Disorganized, rude, unnattentive staff. First, our meal took over 1.5 hours (from the time we ordered until it arrived at our table). Second, our drinks/waters were not refilled when needed. Finally, our waitress did not attend to our table to check in on us throughout our visit, and was pracially MIA for a good portion of the evening. As a result of our dissatisfaction, we did receive a discount to our bill. However, I must say the food was not that great and definitely not worth wait/aggrevation. To conclude, we will NOT be returning! read more

Second time at this restaurant. Had a gift certificate so I dragged my boyfriend. Sat at a table in the bar area, bartender was our waiter. We ordered a couple of drinks, took awhile to get them. When the bartender would look our way he would realize he had forgotten about us. We then ordered antipasto for our appetizer and our meals at the same time since we figured service was a little slow. 30 minutes later, the antipasto arrived (he had forgotten). However, it was delicious! Fresh meats and cheeses over lettuce with a balsamic glaze. Our meals came 25 minutes after that, I got the Parpadelle Porcini ( wanted to try something new), handmade ribbon pasta was very good. Boyfriend got the steak and was dry, roasted potatoes had no flavor, not impressed. I will go back but only with my girlfriends.... read more

Went here for the first time the other night based on several family members raving about the food. There were 5 of us - we started with some apps. Fried calamari (pretty good), eggplant rolatini (ok, but could have been warmer) and an antipasto. The lettuce was questionable. I had the braised short ribs over parmesan risotto and when I ordered it the waiter said it was the most popular entrée. It was delicious! The portion was so huge, I brought half home. 2 people ordered the veal with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and were disappointed that the veal was undercooked. One person ordered veal saltimbocca and said it was bland, that he had better. The desserts were good - cannoli and crème brulee. The restaurant was very busy and our waiter was great. read more

We visited Caffe Italia on a very cold evening this week. Overall the restaurant was rather cold and the table set up was rather odd with tables spacing very strange. We ended up eating at the bar. The bartender was very pleasent and knowledgeable. The house wines were very good for the price. We ordered the atichoke appitizer and it was truly superb! For entreess we ordered Fussilli con Pollo and a Veal dish. The veal dish was excellent, it had olives and a nice sauce and was topped with cheese and procuitto. Unfortunately the pasta and chicken was very salty. I brought to the attention of the bartender, who did not no anything to correct the situation. Overall we will go back to the restaurant on a warmer evening and mention to the cook to leave the salt shaker home! read more

My family and I have eaten here many times and never been disappointed. Food is excellent and service is always with a smile. It always feels like we are visiting relatives. Look forward to our next visit. read more

Caffe Italia has really upped their game. We eat there pretty regularly, and the consistency of the food is impressive, as is the overall excellence of the food. Oftentimes the best dinner entree choices are whatever the daily special is. The salad prices are a bit on the high side, but the pear and gorgonzola salad is to die for. The bread is incredible. And the food overall is probably the best Italian food in all of Wakefield/Reading/North Reading (where combined there are something like 12+ Italian restaurants). We always enjoy our dinners at Caffe Italia! read more

The food was excellent. I had the haddock with spinach best piece of haddock I've ever had and cooked to perfection. My husband had the Bolognese he enjoyed it said it was excellent! He's a tough critic. they have great specials Monday - Wednesday go and take advantage well worth the price and they give you plenty of food! We will be back! read more

Ventured to this place during the week for the $17.95 three course special. We were promptly seated by a waiter, no hostess. Water and some awesome rolls came quick and the dinner order shortly thereafter. It took a while for the meal to be served. There was one waiter and one helper for the 30 or so dining patrons. So service was fair but luckily our haddock and chicken broccoli were delicious. Both were served hot and tasty. I had the chocolate fudge cake for dessert, somewhat dry, and my wife had gelato which was good but not great. All in all, a fair experience with very good food and a mid-week price that is a great deal. read more

My husband and I love this restaurant. We are actually going there on Valentine's Day. The food is great, fresh, high quality ingredients. The service staff is really efficient. Our drink never got empty. They are always taking care of you but its like you don't even know they are there. I definitely recommend it! Great date spot. read more

This has got to be one of the BEST places in town! The owner Tony, his son Vinnie and all crew members are great. You always feel at home there. No matter how busy and crowded they are, they always go out of their way to say hello and see if anything is needed. What a fine establishment! read more

Pretty decent, typical italian restaurant. These are plentiful in Wakefield so I am not sure I'd be back because I have ~3 more to try out but Caffe Italia was good. I wasn't a huge fan of the rolls just being pizza dough as it was a little hard and bland. I had the bolognese which tasted good but I thought there could have been a lot more meat in the sauce-- you couldn't even pick up any bits of meat with your fork because it was broken up too much and not plentiful. read more

