Novara Restaurant

After my first visit I would have been more toward 3 stars. But after a few more visits 4 stars works. The menu is good not great but should work for most folks. And they can make minor adjustments. Food comes out hot and prepared as advertised. Pizza, mussels, pasta dishes, etc have been good. Polenta fries are just fair. Bartenders are a little different and their attention can vary depending on crowd and whether they talk too much to each other. Great space, bar area is comfy and cool and now outside space to add to the scene.

This place is so beautiful I love the atmosphere and décor super great theme! I must say I was not a fan of Abby park, which led me to be a little hesitant when coming here boy was I wrong it was so amazing the service was fabulous! Can’t wAit to head back!

Delicious Italian food, nice suburban location with an urban city feel. Deceptively big, open and airy. Back of the house is on point and Leo at the bar will make you feel like you own the place, VIP treatment, he’s truly a class act. One of the best Sunday fun-​days, thank you!

What a great place! First, if you like really great beer, these folks had among others, Maine Brewing Company’s Lunch. Very hard to find, worth a visit for this beer alone. I think it was part of their revolving list, so it may not always be there, but the selections on the revolving taps and the day-​in-​day-​out were excellent.
The place is sort of surprisingly hip… kind a Seattle coolness (without insufferable hipsters!). Great décor and atmosphere. Food was excellent. You don’t want to really know what ate, do you? You want to know it was all delicious. We were aided in our selections by a most knowledgeable server, Nicolette who actually cared about her job and her customers and made great suggestions on what we should order.
Yeah, going to go back — have another Lunch and dinner!

Food is so delicious. Free wine tasting when you walk in was a great touch. Ask for Bryan– he’s the best.

So… the first time we ate at this restaurant, we enjoyed it very much. We both decided on the Chicken Parmesan. It was absolutely delicious! We were very happy with the large portion, as to be able to enjoy it left over. The one thing we found odd was that our table kept rocking back & forth, and not just a little. When we mentioned it to the waitress, she graciously said she would correct that. She pulled out some black, plastic tabs and put them under the legs of the table. Apparently, this always happens as they rearrange the tables so often.
Well, we went back there again this past week, and was not as thrilled as last time. I decided on trying a different dish from last time. Pancetta wrapped Chicken. It was just ok. My girlfriend couldn’t help but get the Chicken Parm again. After taking two bites, and removing them from her mouth… I asked what was going on? She said can you just please try this and tell me what you think. I did, and still have no idea what the hell they did with that chicken. The middle was rock hard. It was like biting into a rubber chicken toy of some kind. Needless to say… she decided to get something else. (Again we had a rocking table). I’m happy to say, that her meal was not included on the check, but not too sure of how quick we’d be to head back again.

This was a pleasant surprise. In East Milton Square, an urban chic-​vibrant bar scene, great food and wine spot! The décor is different and fun, the food is very good, and if you blinked, you might think you were in the city!

I came once around the time if first opened and it had a strange layout that felt a little cold but the service was good. The gorgonzola tortellini was delicious and the pizza and chicken parmesan were pretty good. The pasta and sauce were a bit bland though. The second time I came and sat at their huge bar and I noticed they had changed the seating around and it seemed much cozier. We got the chicken parm meatballs this time and they were delicious — the sauce seemed much better than the first time I tried it so they’re definitely improving! Will be back again to check out the patio.

the staff is great, the atmosphere is great, the food is not good. Too bad. There is also a really nice bar in the restaurant. We had Jeff, a mgr help us with the wine, he was awesome, just wish the food was better.

I’m a disabled vet. My balance is shit. They threw me out when I swayed to the restroom
Fuck you

