We had dinner at Il Casale in Belmont after a long day of meetings. Our priority was a tall, cold beverage which, when paired with Italian, can make for a splendid end to the week. Our meetings were at Harvard Business School in Cambridge but finding parking on the other side of the river after 8 pm is an unenviable challenge. We let serendipity guide our search and we happened upon Il Casale in Belmont. Located in a 19th Century converted fire house, Il Casale has high ceilings and brick walls that create a spacious, open interior. Il Casale was busy and, though seated immediately, had to wait a bit for service - understandable on a Friday evening. We started with a 2019 Barone Cornacchia Casanova Montepulciano d'Abruzzo which is an organic, full-bodied red wine with strong nose and hints of black cherry with a spicy finish. We also had an extra dry Hendricks up that, alas, could not be served as a Gibson. The menu is extensive and features the usual cast of characters. The pasta is house made and perfectly al dente. We had the grilled salmon and the chicken parmigiana. Both were solid, if not spectacular. We finished with their version of olive oil cake which was actually very good. Served warm from the grill, the dessert was a very nice end to a pleasant meal. We recommend Il Casale for a well executed Italian dinner. read more

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Just had dinner at the Lexington location and have to say after a few years it's gone downhill. Last time we were there the quality of ingredients was a much higher standard. This time we paid higher prices for lesser quality. I had the spaghetti alla vongole (spaghetti with clams) and it had a very metallic taste. Pasta was very dry, not a lot of broth or flavor. Salad left a little to be desired. Prices were high but expected given the current environment, but lack of quality was evident. And $14 for a side of broccoli?? Yikes. They can do better. read more

The food is good, the ambience is fine, service is hit-or miss. The prices here, like elsewhere, have increased, but $18 for a child's portion of pasta? Do they just not want kids there? Keeping out the riffraff? How Belmontian. read more

Food pretty good, huge portions, good service. Decent surroundings. Can recommend lasagne.

Amazing evening at Il Casale. We started with the cheese plate and a perfect Italian red. The Mediterranean sauces were heaven, making the evening pure bliss. read more

I was here at the bar a month or so ago with a friend and had a great experience so I brought my mother here for her birthday and had an even better one! Service is thoughtful and smooth. Food is really delicious and the cocktails are on point. They have one of the best Bolognese - ever. I've also enjoyed their Chicken Parm, Veal Saltimbocca, Calamari. My daughter is 6 and rather picky and loved their pasta with butter and cheese. What really brought me to write this review is I put that it was a birthday in the Open Table reservation but didn't say anything the day of and they brought over a scoop of gelato with a candle -- it really made our night. Nothing like it in Belmont - quite the gem! read more

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Perfect service, delicious food, packed Sunday night with happy folk. My partner loved her salad with tiny clams. A warm and friendly vibe.

Objectively, and I mean this in the way of what I would expect from a basic family style italian restaurant, the food was abismal. Cold, undercooked pasta, flavorless ragu, and chunks of undercooked canned tomatoes. I mean, if I paid $13 for this from a takeout sub shop, okay. But $34 for a mostly inedible bowl of pasta? Um, no. AVOID read more

There were four in our dinner party on a Saturday evening. The darkened area was a great setting for a casual dining experience. Dining selections and prices were consistent with the attentive services that the staff rendered. We were visiting from Hawaii and plan on future dining experiences here. read more

We had a wonderful dinner at Il Casale. The food was delicious (thank you for not over-salting the saltimbocca - a sin at many Italian restaurants!). Try the tender artichokes or the olives! Our server was attentive and amusing. (I never understand restaurants that don't train the servers to keep on eye on their tables.) He made sure everything we needed got to us in a reasonable time. Finished dishes were removed without the undue haste I sometimes see where plates are removed from one person while another person is still eating. They made my Vesper perfectly (so many restaurants can't that I keep a list of the precious few that do). We sat outside at a comfortable table that seated our party of four without a problem. It was a very pleasant setting to have a relaxed and fun dinner with friends. All in all, a wonderful experience. We're already looking at coming back in a couple of weeks. read more

I am so sad to say this as a local born and raised I want to love you, but your food is terrible. Went tonight with a friend and both entrees inedible. I do not know how you can ruin food as you do. Ruin. Arancini drowning in a weird honey, salmon so salty and drowning in a vegetable broth with so much else complicating you can't taste the salmon, and pasta pesto where the pasta tastes like cardboard (and not in an al dente way) and why toss almonds on top?! You have strayed so far. It's Italian food, let the simple ingredients shine. So over complicated. You could do better without trying. I have given you so many chances. I actually don't understand how other diners are eating your food. Actually revolts the palate the way you juxtapose and murder ingredients. read more

