La Morra

Such a wonderful place. Staff was very pleasant. cocktails, wine, tapas, entrees, everything so delicious! Cannot wait to return. The strawberry appetizers were unexpectedly amazing. Many dishes ordered, none of them disappointed!

This restaurant was absolutely amazing, from service to food.
We arrived about 5 minutes before our Friday evening reservation and were seated within a few minutes in the upstairs part of the restaurant. The ambiance was great for a nice laid back meal, exposed brick and candlelight provided a nice warm feel.
Everyone who worked there was extremely polite and knowledgeable about the menu. The staff worked amazing together and provided top notch service.
The food was some of the best I have had in Boston. We started with the Asparagus appetizer and Meatball with Prisciutto. Both of these were amazing and portioned perfectly. After our apps we moved onto two of the best entrees I have had in a long time. The Italian based menu was phenomenal, I could literally eat anything on there. All of this came for a well valued price.
High recommend.

This was my third time dining at La Mora (why I didn’t write a review sooner I haven’t a clue) BUT they continue to impress me… From my first visit and each after La Mora continues to impress me with each delicious bite. First off, the space is cozy (on two floors) but yet spacious enough to carry on a conversation without eavesdropping on your neighbor. The menu selection is ample, offering cichetti (small bites) to tempt the palate, or for those with a less than substantial appetite, as well as a tasting menu, as well as a variety of offerings on their regular menu. Their wine list offering something for all tastes and budgets. This time we started with cichetti – the meatballs (which reminded me of my Mom’s to a tee!!) and the fried olives, both equally delicious and devoured instantaneously! I had the cavatelli which that evening was served with a ramp pesto, along with peas, fiddlehead ferns, cherry tomatoes and green beans. The pesto was light but very flavorful and the homemade cavatelli were light, tender and absolutely delicious. This is one of my favorite local dining spots and can’t wait to return

Really charming restaurant, serving amazing Italian food. Huge choice of wine and they even make their own limoncello which is super good. Service is great, they found us a table even if the restaurant was packed and we had no reservation. I strongly recommend this place.

Called about a table for 2 and was told that they had no reservations but we could probably get a seat. As soon as we arrived the story had changed. Sat at the bar instead and ordered a hanger steak med rare and it arrived well done. I would say that it’s a decent neighborhood place but wouldn’t recommend driving there if it’s a distance. For a real treat I would recommend either Tartufo in Newton Centre or La Campania in Waltham.

Delicious Italian food in a beautiful nook of a 2-​story restaurant. The chef’s and wait staff were absolutely on the ball, and it was a very special night out. Thank you for making it so great for us!

La Morra is my absolute favorite restaurant in the area. It is always the location that I go to celebrate and treat myself after a hard week. The staff is very attentive from the moment you enter the restaurant. They’ll take your coat or help you take any drinks from the bar to your table if needed (usually the second floor). In my latest visit, the food was delayed because of the restaurant week chaos. However before our table even noticed, the staff came over to apologize and give us a small plate to share. The manager also stopped by to apologize once again and offered us some more food. Their attentiveness is always appreciated.
I’m in love with their seasonal cocktails and their wine list is superb. Their food has classic staples with sides that change based on the season. My favorite dishes are their salads, tagliatelle, hanger steak, and cornish hen. Always delicious and there are plenty of options for those who do not eat meat.

The food was absolutely delicious, but I hesitate to recommend them to anyone with food allergies or intolerances. I was thrilled when I saw that they offer gluten free pasta, but that’s not very helpful when they still stick a cookie on top of your sorbet. They didn’t ask me if I was allergic, had celiac, etc. They also didn’t offer any guidance on what was safe for me to eat — I was left wondering if their meatballs had breadcrumbs in them, if they used flour to thicken sauces, etc. So, if you have any food allergies or intolerances, just be sure to make that known early on and continue to remind them, ask questions, etc. Otherwise, food and service was great.

