I visited Massimino's on a bit of a whim (we just started walking the North End, and went in to the first relaxed attire Italian place we came across) with a friend on a recent trip to Boston. I have to say, I had an excellent time! It was a Friday night and there were only a few clusters of people sitting in the restaurant. The hostess gave us our choice of sitting upstairs or downstairs ("We'll go look downstairs, and if you don't like it we'll get you a table upstairs.")
The waitress quickly took our wine and antipasti order, and upon discovering that they were out of our wine selection, she exclaimed - in true east coast Italian style - "I'm gonna take care a ya!" and went off in search of a different wine for us. She quickly came back with a very good red, the name of which escapes me at the moment.
After a few minutes with the bread (which was, I'll admit, a little dry) and antipasti, she took our food order - again with all the flair and fire one expects from a waitress at an Italian bistro. Within 20 minutes, I was eating my meal. We dined at a fairly leisurly pace, and were never rushed. As a matter of fact, the waitress encouraged us to eat slowly, and even sat down near us, briefly, to discuss the finer points of finding good Italian on the North End.
The bill came, and we discovered that though the bottle of wine she'd brought us was $25 more expensive than the wine we ordered, we were only charged for the cost of the bottle we'd ordered. Take care of us, indeed! Probably the best waitress I've had in a long time.
In all, I'd highly recommend Massimino's to anyone looking for good Italian, and fun and friendly service. I'll be back in Boston next summer, and you can bet I'll be back at Massimino's then, too.
Pros: Ambience, Friendly Staff
Cons: bread was a little dry
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