to eat.» Finally my wine shows up and shortly thereafter soup. The soup was piping hot and ok. A few minutes later a truly lackluster margherita pizza shows up, a really lousy representation of what you could have in the North End.
Overall a memorably lousy experience.
The good news is they comped the meal except the wine. They musta felt a little guilty…
Stay away.

The outside façade screams cheap chain restaurant with microwaved premade food or just very mediocre (being kind) Americanized poorly cooked food. I enter and am pleasantly surprised that in fact it is a big step up from what I had anticipated based on the flashy name and gaudy façade.
While not completely sophisticated the décor and ambiance was nice, soft ambient lighting, nice booths, a huge lit fireplace and candles at the table with decent white linen and silverware.
Our waiter, Jason, was very attentive and did a great job of being there when needed and was proactive as far as anticipating things allowing for a smooth dining experience. He even gave us a most delicious caramel sea salt Gelato on the house. AWESOMENESS!
The food was not bad, swordfish special was best dish, pastas were decent even if a little overpriced and just slightly too al dente. Caprese was good as was bruschetta, and bread.
5 stars for service and ambiance, 3.5 ish for food and value so 4.5 over all.
Nice selection of wines by the glass and half glass.

I go to Papa Razzi often because, well, the Concord-​area is a culinary wasteland and Papa Razzi is one of the better options for a cozy, predictably good dinner with a nice wine list.
I heard Papa Razzi did gluten free (the real gluten free… for people with intense celiac) exceptionally well, so last night we gave it a whirl. Wow, were they impressive! My gluten-​free friend was so pleased. As soon as my friend said they were gluten free, the server brought over a gluten free menu and the manager came over to welcome us and assure us that they would prepare a truly gluten free meal — a nice touch.
We went specifically to Papa Razzi for their gluten free pizza, which I heard was dynamite. We had reservations on the later side for Concord 8:00pm (as someone who’s lived in NYC 8pm is super early, but alas!) and when they ordered pizza, Papa Razzi had already run out of gluten free pizza dough! I was like «I should have just gotten gluten free pizza dough at Trader Joe’s and made you pizza at home!»
Well, turns out, with a little creativity from my friend and the amazing server, my friend got «pizza» and lots of smiles. When the server brought over gluten free rolls (they were these cute oversize hockey pucks) my friend asked if some Parmesan could be sprinkled over the rolls. The server then said «may I make you little pizzas?» She put marinara sauce, cheese and basil on the gluten free rolls, put them in the pizza oven and voila! mini pizzas! It was so adorable.
My friend ordered a gluten free pasta and absolutely loved it! I tasted it and it was perfect. The ziti was the perfect texture and consistency — none of that cheap, gross, cardboard-​y gluten free pasta.
We’ll be back to try their gluten free pizza. And, we are happy to find a place that doesn’t make my friend’s celiac flair! Xo

Terrible experience!
To sum up all the issues:
1. Had to wait 15 minutes for our table, despite having a reservation
2. Waldo was easier to find than our waitress. Had to visit the maitre d’ to track her down
3. Had to ask for water twice. We were there almost 15 minutes without any
3. Main dishes took 1 hour to arrive at our table. With a toddler, this created a major issue
4. My husband’s salad was clearly dressed quite a while before being served — it was completely soggy
5. I asked for extra veggies in my pasta and didn’t get any, and I asked for no cheese or dairy and the kitchen put in the cheese anyway
Never again. Heed my and other reviews. AVOID THIS PLACE! Go to another Papa Razzi location if you’re dying for their food (Burlington staff was very good during my last experience).

Dinner with the family was nice. They have good options for the kids and adults alike. For us gluten sensitive folk they offer GF pizza and pasta in addition to the usuals salmon and chicken dishes. My GF chicken piccata with asparagus risotto was good. Ask for the GF roll to accompany the breadsticks and focaccia bread. Our server Jeff was helpful and pleasant. When in the mood for Italian, this is a nice option. Dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids with a few adult beverages and digestif treats was about 110 after tip. We left feeling like it was money well spent on a nice evening out.

