Lilly’s Gourmet Pasta Express

Wow. I’m writing this review while it’s still amazing in my head (and stomach). We have ordered from Lilly’s several times. The chicken picatta is very good. The lobster ravioli is very good. Tonight, the husband and I decided to make our own pasta — choose the pasta, the sauce and the toppings. Both of us thought our «creations» were amazing… I’ll definitely be ordering this again soon.

This is for the Lilly’s in Everett and Allston, since I’ve ordered from both.
Lilly’s Butternut Squash Ravioli is off the chain.
It’s one of those meals where it tastes just enough like a dessert to be something you crave, but has enough nutrition to justify eating it for dinner. Butternut Squash inside ravioli is like a distant cousin of a Cannoli. Does that make any sense?
I like the variety of selections you can add to a meal, like carmelized onions or sausage or eggplant Parmesan.
OK, so one time we DID have delivery issues (see all these other venemous reviews, jeeez). But every other time service has been quick enough and the delivery guy I usually see is pretty affable, even though our interaction only lasts about ten seconds at most. Maybe the delivery /​quality issues have more to do with the Allston location?
I guess I’ve had better quality sauce, but overall this is a pretty decent deal when you’re craving solid Italian food and don’t want to put down the dough for a romantic dining experience where you feel obligated to keep the wine flowing into your cup and the dollars out of your pocket so that you can have that PERFECT evening. Yes, lily’s is different.

I ordered from these guys twice, both times I was in Chelsea and got delivery. The delivery was quick enough and the food arrived warm. Not piping hot, but it didn’t need to be heated up, and it was goddamn cold outside.
The first time, it was absolutely amazing and fantastic. I got an eggplant dish, which doesn’t appear to be on the menu anymore, at least not on Foodler. It was awesome, and I can’t understand why it’s not there anymore! I think if you go directly to their website you can still order it, but wtf.
The second and most recent time I ordered, I got chicken parm since I couldn’t find the eggplant. It tasted good, but was pretty standard really, nothing special. Yes, the fusilli was delicious, and the sauce was nice. But it lacked the zomg factor that was present the first time I had them. Maybe they lost interest? Where has the magic gone, Lilly?

I ordered via Foodler and perhaps that was my mistake. The food was delivered a half hour later than predicted, which would be okay since Everett to Somerville is NOT a short jaunt, however, everything I DID get was cold, and there was an entire appetizer that didn’t even make it. The caramel sauce for the apple ravioli amounted to a teaspoonful, and the order of sweet potato fries was rather tiny for the price. There WAS plenty of butternut squash ravioli and once reheated in the micro was pretty tasty. To their credit when I called to complain they offered to send me another meal, but it was a rather annoying experience overall. I would say that I might go there in person and eat in, but I will not order for delivery again. Perhaps the distance, perhaps someone just dropped my pesto bread on the floor and didn’t bother to replace it, but mostly tasty stuff.

We had some friends over last night, and they wanted to get take-​out, and Lilly’s was the first place that popped into my head. I had read good reviews on here, so I thought we should try it out. I went to the website, which is super user-​friendly and easy to navigate. The menu was quite extensive, with all kinds of appetizers, subs, pasta dishes, and pasta specials. We decided what we wanted, placed the order through Foodler (first time!), and waited for the food to be delivered to our door.
But then the phone rang, and it was Lilly’s. The guy was very apologetic, but said that they weren’t doing deliveries that day, and that he couldn’t get in touch with Foodler to tell them to shut off deliveries. So we had to go and pick up the food, which really wasn’t a big deal since the place is only 2.2 miles from our crib.
The mister arrived back home with our food. We had gotten the porcini mushroom ravioli and the gnocchi with very hot spicy sauce. Our friends got a chicken BLT sub and the fried ravioli. Each of our pasta dishes came with side salads, and the sub came with a side of fries. All of the food was good. The ravioli was tasty, and certainly didn’t taste like regular ol’ takeout. The gnocchi itself was mediocre, but the sauce was actually spicy, which was nice. Our friends enjoyed their food as well, as did their little daughter, who was chowing down on the fried ravioli.
When we get takeout, we usually opt for Joti Palace in Malden, but now that we know Lilly’s is good, we’ll add it to the list. And I loved the whole Foodler experience — wicked easy to use and no need to talk to anyone on the phone (under normal circumstances). Plus they gave us 30% off of our order since it was our first order, and it ended up only costing us $ 33 for all that food. So that was a score.

