Pacini’s Italian Eatery

I am not sure what has happened to this place, it used to be delicious, I have recommended it to so many people (had) but after last nights dinner, I will not be going back… I have noticed the last few times going there, that the woman manager, who was extremely efficient, has not been there, and that the service was horrible in the waiting room, but I figured, small price to pay for great food, which hasn’t been as good as usual ;(Last night I got the beef rigatoni, it said served with a creamy sauce, well the beef was disgusting, and the «sauce» was a broth, that was so full of alcohol, I took two bites and threw it down the disposal!!! I have given you ample times to get better… will not be going back!

Love love love this place !!! The Greek salad with chicken is amazing !! Me and my girlfriends go here and are never disappointed

It’s not fancy, and it’s not a full service restaurant, but it does have one of the best pizza’s around. There are two kinds of tomato sauce, regular red sauce and a more creamy sauce like you get in the North End. They are both delicious.
I have been eating at Pacini for a few years. The food has been very good and the portions are very large. I always have enough left over to take home and enjoy another day. Last week I went there with few friends and everyone thought the food was very good. The service was attentive. They seem to do most of their business in take-​outs and deliveries; we were the only customers in the place. I do recommend the pizza. The toppings are generous.

Avoid at all costs.
Pretty much everything that could go wrong with a dining experience, did go wrong.
I ordered a chicken alfredo with fettucine as it was indicated on the menu, my wife ordered a calzone.
My order came out and it was with penne, not necessarily a dealbreaker, but wrong nonetheless.
My wife’s calzone was not cooked at all. The cheese inside was not nearly melted and the pepperoni was still cold. I showed the waitress and she left the calzone on the table and talked to the cook; both of whom are the owners. She came back to tell me that he used a biotherm thermometer and that it should be perfect.
I asked her to look at the calzone to just see that it wasn’t cooked and I got eye rolling and no interest in what we were saying. At that point, I decided that I wasn’t okay with the penne and I wanted the fettucine. I pointed out to her that my dish was supposed to come with fettucine and she explained to me that the only way to put the order into the computer was to put in penne. I asked if they had fettucine and she said yes, so I said then it must be possible to make the dish as indicated on the menu.
I asked for the food to go, as I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. The owner/​chef then came to our table to see why we weren’t satisfied with the food. I explained both the calzone and the penne/​fettucine issues. He insisted that the calzone was cooked. I again asked him to look at it and his only response was to say, «Well I guess I need a new thermometer.» with attitude. I politely asked him to take the calzone off the bill and we’d be leaving. The waitress/​owner took the calzone away and both of them were quite rude to us throughout the conversation.
I decided that we were done with this interaction and just wanted to leave. I told him that I didn’t want to take any of the food, nor pay the bill and we would be leaving. He told me that I shouldn’t have eaten any of the penne if I didn’t want it. I explained to him that I didn’t bring it up right away because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt and only brought it up after the response to the uncooked calzone was so poorly handled. He then criticized me for wanting to return something that I had eaten 3 – 4 forkfuls of. Mind you the plate was heaping with penne, chicken, spinach, tomatoes, and sauce. I quickly explained that if he wanted to charge me a pro-​rated amount for the bites I had taken divided into the entire dish, I would. I was being sarcastic, but he was being absurd.
By the time the interaction was over, the chef had lost his cool. I tried to explain to him that what just happened didn’t need to go the way that it did. He threw his hands up and shouted goodbye, then said it again, Goodbye!!.
Well, goodbye.
We went to Bertucci’s. I am opposed to chain restaurants normally. However, this time it was a welcome alternative to the rude and incompetent service.
When a customer comes to you with uncooked food, they do not need to hear about the quality of the thermometer you use. They need to hear one thing… «Sorry, I’ll fix that for you right now.» When the customer points out that the pasta they ordered is not what’s on their plate, they need to hear only one thing… «Sorry for the mixup. I’ll fix that for you right now.» They do not need to hear about your POS system and the fact that you can’t input fettucine instead of penne.
Never again.

Im very disappointed in the food. My chicken marsala was the worst I’ve ever had.