We went here for a birthday dinner and it was good. Small cozy restaurant, 7 or 8 tables in the front with a large enclosed bar in the back. There was only one server on so we waited quite a bit to order (maybe 30 min?), which is understandable considering, and we had bread and drinks while we waited. When I ordered, what I wanted was unavailable, the short rib over risotto, which was disappointing, I wish that had been disclosed at the beginning as I wasn't ready with a backup but I went with his other recommendation that had some short rib in it. We couldn't find the ricotta in the eggplant rollattini, and the sauce was very heavy. The calamari were overcooked and a bit chewy in our opinion, but the sauce that was drizzled on them was great. The pear and Gorgonzola salad was delicious. For entrees, the gnocchi probably could have been cooked a little longer but the porcini pappardelle, chicken nancy, salmon, and chicken Parmesan were all very good. Thumbs up for the chocolate gelato as well! read more

LOVED IT!! Enjoyed this restaurant midweek so was able to take advantage of their 3 course dinner for $19.99. Great deal. I chose the salad to begin but there were other choices that were much more exciting --I wanted to save myself for my entree which was worth it. I had the pork medallions with Parmesan risotto. It was very generous portion and very tasty. Chose the cannoli for dessert and was expecting a mini cannoli for the price...but was pleasantly surprised that it was a full size and quite delicious. The service was excellent. The bread was some of the best I have had. I have nothing to complain about but I would recommend making reservations if you can..... read more

We eat here all the time and Love everything on the menu, including the $20. 3 course special. My favorite house salad and house salad dressing at any place I've been-and I eat all over and try new and upcoming places. I've had almost all the entrees on the regular menu and they are exceptional. The salmon dishes are fabulous. They also pour a healthy glass of wine if/when you order it. Last but not least-great oversized cannolis. My husband is a cannoli lover and he is in heaven every time he has one. Try it. You won't be disappointed. read more

Loved this restaurant! The atmosphere is quaint and romantic and the food was fabulous! Our sever was friendly and attentive and the martini's were delicious! read more

My girlfriend and I have been eating here for over a year on at least one Saturday a month. The staff is extremely friendly, the food is amazing and the service is great. I would recommend this place to anyone in a heartbeat. read more

Could order the entire menu. Very very good. Employees are always very polite; the decor is nice. Great drinks as well

I can't decide what to think of this place. First of all, there's not a ton around here to eat anyway and this Houston girl had never heard of places closing on Mondays. That isn't how we roll here, but I guess up there it happens and this place was open on Monday so yay for that. Upon walking in, it felt like a Chinese restaurant (and even smelled like one), but I'm not sure why. Random observation, I know. Service was good but the food was a little odd. I got the seafood lasagna (which is called something I couldn't pronounce or remember) and it was a real stretch to call it lasagna since there were only two pieces of pasta and then basically a stir fry of seafood and veggies resting between the two pieces of pasta. I skipped the pasta at that point and just ate that and it isn't that it wasn't good (because it was and probably was healthier that way), I just was expecting some cheese and red sauce. You know, lasagna. It's probably a traditional version and I'm not classy enough to realize it, but it was just weird. Dessert was a tasty chocolate mousse and you can't go wrong with that. read more

Most authentic Italian restaurant in the greater Boston area. Great food, great drinks and fabulous staff.

Just moved to Wakefield and was told this was a good place. The hours on door says they close at 10:00, it was 9:45 so I thought I'd have a drink and check the place out. The doors were open, the bar was bustling. I waited a few minutes only to be told by the rude bartender that they were closed. The food may be good, but the help is rude and condescending. read more

We frequent Caffe Italia since it first opened in Wakefield. The food is always very good here. Maybe 4.5 stars but that wasnt an option. Good wine options and their signature dishes are very very good. The service is usually excellent but I have noticed some inconsistancy between the staff. read more

the restaurant's decor is that of an old woman who dresses in her 20s. the food is ok except the risotto which was incredibly bland. the bartender doesn't seem to know how to make a drink that isn't just vodka in a chilled glass. the waitress made a better drink since he was too backed up. the place wasn't busy. read more

Not sure who answers the phone for this restaurant but I just called after multiple attempts of trying to reach them to make a reservation with no success. Finally on the third attempt, a horribly rude woman who sounded like she smokes a pack of cigarettes a day answered. I asked her if she had any specials tonight..her response? "Specials? We don't have specials." Oh ok...then I asked her if i could reservation for tonight. Before even asking how many for what time she rudely states, "ha we're pretty booked." I responded by telling her how many people In my party and roughly the time I was looking for and her response was "yea, no. We're booked." So glad I called this restaurant I have never tried to realize that I absolutely will never be trying based on this horrible interaction. Just a tip to the owner- maybe have someone with better manners/tone answer your phone because she already deterred me from even trying your food without having tried it. read more