My restaurant week venture of the season ended here with two dear friends. We had a reservation for 8:15. Got there a little early, but we hung out and ordered a small plate to share because we were starving.
The food:
Vegetable soup with bread: this soup was more like a very, very thick stew and laid out on a plate rather than in a bowl. Interesting way to have this served. It was quite tasty :)
Spaghetti with clams and seafood: This dish was amazing. It boasted fresh clams, calamari, mussels and octopus (I didn’t eat much of the octopus). It was yummy and I was full after this! This course was $ 5 extra.
Hanger steak with brussel sprouts and Chianti sauce: streak was cooked just the way I wanted and the sprouts were in a light batter of some sort. The Chianti sauce gave the steak a nice rustic flavor. I couldn’t finish it so I took it to go :)
Chocolate torta: this torta wasn’t too terrible. It came with a balsamic glaze and a vanilla gelato with pistachios. The torta was good but on the dry-​ish side, and I wasn’t too crazy about the balsamic glaze that was under the torta.
Service was great! Everyone was so nice.
There was also an a la carte menu that one could order from if they didn’t want 4 courses for $ 38.
Also the menu that was posted on Dine Out Boston did not list the supplemental charges for some of the courses. That didn’t stop us from getting the spaghetti :)
All in all, not a bad experience :)

Very friendly staff. However I was disappointed with the food quality. I guess dineout week menu= lesser quality?
We love the clam spaghetti (w/​surcharge), hanger steak, seasonal zuppa and panna cotta. They were flavorful and rich at the same time didn’t taste too heavy nor salty. But in contrast, the kale Gemelli was so bland. I could have made a better pesto sauce pasta with Barilla pesto sauce. The chocolate cake with balsamic vinaigrette was a Nono. The Tuscan kale soup was not actually soup. It looked like some mashed beans and quinoa served on a plate. Tasted just ok.
I felt that the taste and quality of food here weren’t consistent. Some were good, some were straight out bland or strange. Staffs were extremely friendly.

My date and I came here for restaurant week. We had to book reservations for 8pm (even though we called about a week in advance) and were quite surprised to see that it was half-​full when we got there (and its a pretty small place). We were seated 20 minutes early and were treated to a really lovely and full restaurant week menu. However, they came with other dishes and supplemental prices, so we ended up paying a bit more than the original $ 38/​dinner.
The drinks were great (I had a Bellini), the bread was fantastic (housemade ricotta cheese? YUM) and four courses had me stuffed by the end of the day. I got an arugula salad which was basic, squash risotto that I really enjoyed, lamb ragu which could have been better, and a really interesting chocolate torta with ice cream and what I think was a vinagrette. I enjoyed the food and left really full.
I would come again, but knowing all the great Italian in the area, I would make sure to check those out first.

I was excited to visit La Morra because of its stellar Unilocal reviews and the fact they participate in Dine Out restaurant week. Despite my initial enthusiasm, the entire experience was lackluster. I’m writing this review because I do not believe La Morra deserves its four-​star rating.
Service: The waiter was slow to bring us water, serve us drinks, or take our orders. When we were given our plates, he never checked to see how our meals were going. He was so slow that the table next to us, which arrived at least 15 minutes after us, finished their four course meals at least 20 minutes before us (!). I like to have time to eat, but our waiter spent the majority of his time speaking with the bartender instead of interacting with the clientele. I know it was restaurant week, but it wasn’t like he was slammed with other tables, he was simply inattentive.
Food: To start, both soups that my boyfriend and I ordered were spectacular. He ordered the bread soup and I had a seasonal butternut squash soup.
After this initial soup, however, the rest of our dishes were sub-​par. The tagliatelle bolognese lacked flavor, the striped bass was watery, and the olive oil cake was not particularly exciting. My boyfriend’s clam paste, swordfish, and chocolate torte were similarly dull.
Overall: Perhaps La Morra is unable to deal with the Dine Out crowds, however, it was disappointing. My boyfriend and I will not go back.

We loved everything about this warm, friendly unpretentious little «trattoria». Lovely ambience, attentive service, delicious food. It reminds me of places NYC locals are loyal to in their very own neighborhoods… the places that are always packed with happy looking patrons. If we lived closer it would be our favorite … to be shared with neighbors and friends.

Always great — great food, great service, great ambience

I work in the Brookline area and I had no idea this little gem existed. On January 16^th, my twin and I celebrated our 45^th birthday. The service was attentive and happily answered any olé’ question like where does Tom Brady sit when he dines here. Yes, it is rumored that La Morra is a Tom Brady favorite.
The cocktail list is bright and full of bitters. I had a Pompelmo cocktail with a lemon garnish. So a few of the table favorites: chicken/​duck liver pâté’, house-​made tagliatelle pasta, hangar steak and the sorbet dessert. We found that the Primi size really was plenty as our dinner turned out to be a 4 –5 course meal. Worth a reservation,

My wife and I spent 8 years living in Florence, Italy (her home town) and we tend to be tough to please when it comes to Italian restaurants. La Morra delivers. The food reminded us of dishes we loved in Italy along with a full range wine list. The service was very good and we found the ambiance inviting.