I’m a huge fan of Abby Park and went here expecting a restaurant of similar caliber. For anyone in the same boat, you may want to reconsider your expectations.
The most impressive thing about the restaurant is the set up. It is basically a very dressed up warehouse. They must have some great sound softeners because it didn’t echo like most restaurants I have been to with similar set up.
We ordered the mussels, cannellini bean bruschetta and arancini. This was my first time trying Arancini so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was very good and I would order it again. I didn’t really enjoy the bruschetta or mussels, both of which are go-​to appetizers for me when I’m out. The flavors just didn’t work.
The staff was intense. A female bartender overheard me telling my friend how excited I was to be there because I love Abby Park and they have the same owners. The bartender interjected telling us that they have completely different staff, different food, different drinks and different clientele (there is definitely some overlap with the clientele since they are literally right next door to one another and I am now a customer who has dined at both-​am I the first?). She went on to say the biggest difference was that they didn’t free pour alcohol here, but measured it unlike at Abby Park and therefore wasted less… It was so odd to be given all this information when we didn’t ask for it. Luckily we didn’t see her again although the bartender who ended up waiting on us was only slightly better. He was much friendlier and was able to place our food order without any problems. I had only had one drink while my friend had three. My friend literally had to ask for one of the drinks three times when the bar wasn’t busy at all. I waitress and I know he was probably multitasking so he still gets a pass for this. He did manage to find the time at one point to come up and ask us if we had seen 5 women walk in and walk out in frustration from him ignoring them and not taking there drink order fast enough. We had no idea what he was talking about and told him we hadn’t noticed. So much awkwardness.
I am seriously debating whether or not I’m going to give this place another shot. I had such high hopes for this restaurant and between the staff and food they are pretty much crushed. I understand the two restaurants are different places but I expected similar professionalism from the staff and food quality from the kitchen. Oh well, it’s still new, I hope they can make some changes and turn it around.

I’m impressed. My husband and I ordered two appetizers (a white bean arugula crostini and the burrata) because we couldn’t decide. SO GLAD we got both. A good burrata is always a nice treat, and I loved the different take on crostini (as opposed to a tomato-​based bruschetta). Very light, but with a lot of different flavors mixed in. I went for two small plates for my entrée — the chicken parmesan meatballs and homemade gnocchi. Very, very happy with my choice. I’ll probably get all the same things the next time we go. There will be a next time! (My husband got the salmon and loved it.)

Me and my girlfriend heard about this place through phantom gourmet and we decided that on our day off from work we’ll grab a bite to eat here.
The hostess was very nice and friendly. However she gave us two different menus (lunch and dinner.) We weren’t sure which was being served at the time. Our waitress was very friendly, great sense of humor, and made the experience very comfortable. She informed us that dinner was currently being served. I order the chicken parm while my girlfriend ordered the white sauce pasta with scallops.
The on the house bread and sauce was delicious. If it were toasted I’m pretty sure it would be even more delicious. The white sangria was absolutely delicious. Not too sweet and not too strong on the alcohol side. When our food arrive my girlfriend and I were both very satisfied with the portion size and dove right in. The chicken parm was absolutely delicious while the white sauce pasta with scallops was also very delicious. The only negative thing I can say is this; the white sauce pasta did have a heavy dose of mushrooms while my chicken parm pasta seemed to be on the hard side. Not sure if it was the type of pasta used or maybe just undercooked? But overall it was very delicious.
For dessert we ordered two coffees and tiramisu and both were heaven in your mouth. Portions were great and price is also on the fair side.
The restaurant itself is different. Very open with lots of space. Huge television in the center. Open kitchen. But the design and the way they went about decorating the interior of this restaurant was ingenious and well thought out.

Went tonight, a Saturday, at 6 pm with no reservation and thought we’d be relegated to the bar only for dinner. Instead we got a high top in the bar which was great because these are also reserved.
Our food was very good. I had the burrata which I ate with extra bread I requested since it doesn’t come with bread. I also had the calamari which first looked very pale but tasted fine. My S.O. had the scallops over garlic cream pasta. While the scallops were excellent they were small and the pasta was undercooked! I previously read about the undercooked pasta on Unilocal but I was still disappointed to see it on my table. Having experienced it I will definitely be reluctant to order pasta there again. That’s a darn shame.
The wines by the glass were great and next time I will sit at the bar where I saw a bartender giving free samples of varieties to a customer. Yes!
Although we didn’t need valet it was nice to have a valet jump up to open the restaurant door for us. Our server Alissa was also excellent.
I would have given five stars if it weren’t for the undercooked pasta!

