Il Panino Express

If you’re looking for a cheaper meal in the north end, this place is perfect. They are affilitated with the restaurant Il Panino and other north end eateries. You literally get the same quality food for less than half the price.
They have subs, pizza, and pasta. The pizza here is the best I have had in Boston. Being from NY, I know what a good slice is and their pizza is delicious. Their subs are also great, I highly recommend the Maiale sub, it is roast pork and absolutely delicious. Their pasta is also good, if you are a pasta fan then definitely go here. You pay half the price for the same stuff they serve in their restaurants.

If you are looking for fast Italian (fast food) (cafeteria style) this place does deliver quickly. I wasn’t happy with my experience partially because of my food, and hugely because of the customer service.
You order at a counter top where I was politely greeted by a younger brunette woman. I asked her which salads were served with Romaine lettuce. She said only the Caesar is, but we can do the tuna or the chef salad with romaine, there may be an additional charge. I happily decided on tuna with romaine and was fine with paying whatever they wanted to charge me. She said just let the cashier know.
The woman at the cash register really put a bad taste in my mouth. I gave her my order, tuna salad with romaine, up charge ok, and she immediately say NO NO NO! We cannot do that, it doesn’t come like that.
The first woman pipes in, in my defense, saying we do it all the time! There is just an additional charge. She then mentioned someone’s name, saying she had gotten approval from above to do this kind of request before. The cashier proceeded to argue with the other employee in front of myself and several other customers. It was quite uncomfortable as they were discussing together…
Eventually, I ordered the Caesar salad, dressing on the side, so I could have romaine. Salad came out, dressed with too much dressing for my taste, and a great deal of leaf ribs, instead of the leafy greens that I was clearly looking for.
The confusion and professionalism of one employee here will lose my future business.
The bread was good, giving them 2 stars. It’s from Bricco, down the street.

I have to come out of Unilocal retirement just to review this horrible meal.
Walking around the North End I had a craving for lasagna so I popped into Express and ordered the lasagna and a fountain drink. I paid with a $ 20 bill and was confused when I only got back $ 2 in change. The woman at the register said that no mistake was made, the lasagna cost $ 15. I guess I just figured I’d get the whole tray of lasagna for that price so I took my change and sat down.
Ten minutes later they called my order and I brought back to the table what looked like tomato soup because the «lasagna» was drenched in about a gallon of red sauce. How someone could possibly eat that much red sauce is beyond me because it was excessive and drowned out any other flavor. Plus this wasn’t lasagna this was layered pasta. No ricotta cheese, no seasoning and no meat. Just layered pasta with some mozzarella on top swimming in a gallon of red sauce. It had a funny taste to it that was not appetizing.
Simply put it was really bad; barely edible and a huge rip off. I simply dipped my bread in the gallon of red sauce and opted for the poor man’s bread sticks. You could get a far better quality meal going to Viga (and I’m not even a Viga fan) and only pay $ 5 for a meal instead of $ 18. Plus you won’t have to deal with rude cashiers at Viga.

BEST SUBS IN THE WORLD! I always stop in here for a meatball sub, the bread is outstanding, the meatballs taste like my grandma’s who was born in Italy. I have also had the procuitoo mozzarella, the Panino. Also the chicken parm is outstanding. I had the lasagna once too and it was awesome. But i really love
the subs. Prices are reasonable and good place for people watching in the summer as the windows are all open. Everytime i am in boston i go here without fail.

After parking my rental car, I found myself wandering around the North End area of downtown Boston. I was looking for a place to have a late lunch before heading on to Logan airport. After meandering around Salem street and Hanover street, I spotted this place as it looked open and inviting as well as offering counter service.
I could quickly tell this was an an excellent choice for authentic Italian food in the middle of the North End; however, one without the high-​end prices and perhaps also the stuffy atmosphere of a lot of the places you will find in that area. It’s a busy order-​at-​the-​counter style place. Prices are reasonable for the high quality Italian fare (but certainly not cheap).
Everything looked and smelled so good. Pizza, pasta dishes, pan inis — it all looked and smelled AMAZING. I got the lasagna (Mama’s special recipe) that was a listed along with all the pasta dishes. The portions here are, of course, generous (18.95 with tax & a coke) and comes with a third of a loaf of nice Italian bread. I will definitely be returning the next time I’m in Boston so that I can try the pizza or a panini or another kind of pasta. Cash only by-​the-​way. Perhaps deserves 4.5 stars but on this visit I will award 4.

