Davio’s Chestnut Hill

Every visit is made special by competent staff members from the host/​hostess to servers to bussers. All provide excellent service, with a smile. Wonderful food, whether surf or turf. Very nice selection of wines, delicious treats on the dessert cart. We dined there last week & are looking forward to our next visit — soon!

Brunch at Davio’s Chestnut Hill (they even have a breakfast pizza) includes a make your own Bloody Mary Bar, homemade breads from their very own bakery and a fresh fruit offering that includes honey mascarpone and housemade granola.

Wasn’t sure how this place was going to be. Found it last minute on OpenTable and thought we would give it a shot. It’s in the same building as the movie theatre.
From the get go the service was amazing. We were seated by the window, and our server, Jose, was probably one of the best servers we’ve had in the Boston area, if ever. He was super personable, attentive (but not overbearing), and really knowledgable about the menu. They have an extensive gluten free menu, which for me is a plus and the food was great. For you gluten eaters, they give you popovers which looked (and according to my husband) tasted amazing.
The food was delicious. Not the best I’ve ever had, but better than I expected. Really great place tucked in the movie theatre building, but not to be overlooked.

Went for Valentine ‘s day. Have a little table on a side with enough intimacy. Dishes were very good. Desert were average.

I’m giving it two stars so maybe Unilocal will put this review up for other people to see, But it deserves one star. So to be fair, the complementary popover was fantastic and the fried chicken livers were also terrific. Cauliflower was soggy cold and greasy, the Brussels sprouts were microwaved and greasy, the mac and cheese was greasy and inedible, and the biggest crime of all, the spaghetti in tomato sauce was terrible. It was cold and flavorless, like school cafeteria food. Crazy because the Boston location is really good (but over priced). This is a horrible restaurant. Horrible.

Recently took the Family to Davio’s. We all thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the food was exceptional.
The staff treated us like a VIP.
One nice touch was the waitress (Renee) offered us a sample of the wine before we purchased the bottle.
The food was priced appropriate for the Qaulity… Excellent. Plenty of free parking.
This is our new spot… whenever we go to Boston!

I can only give three stars because I am basing my review on limited choices. Three of us dined last night, found the service to be very nice and decided that since we were not very hungry we would just have appetizers. Two of us had the chicken livers and one (me) had the fried oysters. The chicken livers were done very well in a dark sauce that was quite tasty. The fried oysters are the reason for this review… AWESOME! I have been on a quest for good fried oysters since I had them in Naples, Fl. a number of years ago where they were superior to any I ever had. Who would have thunk I would find them at an Italian Steakhouse! They had a light tasty batter, lightly fried and served over a slightly tangy tarter sauce along with little cherry tomatoes. To my great surprise and pleasure they were cooked to perfection… fresh tasty succulent oysters!

Came to celebrate Father’s Day (the Saturday night right before). Dad is celiac, so we wanted a nice, upscale place with a gluten-​free menu. Davio’s fit the bill.
For an appetizer, dad orders the GF gnocchi w/​mushrooms for us to share. It comes out and the server places it on the table. We look at it, and it looks… not gluten-​free. We call the server over, and she is «not sure» if the app is gluten-​free, but she will check. We wait. She comes back and says it IS gluten-​free. Dad is about to take a bite when another server comes over and says, she is going to check with the chef to see if it’s gluten free. We are utterly confused, but dad holds off on eating so we can get this clarified (being celiac, your body will absolutely hate you if you get «gluten-​ed»). She comes back… oops, it’s not gluten-​free, let me take that away. Are you serious?! The servers are contradicting each other, and all we get is an oops? They should be more sensitive with food allergies! The manager finally comes over… whoops, sorry, another one will come out shortly. I don’t even want it anymore, I don’t trust them not to screw up. New app comes (looks more gluten-​free than the first one) and dad finally eats. It tastes okay.
Entrees come. Brother ordered the sirloin special, done medium. What he receives is a charred steak – he knew it was done incorrectly before cutting into it, but with the first cut it was obvious that there was no pink to be found in this steak. Again, we call over the server. She brings the manager, and he confirms, no that’s not a medium, we’ll get you another. At this point we’re tired and fed up (seriously, I thought this place was a STEAKhouse!?). Fortunately, dad’s dish actually is gluten-​free, so while brother patiently waits on steak #2, dad can eat. Server brings over steak #2, calls the kitchen «an embarrassment». Hey, she said it, not me! She tries to sell us on dessert, but there is no way that’s happening tonight.
After the meal, manager tells us he took the steak off the bill. Definitely the right thing to do, but the gnocchi should have come off too… honestly, messing up a gluten-​free dish for a celiac guest is WAY more dangerous than just cooking a crappy steak and being called a steakhouse. Regardless, we won’t be back. We’ve had way better gluten-​free meals for dad as less upscale establishments. Lesson learned, the hard and expensive way.

