Toscano

Classy vibes, good food, very attentive service, also not too loud. In short, great for a nice dinner date!
Dishes I’d recommend:
— The grilled salmon! So juicy and flavorful, complete with a beautifully crispy skin. Quite possibly the best salmon I’ve had in Boston. It’s paired with a few lonely stalks of asparagus, but they’re also cooked/​seasoned well. I’m a fan!
— The Penne dish with Tuscan meat sauce also had amazing flavors (bold, rich, and meaty), and the pasta was cooked to a just-​right texture.
— Tiramisu for dessert was really good and not overly sweet. The presentation is unique — resembles ice cream scoops in a martini glass.
Overall a great experience — will come back to try their lunch sometime. I’ve also tried their Restaurant Week menu, which is really affordable and good — definitely go during then if you can.

I was going to make reservations for tomorrow night. But the bad reviews about the service scare me away.

It’s not the food as much as it is the service staff that make me write this review. It’s my second time here, and the first wasn’t any better in terms of service. I’m surprised that other reviewers have listed similar disappointment with the questionable service and it doesn’t seem to have improved. As others have said, FOH can be aloof (I’d even go so far as to say snotty — but I don’t know why, I don’t see this restaurant as a five star fine dining establishment). It was a Thursday night dinner, so it was slightly busy. Three things occurred that moved me to leave this review:
1. Our server didn’t make eye contact with us at all while speaking to us about popular dishes. His eyes were wandering over his section or to the wall. In the middle of telling us the favorites on the menu, he just walked off leaving the conversation hanging. In fact he walked off quite a bit even when dropping off food, instead of asking is there anything else we’d like he walked off before we ordered more drinks.
2. When I asked if a particular white wine was good, the server who bought over our bread remarked «I’m not experienced in wines». That’s fine, but I would think working in a Italian restaurant with an extensive list of wines servers could be getting that training or you could have at least found someone with some experience in wine to drop by our table to recommend something.
3. We weren’t told about the specials of the night. The only reason I know there were any is because I heard the table next to ours being recited a list of dishes… this happened in the middle of our appetizer after our order had already been taken.
Now Thursday night was busy, but not as busy as a weekend night… which makes me question how prepared the servers are to help customers.
Food wise, I enjoyed the calamari app. I also liked the branzino and the seafood risotto. The tiramisu was ok.

Nice atmosphere, decent food, but service has room for improvement.

I feel like my overall experience was worth 4 stars, but picked apart into its components I’m leaning more towards 3.5 or so. Generally speaking the restaurant has a warm, homey ambience, and our waiter was excellent– just the right amount of attentiveness and flawless service. When we noted that we were having trouble deciding on which pasta options to choose he let us know about their splitting policy, which was exactly what we needed. So bravo for the experience. On to the food…
The flatbread that started the meal was mediocre– a bit flabby, and the flavor was too yeasty– someone proofed it too long before baking.
I split my plate between the Rigatoni Toscano (double-​smoked bacon in a tomato cream sauce) and the Linguine with Lump Crab. The rigatoni was my favorite of the night. It came with a generous helping of bacon, which I savored every bite of, and the sauce was perfectly seasoned. Fantastic. The linguine was not as good– my first bite had a nice hit of red pepper to complement the crab and tomatoes, but the rest was pretty bland. Not much sauce, not much flavor– not worth getting again.
My husband split his plate between a risotto with house-​made sausage, and tagliatelle with Bolognese bianco. I didn’t much care for the risotto (too watery, not creamy/​starchy enough), though the sausage was good. The tagliatelle was good– the bolognese flavor came through nicely, and the amount of sauce was perfect.
We had tiramisu for dessert, and while it comes nicely presented as a scoop in a martini glass, the texture and flavor left much to be desired. Tiramisu is supposed to be made with custard and mascarpone, while this was clearly a cornstarch-​thickened pastry cream. It was too thick (probably intentional to maintain the scoop shape) and didn’t have much flavor other than general sweetness. Not much coffee flavor in the dessert at all, and I missed the bitterness of coffee and the traditional garnish of bitter chocolate on top, that wasn’t present here. I wouldn’t order it again, though I bet it would make a great ice cream.
Anyway, I would probably come here again, probably in summer when I could rely on really good tomatoes (I held off on ordering the caprese or bruschetta, figuring winter tomatoes suck), but I’d be more careful in my ordering. I’m sure with the right choices this could be a really great meal.

