Cafe Salerno

I have been working in the Beverly area for about 15 years and have been a happy customer at Salerno’s for that whole time. This restaurant is the best in its category. While I am mostly a lunch customer, I have also had dinners which were also great and at very reasonable prices.
However, its the lunch experience that I most enjoy. Great food, lots of it and very reasonable prices. The atmosphere is far from fancy but very friendly, relaxed and lots of good local folks.
Big variety of classic Italian comfort food. Daily specials are always good choices and their soups are a meal in themselves. I would say that the soups are a real high light. Fresh cooked everyday — lots of variety and always really good. Only problem is to eat both a soup and another choice can be detrimental to your waistline, but it is hard to turn down having both so taking some home is always an option.
If you are expecting the experience to be like some of the high end restaurants like Il Capriccio or Mamma Maria, you may be disappointed but cost five times as much. If you are looking for very satisfying food in an informal setting, Salerno’s will get you done.
My favorites are their lasagna, the Italian Wedding soup, and the excellent Italian cold cut sandwich, either US or Imported, but many, many other options.

Ordered take out on a Friday night. My husband had fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli– it was extremely bland. I had eggplant parm, the red sauce was okay but the eggplant was very chewy and there was no cheese on it. What?! That’s the best part. Both of our pastas were over cooked. Will pass on this place next time we are looking for a casual Italian dinner.

Worst experience in a café/​restaurant I have ever had. I go to a lot of restaurants and as most of my friends and family know, I am an extremely good tipper (you are good to me, I will be good to you). Sorry Mike (one owner) didn’t stay to try the food, the first impression ruined it.
No service, being spoken to rudely by the bartender (Todd, the other owner) I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND this place to anyone. I get better service at McDonalds and Burger King.

I love this restaurant! Emily and Mr Jacobs at the bar are so friendly. The food is amazing and it’s one of my favorites!

If you like Pizza, Pasta, Soup and Salad Café Salerno is the answer. Owned by two brothers Mike & Todd they do an outstanding job while always interacting with their customers. Their Italian heritage really shows in the food they cook daily. I mostly attend during lunch hour and very much enjoy their luncheon specials. Reasonably priced, I highly recommend Café Salerno. Please let Mike know you hear it from me!

Walked in at 8:25 on a Friday night. Woman behind the bar looks over like who are you and what do you want and said, we’re closed. I said, the sign says 9 pm. Well we closed early as we did a lot if catering today. Really???

Had Café Salerno cater my Christmas party last night. Food was outstanding and the service was excellent.
We did a deli platter, baked ziti, meatballs, antipasto and potato salad. Each dish was mouth-​wateringly delicious and portions were quite generous. All of my 16 guests went back for seconds and even thirds!
Bravo guys! I’ve found my new favorite catering spot. Also looking forward to coming in and having dinner!

Stopped there for dinner while on vacation staying just across the bridge. Was very pleasantly surprised at the taste and quality of the food and the value. Would make it a regular stop if I were a regular.

Favorite place for pasta, great guys, great food! Their red sauce is the best. Ideal for fast lunch too.

I’m updating my review based on a recent catering experience. We used them to cater a birthday party and they were great. The brothers are super friendly and were very honest about what I needed for the number of attendees. Delivery was right on time and food was kept extremely hot in a food warmer, so we didn’t need burners. The baked ziti was my favorite, but everything was tasty. We’d use Café Salerno again.

The only thing Italian about this place is the sloppy irish guy who answers the phone. It is neither a café nor italian… if you like a pile of old cold cuts on a market basket sub roll than this is your place… I would rather go to a subway… or for that matter buy a pound of boiled ham… aka what they call an Italian Sub.
Don’t bother.

Picked up lunch from here for the first time today. Ordered 2 subs, one Italian with «everything» and one Eggplant Parm. The Eggplant Parm sub wasn’t too bad, eggplant and sauce was pretty good but the sub roll bread seemed cheap and didn’t taste good. The Italain sub was dry, missing hot peppers and had about 4 small shreds of lettuce on it. If you are going to sell Italian subs in the Northeast area you need to do it right, too many Italians around here to get away with it. Italain subs with everything should be smothered with oil, onions, tomatos, lettuce, pickles and hot peppers. Prices were very fair but c’mon this isn’t rocket science!

