Amoroso’s Ristorante & Lounge

This is a very mixed review. It could be one star, except they have a wood-​fired brick oven so there’s potential and I don’t want to scare anyone away. Just keep your expectations in check.
We went for dinner at 7:00 and were the only customers, which immediately raised a warning flag… as did the bedraggled people walking down the street mumbling to themselves… but the dining room was immaculately clean, the fire in the brick oven was roaring and our groupon was about to expire, so we soldiered on.
Some of the food was ok, some missed the mark. We started with white mussels and fried calamari, which were both good. One of the most glorious things about bellying up to a bowl of mussels is using warm, crusty bread as your only utensil. Unfortunately, we weren’t served any bread. No matter! I’m a shameless gluten lover and I ain’t too proud to ask. But what arrived was a basket with some weird, thin, uniform little slices of (sandwich bread?) that might work if you needed to bang out some crostini and couldn’t make the bakery run so resorted to a pre-​sliced grocery store baguette made by Wonder Bread (I know Wonder doesn’t make baguettes, but a very close proximation found its way to Amoroso’s). But I expect better from an Italian restaurant. The bread, that we had to request, sucked. Moving on.
I had the brick oven salmon which was actually cooked nicely, except that it was both covered in soggy, pale, overly seasoned breadcrumbs and sitting in a way-​too-​deep bath of overly seasoned broth. I’m guessing this was the white wine butter garlic sauce but the whole thing was borderline inedible due to the overwhelming amount of salt. And something about it was off. It wasn’t the fish; the fish was fine. Maybe it was packaged Italian breadcrumbs? or… bottled lemon juice? I couldn’t put my finger on it beyond the salt, but there was a chemically acidic bitter weirdness going on. If I got this again, I would request no crumbs and the broth on the side. But really, what’s the point then? I guess I was just disappointed because nothing about this said «Italian restaurant» or «brick oven.» It could have been served at any diner or family chain — fine when you need a fish fix, but you know what you’re getting. Anyhow, it came solo in a ceramic casserole dish with a separate side dish heaped with the veg of the day — broccoli. Plain, steamed, dry broccoli. I love broccoli and I guess I prefer it plain to soaking in funky weirdness, but a quick sauté in olive oil and garlic would have gone a long way. Honestly, even the butter-​microwave treatment that Outback gives its veggies would have been better.
One of my dining companions got the NY strip which I have to say was excellent. Ordered rare/​med rare and that’s how it arrived; cooked perfectly. Served with a pile of the same plain, dry broccoli. Maybe it’s just me, but a starch with the entrees would have been nice. Rice, potato, whatever. But the choice is veg of the day OR… wait for it… french fries. No, I’m not kidding. If I’m ordering a burger or you are a steakhouse known for your house-​cut fries, fine. But with entrees in the $ 15-​$ 20 range at an Italian restaurant in the middle of nowhere, throw me a spud. Other diner got a brick oven cheese pizza which was good. Oh, the side salad that comes with the entrees is decent (field greens, etc.), but the tortellini soup of the day was — like the salmon dish — heavily salted and the tortellini was just meh. This went unfinished.
When it came time for dessert, I asked if anything was made in-​house and was told that the owner makes the cannoli, so I grabbed one to go. It was good. I don’t mean to hate on the locals but it would have been a lot better without the Hershey’s syrup garnish.
As for the staff, our server was lovely but the «my friend» lady was, well, kind of bizarre; we couldn’t figure out what was up with her and exchanged «wtf was that weirdness» glances around the table after every interaction.
I will give Amoroso another try — probably for pizza or pasta — and look forward to updating my review.

I need to preface this review by saying that I have been a server in Boston for many years, so I know that servers and chefs can have bad days. The day my family and I dined here was apparently everyone’s bad day.
My great-​grandmother recently passed away so my entire family went here after the funeral. My sister, cousin and I all have food allergies, mostly to dairy. My grandmother, the night before, told us to order off the menu as the items she picked were not dairy-​free.
We arrived around 11:30 AM and the tables were set, but with cups turned upside down. This is normal as they may not have wanted to water every place setting before we arrived. We sat down and began munching on bread. A half an hour later, we still had no water. This is not normal. I started to become annoyed but the focus seemed to be on coffee as it, too, was not ready when we arrived. Hot water for tea was not ready either. It was not until we spoke up and asked for regular water did they find pitchers and bring them out within minutes. When a party is booked, pitchers of water should be ready when the guests arrive even before coffee.
The level of miscommunication between everyone that worked there was unbelievable. My father had mentioned to someone that our table had food allergies. The chef came over and asked what our allergies were and as soon as I got done saying dairy, he cut me off and said that it was no problem and that he will take care of it. I never got to tell him I could not do garlic, onions, or pepper. As he went back to the kitchen, another man who seemed to be a server came over and we again mentioned allergies. He nearly rolled his eyes at us and said that he will see what he can do, he needs to talk to the owner. That left a very bad impression.
Finally, hot water was made and people had tea with their bread. Even after mentioning an allergy to dairy, two Caesar salads came to our table with cheese all over them. Only two people at our table ate the salads and my sister, cousin and I sat eating nothing. Although I was already infuriated, it was obvious they needed help, so I got up and started giving everyone water as the first round was not enough. This should not have been neseccary as we were PAYING THEM to do this.
After I watered all the tables, and got coffee for someone, we asked the kitchen to make us a different salad so we could eat with everyone else. They sent out a single serving salad that I shared with my sister and cousin while the other salads sat there, not being eaten.
Finally, it was time for the main courses. The gentleman who rolled his eyes at me came back to take our orders. My cousin gave up at this point and was going to eat what they originally planned to make. The gentleman went around the table and asked each of us if we would like the Alfredo or lasagna. He had the nerve to ask me, knowing my allergies, and I told him I cannot do either. After going around the table, he didn’t not write down how many, nor did he remember. We had to raise our hands like school children for which option we wanted. The food came out in family style anyway so I have no idea why this mattered.
After everyone’s orders were taken he came back to let me know that I would have to pay extra and order off the menu. I informed him I was aware of this and we have no problem doing so. Thirty seconds after he hands us menus, another server came over to us with giant bowls of pasta full of garlic, lemon, olive oil and basil. My sister can do garlic, but I cannot. I was essentially forced to eat it as I was starving and by the time they would make another one, we would be out the door. A week later I’m still suffering from stomachaches.
Dessert came out a little while later and again I had to decline as I could not eat it.
Thank you so much for making a horrible day for me and my family even worse. Please treat people with food allergies better. We seriously do not wish to be this way and sometimes there is no medicine for it.
As someone who grew up in Three Rivers, I am ashamed.

Had a gift certificate for this restaurant. There was no one else in there and the woman who waited on us kept calling me, «my friend» over and over again. It was quite nauseating! Downright creepy! Made me very uncomfortable! My husband’s food of Chix and Broccoli Alfredo came out before mine and I finally told him to eat b/​c it was getting cold! My food finally came. It was Filet Shish Kabob and it was only one skewer with one mushroom, one pepper, one onion! Way to skimpy! The Fried Mushrooms for an appetizer was good! Don’t think we would get dinner here again but might try the $ 5.00 all you can eat pizza on Tuesdays!

Pretty good pie today. Next time I’ll order it well though.

Now this is good pizza — and this is definitely not the old owner’s restaurant that was here for so many years. Wood fired oven and an owner operator who obviously cares 110% about delivering the best food possible, never mind the bargain prices. Please check this place out so he can afford to upgrade the ambiance a bit :-)

This recently opened restaurant has great brick oven pizza!