After watching a move at SuperLux, we stopped at Davios bar around 3:30 on a Saturday. For an appetizer, we had the fried clams — really awesome. For mains, my husband had the pan seared scallops — they were really good, scallops were cooked perfectly and the sauce was excellent. Unfortunately, I had a single lump crab cake and it was bland, underseasoned and wasn’t very warm at all. Had probably had to wait to be served at the same time as my husband’s meal.
The bartender was friendly and service was okay, but it was obvious she was working on other tasks around the restaurant and we were finally closed out by another person — probably the incoming bartender for the evening. I don’t believe guests should experience disruptions in service when side work needs to be done.
(For reference — following this review, I received a nice email from the restaurant manager apologizing for the unsatisfying crab cake and discrepancy in the service. I truly appreciate his follow up — demonstrates a great commitment to customer service! Thank you)

Went after my sister’s grduation. I hve not been to Davios in about 8 years. After getting my drinks and food it is save to say I died and went to Davios– SOOOOO GOOOD!
The service was excellent and everyone was very nice. We were not rushed which is always nice. Looking forward to going back.

We stumbled into Davio’s for a late Mother’s Day lunch and found it nearly empty. It is a cavernous place and nicely appointed. At first, we weren’t sure that the restaurant was associated with the movie theater next door but it is not. I remember the old Davio’s in the Back Bay and Brookline Village too many years ago. This place, and its sister in Patriot Place, seems like a distant memory to those restaurants. High prices, okay plates and mediocre service. I had the tomato soup and a salad. My daughter had the mac and cheese and it was so greasy that a pool of oil remained. The biggest disappointment were the Manila clam pasta dish my husband ordered. Tiny clams and a very small portion for $ 18. We could have had something similar in the North End for less and enjoyed it more. I doubt this restaurant will be there much longer…

i have just never been impressed by this place. been here two or three times and the service is average, the food average, the only thing that brings me back is the drink menu and the fact you can find a seat at the bar on a weekend night.

Came on a Saturday night with a party of 7 with a reservation on Easter weekend. We were pleasantly surprised that we were taken to the small private room by the door. If you have a large party and are celebrating, make sure you request this room, it is wonderful.
Service was excellent from the time we arrived to the time we left. Our party ordered wine and cocktails to start. The cocktail menu is great here and has just about something for everyone. The wine list is also excellent and offers some great bottles of wine or wines by the glass.
To start our party shared the Calamari, Kobe beef meatball, Chicken parmesan rolls and Philly spring rolls. The Kobe meatball is my favorite thing on the menu, I have dreams about them! Super tender, juicy and the Davio’s marinara sauce is great. Get the Kobe meatballs when you go and you will not be disappointed. We were also given these amazing popovers to start, they were so hot and flaky. If you do not get any of these popovers with your meal make sure you ask or you will be very disappointed when you see them going by.
For our main meals our table ordered; Braised beef short ribs, Center cut filet mignon, Veal tenderloin, Flat iron steak and Seared organic salmon. Everything came out very hot and was beautifully presented. The short ribs is what I ordered and they were phenomenal. The dish is a very large portion and can be a little heavy after eating a ton of appetizers! I was able to take home more than half and enjoy it the next day. Everyone else inhaled their food and enjoyed everything.
Like I mentioned before the service was just outstanding. We never had an empty glass on our table and they even decantered our wine at the table. The quality of food and the service is what makes the prices a little on the higher side, but it is worth it! If you do not want to have a full sit down dinner experience, try the bar. The bar has its own menu (in addition to the regular menu) with smaller plates and smaller prices. Even at the bar you can count on the service and food being excellent.

For an upscale restaurant, the dinner here is pretty poor value.
Appetizers: we got the spring roll sampler (supposed to be one of their specialties) and the fried oysters. The spring rolls sampler was cold and flavorless and far from special. While I did not expect to like all of the sampler spring rolls, I expected to at least have spring rolls that were recently cooked. The fried oysters saved the appetizer portion and I would highly recommend them. They were simple but delicious. All in all I would give the appetizer portion a ³⁄₅.
Entrée: New York Sirloin. At $ 49, the sirloin was the priciest meat on the menu but was definitely worth it. The steak was cooked perfectly throughout and was the perfect balance of cooked but juicy. ⁴⁄₅
Service/​Overall Experience: for a pretty empty restaurant, I would expect more attentive staff with a focus on niceties. Specifically, our wait-​staff seemed slightly disinterested and not empathetic to our dining experience. Drinks– I must admit that this is the first restaurant that I have ever been to that charged us for «still» ie tap water. Clearly there was a miscommunication but when given the option of «still or sparkling water» we assumed «still water» was tap water. Not at Davios. Here at Davios, still water = $ 6. While not significant in any way, we were a little disappointed to see a charge for waters on top of our non-​free refill iced teas. ²⁄₅
Overall, this is an ok, date night spot (dim lighting and quiet) but you can probably find a better experience for the same price.

