A Mano Italian Kitchen

After eating at A Mano for Valentine dinner, I got food poisoning, diagnosed by a doctor the next day. A pleasant call to inform the owner of the problem, was met by a tepid response from the staff and no call back from the owner, who probably read his own reviews and thought he was exempt from courtesy. If you’re interested in mediocre food, service and unscheduled time off from work this is your place. Check your health insurance policy.

Wow, nothing original, new or creative here. It’s like dining at the graveyard of 62, which should of stayed closed instead of coming back as this uninspiring place. This is just what Salem needs — another Pizza and «Italian Kitchen» restaurant. Please.
I was never a fan of the chef, wasn’t a fan of 62 and this place is the trifecta of gastronomic rubbish that should sink into the history of Salem’s failed restaurants…

Food is always SOOOOO good. It’s like Tony sat on your shoulder and added *exactly* how much seasoning you wanted to make it perfect and want for nothing. Their bolognese is the best around –and NOW you can buy jars of it (and fresh pasta to boot)!!! Is that not the best ever? Had a long day at work yesterday, so I swung by and grabbed a jar of the best pasta sauce on the north shore (don’t worry, mom moved to Florida so she won’t be offended) and a pound of fresh pasta, and in the time it took to boil water BAM! our fave dish. In our pajamas with Netflix. You seriously must go!

This fabulous authentic Italian restaurant on the wharf would get 5 stars if the service was just a tad bit faster. As for the food, words cannot describe how savory every meal tasted. We celebrated a birthday therefore we ate wine martinis appetizers salads entrees dessert, the works. Not a single item item tasted poorly. Portions are great for the price and everything is fresh! I may be picky but I did notice the host was trying to help the server by running dishes to our table and kept stepping on my purse and feet as she came around my corner of the table. Not a huge deal breaker however. As people who have worked in the restaurant business for over 15 years we will definitely be returning. Excellent!!!

To start off, my review is biased. I have been a huge fan of Chef Bettencourt’s cooking for the last three years. I also worked at his previous restauraunt the 62. Much of what I know about great service and quality cooking I have learned from him and his staff. If you are not interested in the opinion of someone who has a ton of experience with the restauraunt, it is OK to skip this review.
So much work goes Into the food at A Mano. Everything is made fresh and by hand. There is never downtime in the kitchen, and they start working five hours before service starts.
The prices are some of the best in Salem. The way the menu is designed allows you eat a three course meal for about the same price as just one entrée at many of the surrounding restaurants.
This is unbelievable when you consider that this is not some cheap franchise restauraunt food you are eating and there are highly skilled cooks including the head chef and owner himself making this food everyday.
The staff is highly trained. Chef/​owner Tony is not only a chef but a teacher. He spends a lot of time with his front of the house staff teaching them about the ingredients, food, and wine. He takes it a step far beyond to things like the the geography and culture behind it all. It is truly remarkable, the man is an encyclopedia.
If you go to the address 62 Wharf St. to eat with your loved ones you are going to be in a place that has succeeded in Salem for eight years now at providing some of the highest quality food and service around. Again, I have a bias, but I have also lived in Salem for a long time and love eating out. It makes sense my bias gravitated to one of the best places in the city.
Hope this helps.

My husband and I went to A Mano last night, and along with many great features, we were a bit disappointed. The delightful arancini, the roasted beats-​very nice apps. Would have liked the beats warmed. The arancini was nicely plated, the beats, no. Tossed into a sma

Really like what they did with the place. Cool, rustic-​chic redo with dim lighting, modern sconces. polished wood paneling etc. Menu struck me as a slightly truncated version of the former «62» menu + pizza — which is fine with me, as I always thought the food was topnotch. AND, they no longer over-​chill their red wine — a big plus as far as I’m concerned.
Food was excellent — though the pizza — while quite good — did not quite make it to sublime. On the other hand, the aroncinini, roast chicken, salads and their holdover dolce — ‘warm toffee pudding’ were all perfect.
Service was fine as well. But I will say the kitchen apparently got backed up (it was restaurant week in Salem after all), and the food did take a good long time to emerge. Ah well, that’s what Sunday night is for I suppose. Will definitely return, sooner rather than later.

There is nothing that we would change about our dinner. From the wine, service, ambiance and food, everything was great. We had the arrancini, Caesar, bolognese, gnocchi and an amazing bottle of wine. We made a last minute decision to stop in for dinner and we’re happy to find a seat in the lounge. We’re very excited to know we have such a great addition to Salem restaurant options right in our neighborhood.

Went to A Mano on a Saturday night in October. The atmosphere was nice and our server was good. Prices were what you’d expect for the area. Most of the dishes were not traditional Italian fare.
I got the Tagliatelle bolognese. It was good but the portion wasn’t what one would expect for a $ 19 pasta dish. My wife and her friend got the butternut squash ravioli. Again, was decent, but the ravioli were all pasta with little filling and some of the edges were a little too al dente.
Overall the meal was decent but the presentation and portion were severely lacking for the price.