Old Tyme Italian Cuisine

My wife and I have been coming here since it opened, with much of the staff from the old Tonino’s in Saugus. After reading all of the reviews of this place, I felt that I had to put in my two cents worth.
Old Tyme is what it is: a neighborhood restaurant with reasonable food at reasonable prices and a terrific waitstaff.
While the food isn’t five-​star quality, it’s good. The portions are large; the food comes out steaming hot, but the quality fluctuates depending on who is in the kitchen (when we go we always ask who’s cooking and order appropriately).
The service is outstanding. We go often with a friend who is gluten-​free and the waitreses are so patient, explaining all of his options, and they even go back to ask the chef if he can do something special that may not be on the menu. Getting that kind of attention is well worth the trip. Great service always makes a meal better.
The food is solid. Not outstanding, but good. Where can you get a veal dish, with pasta and a salad for under $ 20? My only objection is that the menu hasn’t changed in years. Offering some different choices would make the experience more appealing.
All in all, it’s not a place I’d go for a celebration or a romantic night out, but, for a regular place that you can afford to visit a couple of times a week, it can’t be beat.

I’ve been to Old Tyme twice and loved it both times. Everyone’s meal is made to order and fresh. I have had the linguine with clams and today I had scallops and clams in a white sauce over angle hair. Both are amazing.
Service is very good. Waiter, Zach is great! Prices are very reasonable and the portions are big.
Kids’ meals are huge and extremely inexpensive. ($ 3.99 for spaghetti and meatballs).

Been there done it… Its ok but there are so many other better places. Can be worth a repeat if you are local.

I love this place! the food was delicious and our server was soooo sweet and friendly. The portions are big too:)

I really wanted to like this place since its so close to where I live. Bland is the best word to describe the food, atmosphere, and service here. Went here with a friend one night. Gross carpet, the seat of our booth was ripped and tapped over and the table had a «stickiness» to it. That was a huge red flag to me, but my friend suggested the place and I didn’t want to be rude.
The bread and oil they served had no flavor. The oil didn’t even taste like olive oil, but more like canola or vegetable.
I got fettuccine alfredo. Pasta was cooked al dente, so good, but again NOT SEASONED like they didn’t salt the water. The Alfredo sauce tasted like a basic cream sauce with no cheese in it and no real flavor to it.
I’m guessing the chef just doesn’t like flavor. The only people that seem to like it are the «regulars» and I think they mostly go for the cheap drinks.
Save yourself the $$ and go buy a box of pasta and jarred sauce and make it better at home.

great restaurant great and patient waitress lisa, nice cozy place to eat. HOME MADE Desserts 5 stars. Will certainly be going back.

Bartender Kristen was friendly and nice. Just came for drinks to meet friends but the food that was being brought out looked and smelled delicious.

This place is just fantastic.
I’ve never had a bad meal here at all. Everything is delicious and is constantly one of the first places I think of when asked if I want to go out somewhere. The service was great. Servers were nice and the food came out in a timely fashion – even when it was slightly busier.
Everyone I’ve brought here also says that they’d love to come back, never heard a bad thing about this place at all.

Never ever had a bad meal here close to home across the street from my Church Place is clean all dishes are well done The owner is also always there and pays attention to detail great Service always My family’s go to place for fast Italian I want some olive oil to dip my bread in now O K lets go there now See you there

The food here is average. This location has pretentions to be something it is not. They serve bread and olive oil but the bread is supermarket quality and the olive oil was light, flavorless with some added spices to mask the blandness. The pasta was from a box and the dishes were routine. An average italian dinner no better than you would cook at home. The one saving grace was the price. For lunch entrees were all under $ 10! Certainly a deal in this day and age. If you live in the neighborhood a nice option for a quick lunch.

Decided to stop here on our way out of town for a quick meal. It didn’t happen. People who arrived after us were served before us. The olive oil w/​the bread had no taste. The salad was decent when it finally arrived at our table. Had to tell them we were in a little bit of a hurry but it didn’t seem to help! Food came out so slow and so unappetizing. When my meal was placed on the table there was a bad fishy smell — and I had chicken! The chicken tasted like it had been boiled and had no taste, and there was no sauce, no spices, just cut up tomatoes. My husband fared better but said his was «nothing special». When we finally paid our bill, we said never again!

Great food good prices nice portions what more can you ask for

I don’t really get the 5 star reviews here. The staff are great, but the space and food just don’t measure up.
We were able to wheel right in the back door and were seated immediately, choosing to sit in the cozy area next to the bathrooms, rather than the cavernous back room or the packed front dining room.
We ordered the eggplant appetizer and it was actually pretty awful, with thickly cut pieces of almost raw eggplant served with cardboard tomatoes. The oil served with the bread makes everyone gag, and no it’s not the heat. We each ordered different pasta dishes, all huge portions — and heavy and tasteless.
The staff were very friendly and attentive, but there are other options around here.

