Davide Restaurant

Evidently this place has closed. This what happens when a draft of a review sits on the computer for too long and you post late.
Davide –pronounced DAH-​VEE-​DAY; not the name David with a cool French accent– is a household name around these parts, as it was featured on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. So you would think that I would have known about it the night I went there. Truth be told, I don’t watch Kitchen Nightmares or any other shows of the sort because, to be quite honest, they make me a bit tense. It can be a brutal and unforgiving business, and I simply prefer not to see the ugly side of it, as I know it all too well.
We showed up an hour early, which wasn’t a problem, given the multitude of empty tables. We had hoped that, if a table was not available, we could sit at the bar and wait. There was a bar, but it was for servers only to pick up drinks for their tables; not a place where coworkers can grab a drink after work. The restaurant is located in a basement of what appears to be an apartment building. It is a rather dark space, but the darkness gave it a romantic feel. Sandy and I were enjoying a nice, quiet dinner when a random thing occurred. An 80’s new-​wave song started playing in the background, replacing the typical, contemporary jazz, or the classic «that’s amore.» Call me crazy, but there is something about hearing Depeche Mode’s «strange love» that clashes with the surroundings.
The food at Davide was quite good, and our server was excellent. We went over the wine list with him, and he recommended a «Super Tuscan,» which is not one of our common picks, and we found this to be an excellent suggestion. And, of course, being in an Italian restaurant, I had to try the house tomato sauce. This sauce, to me, is the nucleolus of these establishments. Tomato sauce is one of 5 «mother sauces» from which thousands of other sauces are formed. The sauce itself is simple, and consists of a few relative ingredients; but it is the care and passion of the creator that transforms these few ingredients into a precious cauldron of love. Davide can give even the most cutthroat Italian mamas a run for their money with their version of this classic. For our entrees we had the lamb chops and rib eye steak. The lamb was cooked well and was served with an artichoke crepesella drizzled with a balsamic reduction. This was very good. I had the rib eye which came with baby arugula tossed in a lemon truffle dressing and shaved parmesan. When it arrived at the table, to my surprise, it was pan seared. Now, I know this is a divided view, because there are folks out there who prefer that their steaks be prepared in this way, rather than grilled or charbroiled. I enjoyed it, but I am one of those diehards who prefer the char of a grill; especially wood grilled!
It appears, to me, that Davide’s biggest hindrance is its location, and I am not sure that Chef Ramsay’s revamp did much to boost traffic for the long-​term. We went on a Saturday night in July, and it was very slow. We thought that it might have been due to a festival going on a few blocks away on the main strip of the North End (Hanover Street), but additional research from other reviewers made similar claims. Davide is situated away from the main foot traffic of people that come to visit the historic North End. I think this creates an incredible challenge for them, and leaves the inner circle of restaurants with a stronger advantage.
Overall, our experience at Davide was very good, and I would not discount going back there.

I went here not realizing the place’s history. While it was a bit awkward being the only party in the restaurant, I can’t complain about the food. We had bread, dinner and some lemon cake for dessert. The waiter was very friendly and even though they were out of a few things he was very accommodating. I think if more people gave them another chance they could have a successful business.

This restaurant is CLOSING its doors. That may have been the reason we had the worst dinner ever. While the only remaining waiter was nice, food was of the worst quality: mussels had no mussels inside, fish stank of being old, the pasta was overcooked, the veal looked like someone barfed on it…
The owner and chef, Anthony, refused to take more than one of my coupons. Even though it is his right not to, he would not accept my argument that since the restaurant is closing, he could accept at least two.
Not even Gordon Ramsey could save this restaurant.
RIP Davide Restaurant.

Trainwreck.
We made a 7:30 reservation for Friday night. We got there on time for our reservation, watched several parties be seated, and didn’t get to our table until 8:20. The table we were seated at had literally been open the entire time we were waiting. During the waiting period, the hostess/​waitress/​wife of the chef would occasionally come over, bluster about being so busy, and promise to bring us drinks or bread while we waited. Never happened. In this big restaurant, it seemed like she was the only one waiting on tables. On a Friday night? Come on now.
When we finally got to a table, it took forever and a day to: get a drink menu; get water, place settings, and bread; get a dinner menu; order drinks; order dinner… I could go on. Whatever could be horrible delayed was. After at least an hour and a half, we reminded them that we were still waiting on dinner, and lo and behold, the food was magically ready.
I had the veal fettucini, a favorite combination of mine. Unfortunately, the pasta was undercooked – it’s not al dente if it goes crunch – and the veal was way overcooked. Veal should be tender, not chewy. All in all, very disappointing.
It would be one thing if we spent hours whiling away at dinner, enjoying our food and each other’s company. Unfortunately, we only got the benefit of the latter.

My husband and I went here for dinner during restaurant week. We liked the look of their menu, so we chose this over several other restaurants we knew served superb food. I know we should have been weary of a place that was featured on Kitchen Nightmares, but I’m all about trying new things, and I’m a firm believer in improvement…
That being said. we will most likely not be dining here again.
The two best parts of the meal were our waiter (Eddie, who was just phenomenal).and the bread that is brought. it was crusty, warm and delicious.
Other than that, I was pretty unimpressed with the food. I really wanted to like it, but it just didn’t wow me. at all. I’m not particularly difficult to impress, but I was quite disappointed. I ordered the Pappardelle, which was served lukewarm, and the sauce was seasoned poorly. It was okay, but definitely disappointing for the price. We got a «salad» with our meal, which was basically a bowl of mixed lettuce with olive oil on it. It was actually pretty gross. I might have given an extra star if it weren’t for this. I was disappointed in the food, but that really just crossed a line with me. I would have rather them just leave that part out and give me the mediocre dinner. I thought this fr