Best pizza in town. Personable old world service; the brothers are great. Haven’t been here since it was a grocery store in 1997 until recently. Can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on. Call before you go to make sure they are open. They are closed for dinner on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays I believe. Or something like that. It’s not fancy, but it rules in an proud-​to-​be-​on-​the-​inside-​of-​this-​operation kind of way.

We love this place. The food is great, from the terrific pizza to the sandwiches which are almost big enough to bat .300 with. The owners and staff are friendly. This is the epitome of the little neighborhood restaurant that serves up good food in generous amounts and where they recognize you and say hi when you walk in. We see many of the same people over and over when we eat here — they’ve built a loyal client base that keeps coming back.
An example of the type of customer service you get… our 5-​year-​old daughter left her beloved stuffed bear in one of the booths after lunch one day. We didn’t discover this until later in the evening. We called to ask if they had found it, and not only did they have it, one of the owners actually drove it to our house to return it to her. We live down the street and so it wasn’t a long trip for him, but who goes the extra mile like that in this day and age?

Put on your meatball hat and get ready for some townie fun. Everything from pizza, to subs, to home-​cooked meals is delicious. At recession proof prices, its hard to resist.
The wise cracking atmosphere is not for the faint of heart. If you’ve got a ‘tude these guys will tear you apart, but play it cool and you’re in like flint. Picture cheers + meatballs (food not movie)+ howard stern.
The service can be slow since there’s only 2 dudes in there but well worth the wait. Just remember to bring your Boston accent and a mean appetite. Oh, and they have PBR. Nuff Said.

Salerno has the best pizza on the North Shore hands down. Think North End style pizza without the burnt edges. The classic Italian dishes are simply prepared and the value is second to none. If you stop in for lunch you will love the subs. The Boars Head cold cuts are sliced fresh for every sandwich. Parking is a challenge but it is worth the trouble.

consistent Italian food cooked old school, great marinara sauce… excellent meatballs, the chicken Saltate (sp) is a winner!
The brothers are awesome and keep this place real… of course we miss Kristen, but still have her in spirit and her chef’s coat under glass. Well worth the wierd parking lot, family friendly hours and the wait… Mangia!
oh and these guys are the real deal as far as local joints go, they step up for so many school fundraisers and other activities .don’t know how they find the time … Good folks!

every time i drive by this place (i live 3 blocks away), the parking lot is disgustingly full during lunch hours. I knew I had to give it a shot one time. So today, i made up my mind to go.
Amazing people, friendly convos… will come back just because it’s a fun atmosphere. It’s just a local town hot spot.
huge portions (i ordered baked ziti with meatballs) for 6 bucks and i couldn’t finish em… i mean… I, da FATH MAN couldn’t finish it.
next time, i’m gonna have to try their cheese pizza, steak sub, Italian sub, grilled chicken and chicken parm (they said these were the most popular dishes at Salerno).
the melted cheese on bake ziti was probably one of the best i’ve ever had, sauces were fresh and clean and the meatball was soft, gigantic, and juicy. That’s what i’m talking about. I’m def. coming back here again. Finally, some place i could safely take my friends when they come to beverly…=)

Wonderful restaurant! Good prices for a generous amount of food (8 – 14 $ respectively, depending on meat). The owners are brothers and their food is incredible. The service is wonderful– great for both couples, families, and elderly folk.
The times are so-​so but considering they all have family and when they are open, they’re always busy, it’s understandable. Closed on sundays– saturdays they stop serving at 8 so be there early– maybe catch a flic at the cabot then get some delicious food!
TRY IT, You won’t be disappointed!

Finally I have found a place in Beverly that has a REAL Italian sub! As with all subs the absolute key is the bread and The Salerno uses real crusty Italian bread, quality meats and cheeses, and the atmosphere when I popped in for the first time was pleasant. It was so good that I went back the next day but it was Freaking closed at 7?
Oh well… Future ref… Need a great Italian Sub… Plan ahead and check if they are open.