As always, il Casale didn't fail us in providing an exemplary birthday meal and mocktail to boot. We've decided that the portions are so large, next time we'll split the half chicken (not pictures) and pasta side! Great neighborhood gem. read more

Il Casale - Pasta side dish with butter and parmesan. - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts

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A gorgeous restaurant in the heart of Belmont Center. The restored firehouse building is absolutely stunning inside and out and suites the vibe of Il Casale perfectly. The food is good. It's authentic Italian. It's changed over the years. It may have been better in the early years, but it's still good. The service has been pretty darned good over the years, but upon last visit, 03/27/24, I was simply amazed at the kindness, which started at the front door with the host. Everyone was kind, genuine, confident, and knowledgeable. read more

One of my favorite restaurants in Belmont. iL Casale provides excellent Italian food, great drinks, and an amazing atmosphere. Great place to go to for date night when showing visiting travelers around. The veal and ravioli are two of my favorite dishes. And the signature cocktail with tequila (fragola basilico) is so tasty. read more

The food is consistently good and the service is too. Ambient noise levels are high and early dining means children at other tables - some loud. We dine here about once a month. read more

Second time going to Il Casale - and much better experience (though it was takeout this time) than the first time. Two appetizers to speak of. The fried calamari held up well in takeout transport; I was afraid that it would become soggy. They use a thicker more fried batter rather than the more delicate breaded texture one finds at other places. Very crunch and tasty, but wished there were more calamari in the dish, rather than the plethora of fried pickles, fried lemon peels, fried japaleno slices that were there as well. (3 stars) The meatballs were divine - balance of meat and breadiness texture, in a solid marinara sauce. Nicely stewed, not overly burnt at the bottom, and quite rich, in a good way. Balanced between a meaty and a fluffy texture. (5 stars) Tagliatelle with bolognese was very good as well: the ground meat sauce had an even consistency that allowed it to smother the pasta evenly throughout. The flavor had a earthiness / freshness - tasted of vegetable-ness to it - which I appreciated. The portion size was good and generous as well. (5 stars) The monkfish with lemon brown butter marsala sauce was very flavorful. The texture on the monkfish was spot on - nice and flaky, its flavor blending well with the marsala. Perhaps just a tad too lemony (sour) on the sauce, but others seem to appreciate it and perhaps it helps the monkfish if there is any fishiness. The brown butter sauce also just a tad rich and heavy - again probably in person this comes off as a much nicer dish than in takeout. One thing: the vegetables need to come in a separate container - they end up as some soggy mess when brought home. (4 stars) The dessert was excellent. One might be taken aback by the placement of the panna cotta in a plastic little cup, but that makes sense for takeout - accompanying it was a very fresh balsamic strawberry garnish with basil. Works really nicely - perfect consistency on the panna cotta, a nice mix of vanilla bean in the middle. (5 stars) Others have noted the high price points - indeed for what you pay you'd expect to get something a bit fancier, but I do think that they are in the business of running a nice operation, with pleasing, well-appointed interiors and good lighting. The staff was very helpful! read more

A friend of mine highly recommended this place to try it said it was seen on Chronicle. I love that show by the way. I'm glad that I made an effort to bring my husband and have a double date with my friend. The food was incredibly delightful. I had the best tasting pork meatballs, beet, cacio and pepe salads and pasta and the service was very nice and pleasant. We had a $70 bottle of wine which unfortunately I can't remember the name of. It was from Italy. The pasta was homemade and The Bolognese was flavorful and the mini pasta seashell pasta with mushrooms were to die for. I normally don't like Arancini but they're version isn't a huge rice ball with no flavor... it had a lot of depth and and the texture was wonderful. Their fall off the bone ribs were wonderful to as I was able to sample some for my friends plate. I really enjoyed the the calamari as well. I would describe the ambience as upscale-casual at best. In other words, if you want to dress up that's fine if you don't that's okay too.I like the friendly manager and the staff and I really find that they give you a very nice personal service. Will definitely come back again. By the way, they have the best homemade tiramisu...not too sweet! read more