I was only going to be in the North End for a day, so I wanted to eat a lot of food at a lot of places.
Started the trek here and got a slice of roni. First Boston piece of pizza in 2 years… it was emotional.
Crisp, perfectly thin crust. Tart, sweet, delicious sauce. Fresh cheese. Great place to grab a slice!

Had dinner here after walking by each night this week. A definite hidden gem! One of the restaurants in the north end that didn’t have white tablecloth but this is usually a good sign that you will walk out having paid less! You walk in and order at the counter IE cafeteria style. It was a little hectic but manageable. Wife ordered a salad and a slice of pizza girls ordered the pasta bolognese. I had the Lobster ravioli. Everything was amazing and excellent value! Portions were big. Some of the better food we ate this week. I’d rate this with some of the best Italian restaurants on Hanover but half the price!

This place is perfect when you want to get a quick bite and avoid a long wait. Everything I’ve tried here has been as good as it’s sister restaurant Il Panino. I usually go for the pizza because they’re really good, but I love their subs too. Their prices are affordable and portions are large

Simple Quality Italian in the North End.
I enjoyed having a quick lunch here because it was completely upside down from what I usually think a Italian lunch shop should be. They have this walkway that leads up to a counter where you order and pick up your food, like a corral for cows, but we were waiting in line for some really simple Italian subs and pasta. I loved this place for that. It was relatively cheap for the neighborhood, but cash only.
I shared an Italian and Panino sub along with a simple pasta dish. All 3 were made with great quality ingredients so the flavors came out clearly. I was hoping for some more ‘omg, amazing’ moments, but they just wouldn’t come for me this meal. The pasta dish was definitely my favorite. I want to try the pizza on my next visit and give Il Panino another shot.

I used to eat here years ago and had all but forgotten it when I moved out of Boston. However, on a recent random pop-​up in the North End, we stopped in for lunch. I’m happy to say that it’s as good as I remembered. Express is cheap (for the North End) and good Italian standards in a non-​pretentious environment. The food is good, yet unremarkable in the sense that there’s nothing at all innovative about it. I had penne bolognese and it was just that, no more, no less (plus some slightly dry Italian bread).
The father got an eggplant sub: huge, thick bread loaf with grilled eggplant, mozzarella, and sauce down the middle. Mmm… next time…
Busser was efficient and there’s no waitstaff beyond this. Fighting for a table may be difficult during peak times, but be patient and you’ll get something! Great for kids… we asked for a half order of penne and marinara and they were happy to accommodate us! On top of that, they have clean, available bathrooms… a rarity for the North End.
Bravo, Express… you’ve still got it!

Excellent! I was in Boston on business and came here for lunch yesterday and fell in love!
Now, I should point out that there are Italian restaurants up and down this street next door to each other, across form each other etc., so you are probably going to be pleased with any of the Italian restaurants on this street and this one happens to be the one I selected.
I had the lasagna and a slice of sausage pizza. WAAAAAAY to much food, so I suggest you get one or the other, not both like I crazily did.
The pizza was DIVINE, I wish we had pizza like this on the West Coast! The sausage covered the entire slice and the crust and cheeses were spot on!
The lasagna was AH-​MAH-​ZING! That sucker was a good 4.5″ wide by 4.5″ long by 3″ tall with an excellent sauce to boot. If you try anything here, go for this first above all else! The mix of the cheese and the sauce and the perfectly executed noodles had my heart won over just on the first glance. It even says on the menu «made by mom», which I cannot be sure of how true it is, but by the look and taste, I am looking to believe it! This is not your usual lasagna from a West Coast restaurant either, it was by far and away the best lasagna I have ever eaten and I am saddened by the fact that it is a 6 hour plane trip away from me… :(
If you travel to Boston, make time to go to Hanover street for food and when you are done eating, check out the Freedom Trail that passes through it a mere block or two away!
Definitely eat here! You cannot go wrong!