This review is a long time coming. I have gone here many times, and it is consistently great. Prices are extremely fair, portions large, food quality excellent. What more can you ask?
I have never had an entrée that disappointed me. From Chicken/​pasta dishes, to seafood, to steak tips — all is above average or flat-​out excellent. Lunch menu served late into the afternoon — I recently went at 4:00 and was given a choice of menus. Service is always friendly and attentive. If you have a food allergy, they won’t «guess» whether that food is in the dish; they will ask the chef. Wine prices are incredibly good — $ 5 for a glass of house Chianti (find that price somewhere else — good luck…)
All in all, far superior to the chain alternatives on route one, definitely worth the extra couple of minutes of driving. Give it a shot.

I try to be a very big supporter of local businesses… but unfortunately I won’t be back to Old Tyme.
My FI and I went for dinner Saturday night and it was a huge disappointment. You walk straight into the main dining room and there isn’t always someone watching guests walk in. We had to wait a good five minutes before someone saw us and seated us, which was pretty awkward because we had to stand there with the diners looking at us. Also because of the position of the front door pretty much anywhere you sit in the main dining room you’re going to be hit by the cold air every time the door opens. Moving on, our waiter was a young kid who kept calling me «hun»…I felt like I was in East Boston, he was nice enough but definitely not attentive. The food… well that’s where it gets really bad. The calamari took a half-​our to be brought out and were over cooked… we received no explanation as to why it took so long (the place was practically empty) nor an apology. Our entrees were an absolute disappointment. I ordered the Shrimp fradiavlo… yikes…their red sauce is a really weird texture, it sort of separates and you have tomato clumps sitting on top of the pasta and the sauce underneath, not to mention the shrimp was overcooked. The FI got some sort of a lemony chicken dish which actually looked appetizing but tasted like… egg…ick. It took us a good fifteen minutes to try and flag down our waiter for the check.
The atmosphere… well there were old people, townies, and kids coming and going. They seem to do a lot of take out orders and large party platters. The décor was cheesey and the dinging room was cold.
Le sigh… sorry but this one gets thumbs down from me.

I have driven by here many times and decided to check it out for dinner tonight, was not sure what to think of it being based where it was.
I was amazingly surprised. The atmosphere is cozy and we were seated right away and the did not have to wait long at all for our drink order. Our server (Mabel), was extremely friendly and enjoyed having a conversation with us as we placed our orders, informing us that my choice (Chicken Marvin) was named after her father, one of the cooks!
The menu was full of delicious sounding Italian favorites and priced very well. The meal is served with warm bread and dipping oil.
As for the Chicken Marvin, it was very light and flavorful. The chicken was moist, tender and in all a good portion.
Our server was very attentive and we enjoyed conversing with us. She even asked if we just wanted to stay after we paid to relax more.
For a great delicious Italian dinner priced just right, I would recommend and definitely return again!

I’ve attended various political fundraisers here over the last six months and I’m glad I did. The food here is great and the owner and his staff are excellent.
This place is right off of Boston Street near Barry Park. Parking can be a little difficult when there is function going on but there is some off street parking nearby.
Four stars seems like a good fit for a nice Lynn restaurant like this.

Usually my #1 rule when dining in an Italian restaurant is to eat the breads before the dessert. It tastes better that way. I guarantee it (^_​.) The Fettuccine Primavera was quite tasty though strongly flavored. I don’t like how Penne and Vodka was cooked. The chicken was very dry and penne was so bland. DON’T ORDER Spaghetti & Meatballs from the children’s menu. My son wouldn’t eat it the meatball after the 1^st bite. The texture of the meatball was like a can of cat food. I want to know why it’s Pasta Teddy. I’ve done some research on Fusilli and what I ordered doesn’t look like it! It suppose to be a long, thick, corkscrew shaped pasta. I think I had a substitute in my dish. I think it’s Udon noodles! I didn’t enjoy my dish very much. It was very chewy. Definitely overcooked. Turtle Cheese Cake tastes like espresso with a sweet finish.

Solid Italian food in a homey, no-​frills atmosphere. This place is right down the street from my house, so I don’t know what took me so long to try it!
Don’t drive by too fast, or you may miss it. It’s a small, white, brick one-​story with a nondescript sign on the front. There is free parking in the lot next door.
The menu is your standard Italian fare, but at great prices (most are under $ 15. In addition to appetizers, you have your salads, chicken, seafood, steak, and pasta entrees. There is a full-​service bar, and a bottle of beer will set you back a measly $ 3.
I got a pasta dish, and hubs got his usual staple — chicken parmigiana. Both were very good and solid. The pasta tasted homemade, which is a definite plus in both our books. The red sauce could have been a tad sweeter, but had a good tartness to it. I got a pasta dish in an oil and garlic, and it was neither too oily, or too garlicy, which was great.
Our servers were all very pleasant and helpful. All the dishes are made to order, so they can accommodate pretty much any request you have. You want a chicken patty instead of chunks of chicken? No problem. Fusilli instead of angel hair? No problem.
We will definitely be back to try out more menu options. But so far, we are happy diners.

Yum, this place is great. I got the Chicken al Spiinaci, it was a bit rich for me, but everyone else loved it. My favorite place for Chicken Marsala closed and this place quickly filled its spot in my heart/​stomach.
The front room isn’t that elegant, but the back room is pretty sweet. They give you huge portions for reasonable prices.