I read somewhere that this was worth the trek out to the burbs and was comparable to North End restaurants. Not true. That said, my dining companion and I had pretty different experiences. She loved her cocktail and enjoyed the special pasta dish she ordered. My cocktail was full of hard-​to-​chew blackberry seeds, the salad was made from ingredients I had in my fridge (I’m a 25 year old teacher, nothing fancy), and my entrée was bland. I ordered something I’d never tried anywhere else before– beef brasato– and found it fatty, stringy, and bland. The «rosemary polenta» was soupy. We arrived at 5:30 and told the server we were leaving for a 8:00 show, but even so we had to skip desert because dinner was so slow. Because of the location and my experience, I doubt we’ll be back, but it wasn’t the worst food I’ve had.

Arancini, pâté (apps) and hanger steak: A+. Scallops (friend had) also first rate. Bolognese (wifey had) sorry but did not like. Guess it’s just a different style dish than we love, tasted like pot roast instead of the usual ground veal/​pork/​beef with carrot sweetness plus pancetta. I’m sure many people will like the bolognese but not our cup of tea. Wine was excellent but I’d prefer more lower cost options. I’m a wine addict and can always find an excellent bottle for under $ 15 in the liquor store so I don’t love paying $ 60 at a restaurant. I’m complaining a little but look at the 5 stars, this place is a keeper. Loved the atmosphere, waitstaff was helpful and friendly. Will be back.

Love the Lobster Risotto. However, donor recommend the rock shrimp. Rabbit lasagna was ok.

Why did it take me so long to find this place? Growing up in Newton I have passed this restaurant 1000 times. I had NO IDEA that inside the sleepy little window-​front is one of the best local spots in town. I have been there a few times this past year and each time have been greeted warmly by the outstanding staff. Knowledgable about their food and wine, super friendly without hovering and just the right mix of casual and refined. The.Food.Is.Out.Of.This.World.
Sit at the bar and relax or a table upstairs or downstairs equally as relaxing and enjoyable.
The menu changes with seasons and every dish we have tried has been interesting and delicious without being over the top and a battle of ingredients.
Dishes we have had and recommend:
Arincini. Chicken and Duck Pâté. Bolognese is fantastic. Brick chicken (hen) is amazing. Scallops delicious.

I didn’t have the best experience. I ordered eggplant parmigiana and was very disappointed. The eggplant was served lukewarm and did not taste fresh. I left La Morra a note before leaving describing my experience. To date I have not received a call (email) or an apology regarding my personal experience. I was referred there by a friend who also decided not to returned.

Wonderful ambiance, and our server was very helpful concerning menu choices. The food was amazing, and was well worth the price. We had the hanger steak (medium rare) and lamb pasta – both of which were amazing. We will definitely be back!

We made the trek across town to check out La Morra on a friend’s recommendation. What a good recommendation it was. I had my heart set on their Tagliatelle Al Ragú and damn was it so good. This is not your standard bolognese. We are talking about huge chunks of pork, beef and veal that are all braised so they shred nice and easy and melt in your mouth. The fresh made tagliatelle? Boom. A full size portion is almost too much to eat so order a half portion or bring your best appetite. Worst case scenario? Tasty leftovers to bring home.
What I enjoyed most about La Morra are the cicchetti (small plates) that we ordered before our entrees. I recommend the arancini stuffed with braised beef and cheese and the Tuscan meatballs with porcini mushrooms and prosciutto (no sauce come on these so you can really enjoy the flavors). Great way to start your meal.
Is your mouth watering yet? It’s been four days since this dinner and I am already planning my next trip back to try more food.