Went to Novara on a Saturday night around 6 and was told they were fully booked but could try to seat us after 7:45 if any reservations cancelled or came early. We decided to try the bar and asked about the high tops. Novara includes the high tops as reservations and not a part of the bar. It wasn’t a big deal to us because we only had to wait 10 minutes for 2 seats at the bar to open up and maybe another 10 or so for the seats next to us to grab a chair for the 3^rd person in our party. If I had made reservations though, I think I would feel jipped getting stuck in the bar high top instead of the dining room tables.
We started with a reasonably priced bottle of prosecco because we are fancy sometimes haha. We then tried individual cocktails such as the expresso martini, a prosecco cocktail with st. germain and the white sangria– all good except the white sangria was a little boring.
For food we started with the antipasto and then ordered the funghi pizza, rigatoni, and chicken saltimbocca. We split family style and then voted at the end. We all decided everything was amazing but it came down to either the rigatoni or the pizza being the best dish. We are definitely going back but probably will always just head straight for the bar!

Disappointed, came here for my birthday. It was quiet but we had reservations and were seated right away. Directly on top of another couple. The tables are so close together that you feel like you are sitting with this couple next to you. It was also not busy at all so they probably could have spread us out a little.
We waited for a while probably 15 minutes for our waiter to come over to give us water, we had already decided our drink and order but he came over and showed us the menu again and then walked away. Another 10 minutes went by and s came back and we gave him our drink and order. Our drinks came probably 10 minutes later so now we have been sitting for over 35 minutes and just got our drinks, seems like bad training, I can only imagine how the service is when it’s busy. When the drinks came I asked if we could have some bread since the other tables had and he said yes it’s coming out of the oven. About 15 minutes later our food is brought over and then the waiter comes over with bread … He said this isn’t our best bread … Who says that? But he was right the bread was either burnt to a crisp or so undercooked it felt like you just eating dough. I don’t know how you mess up bread but if you don’t think it’s your best bread. Don’t serve it. I got the Chicken Parmesan and my husband got the short rib, I liked mine, he wasn’t a big fan.
Took forever for the waiter to come over to take our plates that we decided to skip dessert because who knows how long that would take. Went elsewhere to have drinks and dessert.
Prices felt on the high side considering our experience but portions are large.
I want to give 1 star but the décor and style
Is great and I enjoyed my meal and I like to give the benefit of the doubt that the service and bread issue is just the kinks being worked out. But I’m not rushing back.

This location has been vacant for the past 4 years, unfortunately it was better as an empty commercial space. Good restaurants, let alone restaurants, are few and far between in Milton. Thus there was an element of excitement and buzz around the opening of Novara. But this restaurant is a disappointment, and that is an understatement. For starters, the host/​hostess are incompetent and either do not care for there job or were horribly trained, which creates concern for the management staff. The Menu is decent: not exciting, not disappointing. It’s Italian so nothing too special is expected. What is expected is well cooked Italian food. Unfortunately, the meal was unbearable. The flavors were bland and missing for the most part. The marinara sauce simply tasted as tomato mush, a restaurant can’t just use a can of tomato paste and call of sauce. The pasta for our 3 of meals (three different meals) were all undercooked. Not al dente undercooked, the pastas were raw. Hard to eat a meal, let alone be a successful Italian restaurant, if the pasta is raw. The overall flavors of the chicken parm, shrimp gnocchi, and eggplant ravioli (which the eggplant was raw) were underwhelming as well.
Also there is a giant wall of televisions front and center in the restaurant. At the beginning it was playing Charlie Chapman, but later in the meal it was showing ads for Abbey Park and some cartoon of hot dogs. For what little appetite I had left after eating raw pasta, the advertisements destroyed. This feature cheapen the atmosphere of the restaurant and simply did not make me feel any better for paying $ 21 for an amateur meal.
Would not go back for Novara for at least another year. Management needs to correct issues at the front of the house and definitely needs to figure out what is going on in the kitchen. Not looking for Michelin quality cuisine, but I would like a well cooked meal if you are going to attempt to cook pasta.

Chicken Parmesan was very good! My girlfriend ordered the salmon and she was very happy with it. Owner stopped by and introduced himself which was appreciated. We did have to wait almost an hour for our entrees, but the owner took care of us and also recommended the amaretto chocolate mousse for dessert, which was great. Very nice interior, seating could be a little further apart. They are still new but they definitely are there for the customers and make that known.