Great food and very convenient to the theater.
The service was fantastic as well.

Took my work staff for holiday lunch. It was strangely quiet there, but very pleasant. Overall the food was very good and beautifully presented. Started with the spring roll sampler which was enjoyed by all at the table. A very nice way to start the meal. A colleague and I split an arugula salad which was very fresh and flavorful (having added a bit of olive oil as it looked a bit underdressed.) Entrees included a pizza, Caesar salad with salmon, a spinach salad with grilled chicken and a daily special of shrimp and linguini with pesto sauce and grape tomatoes. All were excellent.
The service was very attentive and the waiter was easily accessible and filled water constantly. Prices were surprisingly reasonable. Our server wheeled over the dessert cart and offered a detailed description of the huge number of offerings.
Overall, a very enjoyable experience.
As an aside: the bar near the kitchen looked like a terrific place to come on a cold winter night and enjoy a warm meal and a few drinks.

I came here at the last minute at the request of some friends. I wasn’t too thrilled about coming here because it looked over priced potentially for subpar food. I’m Chinese American, a restaurant kid, with parents who are AMAZING cooks, so I have pretty high standards. I prefer going to no frills ethnic restaurants where it’s all about the food and nothing else really.
At Davio’s, I was happily surprised to find what I now consider a hidden gem. I had planned on eating at home and meeting my friends for drinks and desserts. However, I got tied up with house chores and didn’t end up eating dinner before leaving my house. So, I decided to order a light dinner which consisted of linguine and clams and fried calamari. They allow you to order appetizer portions of the pasta entrees, and our waitress was very good at informing me that the fried calamari was one of the larger appetizers that is normally shared.
All I can say is that the pasta was super delicious. The lemon butter sauce was just the right consistency of lemon and butter, not heavy at all. The linguine was cooked perfectly al dente, and I learned from my friend, later on, that all the pasta is made in house. I could certainly tell because the quality was different from what I get at the supermarket. I would love to come back to get the full size portion of the linguine and clams!
Dessert was okay, nothing spectacular. We ordered the equivalent of an Italian sundae and a pumpkin cheesecake crème brûlée. I got the cappuccino and it came sprinkled with cinnamon which I really didn’t care for.
I would love to come back, but would need a very good reason to spend that much…

The service could be improved for *some* of the staff here (not everyone). After the host sat us, a waiter didn’t greet us for about 10min — a long wait for a Wednesday evening with a small crowd. I was a bit surprised. Maybe there was a miscommunication with the waiter? Shrug. These things happen. A waiter from another section swung by and asked if we had been greeted (moments after we connected with our waiter). I thought it was good that she was attentive.
As for the food, we started off with the chicken parm spring rolls; the red sauce tasted a bit canned, but other than that, it was a decent appetizer. I ordered the veal and my husband ordered the butternut squash pasta (cappelletti). The pasta was very good — the perfect balance of sweet and saltiness. The veal was a bit salty — mostly because it is cooked with prosciutto. We didn’t end up getting dessert so I can’t comment on it.
The staff who cleared the plates were really friendly and warm so that bumps up this review. I saw them clearing the table with the «clearing blade» and said — I could use one of those! And they brought one out for me moments later. Very sweet. Would I come back? Maybe. I like to give places a second try.

There have been a number of new restaurants in Chestnut Hill this year and Davio’s is the best by far! The food is delicious, the staff is amazing and the ambiance is wonderful.
This is one of my very favorite places to eat in Boston right now.
I hope this place stays here forever!

A good option for Italian food in Chestnut Hill
Davio’s Cucina is located on the «Street» adjacent to the Showcase Superlux Theatre. There is ample parking in the lot. The ambiance is pretty and the staff helpful. The menu has a mix of Italian staples from pastas to steaks.
We started with the wild mushroom gnocchi just to start. The gnocchi were firm and yet easily yielding with a delicious white sauce and copious amounts of different mushrooms. I had the caesar salad which was very good and not creamy at all. My wife and I split the salmon and skirt steak. The salmon was cooked through and very fresh, served over delicious fresh pea risotto. The skirt steak was a generous serving of lean meat that was slightly overcooked for «medium.» The accompanying fries and kale were good.
Davio’s Cucina excels even in the dessert category. The chocolate cake was made with dark chocolate and served with a nice scoop of vanilla bean icecream. Not too sweet, the cake was dense and delicious. We also got the cookie plate for the table which included a great mini-​cannoli, large french macaroon, gourmet marshmellow, caramel merengue, etc. The perfect end to a meal!
If looking for a place to eat before a movie, Davio’s is probably a better quality choice than Del Frisco’s and the Cottage. You get a good meal with plenty of choices.