I came here with my boyfriend for Valentines Day earlier this year (I know, I’m a little late on the review). We were originally planning on ordering the tagliatelle a la bolognese that is a well known dish here (Tom Brady’s favorite dish), but found out we had to order the Valentines Day 4 course meal for $ 85 per person.
So here’s what we ordered:
For our 1^st course: Foie gras bomboloni, which is seared foie gras on top of a braised beef donut. it was spectacular! I thought I wouldn’t like foie gras because I’ve never had it, but it was amazing. My boyfriend loves foie gras, so it ended up being one of the favorite dishes of the night. I had ordered this fried oyster on top of a radish that was delicious.
For our 2^nd course: he got the coda raviolo, which is braised oxtail ravioli. YUM. It was quite perfect and the sauce was amazing. I ordered the bucatini with braised squid and clams. I liked that the bucatini was slightly al dente and the seafood was yum!
For our 3^rd course: we ordered a meal that was split for 2 — wood grilled bistecca fiorentina with polenta fries and broccoli rabe. OMG this was another favorite. The T bone steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the POLENTA FRIES were to die for. If it weren’t for the fact that we had already eaten 2 courses already, we would have inhaled this entrée.
For our last course: we both got the same thing– the chocolate hazelnut torte that came with ice cream. I always have a stomach for dessert and this hazelnut-​y goodness was a perfect way to end this very filling dinner.
And then for Valentines Day, they also gave us complimentary truffle and cookies! YUM! We really balled out for this meal, and were treated very well. Perfect Valentine’s Day with my boo!
Service was very good! When you first walk into the restaurant, it seems really tiny because it’s just a few seats and the bar area. But they took us upstairs and we were seated in this bigger section! I would definitely come back and I do think that for $ 85, it was a bit pricey… But it was delicious and probably just about the right amount for all the good dishes we had gotten! I don’t think I would take back any dish we ordered. I want to come back to try Tom Brady’s favorite dish… So more to come on that for my next time here!

Loved it! Not you typical Italian and everything was delicious. The small dishes are incredible. I also liked that the place is very cozy nothing fancy just nice and and warm. They put all the effort in the food and service.

food here was merely decent, which is inaquedate vis a vis this restaurant’s prices. Dining experience also unrefined given the 20 $+ entrees.
date and I shared tagliatelle a la bolognese and these odd corn ravioli, as well as a lamb sausage and some lentils. Bolognese was a bit too cheesy, and the restaurant loses major points for not bringing the parmesan out and allowing the diner to add as much or as little as she pleases. also very meaty; ratio of meat to pasta pretty off; had a whole lot of food left in the dish once i’d finished with the pasta. pasta itself was tasty and well-​cooked – though i wish there’d been more of it.
the corn ravioli were probably the best thing we had all night – corn filling was tasty, and the mushrooms included with the dish were delicious. however, the corn «soup» which was included with the dish was a little too sweet, and the presentation of the dish was atrocious – uneven and variously sized chunks of mushroom were just scattered atop the dish. the mushroom was also very poorly integrated into the dish – they were just there, and had I not made it a point to cut off a small piece of mushroom with each bite of ravioli, i wouldn’t have enjoyed the dish nearly as much.
the sicilian lentils were nice, at first. however, they were cooked with something fairly sour – olives, perhaps, or capers, or both. the lentils, which are normally pretty heavy, were rendered much heavier by a perhaps too-​liberal application of olive oil, and the tartness of the olives and capers left an unwelcome aftertaste in the mouth.
the lamb sausage dish was a fairly serious disappointment. it was served atop a smoked eggplant purée, with a mint-​cucumber salad and some creamed grain – I think barley? the constituent parts of the dish were tasty, if unremarkable, on their own, but the flavors did not meld well at all – lamb, which is a fairly heavy, gamey dish, should be bouyed by light, herbaceous flavors – not earthy, salty buttery barley. the mint salad was fine, as was the eggplant purée, but, again the flavors were not really integrated with the sausage. the sausage itself was perfectly serviceable, and adequately spiced, but was otherwise not memorable. the dish read as a sorry attempt at mediterranean fusion that was not executed with any particular ability or imagination.
service was slow, albeit friendly. also there were odd quirks – every dish came with a serving spoon and fork – by the end of the meal we had like five forks on the table. pretty spooky.
all in all, a serviceable but eminently skippable dinner. especially given that our check came to almost 70 dollars, pre-​tip. we hadn’t even ordered any alcoholic drinks! i doubt that i would return to la morra of my own volition.