Valet service was excellent extremely helpful
And even when the wait at Novara was at least a hour
The valet Manager Rich I think his name was
Walked me and a party of 5 to Abby Park
Then ask the Manager at Abby Mike I believe to get us a seat at the bar which he did promptly
That was the best part of the night

Limited menu but it makes choosing a meal easier and the food is spectacular! For the price, the food is amazingly worth it. We’ve tried the stack, pasta and several appetizers, each time better than before. Can’t at enough great things about the cuisine.

I’ve been looking forward to trying Novara since I heard about it last year. The ownership has done excellent work with sister establishment Abby Park so I had high hopes. Unfortunately the food really fell short. It’s early yet, so hopefully they can turn it around, but if not I can’t imagine this place will stay as packed as it was Saturday night.
Pros: fun, vibrant atmosphere with big TVs, well lit with friendly waitstaff. Appetizers were excellent, including a unique shaved Brussels sprouts salad and chicken parm meatballs. Homemade bread was warm and delicious.
Cons: main courses ranged from mediocre down to inedible. Special breaded sole tasted no better than Gorton’s frozen fish sticks, pasta was bland and greasy, and none of the flavors matched. Eggplant ravioli was poorly conceived, with huge chunks of undercooked eggplant overwhelming the dish. Kids couldn’t eat their spaghetti and meatballs because the pasta was some strange combination of chewy and lumpy, like it had been undercooked and then sat out too long. Service was slow (though I give a pass while they work out the kinks).

Celebrated here this past Friday and must say it has a good vibe inside. Started with cocktails at bar, that were very good and good service, then sat at table for 6.
The service was fantastic, the appetizers were good (Must Try Chicken Parm Meatballs)!!!
Salads are fresh and crisp, the pastas are cooked perfect and balance well with their good wine selection.
You won’t regret eating and drive here!

First visit was 2÷25÷16.
The space is great, much larger than expected. The service was fast and friendly. The noise level is too loud.
It reminded me of an Italian version of Steel & Rye.
The food was just average. My wife had the Chicken Parmesan. She thought the chicken was too thick as she prefers thinner cutlets. I had the king crab scampi. It was mushy and at $ 33 was not a good value. I’ll probably go back for drinks, the bar is awesome, but will not dine here because there are much better options for Italian near by. My draft beer was $ 9 but I get that you’re paying for the ambiance.
I can see this place being popular with the local Milton crowd but for my money I insist on better food.

Food was very good, so was the service. No complaints there. So why the one star? That’s for the owner, who for some moronic reason installed a gigantic TV screen over the dining room that played cartoons and movies during dinner, which competed with the three other giant screens over the bar playing sports. It’s impossible to look at your date/​spouse/​friends without the distraction from one of these screens. Is this a semi-​trendy restaurant or is it Dave and Busters? It’s a shame really, because I would go back and take the whole family. But I’m going to take them elsewhere. If my date/​spouse/​friends/​family are going to ignore me and stare at the TV during dinner, we may as well stay at home.

After being personally invited by the GM of abby park, my wife and I went. Arriving at 7:45 and told by the red headed hostess «oh there’s a short wait at the moment should be only about a half hour.». An hour later we went back to ask «how much longer?» She said «at least not till 9pm maybe»
I’m sorry did I mis-​hear you an hour ago that «we’d have a table in a half hour?» «People are just taking longer than Expected!» — thanks red headed hostess for lying and not even apologizing.
Then after arriving at ashmont grill having my meal served and a drink we get a text at 915pm «your table is ready!»
I’ll be sure not to revisit…

we had high expectation for this place from what we heard. very nice setting and vibe but we do agree with previous reviewer that the tables are pretty tight together. Service was friendly but timing was not great, long wait in between.
the drink menu looks good. but when I got my cocktail (grapefruit juice, Campari etc), I was really surprised at the size, it was literally 4oz for $ 13. very overpriced if you ask me.
chicken sliders for kids were great. chicken parm was good. but in our party, nobody was impressed with their «home made» pasta. It just didn’t taste right in terms of texture, very disappointed with the pasta. Texture simply too sticky without elasticity and springiness.