Hard to believe this restaurant is not on the map yet on Yelp. Opened recently in my town. There is another one in Marblehead. GREAT Northern Italian food. Starting w the bread made on the premise..I was sold from the beginning. Portions are generous. Substitutions are happily made i.e broccoli rabe for risotto, angel hair for asparagus. Have been 4 times and every time was excellent . I love the salmon. Even the coffee is good. Place is small, nice bar, warm w friendly service. Went last night and can't wait to go again. Look forward to reading other reviews. read more

Stopped in last minute for dinner on Fri night without reservations. Nice lively atmosphere. Were ready to sit at the bar for dinner,but got lucky with a table. Food was excellent!! Very good calamari app. Seafood risotto and veal vincenzo were delicious. Can't wait to go back and explore more of the tempting menu. As good as anything in the North End without the hassle!! read more

Great food, great atmosphere, the best service in town. The prices are modest with a great specials menu that varies each weekend. The week offers a 3 course menu at a great price. The bar has a great blend of reserve and positive energy that offers handsomely sized martinis that taste delicious (and pack a punch!) read more

I am a regular here but please don't discount this rave review. I visited on Friday night and had one of the top ten meals of my life. I ordered the Striped Bass special w\ julienne veggies in a lemon wine sauce. the fish was perfectly cooked, the veggies were al dente and the sauce was delicious. Although they specialize in italian, you'd be remiss not to order the seafood. Bravo! read more

Had been here before don't know why we waited so long to go back. The salads are great and big so two can share. The rolls are fabulous. We both got pasta dinners and couldn't finish so we each had a nice dinner the next night. Our waitress was Antonella (I think) she was very good. She works Wed, Thurs and Saturday. We'll be going back there soon. read more

Please see my previous review as well. It's been 2 years since I last reviewed this place. I still stand by my original thoughts. Excellent food, atmosphere service, price and drinks. Their weekend specials are always exciting and delicious. I know my Italian cuisine and this is certainly a place to visit if Italy is too far of a trip ;) read more

I can't say enough good stuff about this place. The staff is always great, the food is always good. My suggestion is to give the specials serious consideration, as they always seem to be winners. That said, I have ordered nearly everything on the regular menu at this point, and have never had a bad dish. read more

First time here ...lots of hype ...so when my food came with a hair in the shrimp it took me a minute to find waitress however they rectified it immediately I will give the place another try!! read more

Went to the bar here on a Friday night around 8 we were a group of 7 and later two more joined us. We crammed ourselves around a small table in the bar area. We mostly drank although some ordered a meal and salads (they were good). Considering the size of our group and the money we spent, the service was terrible. It was a hot & humid night and so was the bar area (yuck). The owner was chatting it up with the table next to us and never once stopped by to say hello and ask how things were. I waited 20 minutes before I got a drink and I only got one by flagging the waiter myself. He never came by to offer refills or clear the table. We did it ourselves. We only got another round when the two other people joined us and bought a round and still we had to flag down a bartender for service. Cocktails were served without napkins. It was a crappy experience. I wouldn't bother going there again. We spent a few hundred dollars there. The thing that bugs me the most is the fact that the owner was right there and he had to have noticed us flagging the waiter & grumbling about the service yet he never even made eye contact. F you I say! lol read more

Just moved to Wakefield and wanted to go out for Italian, we first tried Artichokes but it was jammed so we decided to try this place since it looked nice. We arrived and were told to wait for our table at the bar and it would be ready soon, no problems at this point, as we enjoyed the drink and the bar service. We were then brought to our table and given water and warm rolls and then it the night went down the tubes. Aside from the bus boy who was pleasant, we were completely ignored by the rest of the waitstaff. I tried to get the attention of anybody walking by to see if we could get another round of drinks to no avail and it seemed they purposely avoided looking at our table. We still held out hope and waited about a 1/2 hour and finally people who were seated after us were being served apps and salad. I had enough and our party of (4) walked out and went to Molise around the corner. Let me preface by saying, I have never walked out of a restaurant in my life but this was the worst and I will avoid this place regardless of how good the food looks for ever. I can cook good food at home but I go out for the service and this was by far the worst I have ever experience. I would have to say I would prefer bad service over being ignored. Well I guess it is there loss as we spent $250 around the corner (including wine). Sorry to rant but I needed to get this off my chest. read more