Agostino’s Restaurant

Our go-​tos are baked stuffed shells for me and baked ziti for my husband. Huge portions, enough for 2 dinners each. Each comes with a house salad.
The table bread is amazing. Not sure if they bake it in-​house or get it delivered, but its perfect.
The décor leaves a lot to be desired (it really looks more like a breakfast place or a diner than an italian restaurant) but i’m not there for the décor.
Staff is friendly.
Once we were sitting in a booth near the service station and witness a waitress picking cucumbers out of a side salad with her bare hands (that she had just been using to touch a billion other things around the service station). So there’s that… but maybe as well as you dont ask for a custom side salad, you’re ok? lol

The first time I went to Agostino’s was for dinner, and this time returned there for lunch.
I had a shrimp scampi plate, which was prepared in a simple way, but was cooked right and delicious. Their shrimp scampi does not come with any cheese, and, in my view, that’s pretty authentic. And this is one of the few places, surprisingly, where a noodle pasta dish is served with a spoon as well as a fork. The overall level of service is decent, too.
I will definitely return.

Agostino’s is a true hidden gem. If you are not from Natick, you might not know about it. We always sit in the «new» (not so new) bar as we don’t enjoy the atmosphere on the restaurant side. The atmosphere, in the bar, is nice — good music and the games are always on the two TVs above the bar. There are 6 – 8 table in the bar area if you don’t like eating at the bar. The traditional Italian fare is very good. This past week, I tried the haddock, and I couldn’t believe how fresh and tasty it was. I would definitely order the seafood again, a very pleasant surprise! The bartender, Kristy, was a character, who kept us entertained! This is the best place in Natick!

Pretty weak. sub shop feel. the food was ok but atmosphere was poor. Place is in desperate need of an update.

Sadly this Natick staple has seen my last order. The portions have shrunk while the prices have risen. Typical nowadays I’ll admit, but 2 entrees and one app for $ 45, without beverages is ridiculous. Chicken Parmesan is still good, as is the bread. The «baked ziti», pasta in red sauce with a glob of mozzarella melted on top is uninspired.
Sadly, just not worth the money anymore.

Great food and prices, chicken parmesan. An pizza fantastic. Specials you need to try.

They have great food — terrible service. I know it is an «Italian» place but they have one of the best burgers I have ever had. I just wish the service was a little better.

Ancient plate ware. mismatched salt and pepper shakers with dented tops. Walked by the kitchen and saw the cook with no head cover, mixing something by hand in a if bowl wearing no gloves.
Got a basket of bread right away which was good, but dint see the waitress for 15 minutes after that even though the place was empty. Noticed that the table was cakes with grime under the condiment shakers while we were waiting for the server. while waiting. I also noticed that about half the tables were leveled with napkins or coasters. I guess they didn’t figure out that you can buy screw type levels for about 45 cents each.
I have had enough and lost my appetite. i am leaving…

Love this place. Consistently good food and friendly atmosphere. Try the toasted raviolis, they are the best!

Wasn’t very pleased with food, found a hair in my pasta… I’m Italian but I gave it a shot I wanted to try it, not a good experience ! Very rude staff, decent prices but food was horrible. Go at your own risk ! Good luck

My husband and I just tried this place and loved it! Atmosphere was great! We sat at the bar which was furnished with new modern leather bar chairs and cozy lighting. Food was prepared perfectly and tasted great! We will be back very soon!

Agostinos is a gem! Great bar and cozy dinning room. Agostinos is a modest restaurant with friendly staff and great food.

I wish I could give this place six stars. Owner is a cool guy, bartenders and wait staff very nice, great relatively new décor and prime location, attractive specials ($ 6 large pizza AT THE BAR on Mondays) and a bar menu that does not exceed that amount either. Really though, this is about A+ Italian food — portion and quality both outstanding — lasanga, chicken parm, baked stuffed shells, whatever. If you are seeking true, quality, real deal Italian food, look no further!

Agostino’s is a real down home type of restaurant that you can enjoy weekly. The prices are fair, food is good and drinks reasonably priced. We love to sit in Lynn’s section because she takes great care of us.

Great Italian food in Natick center. Nothing fancy, just the expected dishes from an Italian restaurant. The portions are huge and the prices are very reasonable.
We had the pasta and red sauce with meatballs, chicken/​broccoli/​ziti, veal and eggplant parm and sausage and eggplant parm. Everything was great, and we had a lot to take home.
Great place for traditional Italian food.
Nice service as well

Good things: all the staff (hostess, bartender, waitress) were super nice and attentive, despite the busy Saturday night crowd. Very little wait time for a table. The italian bread was delicious, as was the sauce with the meals. Very affordable.
The food was just ok, and the portions were way too large. I’m always hesitant to go back to a restaurant that seems to substitute excellent food quality with extra large portions. Also, the décor and table setting could have been a little nicer.
Overall, just OK, but we may give it one more try.