This is a lovely restaurant and I had a lovely, low-​key lunch her with my husband before the Christmas madness. My husband and I split the Caprese Salad. It is so nice to have this kind of salad with its fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and balsamic dressing in the winter time to evoke lovely memories of summer time in Italy. My main cross was the special for the day which was a cod lightly grilled with a lemon sauce and roasted potatoes. The cod was perfect, cooked through and very light. I am not a big fan of roasted potatoes so I could have done without them. We finished with a cappuccino and dessert. It is definitely not a place you can go in a rush but more so when you have time for a leisurely lunch,

Location, location, location. The prime location in Harvard Square is Toscano’s most valuable asset. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the food. I went with coworkers for a holiday lunch, and must say that food wise Bertucci’s is a much better Italian restaurant. While the restaurant was crowded, I feel that this is mainly due to the location (tourists, etc). The bread was mediocre at best. Same for the main courses. The ambiance tries to paint a fairly high end place, but the experience doesn’t live up to it. Don’t plan on returning, and thankful my company paid.

Solid Italian restaurant in Cambridge. We came here during the holidays and it was packed and noisy, but the ambiance was cozy and the food was on point.
Some standouts included the pizza, which was made with a really thin and soft crust. My husband loved the Rigatoni with homemade sausage and truffle cream. I opted for the scallop dish and thought it was tasty, although the scallops were a tad overcooked for my preference. The burrata appetizer is also really good and not to be missed!

I’ve been a half half-​dozen times, and can only convey Toscano is completely A-​OK, if a one dish destination.
She’s a massive fan of the Rigatoni Toscano, that unctuous, smokey, salty plate of warmth. Bacon, smoke, tomato cream, more smoke, house-​made pasta — good for a hangover, first date, biz meeting, whatever. I like it; most love it.
Toscano splits full portions, which is ideal for indecisive tasters like me who benefit from a half Orecchiette Vitello, half Pappardelle Bolognese Blanco for the full entrée price of $ 22. The convenience is more compelling than the otherwise decent pastas and sauces. The bread basket delivers day olds (or, at best, morning of), as some pieces were rock hard.
It’s not just the bread that’s cold. FOH have been both warm and congenial, and alarmingly aloof on separate visits. Once it started at the host stand, which set the tone for the entire evening.
Overall, it’s a fine option for Italian in Harvard Square. I’ve never been wowed.

It’s closed to the Harvard square. Street parking on sides. I think it is a part of the adult education center. Open in the afternoon
The decoration is good. High end, great light. They have a nice reservation system. You can feel the class even from the menus folder.
I came here for the pasta so I ordered only just that. It was fine. However I can’t say it was a pleasant experience. My waiter D, greeted me 10min after I seated. He has a very bad attitude. He collected my plates and bread basket while I was still working on them. For a couple of times, he was so impatient that he even asked someone else to bring me my dish and check. It was the least I have ever tipped.

I was really excited to come here because I had heard great reviews about the place. I was very impressed by the first waiter who sat us down — he was extremely welcoming and we made him aware that we were there for drinks and a couple of appetizers.
Unfortunately the waitress who waited on us was incredibly rude. She immediately forgot our drink order but told us she had only been there for a couple weeks (so that was understandable) but then she was very short with our orders, and tried hinting at us to leave multiple times after we had already paid for the bill and left a generous tip. She was clearing our plates early on and never re-​filled the bread basket or bothered to ask. She brought our bill fairly early on and came back quickly after to see if we had put a card or cash In yet. There was no line the entire time we were there. At 7:05 she told us there was a 7:30 reservation so we should be aware of that… Again, there was no line and there were multiple tables open. I just felt very rushed throughout the entire experience.
Honestly, great wine selection and delicious food. I would not come back here because of the horrible service.

Ordered the smoked salmon appetizer to share, rigatoni special (veal, prosciutto, etc), and the tiramisu. My friend ordered the basic rigatoni that is on the menu. The dinner was nothing special, I would neither recommend nor discourage someone from eating here. However, it should be noted that there are definitely better Italian restaurants in Boston. Though I am not sure about Harvard Square in general.
I found the portions rather small for dinner. Both of us were able to finish our entire plate of pasta, when usually I would be struggling to eat it all. There was also not as much meat as I would have liked in my dish. The salmon appetizer was ok, kind of wished we got something else. And the tiramisu had more filing than cake.
Overall there was nothing spectacular about this restaurant. Maybe if the service had been outstanding I would be more impressed. Our waitress was kind but came off condescending when answering our questions. At one point I asked her how to pronounce a menu item and she said she didn’t know any Italian, which is fine but I feel like as a waitress she should at least know how to pronounce the items she is serving.
Ambiance: intimate, romantic

My favorite parts: the wine, the ambiance, and leaving.
I thought the lady bartender was very unfriendly, borderline rude in her tone/​manner. She had a hurried way about her, and that is so NOT my style. Upon arrival we were provided with a lunch menu and we ordered the braised calamari (delicious, actually) appetizer to share. Then, my mother mentioned that she wanted some sort of seafood pasta. I said I needed a few minutes, but when I decided on the pollo milanese, she fired back with «too late,» and then gave me a dinner menu instead. Price was not my concern, but it was odd that my mother and I would be treated so differently. We were in the same party, arrived at the same time, and shared the same bill. Somehow my mother was allowed a lunch item, and I was not.
The second bartender was nicer, and he made some small talk with us when I told him we would like a doggy bag (quite seriously for the dog). There was a large bone on my plate and he said he would be sure to save the bone for Max (my mother’s pseudo husband). Upon arriving, there was no bone, and my mom was devastated. «How would he feel?» she exclaimed.
I will leave you with this: How would a man feel if he didn’t get the bone he paid for?