Ordered here for takeout and I’m pretty sure this was the sorriest excuse for a Greek salad I’ve seen. I didn’t pay for it as it was a late work dinner but I still felt confused how a $ 12 dollar salad can consist of a few scraps of slightly old iceberg lettuce one slide of a tomato and one slide of cucumber with no pepper or olives. There was a good amount of feta in brick form but otherwise nothing else.
I know its an Italian place, but then don’t offer it on the menu if you can’t make one!

Il Panino Express is wonderful if you know exactly what you’re in for. Now, if you’re a tourist or not from the area and you want to take your sweetie out to a nice lunch, this isn’t it. It’s called Express for a reason. Il Panino Express is a great way to get good, albeit slightly greasy at times, quick Italian. Don’t expect osso bucco, papardelle in mascarpone cream sauce with roasted mushrooms, or some form of marsala with proscuitto. It’s not that type of spot.
What should you expect? Pizza, calzones, peppers and eggs! Peppers and eggs! Man, a classic staple. Was so surprised to see that one on the menu and even more surprised that it was really good.
It’s a great place to grab a quick and filling bite to eat on your way to your next destination. If you’re a typical American who likes your Italian with a side of grease and 40 napkins, here you are. It’s like a little slice of heaven.

We wanted to find a last minute cheaper place to eat, so with a $ on Unilocal,we decided to go for it. It was SUPER packed, and it didn’t help that the place tried to squeeze as many tables and chairs as possible into any available space.
Chicken Parm Sub — Over rated: The chicken and panini were both very dry.
Sausage Pizza — Pretty decent. It has a unique taste and texture to it. I would say I enjoyed this one most of all the other things we ordered. The slice is also huge, considering that it covers the entire plate.
But what I thought was stingy of them was that they wouldn’t even give us a cup for fountain water. The cashier said that we had to purchase a bottle if we wanted water. First time I’ve heard of such a thing. Boo…

You want North End Italian, but dont have a reservation, time or money to make that happen? You have a hankering for gnocchi but are miserably hungover and cant get out of your sweats? You are dying for an incredible pizza, but cant deal with the hassle of Regina’s?
Badaboom! Enter, Il Panino Express. Incredibly solid Italian: pizzas, paninis and pastas in a cafeteria style setting. Pastas range $ 10 – 14, sandwiches $ 7 – 9, pizza, well, normal pizza prices.
As good as most gussied up spots in the neighborhood, sans ambiance and service.
Just for mangia mangia, not nicey nicey.

Dear Unilocal,
I think this is the first time that I really feel like you let me down… but don’t feel bad… zagat and the phantom gourmet were also oh so wrong. On our way back home, I convinced my husband to stop by the North End to see if we could get some rainbow cookies from Mike’s. The line was really long, and I was so hungry, I couldn’t bear to endure the ridiculously long wait. Not knowing much about the restaurants in the North End, we decided to use your mobile feature on his IPhone to pick a cheap/​good place. This led us to Panino Express, and we were excited to see it was also recommended by the aforementioned food raters too.
*Sigh*. First off, I wish I had been better warned that this was a cash establishment. When the cashier rung us up and refused to take my credit card, my heart stopped momentarily as I wondered if I had enough cash. I did, thankfully, after adding up all of my quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies (no joke!) to the pot, but boy did I look like an idiot, and I literally had just enough to foot the bill.
*Doube sigh*. Second, the calzone I ordered was just okay. It was supposed to be filled with ricotta, but there was so much more mozzarella than anything else, and it cooled off so fast that it was like eating a gelatinous mess. Hey, at least it was somewhat edible, if not heart attack inducingly dangerous. My husband wasn’t so «lucky,» since his pasta bolognese was so icky, he took one bite and pushed the plate away. Nothing says yummy like the smell of chef boyardee quality meat on under-​cooked pasta.
I didn’t really care that this place was casual dining, and less upscale than its neighbors. I just wanted a good lunch. In the end, I just left disappointed. But, don’t feel bad… it’s not your fault Unilocal.We can’t always get it right, and I probably just had a fluke bad experience… one I won’t be tempting to test again. Just make sure you make it up for the next one, okay?
Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it :)
Christina