Was hoping to find a good restaurant in downtown Natick. Was very disappointed by Agostino’s. I ordered the lasagna, which one would think should be a solid choice for an italian restaurant. The sauce tasted like a low end sauce from a can, almost like the sauce in spaghettios. I did not finish my meal.
It seemed like they were working on the ambiance (which was clearly dated in the dining room) by updating the bar area to be more modern, unfortunately it does not seem like they updated the menu in the process.

I went for lunch and ordered Eggplant Parmesan. It was not good, did not taste homemade, was heavily battered and heavy, fried hard. The sauce was nothing special either. I will not go back.

I give it 3 stars because of its sticky tables and awful flat ware. please buy some new forks and knives.
But the food is always consistently good, chicken piccata over broccoli is my go to meal. There 5 dollar bar menu is simple but well seasoned and delicious eggplant stack and wedge salad, again another of my go to meal. If your looking for white table cloths this is not the place.
The Waite staff are pleasant hardworking efficient quick that deliver quality service. I have not had a bad meal here. Being from Natick I like to support local business and will continue to support this one.

This hurts me in the heart a little bit.
I love downtown Natick, and I love that it is full of independent businesses and restaurants, which keep roots and money in the community instead of sending it to a corporate office somewhere else. As such, I really, really wanted to support Agostino’s.
Unfortunately, there’s just no way I can recommend it in good conscience.
I’ve lived in Natick for about a decade, and had always been warned off of Agostino’s. Recently, I decided that this was not a fair reason to avoid a restaurant, and decided to give them a try. I would probably rather sit on my junk unsuspectingly than do so again.
Immediately upon walking in, I was surprised at what I found. From the outside, Agostino’s as the appearance of what might be a moderately upscale restaurant. With the curtains and dark windows, it’s not easy to see inside, and the illusion is maintained.
As soon as you enter, however, you realize you’ve been had. A small, cramped dining area is full of outdated tables and old, cracked naugahyde in a mustard yellow. There is a hostess podium immediately as you enter, from which the hostess pointed at a table I could claim. Frank Sinatra’s ruination of «Downtown» blared from the overheads.
When I got there, the table was sticky. After being wiped down, it remained so. Bread was brought out: two slices of white. I asked my waitstaff if they served alcohol, and she rolled her eyes and said yes. Now, to be clear, there was NO mention of beer, wine, or cocktails in the menu, nor was there a visible bar.
THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WARNING.
I ordered a glass of Chianti, and the waitress left. I began to peruse the menu, and noted that there were no Italian specials on the menu of this allegedly Italian restaurant. Meatloaf, southern fried chicken, and some sort of sandwich rounded out the specials menu if I remember correctly.
Being a man who loves his fried things, however, I was excited to dive in and get some southern fried chicken. When the waitress returned with my «chianti,» I ordered, albeit with some trepidation.
Have you ever taken a bite of something, expecting it to be something else? I once put a handful of jalepeno Jelly Bellies in my mouth thinking they were green apple, and was sad for days after.
That’s what happened with my wine.
I took a sip of this alleged Chianti, and my entire face folded in on itself. It was like a black hole — the wine was so sour, my face turned into a singularity, and began sucking in the sour from everyone else’s tables. Lemons flew across the floor and entered the tiny spot in space which used to be occupied by my head. The BRIGHT RED canned tomato sauce on others dinners stood no chance against the suckitude of that sour wine.
It was a little tart.
When I suggested the wine may have turned, I was adivsed that the house Chianti has a bold flavor and was given another glass of water.
That’s ok, though, because I was off of wine for the night.
Finally, my meal arrived.
Thick, gobular, sticky mashed potatoes clotted together with what was allegedly a country gravy, but what was actually flour mixed with a tiny bit of black pepper and the saltless tears of Mormon widower. I began to suspect they were employing kindergarteners in the kitchen, because that gravy was IDENTICAL to the flour glue we used to make, except it had a little less flavor.
What’s a tiny bit shocking is that the chicken was fried *perfectly* — still juicy, crispy batter, steaming hot — but to add insult to injury it was so smothered in this congealed monstrosity of southern gravy that most of it was inedible.
All the while, Frank Sinatra from his really bad, bad years (1960s, 1970s) kept playing over the intercom, lending credence to an Italian identity which had become a parody of itself.
I paid and fled.
I hope this place gets its act together. Natick needs and deserves a nice, sit-​down Italian place with a full bar (NOT LOOKING AT YOU, OLIVE GARDEN). It deserves a family-​owned spot with roots in the community.
But we also deserve edible food.