I just have to say a little something about a partcular dish of theirs… Lilly’s Eggplant. If you like eggplant but are always disappointed by the breaded, fried, and tasteless crap you get at other places, you will LOVE this dish. Humongous pile of lightly floured/​fried eggplant with very little cheese and great fresh tasting sauce. Don’t skip this dish!

The boy and I ordered from here at 10pm after an exhausting hot yoga class. They currently have a buy one pasta, get the 2^nd pasta dish off and also get a free 20oz soda deal going on at
. With tip and everything, the lovely dinner came out to just a cool $ 20.
As many reviewers said, the Cajun Alfredo sauce, which I had with fettucine, prosciutto bits, and broccoli, was TO DIE FOR! One caveat: I felt like I was cutting chunks off a solid cajun cream pasta cake. I didn’t mind too much as I was starving and it tasted great, but if you’re particular about the texture of your pasta, then you might not find that to your liking.
The boy’s pasta was a tad watery, and it seemed as the pasta wasn’t drained enough before being tossed with sauce.

The chicken parm baguette is the perfect hangover sandwich. Their salads are huge and the dressings taste like they might not have come out of a bottle.
Foodler delivers to your hangover. Order from Lilly’s, you won’t regret it.

Like other people I ordered through foodler. I ordered a few of their subs as well as some fries. The actual food was decent, although the fries were cold and a little soggy. The sandwiches were also slightly soggy, but they tasted fairly good (3.5 stars). It took them two hours to deliver, though, and they were unresponsive on the phone when I called them after an hour to see if they were coming soon (estimated delivery time was 40 minutes). I would give it two stars, but the food was really a good deal for the price. Even so, I probably wouldn’t order from here again.

I’m surprised to see this place has two low-​star reviews because I love it. LOVE it. I order from them through Foodler. Their tomato sauces are tart and fresh tasting, their alfredo sauces (especially Cajun) are cheesy and comforting. Their tiramisu is unbelievable. I do agree that the pasta is a little on the doughy/​chewy side, but seriously, that’s a tiny complaint. Lilly’s brings precious, precious carbs covered in yummy sauces to my door in like twenty minutes and the food is always still hot.

ordered on Foodler twice–
Both times the fresh pasta was too thick and not cooked enough– fresh pasta is supposed to be tender and delicate– this is thick and doughy and does not taste fresh. Not impressed at all–
Other ingredients besides pasta are pretty good quality but for a place with «pasta» in the title shouldn’t they be doing pasta well?

I’ve only ordered once, but it was awesome! They’re on
, so if you order there you get a first-​time customer 30% discount which is great, but it knocked me down under the $ 12 delivery minimum. I wanted the mushroom ravioli. On Foodler, you have all these options to add things to your dish — its awesome. I added chicken and broccoli, but didn’t quite make it to the minimum. I added spinach and extra mushrooms. Almost, but not quite, so I added sundried tomatoes and I finally reached the min. OMG it was soooooo delicious! I’ll definitely order again.

I was a little annoyed my first delivery took a little over an hour after I ordered because I was HUNGRY… but when the food came it was sooooo piping hot I forgot all about that, plus they are in Everett and I’m in Somerville — so I was mostly just happy it was so hot! How did they do that?
The Verdict:
tasty garlic bread!
fried calamari — it was ok, but a little chewy
lobster ravioli — pretty good, but not enough sauce on it — I wanted some more sauce
Chicken Parm — also pretty good (not as good as the lobster IMO)
I will be ordering from here again.