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Stopped in during the first week of outdoor dining during the pandemic and they did a good job of providing a safe and pleasant dining experience. Tables were set up out front on the sidewalk and in the blocked off road. The servers were friendly, working hard, and changing gloves frequently. They provided bread with olive oil wrapped in plastic. We had a couple of cocktails that were pretty good. The chicken parm and bologenese were also pretty solid but not the best in the world. The hanger steak had a ton of flavor but the salad it came with was doused in dressing. Overall a good experience but a little on the pricey side for what you get so they get dinged a star. Give them a try for yourself! read more

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One of the most forgettable Italian spots I've ever been to. And the memorable moments-- not great. This review is a few months overdue so things may have changed. But this was my experience- Went for a birthday dinner. I got a steak because nothing on the menu looked particularly interesting. Plain typical Italian-American fare. Partner got a smoked salmon and shrimp pasta. He requested addition of arugula which didn't happen. There was barely any smoke salmon in it, and the shrimp was- get this- those tiny little pre-frozen shrimp bits you get at any Stop&Shop or wherever. Maybe it was an off day but I wanted to laugh. He was absolutely appalled by this. Granted he studied and worked in Italy, so this was already a tough sell, but WOW lol. The pasta itself didn't taste like anything. My steak was sadly way better than the pasta. It was decent and cooked medium well. Nothing to write home about however. The calamari was also 50% calamari, 50% fried lemon peels. I get the concept of adding some fried lemon for flavor and texture but with a 50/50 gamble each time when we didn't know if we'd get some seafood or a lemon, the experience was hilarious. And though this reservation was booked as a birthday there was no free birthday extras. We paid for a basic slice of chocolate cake (actually one of my favorite parts of the meal sadly) that had a couple scoops of yummy vanilla ice cream. One redeeming part of the night. There was a candle in it but honestly there was no difference or celebratory signal that this was a birthday dinner with 5 or 6 guests. Maybe it was a bad night, maybe they ran out of the good shrimp and was nearing the end of the smoked salmon supply. And had an overstock of lemons. But... wouldn't have had a different experience at Olive Garden or Bertucci's probably. read more

Did not quite live up to expectations. Beautiful firehouse turned restaurant and nice atmosphere, but food was just alright. Cacio e Pepe salad was unique and our favorite dish of the ones we had. Calamari was average. The short rib mushroom ravioli looked great on paper and was decent, but tough and a bit cold. Fusilli alla Calabrese was fine as well. Service was slow despite there only being a few tables. Not a bad experience, but not rushing to come back. read more

Service was over-eager but good. It's better than never hearing from the guy, ya know? I also realize we were there almost 3 hours. I guess that means it's a good date space? Conducive to romance and conversation? It's a renovated fire house, so lots of brick and high ceilings and stuff. They partition with fabric but when a party (as in actual party -- 20 people maybe?) sat adjacent on the other side of it, I was very aware of their presence. *****Cocktails are ... I started typing "fabu--" but then backspaced to "gre--" but then hovered around "amaz...." -- Forget all that. Cocktails are really good, at least the one I had. You know I love good mixology! The one I had the other night is called "the bitterist"? Or something. It had fig infused rye. Am I dreaming this? Lemon. Not too sweet. Up. OMG, Dear reader, it surprised even a jaded Manhattan-OldFashioned-BostonSour girl like me. Add to that a robust wine list and a serviceable whiskey selection. You won't go thirsty!! *****Food!! The arancini with the sweet sauce hiding a crust -- Wow! Another surprise. To die for! Meatballs in a red sauce -- just okay. But the brown butter butternut squash ravioli? Very good!!! The only drawback was too-firm past. Just slightly too firm, enough to notice. Would I order it again and suffer the consequences? For sure. But I might want to work my way through the options. (Is the pasta made in-house? I didn't inquire.) Metered parking on the street. As always, you have to read the diabolical signs. Supposedly there's a lot behind the buildings across the street. I didn't have to go that far. This is way, way out in the 'burbs. I suppose if you live out this way? I drove up from Boston using GPS and coulda swore I had been misdirected to the backside of the moon until the very last left turn when suddenly I was in front of Il Casale on Main Street (not the actual name). (This is related to but not the Il Casale in Lexington.) read more

Good food and good drinks but expensive. Then we find a sneaky "Kitchen Appreciation Fee" on the bill. This fee is not just on the food, but the drinks and sales tax too! This dishonesty ruined the experience - we are never coming back. read more