Went here for Dine Out Boston and had a flawless experience. Notably, unlike other restaurants participating in DOB, La Morra had a 4-​course menu, perfect for trying out their offerings. I started out with the beet salad and it was a dainty appetizer, went well with the pesto, and my friend had the corn salad, whose simple presentation belied its great smokey flavor. Oh and the bread came with ricotta in olive oil, which I didn’t find to be flavorful at all but was a fun twist from the usual. We then both got the tagliatelle with bolognese; have the server explain this to you because it’s more amazing than it looks on paper. It was more chunks of meat than the bits of meat in sauce one would expect, buttery, great texture to the pasta — I would have been satisfied with just a huge plate of this. For the secondi I got the bluefish, which was my first time having this type of fish and I have to say initially I was put off by the oil on the crisp skin and the fishy flavor. But with the pesto they had on top and the corn/​beans on the side, the flavors melded together wonderfully. This was definitely outshone by my friend’s hanger steak dish however… wow. The steak slices were very tender and flavorful, and the chickpea fries were so crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. We finished off with the panna cotta and the honey walnut cake. Panna cotta was refreshingly light and creamy, went well with the peach, and the cake was alright, a nice flavor.
All in all, would definitely go back and have the exact same things again because it was so good. Service was excellent as they brought each course out so quickly. Server knew the menu well. The environment is very cozy and cute. I wouldn’t say I was incredibly astounded, but for what it is, La Morra hit all the marks and was a solid experience.

La Morra’s space is warm and inviting. The service friendly and the food very good. However within its category I am having a hard time providing La Morra four stars.
The wine list featured wines from several different areas of Italy and service paired me with a bottle similar to the taste I like from France. The «gift» of smoked mushrooms in balsamic was awkward. The arancini porcini was a nice designer arancini but the mushroom barely came through. Salads were crisp, cool and the dressing perfect.
The stars of the night were the two pasta dishes. Tom Brady’s favorite bolognese and the oxtail gnocchi. The Cornish hen under a drink was cooked nicely but the lentils were like a brick. The real flop of the night was venison that came under seasoned and didn’t have much flavor at all.
As the night progressed I saw more and more regulars come in that knew not only the front of house but also each other. I got to witness the weird vibe over the long two and half hours it took to feed me. It could be seen that the kitchen was backed up rather than delay being created by the front of house.
All in all I’d go back, but, I can not recommend going out of your way to get to La Morra.

I was looking for a great restaurant with a fun but not too noisy atmosphere for a post-​recital celebration with a few close friends and La Morra more than delivered!
I had reserved a table for 8 a week in advance, and ended up calling to add 2 people the day of, and they were so accommodating. We arrived around 7 for my 7:30 reservation (the recital ended sooner than I’d anticipated) and they suggested we head upstairs to relax and have some drinks before we were seated. Perfect! We all ordered different cocktails, and each one was expertly crafted, well-​balanced and just plain delicious! Among some I tasted included Le Violette (so interesting and floral!), a citrus one I can’t remember the name of, La Mora (their signature muddled blackberry drink, so delicious) and the peach Bellini that was perfection.
We were seated around 7:30 and ordered a few appetizers along with several bottles of wine and the service was impeccable. The server was there when we needed her, attentive to our orders and very friendly. We ordered our food a bit later– several of us had the pork shank and it was so well cooked. The meat slid off the bone and the beans served alongside it balanced the dish very well.
Finally we ordered a round of desserts to share followed by another round of cocktails that were as delicious as our first ones.
Despite the restaurant’s posted closing hour of 10pm that Sunday night, they let us stay until past 11 because we were enjoying ourselves so much and none of us noticed how late it had gotten!
Overall I can’t say enough good things about this somewhat hidden gem, except that I will absolutely be back soon! Thank you so much for a spectacular evening, La Morra!

Having been away from Boston for years, I was looking forward to getting some good food during a recent trip back to the east coast. A group of us gathered for dinner in their upstairs dining area on a Tuesday evening. On a cold, winter evening, the brick walls and dim lights created a cozy atmosphere.
Several people in the group sipped the La Morra cocktail while we dined on several «cicchettis». The fried stuffed olives, salted cod dip, and tuscan meatballs were a perfect way to start our meal. The meatballs were excellent — full of flavor, juicy, and really tasty. I also enjoyed one of their soups of the day — roasted yellow pepper with olive oil — while I waited for my main course which was the tagliatelle al ragu, one of their house specialties. The tagliatelle pasta was thin with just a little bite. The bolognese was tender and very well seasoned. The half portion was a perfect size for me given the multi-​course meal.
A few of us opted for dessert. I went back to the basics with cookies and ice cream. The cookie plate included a brown butter cookie, almond hazelnut shortbread, a chocolate pizzelle, and a chocolate balsamic macaroon which was served with vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. It was simple and good.
I was stuffed and very satisfied when we left La Morra! The quality of the food and the service was excellent.