First visit here and I’m happy we finally have a hot spot within walking distance from my place. Abby Park just never did it for me. Stopped in and was shocked to see the entire town of Milton in this one place. Every single bar seat and table was filled to the max. Pretty hard to do on a weekday night in such a large space and in the burbs no less.
COCKTAILS
The bar area here is very nice and the cocktails they whipped up were equally superior. Nice pour, super chilled and mixed just perfectly. ⁵⁄₅
PIZZA
I sampled the margarita pizza and some fries as late night bites. Both were «okay» but nothing to write home about. Pizza crust was kind of dry and the fries seemed like they could’ve used a bit more pizazz, maybe some truffle or Parmesan and rosemary… just something more. ³⁄₅
Overall, 3.5 stars upped to 4 because of the décor and great service. I love this place for drinks. Pizza needs work but I’m hoping to find some of their other substantive entrees on their menu worthwhile on my future jaunts here.

It’s a bit pricey for Milton/​Quincy line. You got to understand. This is a local seen, and it’s not Boston. You can’t charge Boston prices In a cafeteria style place. Big is not always better. I do love the layout. I think it can loose a few tables. There just lined up all in a row like a cafeteria. They should make it more warm. The prices are are very high for what they offer. That’s going to be the biggest challenge for that place. Not in a rush to go back.

4.5 stars really. I was skeptical when I read some of the Unilocal,many of which were families with small children. But, I was very pleased. I’ve never been a fan of AB (except their lobster dip, yum). So, if this place was just a bigger version of that with lots of children I thought I could likely pass. But, I’m glad I gave it a try. Two Friday nights in a row were great experiences. There are many excellent beer selections, including Tank 7, very rarely seen on tap. Lizzie has done a stellar job with the drink menu, especially the tequila/​mezcal selections. And I was particularly impressed with the wine menu; a Nero d’vola, a Soave, a vermentino, a cab from Paso Robles, all by the glass! Very impressive.
The kitchen produces some enticing aromas. The lobster scampi on the plate next to mine was a delight to the nose. Truffle oil wafts poetic all around. And someone in there has a way with the fungus. The mushroom bruschetta I had was delicious. And there were some more on my pancetta wrapped chicken. Very good. The pancetta looked no different than bacon, was too fatty and didn’t crisp up well, but I’d rather that than over cooking the chicken. And the polenta didn’t clump up until the very end. Still an excellent dish.
The room is huge and loud and vibrant. The crowd averages 35 and over. I didn’t see any tots on my two trips, which is good. Overall an enjoyable experience.

Cliff’s Notes version of this review: SUCH a welcome addition to the neighborhood here in Milton. We LOVED it. Great experience.
Longer version:
We loved everything about our experience dining out at Novara. First of all we can walk here which is a huge plus for our family. We have 2 daughters, 6 and 8.
The atmosphere is amazing. Vibrant, exciting, open kitchen, plenty of screens around the bar so you can see the game from your seat wherever you sit but it’s not too in your face, the movie theme is awesome and well done — a very nice touch paying homage to the history of the space. Best of all (to our family anyway) was the giant movie screen on the wall above the kitchen which shows short films which they import straight from Italy (and as we were told will update constantly). There’s no sound for the films but it’s 100% not needed. It put our kids in a trance and they loved the films. The ones I watched were very enjoyable too. A home run.
Food was phenomenal too. We started with the chicken parmesan meatballs which were inventive and delish and the pickled vegetables which were great too and very fresh — we’ll definitely order them every time.
Our daughters both ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. When they came out my 8 year old said «ok where’s the rest of the spaghetti?» It LOOKS like a smaller portion than most are accustomed to but it’s homemade pasta which is way more filling. She ate about half before she tapped out because she was full.
My wife and I split the Fra Diavlo Pizza, topped with fried calamari, scallops, shrimp, and hot peppers. All of the seafood was fresh and fried to perfection and the pizza was great. The sauce was tasty and the crust was perfect.
We finished off with a small glass of Limoncello. Perfection!
The staff was attentive even though they were packed. There was a great buzz in the air. We will be back VERY often. Our family is psyched that we finally have a sit down place close to home that we love.