I usually don’t let other people’s opinions sway me either way but… I have heard so many mixed reviews about this place so I wanted to try for myself! My wife and I as soon as we walked in the door and a very nice full blooded Italian woman Eddy greeted us and brought us to our table and made us feel like we were at her house for a family dinner! With subtle tones of Frank Sinatra playing in the back ground the service was prompt even with a full dining room. The waitress had our warm bread and very addictive oil and balsamic glaze dipping sauce ready. Drinks were brought just moments after asked. We ordered fried calamari for an appetizer and it seems like minutes and it was at our table. It was cooked to perfection with a subtle hint of spices and so juicy no rubbery bounce to it at all! Then. …they gave us two sauces one a marinara and the other, I have no clue what it was and the only down fall either did the waitress was like heaven in a bowl!!! After devouring that we ordered our main dishes, myself a small sausage pizza and my wife the veal parm with angel hair and a side garden salad. NEVERMIND the side salad was HUGE… when they brought out her veal dinner… I was like HOLY S#@T!!! That’s huge! My pizza which was supposed to be a 10″ pizza was more like 12 was perfectly stretched nice and even with just the right bend where you had to fold it. The sauce was like none I have had before simply put… amazing! I have had pizza all over the world and not going to lie Santarpios of East Boston being my favorite. .I don’t have to go that far anymore for my new favorite pizza! Real sausages hand cut. How do I know you ask? I had the pleasure of being introduced to the owner by his grandmother who was the little Italian lady who greeted us! David the owner told us he just purchased the restaurant at the end of July and the first thing he did was change the pizza! Good choice DAVID!!! I asked him why are the portions so big and he turned to his grandmother and said to me, «that’s how Italians do it!!» Go big or go home! In a nut shell this place was amazing, definitely lives up to its slogan, north shores best kept secret! Oh… did I mention that our meal was under $ 30! Ya… real veal, salad, 3 drinks, a pizza and some of the nicest people I have come across in a long time! I highly recommend this place! You won’t be disappointed! Don’t be swayed by the old negative comments! New owner! New atmosphere! New beginning! Thanks Pacini’s for an amazing night of food and laughs! I will never get his name because we share it!

I have been ordering from Pacinis for over a year. I have always loved the food. Wraps, subs and Pizza were great. Usually takes a little over 45 minutes for delivery but it was always worth it because the food WAS great. So today my boyfriend and I were in the mood for Ham and cheese subs today 90 minutes later the food arrives. 1. Ham and cheese sub was warm. 2. cheep ham it still had the rhind on… tomatoes, pickles were huge Pacini’s didn’t even take time to chop veggies. The veggies belonged on a kabob on the grill they were so big. 3. we each got about 2 slices of ham in the whole sub «honey ham». Well this will be the last time we order. ADVICE don’t bother ordering new owner I think ?? and he/​she does NOT care.

I came here for dinner on a Sunday with family. It’s pretty a small restaurant with many 10 tables and a counter for ordering pizza to-​go. We ordered a couple dishes to share and a pizza. The prosciutto pizza was very good with a thin, crispy, and flavorful crust and fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. The chicken ala pacini was too oily and the asparagus in the dish was mostly the woody (not trimmed) ends. Last dish was chicken Marsala, which was decent no real complaints there.
The service was okay, one young server was taking care of all the tables. Beware they don’t serve alcohol — yep, no wine! The servings are very big so bring an appetite and the bread served before the meal was very good, but I would not say this place is up to par with north end Italian food.

Pacini’s is awesome! My husband and I decided to try this place out after looking for some good italian food and reading other reviews here on Unilocal!We were pretty surprised at how awesome the prices are and how tasty the food was! we have now been here twice, and have not been disappointed. Their fried calamari is wonderful! My husband has had two pasta dishes, I’ve had the eggplant rolatini and a grilled chicken salad with apples, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, and apples. The chicken on the salad was the best grilled chicken I have ever had! DELICIOUS! The staff are super friendly and so are other diners. Great experience, we will definitely be back!

Just in here now, what a great atmosphere, the have done over the whole dining area and it looks very authentic .
The food here is very fresh, I am here picking up a couple fresh salads, chilling listening to some great old music having a soda while waiting.
Very nice place, very affordable.

Their strawberry salad is really delicious and the pizza is really good. The only problem is that the location of this restaurant is really tucked in but I don’t like going to a crowded restaurant anyway.

Great place. Definitely recommend the grilled chicken pesto sandwich and the tiramisu.

We ordered catering for a party in our home. Pacinis exceeded our expectations .the food was delicious and plentiful. We ordered the brushetta, chicken fingers, garden and pasta salad, lasagna (best I have ever had) chicken Marsala. All of the food was excellent and a very good value. The staff were friendly and helpful. They allowed us to pick up before they opened so the food would be ready for our guests. We will definitely use them again. We froze the leftovers and will be enjoying this food for weeks to come!

