Vecchia-Roma

Nice family — mediocre food. Veal arrived straight from a steam table, swamped with some sort of odd liquid. We asked «what vegetables are available? «- were told broccoli only — and then arrived soggy green beans. Desert (not made by them) was superb. A definite disappointment. Oddly there was an Italian festival in the neighborhood — and yet the place was empty.

Nice atmosphere. but food was bland – now I know why it was empty on a Saturday night

The atmosphere is very personal, with the chef treating my 11 year old like a princess. The food is homey and authentic (felt a lot like being at my Nonna’s actually). Four instead of five stars only because it’s a bit pricey for a home cooked meal, although that could be argued and I wouldn’t put up much of a fight! An evening in Italia, in Watertown.

Just had a birthday dinner here.
Made a reservation for 18, but additional people kept coming all night until we were at 24. The staff was wonderful and helped us to combine several tables to fit our entire party.
Entrees took a little long to arrive, but that is to be expected (we were 24 people in a 40 person restaurant). Somehow managed to serve everyone roughly at the same time and everyone’s dishes were delicious.
Will definitely go again.

Although it is a nice family restaurant, the Italian food and atmosphere are definitely subpar when compared to similarly priced places around such as Fiorella’s.

This is our first visit but it won’t be the last. Here at last is a restaurant were you can enjoy a quiet meal. Our waitress, Elaine, is delightful. I had the lemon chicken and my husband had a rolled chicken with spinach.
Both were wonderful. The owner Ben makes a point of checking in to see if you enjoyed your meal. It is a small but charming place.
EM 4

You could give this place more stars for atmosphere if you don’t like being in a crowd and if you like a pushy owner/​cook «helping» you order. End of the day was $ 250 for 2 adults and 3 children and food we couldn’t wait to get away from. As we were the only people in the place (hey keep their curtains closed for a reason, every time they’re open the place is empty) it was almost embarrassing getting up to get out of there without having to explain the food left on our plates.

I’ve been to Vecchia Roma twice in the past month, and on both occasions, I’ve had an absolutely delicious and relaxing meal. Last night, two members of our party with celiac disease (serious gluten allergy) were delighted to find that most of the items on the menu could be made without flour and were just as tasty as the «real» thing. I had the pollo saltimbocca, and it was prepared perfectly. I couldn’t help but savor every bite. Other members of our party enjoyed zuppa di pesce and the shrimp risotto and thoroughly enjoyed their dishes. It’s nice to know one doesn’t need to venture to the North End with its overpricing, touristy chaos, and Darwinian Olympics for parking spots to enjoy a terrific Italian meal.
As a side note, I lived in northern Italy in my teens for a while before returning to the States, and I’d been unable to find an eatery in Boston that approximated the healthy fare I’d grown accustomed to while living in the Lakes region: a menu that included fresh fish and pasta that was not, at the same time, overdone with an «American» helping of cheese and heavy sauces. The chef at Vecchia Roma is preparing marvelously delicious food without an operatic level of cholesterol; for this reason alone, I’ll return whenever I’m next craving an Italian meal. The proprietor is also a gracious and charming host; though the place was busy– with all tables taken in the front room and some next-​door– he didn’t miss a beat… or misplace a drop of gluten, which we all appreciated.
Highly recommended.

I’ve been to Vecchia-​Roma a number of times over the last few years with some co-​workers as well as with my wife.
I’ve tried a number of different dishes and they’ve all been great. One of my favorite dishes is the Vitello Saltimbocca. Absolutely delicious. The chef owner is very accommodating and will sometimes make rounds to introduce himself… super nice guy and was a chef in Italy.
Desserts are great but I don’t believe are made in the restaurant. This isn’t a cheap meal so expect a pricey meal however the atmosphere, service, food, and easy parking make it worth the cost. — Dan O

An UNBELIEVABLE rip-​off. Completely overcharged us. We got the shrimp appetizer special with three shrimp mediocre marinara poured over soft white bread. I’m not even sure if it was Italian bread. $ 17.95! 3 shrimp!
My pasta was completely forgettable… something with Pancetta, I think. Carla didn’t eat half of hers. I ended up taking it home and completely redoing it the next day. If you want to spend this kind of money, go to Francesca around the corner on Adams street or Fiorella’s less than 2 miles away. This place is the absolute pits. There were 2 other people in when we showed up, and I can see why there were so few.

The food is good. The waitress was awesome — she was Italian and shared some of her driving/​parking stories (how she’s great at parking in Boston due to the difficult parking situations in Italy). We were a party of 6. We got some free homemade cookies at the end and one of my friends received an extra ½ drink of sambuca! It can be a fun time here.

My husband and I went here on Valentine’s Day and had a great experience! We decided to go somewhere local, but wanted to try something new and this was the perfect place to try. Reminded me a lot like the North End — small and intimate with friendly Italian wait staff. All of our food was excellent and we indulged in a 3 course meal! My husband was even able to sort of make his own meal and the cook accommodated us which I think was great considering it was a busy night. He added some chicken the gnocchi entrée. I had the Caprese Salad and Lobster Raviolis — cleared both plates.
We will definitely be back!

First things first: I didn’t actually even get to eat there. Intrigued? Read on, then.
After having read that Vecchia Roma had been awarded the «Best Italian» in a year-​end review (where from I can’t quite recall), I called to make a reservation for a Friday night not long ago. The phone was answered by someone who was rather difficult to understand; no biggie. After we were able to communicate that I would like make a reservation for two for later that night, the guy on the phone got all indignant, eventually asking why I «need a f — ing reservation for two people.»
Needless to say, that ended the conversation then and there, as well as any possibility of my ever even considering doing anything involving Vecchia Roma except warning others away from the place. If this is the kind of garbage you can catch just trying to make a reservation, I can only imagine what might happen on site. Oh, and if you don’t want people to call for reservations, don’t have on your website that you ACCEPT RESERVATIONS.