Everyone who works at Novara is friendly and does an excellent job, from the staff that greats you to the servers to the valets. Exceptional.
The atmosphere seems sleek, but we were there during a Pats playoff game so it was extremely loud. To give you some insight, I go to restaurants for the food not the big screen TVs so this will probably clue you in that to me the food is the entire reason to visit a restaurant. That being said, this food was pretty run of the mill.
We had the calamari appetizer which needed salt and was basically like most calamari I have ever had, but serving size was generous. The porchetta entrée looked beautiful, but the pork was overcooked– very disappointing since we have grown to love the porchetta at Firebrand Saints and hoped we had found it closer to home. The King Crab Leg fettuccine was not good, bland and quite greasy.
The highlight of the meal was my «The Tourist» cocktail which was well made and tasty. The bar is huge and impressive. I think this would be an excellent place to meet for drinks at the bar but I probably would pass on going back for dinner.

Hubby made reservations for dinner here last night, which I highly recommend as the restaurant was still extremely busy at 8:30 pm. We arrived 10 min early and was seated right away. I appreciate that they saved us a table instead of trying to seat walk ins first and make people with reservations wait a bit so they can service as many people as possible without having to turn people away. We waited a bit for our server to show up at our table. By the time she showed up to take our drink orders hubby and I studies the menu long enough to have decided on our appetizers and entrees. We ordered the mushroom bruschetta and chop chop salad to start and hubby ordered the chicken Parmesan and I ordered the cioppino. I thought our choices were all very good. Hubby really enjoyed the bruschetta and his chicken parm. He loved the sauce and said the chicken wasn’t dry. The cioppino was well flavored and didn’t have an overly ocean taste that can happen in a seafood dish. The risotto was excellent. We have no complaints about the food. What we do have complaints about is the noise level, service, and the glare from the large television above the kitchen. The noise from the bar, tvs, and other patrons around us was so loud hubby and I had to lean forward and speak loudly to each other just to have a conversation. Service was very slow. Our meal was about 2 hours long. Maybe that’s standard for some but we are Chinese and we tend to eat and go as a culture. Also, there was a food runner that was so confused about the tables that he stopped by several tables serving the food in his hands before he got the correct table. With the restaurant being new they still need to work out the kinks but slow and confused service doesn’t help with first impressions. Finally, the TV over the kitchen was so bright at times that it distracted me from my meal experience. Why put a giant TV there?
Overall, our first visit is a solid 3 star. Eventually, a manager stopped by our table after walking by talking to other tables several time beforehand and asked us how we enjoyed the food. He even welcomed my hubby back. We laughed about that since this was his first ever visit to the restaurant. At least he tried to be welcoming. I’m hoping to give this restaurant a better rating after my next visit. It’s a nice addition to our local dining options.

My husband and I dined here the first Saturday they were open. We made reservations and were sat at a high top in the bar. This was not ideal as the bar was packed and people were literally bumping into our table the entire night. We get it, its opening weekend and everyone wanted to try it so we didn’t mind too much.
We sat and both ordered cocktails with our friendly waiter. Some time later he came back and we ordered out appetizers and dinner. Some more times passes and we ask our waiter about our drinks and he apologizes and mentions the bar is busy. Our appetizers then arrive (tuscan bean soup– so good and calamari– huge and delicious) and still no drinks. We finished our appetizers and then waited another 10 minutes for our drinks to come. I ordered the blood orange sangria. The menu said it would have blood orange slices in it, but mine didn’t have any and it was just average. Not okay for it to take over 30 minutes to be served and to be served incorrectly. At this point, you would expect a manager to come over and apologize for the delay.
Our entrees then come delivered by the hostess. We ask her to send our waiter over so we can order wine and she informs us she can put them in for us. We didn’t get our wine until we were almost done eating. Again, pretty disappointing. I got the butternut squash ravioli and my husband got the chicken parm. My dish was the winner, but his was still good. We had seen an earlier version of the menu and were excited to try the squash carbonara but that did not make it onto the menu. Hopefully it will make an appearance soon.
We then ordered some dessert drinks but chose to wait until we received them to order our gelato. The gelato was delicious and we were glad to finally have drinks with our food. Overall, the food was good, but the bar left more to be desired. I’m a bit disappointed that a manger didn’t come over to check on us and apologize for the snafus.
We are huge fans of Abby Park so we hope Novara will improve in a few weeks. We look forward to trying some of their other dishes.