Pacini’s is a little diamond in the rough. We have had Pacini’s cater alot of our parties and they have been tremendous, never a disappointment, always great food, great service! But. my ulitmate favorite is dining in. Not a big fancy restaurant, but the service is friendly, food is cooked to order, super fresh and its especially nice to be able to bring along a bottle of wine into the restaurant to enjoy with your dinner. Order anything off the menu and you will be happy! Love the antipasto salad, chicken ala pacini’s and the broccolli white garlic pizza. YUM!

Not ever coming back. My friend recommended this place but it was some of the worst food I have ever had. I got a something with two different kinds of pita wraps in one they had a béchamel and tomato sauces that both literally had no flavor what so ever, if you can’t even make a main mother sauce you really should reconsider entering the food industry, the pita on both tasted very stale. I also got a side of fries that were very cold and also tastes extremely stale. I know people will say this is a small fast food type place don’t expect much but if you going to try and be something more, as it looks with the menu, you better live up to it

Excellent pasta dishes and very good pizza.

Never knew this place existed when I received the mention the mail. I thought the portions were great, the food … Sub par. Wish I looked closer to the Chicken Nova in the menu. Who puts broccoli in a red sauce pasta? This dish was awful, the veal Parmesan was better, but no prize. I didn’t understand why my takeout dish was packaged veal parm down (so the cheese stuck to bottom of container, while the pasta sat on top. I threw away the menu and will continue taking my business across the street at Garden City Pub.

Pacini’s is a very casual place serving Classic Italian & modern dishes, as well as, pizza, calzones, & paninis – inconsistent cooking, but generous portions & value. Service is also inconsistent over the number of times we’ve dined there: the waitstaff is so busy, but personable, knowledgeable, & very accommodating. However, sometimes they are too busy or forgetful.
Among a few dishes that really piqued our interest, we chose Beef & Four Cheese Rigatoni. Beef was tenderly braised – good, however it was too salty one time & we think we’ll try it w/​a pasta other than the store bought stuffed rigatoni. *They cook to order as long as they have the ingredients!
Eggplant Manicotti is similar to a traditional eggplant rollatini, but maybe needs a little more creaminess &/​or more spice perhaps. Chicken Gorgonzola was interesting w/​chicken, spinach, asparagus, roasted red peppers & fettucini finished w/​an Alfredo sauce& gorgonzola cheese (what a strong twist that adds.)
We can also recommend the Chicken Ala Pacini which comes as a generous dish (choice of lunch, $ 8.50, or dinner $ 10.50 portions) of sauteed chicken w/​artichokes, asparagus, roasted red peppers in a creamy pesto sauce w/​penne. Satisfying & a great value.
We do Not recommend the Mussels nor the Caesar Salad which was just chopped lettuce sprinkled w/​store Parmesan cheese & store dressing.
Also delicious, rich, & a great value was the Chicken, Broccoli w/​Fettucine & Alfredo Sauce ($ 8.75÷11.75). They do a nice job cooking to order. Chicken tenders were sauteed w/​fresh broccoli & garlic, then tossed w/​egg noodle fettucine (at our request) & that rich, delicious sauce of butter, Parmesan Cheese, & heavy cream.
Be sure to check out their Daily Specials. Pacini’s has such a wide variety of paninis, salads, pasta specialties, chicken, beef & veal, & seafood dishes that we could have something different each time we’d dine w/​them & it would take us a while to get through the menu. The problems are the inconsistency of the service, the cooking, & the mechanical problems. The staff is so nice, we hope they resolve these issues.
Lunch, dinner, Family-​style, take-​out, delivery, & catering

I used to be a huge fan of this place. My wife and I would frequent Pacini’s regularly, and were always ecstatic over the pricing, portion size, and quality of the food. I didn’t think it could get any better this far from the North End.
The last time we went, I was thoroughly disappointed. I think they either changed ownership, or got a new cook, because the quality wasn’t the same. For example, the Mediterranean Pasta was baked and incredibly greasy, compared to when it was tossed in a light scampi-​like sauce. On top of that, the portions had been cut in half. One of the reasons we loved this place was that they gave you a couple of meals worth for really good pricing. Now, I don’t think we’ll go there again.
Casa De Luca is much better, even if it is a couple dollars more expensive p/​dish

Very good food. This place is a hidden gem.
One always has to start with the sauce because that’s the foundation of any good Italian restaurant. Their marinara is as good as anything you’ll get in the North End. I was very pleased. I grew up with Italian grandparents, so very few restaurants can hold a candle to grandma. Their ravioli was very good and fresh. The pizza is very good; I like thin crust — it could have been a bit thinner, but compared to what you get in this area, I’ll take it. Their eggplant parm is also wonderful. I would definitely give it a try if you haven’t.
The only downside — really for them — is the location. I wouldn’t have known it existed if I didn’t get their flyer in the mail.