My only regret is that I didn’t eat more! Our group of 5 visited Tuscano after a work happy hour so we had already eaten a few appetizers and decided to dive straight into entrees. I had the Rigatoni Toscano with double smoked bacon and cream — amazing! The pasta had the perfect amount of bite and the sauce was incredible. Great service and loved the overall experience.

Just came here for some appetizers. We were seated at the corner of the bar. Caprese and Calamari made me happy. Of course, they were complimented by a glass of Orvieto. A wonderful little snack.

I had an appointment in Harvard Square and decided to go for a nice lunch. I came here on a recommendation from a friend. It wasn’t too crowded and the long windows were wide open on a lovely summer day.
The bread starter with olive oil was okay, but different. The bread was like a flatter focaccia bread with a bit of a cornbread texture inside. It wasn’t bad but a little unexpected.
I went for the linguine vongalo, as I can be a sucker for linguine with clams. The portion is not bad for lunch and I’m not a large carb-​loader anymore anyway. The clams were nicely arranged and not overcooked. The pasta was al dente and not mushy at all.
Service was pretty polite though maybe tried a little too hard to be personable. One waiter I had just seemed a bit too awkward but it was a nice attempt. The classy and intimate environment makes this a comfortable spot for a night out or a date. You’re paying for the ambiance and location.
(grazie, Stacey)

Why does this place insist on stalking their patrons? I BARELY finished my meal — still taking my last bite and the waiter is already asking if he can take my plate off my table. No! My family is still eating theirs, and also I want to scrape my plate with bread!
I’ve never gotten a friendly face from any of the managers at the front — except for the really tall, dark gentleman. Not sure if he’s still working there.
At the end of the night, we asked for our bill and the waiter brings it, we pay. He hands the booklet back to us and tells us to enjoy our evening, and then instead of letting us be, he starts cleaning the table. And I don’t mean clearing plates — oh no, those were long gone by now. I mean, he gets out a little razor/​scraper thing and starts brushing the crumbs on the table into his hands… What??? Just let us leave the table first before you force us to move our bodies so you can get some measly crumbs off the table. They weren’t even busy, so I don’t understand the urgency in this place.
Service is just plain WEIRD for such a fancy place.

When I came here the server Adrian was the absolute best. He served us with respect and friendly.
I loved bruschetta as an appetizer especially the tomatoes and cheese. I had an eggplant for meal and I think it was one of the best egg plant I had. This meal goes well with moscato d’asti or a dessert wine! I would come here again.

Awesome ambiance. Awesome service (Robinson, I’m looking at you!) AWESOME OYSTERS!!!
THE BEST OYSTERS WE HAVE HAD IN A LONG TIME AND WE HAVE HAD SOME GOOD OYSTERS!
I think you just need to head out to Toscano for lunch or dinner and get the Caprese salad with their amazing Balsamic di Modena dressing drizzled on top. They have the best balsamic this side of Italy. I am telling you! It’s so good.
Their cocktails are so good that my fiancé decided to get four negronis. FOUR. He didn’t even want wine after!
I love their Pellegrino, with lime and no ice. Makes me feel like I am drinking a cocktail but I have to drive home so no drinks for me.
They do have an extensive wine list and cocktail menu, if that is your thing you should give Toscano a try.
Their rigatoni is really good and so is their spaghetti pomodoro. Those are my two favorite items.
This is place is almost identical to the one on Beacon Hill, which will always have a place in my heart as that is where I used to go a decade and a half ago back in the day with my fiancé (the boyfriend) we loved it.
This one in Harvard sq is great too and walking distance from my office.
See you soon, Toscano and Robinson!

Food: 4 Stars
Service: 4 Stars
Toscano is a decent italian place, (formal /​sit down) in Harvard Square. It is a little bit on the pricier side but the quality of both service and the food is high. Their pastas are freshly made and they even allow you to pair together different half plates of pastas if you want a little more variety.
They have pizzas and traditional italian appetizers. We ordered a couple of their flatbreads to share for the table and it was a little bit too much. I found the flatbreads also a little bit lacking in flavor while they were fresh out of the oven. I think they could have paired the topping selections and quantities a little better.
Service is good as well and they can handle large groups fairly well.