Il Casale - Sneaky - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts

Ordered take out via door dash. The food was warm at pickup. My fav pasta joint (Twryl) closed so I was looking for another. Thankfully I didn't have to look very far or very long. We both ordered bolognese - 1 with shells and 1 with taglietelle. Both were tasty. One of us thought it needed more salt and one of us was expecting smaller shells. Neither critique is worth a star today. The serving size was good. We asked for a little bit extra sauce which they obliged. The host was on the phone when I arrived and a server saw me standing at the door and graciously helped me get my order. We will try more dishes from here for sure. read more

I am shocked the reviews aren't better bc we had an amazing night. We started with martinis at the bar while waiting for our guests to arrive. We were served warm bread with olive oil and it was perfect with our martini. We moved to a table and had 2 apps, the Arancini and the bruschetta- wow. Seriously yummy. Dinner consisted of the bolognese, and it was insanely good. The restaurant is situated in the cutest little town. The ambiance was super fun and family oriented. A lot of people eating outside. I really enjoyed this restaurant and will be back the next time I'm in Boston. read more

Terrible, one of the worst restaurant experiences ever for me. Lousy service and really bad, overpriced food; avoid this place. As authentically Italian as Olive Garden. read more

Amazing food locally! Outdoor dining was outstanding. I will choose this place over and over again,never disappointed. Always something new in season dishes added to menu. read more

Yummy good! Definitely more expensive but everything tastes good! All very easy going but felt high end and respectful. read more

Il Casale - Polpo - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts

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With only a few minor hiccups, Il Casale puts forth brilliant profiles that shot Dante ahead of his class from the inner walls of a firehouse-cum-rustic kitchenette. A long bar runs its course along the buzzing Western hemisphere of a single-room dining area, typically with nary a stool available. With a reservation, you'll likely be seated on the opposite side of a noise-muffling curtain, beneath a decorative orchard of plastic orange trees and soft light strands. A Midsummer Night's Dream, fully catered. The menu arrangement is typical: small plates, primi, secondi, thirditti, fourthopini, and so on... We opted for the burrata, calamaretti and gorgonzola sfizi ($6, squid an extra buck). Tentacles and rings in a salty batter, fried well and til tender and sided by a fried lemon wheel. Tasty, but truthfully, we probably could have eaten it anywhere. The candied pistachios gave a textural counterpart to the pleasant, slightly skeined burrata, while the gorgonzola emerged as the clear winner - buttery toast points kissed with the sharp cheese and sweetened by grappa-soaked raisins and raw pignoli nuts. Order three and call it a date. Ha! Entrees are not to be missed, filling the homestyle void that only a well-portioned plate of pasta can. My broken lasagna ($16, rotates daily) featured crimini mushrooms, a hearty broth and shredded skirt steak, surrounded by a swarm of al dente noodles. Just the right heft without being overly dense, and perfectly seasoned. An outstanding dish, that won both our hearts (she was lukewarm on the tagliatelle's Bolognese). Want a proper bourbon cocktail? Go Crusta. Brown stuff, Créole shrubb, cherry heering, lemon juice and orange bitters disappeared way too quickly. Service set a high standard on the whole, leaving us surprised when ordered drinks were forgotten on two occasions. It's a comfortable spot with solid food and a healthy buzz - definitely returning in the near future. read more

This place is not any good. The service was very lacking, we got there around 6:45 and did not even put in our food order until 7:30. We kept asking to order and the waiter said he would be right back and never came. Once we finally ordered the food was inedible. I have never not eaten a meal but my gnocchi tasted like pasta noodles and lemon juice. For being over $30 I expected wayyy more. Save yourself the money and stay away read more

Il Casale - Gnocchi - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts

This has been a neighborhood jewel for a number of years and so I thought it would be the perfect destination for a birthday celebration. The evening started off great with terrific service and wonderful appetizers such as truffle french fries, fried calamari, and arancini. We decided to bring the main courses home because it was so chilly out. Much to my shock and disappointment the main courses were not only exceptionally meager but lacking in taste. To say the food was not as expected would be an understatement. The panacotta was the size of a shot glass, the chicken parmesan came without pasta, and the pasta with clams was soggy and terribly seasoned. Our long tradition of dining with Il Casale has definitely come to an end. It was a expensive night out for what amounted to coming home and cooking dinner because we were left hungry and incredibly unsatisfied. read more

Did takeout. Calamari was great. Sautéed spinach was gross looking/tasting. $8 in the compost. The rest was 'meh'. Tasted OK but I'm currently chugging water to deal with the salt. Everything above would be totally fine if not for the fact that it cost nearly $150 for two pasta mains, three apps/sides, and a kid's pasta. Kind of ludicrous. Its priced at 'excellent' but what you get is merely 'good'. read more