I can definitely see why the reviews are lackluster at best for this location.
The service is slow, inattentive, and subpar for Concord and the pricing here. 20 minutes to wait for a drink and bread. That is ridiculous. Especially when you see us here with small children.
Also, sticking your face into front of our food, interrupting us while we are obviously chewing to ask how the food is just asinine. How are we supposed to answer you with our mouths full.
Papa Razzi in Acton has a fun vibe and an interesting menu. That being said they can learn a lot of about waitering from some of the better italian restaurants in the North End.
Pizza is definitely your best option here.

The mushroom risotto was yummy and our waiter was very attentive! He offered extra mushrooms in the dish after I expressed my love for them.
On Mondays all entrees are $ 15.99 and for a few more dollars each you can add a salad and/​or glass of the house wine.
The food could have been more flavorful and the big room with the fireplace was a little loud when sitting in the center but I would definitely go back.

Not the first time I’ve been here, but definitely the last.
Salad was inedible. It tasted like it just came out of a freezer and had almost no dressing on it. It shouldn’t have been a problem to get more salad dressing, but the wait (Davi), never bothered to come back to the table until the entrees were served.
I’ve had great chicken parmesan, average chicken parm and … not so great chicken parm.
PapaRazzi reached a new low. It was mostly bread crumbs, over-​cooked in lousy oil, without any redeeming qualities. MacDonald’s chicken nuggets would have been an upgrade.
The Pasta? Under cooked angel hair (how is that even possible?), with a sauce that would rate 3 steps below Ragu Chunky.
In comparison to PapaRazzi, Olive Garden or Carabba’s would be considered gourmet Italian and that’s a scary thought!

We hesitated choosing this restaurant due to the poor reviews… though I have had solid takeout from the Burlington location. My assertions prevailed and we gave it a shot.
Picked the Concord location due to convenience… lost a star due to the overall inconsistencies… Waitstaff was overly interested in conversation, yet failed to deliver on timely offerings of bread — had to ask, ordering food — had to ask a different waiter.
Why the four stars you ask? The food. Bread — if you are trying to go carb-​free you are going to be challenged… Its like a focaccia that has been lightly pan fried in olive oil with a side of chili oil and it is soooooo good.
Meals we ordered: Chicken piccata, chicken marsala, lobster ravioli, filet mignon, bolognese. I tried each and everyone… delicious… and came out perfectly timed… we had the eggplant rollatini for an appetizer sooo good…
Due to our licenses (she noticed one out of two birthdays) being checked for wine the waitress offered two free desserts yet charged us for one of these «free» desserts for $ 10… we would not have ordered two if she had not told us she was giving us two free birthday desserts, so that also contributed to the loss of a star.
All in all, avoid the large dining room if you actually want to talk to the people you are with the acoustics are awful… opt for the tables around the bar or make the drive to Burlington… then the food is solid 4 out of 5. I personally cannot wait to order a surprise takeout for me and the boyfriend because the pasta and bread were really that good.

We were supposed to go to Sprig but our sales guy forgot to check and they weren’t open on Monday. I got the call on the way up that we switched to here… ugh, that sux.
So first strike is that we’re seated at this weird, half circle table with me on a chair at the opening. It’s a work event and this was a bit awkward. Our waiter comes up and gives the spiel on everything freshly sourced (seriously? — I love frozen crap) and flexible menu. After the first 20 seconds, he mysteriously turned into Charlie Brown’s teacher.
At these work type meetings, it’s good for us to get drinks and then chit chat with the doc for 20 minutes to hear his needs. Our server, Dudley Doright, apparently didn’t get that memo and dropped by three times with an interruption to see if we were ready to order.
I chose to go with the seafood special (mussels and calamari? special?) and substituted spicy pomodoro and ziti. I’m imagining the kitchen looks like a Henry Ford production line and the food is assembled and not cooked. The dish was OK but really didn’t impress me.
Again, never let the sales guys pick the venue and kids, we’ve got much better Italian in the Boston area than this. Olive Garden on steroids.