Beautiful décor. Busy opening weekend.
My girlfriends and I were looking forward to a nice sit down meal but did not anticipate we would be crammed inside a drinking hall. It was fine, I’m in the business and should have known better since its opening weekend. Small menu, plenty of drinks. All fine. UNTIL …
We asked for a gluten free menu, and it was color coded red to differentiate the difference from the regular menu. One of my friends CANNOT have gluten and as I was looking over both menus, the gluten free menu was essentially a modified regular menu. Every single item on the gluten free menu is also on the regular menu. Hmmmm.
We let the server know that my friend CANNOT have gluten. It’s loud at 8:30 pm on a Saturday but we discussed it and wanted to ensure since I was already skeptical about it, especially on a busy night… But i have faith.
Then comes the disappointment, I see croutons on the burata salad. Immediately, I asked the food runner if this was gluten free croutons, to which she replied no. I asked her if there was a note in our order stating that one of our guests cannot have gluten and we ensured the burata was one of them to which she also replied no, but she was very professional and fixed the problem and got us new dishes straightaway. She told us someone she is close to has Celiac so she understands how critical this is.
By this point, I’m irritated and when our server finally shows up, she apologized but honestly, it just sabotaged our experience. To make matters worse, the two pasta dishes we ordered for our main course was lukewarm, pasta was chalky at best, and this is my assumption that they were too busy or forgot to hold our food despite the boo boo.
I’d expect someone of authority to come by and at least acknowledge this mistake but nothing. That’s poor form. We finished our drinks and left.
Need better training, for sure.

We happened upon Novara on its opening night (Friday, January 7). The place was packed and hopping. We were hoping to walk in and get a table, but it was a no-​go. So we decided to come back later, tonight, and made a reservation to boot. Before leaving on opening night we were offered a complimentary glass of wine each. That was a nice touch.
There is free street parking or valet service. We recommend street parking as it would take just as much time to talk an extra block or two than to wait for one’s car as the valet retrieves it.
We checked in with he host and were seated promptly. The space is large and inviting. There is definitely a lovely vibe, even for Sunday evening. The bar area is huge, and can seat at least 40 or 50 guests. It dining area opens into the kitchen, which is cool. A few other Unilocalers noted how loud the place is, and it is true, even for a slower night such as Sunday. I think I it is just a function of the high ceiling and openness of the dining area. There are a number of televisions as well as a group of nine that form a large screen above the kitchen area. I think the idea is to show Italian movies (or just movies) but they had the Green Bay game on and then the Celtics game. Since it was the evening of the Golden Globes we were hoping to have some Hollywood glamour on while we dined. At one point they had the Simpsons on, but I think the managers were having issues changing the channel…
Now onto dinner… We started off with the burrata, which was excellent. It was served with tomatoes and balsamic and olive oil. There were some croutons spread around the plate, but a suggestion is perhaps serve it with bread. The bread was served warm, with a tomato sauce for dipping. We asked for more bread and had it with the burrata :-)
For dinner, my partner had the chop chop salad; he said it was really good, and he would get it again. I had the chicken parmesan. It was good – the chicken breast was juicy and prepared well. It was served one bed of fresh spaghetti. The tomato sauce was a little bland, and I am wondering if this is a Bostonian thing for tomato sauce. We just haven’t found the right place yet, I guess. For dessert we had the chocolate amaretto mousse, which was tasty but we could tell it was prepped earlier in the day and sat in the fridge a little too long. It was more of a ganache than a mousse.
All in all Sunday dinner was good. There were some other dishes we would like to try, but we would probably wait until the staff works out some of the service kinks.
Being opening weekend we found it odd that service was not more exceptional. In fact our waitress was a little blah, and not very lively. She was nice, but she didn’t go out of her way to welcome us or thank us for trying out the restaurant on opening weekend, etc. The same goes for the managers and hosts whom we walked by on our way out.