I had no room left after the formaggio antipasto, which included a splendid palette of flavors that could then be mixed and matched. The service is wonderful -- always someone there to assist and extremely friendly. The bread was high quality, which is usually a benchmark for the food, as it was in this case. Missing were the standard issue Italian dishes -- lasagna, chicken parmesian, ravioli, yet the choices still made my mouth water. Parking on a Friday in Belmont Center is molto dolce. David S. read more

We sat in the high tops as it was packed. It is quite loud as sounds bounce off walls but the vegetarian food my husband and I had was amazing! Our waiter had the chef make our entree off menu - a mini shell pasta, pea puree, peas and pea sprouts. All I can say is we both enjoyed it. We also had roasted Brussel sprouts. They are on menu and full of flavor too. Our waiter was attentive and I appreciate the extra care to ensure our food was vegetarian. read more

Il Casale - Vegetarian mini shells with pea puree, peas and pea sprouts. (We already finished over half by the time I thought to take a picture ) - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts

I went there with my bestie last night to celebrate my birthday. We sat at the bar and could not get a drink for 1/2 hour. We were only served when we got the manager involved. My bestie and I joked that we could have left and no one would have noticed. I wanted the chocolate cake they previously had on the menu yet it was no longer available. I order the tiramisu instead and it was crunchy and flavorless. The atmosphere is lovely. The service is awful and the food is mediocre. read more

Rarely eating out these days but it was uncrowded on a Monday night. Absolutely perfect meal. Wonderful friendly service. Beautiful wine. Gorgeous, warm space. read more

Food was really good.- a bit pricey but good. The atmosphere was nice. The waiter was friendly and looked like Hugh Laurie! Lol definitely worth coming to. read more

This has been our go-to regular local restaurant for years. The staff is excellent with a fabulous bar. Damian, one of the owners, is continually getting inspiration from his family's native province in Italy. Although there might be better Italian restaurants in the Boston area, few have the heart and soul of this place. read more

Went here last night, and our dinner was delicious! We were able to walk in on a Saturday night and somehow snagged a table without a reservation or waiting -- score! My girlfriend had a salad of some sort and a half order of the butternut squash Ravioli and loved it. I had the chicken entree with a side of broccoli rabe and really enjoyed it as well! We did wait a bit longer than usual for our entrees to arrive, but we chalked it up to having dinner on a busy Saturday night. However, the manager came over and apologized and offered us a free round of drinks. A nice touch, and a true testament to how much they value their diners experience. Will gladly come back here in the near future! read more

Ok, here is a review which hopefully will change some behaviors and service culture of this restaurant. My wife and I were going to visit Boston to run in the Iconic Boston Marathon. Our hosts made a dinner reservation the night before for Sunday, 4-14 for 6:30 pm requesting a regular table. The hostess contacted our host and confirmed the reservation in which the regular table was still promised. When the four of us arrived at the restaurant, the hostess said is a bar stool table ok, with chairs, showing us a table next to the kitchen and in a loud area of the restaurant. Our host nicely said to the hostess if that is all you have, then ok, but when we confirmed earlier, the person handling reservations said a regular table was still available. The hostess hemmed and hawed and said, this is disappointing as I think they gave someone else the table and it should have been reserved for you. After 5 minutes, a table with was found for us and we sat. We sat for 20 minutes, waiting for a waiter to stop at our table to offer us drinks or take our order. To note, 7-8 times, a waiter or waitress walked right by us without saying a word. I was able to get a waiter's attention, told him about the 20 minute wait and he proceeded to get the manager. The manager took our order and waited on us. As the manager waited on us, he did not know the evening's specials and had to retrieve them and mistakenly gave a 1/2 size serving to our host who actually ordered a full serving. Our host did not make any further requests, but pointed this out to the manager. At the end of our meal when desert was offered, we politely declined and I requested the bill. The manager said, maybe she should take care of this and laughed, directing his comment to our host. To note, you are in a great city, and we had a great time in it; the marathon and 99% of the people are most polite, kind and accommodating. We had a poor experience at your restaurant. Please accept this as constructive and not personal, as our customer experience was poor. read more

MY FAVORITE ITALIAN RESTAURANT AT THE MOMENT ! chicken was cooked to perfection light and crispy bread crumbs and the sauce was rich and flavorful! 10/10 read more

Il Casale - Pollo alla Parmigiana - Italian Near Me - Belmont, Massachusetts