Made my first visit tonight. After entering through the front door my boyfriend immediately remarked about the odd smell coming from the restaurant. After reading previous reviews I can see that others noticed the same thing. We ordered the calamari to share. The waiter was extremely friendly and warned us ahead of time that it would be sautéed and not fried but we decided to try it out nonetheless. Part of us wish we took his advice because we simply weren’t used to it! It had a strong fishy flavor and texture so much so that we couldn’t even finish it. My boyfriend ordered the lasagna and after the first bite he noticed that it tasted a bit different than usual. I got pasta with prosciutto, mushrooms, and peas. It was alright, I feel like the reasoning behind the taste issue is due to this being more authentic Italian cuisine. I would definitely be willing to give this place another try in the future.

On a Friday at 7:30 PM, the meal was wonderful and the lack of a crowd was refreshing. The décor could use some work, but the chef knows what he’s doing.

I will give this place a 3 on here but I am not sure if it is a 3, 3.5. or 4…
I have some mixed reactions… the place is cute. small and quaint. I didn’t smell cat urine like many others but it was a bit stuffy… not horrible though. The chairs are not very comfortable.
The waitress was very pleasant but unless you grab her she does take quite a while to take your order, etc. She is very nice, though, and seems customer oriented.
The food was good. I wouldn’t say it was anything amazing… but it was fresh and tasty. The fig wrapped with prosciutto special was quite delicious… the wrapped eggplant app was ok but nothing too amazing… the special brie and prosciutto ravioli was good but a bit overwhelming with the brie and heavy cream sauce used… you didn’t taste much of the other flavors and it felt kind of heavy, the veal dish topped with prosciutto, cheese, etc. was very good. The tiramisu was yummy and tasted homemade (it isn’t very big though, so splitting is hit or miss depending on how much you want).
A couple little complaints… I don’t like being judged by wait staff and there were a couple of things that make me question going back… our waitress, when my husband went to order dessert made a comment about how he hadn’t finished his meal… he was planning on taking it to go and getting dessert but her comment wasn’t necessary… The other instance was to the table behind us (if it had been to us I wouldn’t have been happy), the table had some fish dish and had asked for parmesan and the waitress comes back with the cheese and puts it down and then proceeds to say «I must say this, the chef says that putting parmesan will change the flavor of the fish and it will react chemically… you should try it first»… that would have pissed me off royally as I love parmesan and if I wanted to put it on the fish I would… I think it was just the way she needed to say something. even if she was right that wouldn’t be the way to say it.

I don’t write reviews very often, but It’s not often I have a meal like this (though «have a meal» is generous for what we did there). I have no idea how this place has 4 stars on Unilocal… maybe they have a lot of friends who review it. This place really should be on Kitchen Nightmares.
We went in at around 6:30 on a Friday night, which is a bit early, but the place was totally dead. We were one of two tables sitting down. Bad sign. There was also an interesting aroma when we walked in, almost a litter box sort of scent. I’m not a cat owner, so I can’t say for sure, but this is how I imagine it smelling.
Anyway, we sit down, and decide pretty much right away we’re going to order apps first, and then decide, based on those, if we should stay for a full meal. We ordered bruschetta & sage gnocchi. They also brought us out some traditional Italian bread and humus?! The humus was probably from Costco, and we weren’t sure why they served it in an Italian place, but it was fine.
Then our apps came out. The bruschetta was toast with tomato sauce and shrimp on it. Not the homemade kind either, I’m talking straight from the can, here. No chunks of tomato, no spices, no flavor. The shrimp was rubbery, and still had shells on, which was very strange. Shelling things that have been sitting in tomato sauce is not my idea of a good time. Fortunately, I was saved the trouble, as I found a hair in mine after the first bite, preventing me from eating any more. Oddly enough, my girlfriend ALSO had a hair in hers. What are the chances?! Perhaps the cats are allowed to roam the kitchen.
The gnocchi was… not gnocchi, and extremely not good. Gnocchi should probably be smaller than your knuckle. These came in a plate of 4 little gnocchi buns (for lack of a better term). It looked like someone stuffed a bunch of mashed potatoes into a muffin tray, and then served it up. They tasted like unseasoned mashed potatoes, and one bite was enough for me to know I didn’t want any more.
The service was fine, they didn’t make us pay for what we ordered, after the hair in the food. However, this is not an isolated incident, I’m sure. The food is straight-​up bad, and I question the taste of anyone who says otherwise.
There are a ton of good restaurants in the Newton area, save your money for those.

One of our favorite local spots! The space is small, but that’s expected with an Italian restaurant, right? Food is consistently good. Our favorite is the veal valdostrana YUM! And be sure to get the tiramisu.
A great spot if you don’t want to make the hike to the North End.

This is a wonderfully small italian restaurant that brings us all the things that make so many North End restaurants great, without the cost or the parking hassles associated with them restaurants… I’ve eaten here a number of times over the years and my guests have always raved about it for days on end.
Another hidden jem right in the heart of the italian section of Newton.

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in the Boston area (North End be damned). Its a cozy little place with everything made by an Italian gent who is quite hospitable and talented in the kitchen.
I tried the following… all were fantastic: Stuffed Calamari (outstanding), Bruschetta, Pasta Vongole (the best thing I’ve tried there); home-​made cheese Ravioli, and Veal Marsala. Desserts are all excellent too.
Big thumbs up.