I have been going to this place recently whenever I am in the North End neighborhood in Boston and if I’m not willing to spend too much money. There is no table service, so you do not feel too obligated to pay a tip when you order at this place and it is often not crowded, so you do not have to wait a long time to sit down. There is no glass on the windows, so you can let a cool breeze flow in, giving it somewhat of an outdoor café feel.
The pasta dishes are not high on my recommendations and I rather go to the traditional sit-​down service restaurants in the North End if I want some good and tasty pasta. The last time I ordered a pasta dish, it was a Bolognese. While the pasta itself the decent, the meat sauce was mediocre, the ground beef in the sauce was bland.
I had two different sandwiches at this place. The first time I ate at this place, I had a Chicken Parmesan. The chicken was tasty, had a nice tenderness, gave a decent amount of tasty tomato sauce and the cheese was pretty good. The bread was nice and toasty, making it one of the tastiest Chicken Parmesan sandwiches in Boston. Another sandwich I got was a Panino, which is a sandwich with prosciutto (a type of ham), homemade mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. I thought it was a pretty good sandwich. Despite the slight roughness of the bread, the tomatoes were freshly tasty, and the prosciutto was good. However, what really stood out was the mozzarella cheese. It was probably one of the tastiest cheeses I had in Boston so far.
This place also makes some great pizzas and are definitely a great value if you have a group. The pizzas are huge (40+ cm in diameter), and one large pie can feed three really hungry men. We had a pepperoni and a 4 Stagnoni (chef’s 4 choices). Both the pizzas were delicious, despite the greasiness. You definitely need a napkin, unless you eat your pizza with a fork and a knife. The surface of the pizza was not too thin but not too thick, keeping the toppings in place and not causing too much of a mess. The crust was pretty good, nice crispiness and toasty on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. Cheese and toppings were decently good.
Overall, this is a pretty good place to get a tasty Italian style sandwich or a hearty pizza pie if you are in the North End and not willing to spend too much money nor wait a really long time for a table.

So I pretty much spent the day in the North End and my aunt wanted to give this place a try. It isn’t the best I’ve ever had but I was satisfied.
I walked in and immediately recognized that this place isn’t exactly high end. But that doesn’t mean that they prepare sub-​par entrees. I ordered the chef special calzone which is a calzone filled with whatever the chef feels like making that day. This time, it was packed with spinach, ham, mushrooms and peperoni… and I mean PACKED! Moreover, it tasted a whole lot better than those run-​of-​the-​mill pizza joints you see on every other street corner… probably because Panino uses REAL cheese… And it was pretty much the same price as a calzone everywhere else. I just wish they added more spices to it.

Went back for a visit during a recent daytrip into the North End.
This place isn’t anything fancy, but offers large portions of Italian comfort food. Pizza slices are large, subs are even larger and the salads are pretty good. I had the classic sausage and pepper sub, my wife had the caprese salad, and our friend had the tuna salad. Overall they were solid — oddly, the tomato’s were very average considering the time of year (August).
The real prize however, was the Panino sub — the classic Proscuitto, tomato, basil, and mozarella sub, drizzled with olive oil. My son actually ordered it, but we all stole from his plate! Definitely the high point of the meal.
Ideally I’d suggest getting takeout from here and then walking over a block to the new greenway and enjoying the view and the meal.
Last thing: cash only!

It’s true, I love Il Panino. And it is EXPRESS. If I’m near the North End and I need a quick bite, this is where I’ll go. Of course, I get the same thing every time.
Their famous sandwich with prosciutto, basil, fresh mozz, and tomatos. So so so yummy.
And fast. Order at one end and it’s ready by the time to get to the other end to pay.