The pastas were great! Portions were huge as well. I liked the Al Dente Gnocchi! The restaurant seems popular but it was slightly noisy.

One of the staples of the north end in Boston. Al dente is a place I have gone to for so many years and have always loved the service, food, and prices relative to the rest of the neighborhood. I have come here for dinners and lunches alike. The appetizers and salads are quite normal. The bruschetta is a highlight for sure. Al dente wins with their drinks - sangria and their wine selection - and their main courses. Highlights for the main courses include their lobster ravioli - best in boston! - their chicken dishes, and their handmade pasta specials. More than that, Al dente definitely encapsulates the wonderful atmosphere in little Italy of Boston. It's almost always full, but you can always get a table, or order in if you cannot venture out (delivery and pickup options available). The staff is so fun and they give adults lemoncello with the check. Overall, love this place and hope to visit again soon!

Get your money well spent at Al Dente! There are definitely many other great Italian restaurants in the North end and I can’t say that Al Dente has the best pasta ever. But I can say that the service here is absolutely phenomenal!! Staff is very friendly and your water will always be refilled. Called in advance and they were able to make space and seat my large group of 15. There are also so many options to choose from and food is priced reasonably. Food came out quickly and enjoyed my time here

This is a great Italian restaurant. The servings are very generous. I ordered a minestrone soup thinking it will come in a small bowl but it was a large portion. The taste was refreshing and fresh. I also ordered a fettucine pasta in a pesto sauce. This probably had very little or no salt, so I had to help myself with salt. Looking forward to going here again next time I visit Boston

What a great restaurant in the north end. The food here is to die for and the quality of the food is really high. You don’t pay a really high price for the food which is great compared to other high-end Italian restaurants in the north end. Please I would recommend you make sure you have a reservation as the wait can be hours long if you do not. Also when you’re waiting for your table you wait outside but Mike make sure you feel welcome upon arrival. The service here is great as well and they give you a lemon cello at the end of the meal.

A lovely cozy italian restaurant, tucked away in the heart of the North End. The atmosphere feels straight out of a movie with the busy street outside and the calm, peaceful, and sophisticated interior. I got the Linguine Carbonara and my friend ordered the Fettucine Pesto. Both of these were more than delicious, they were an experience to consume. The waitstaff was very friendly and the price is extremely fair for the quality of food and service. Would highly recommend with a fat seal of approval.

Great food. Shared 3 appetizers to have variety. Had the eggplant rollatini, shrimp scampi, and steamed mussels. All were delicious! Highly recommended.

Huge portions! Excellent food. The vodka tomato sauce is amazing. Loved the eggplant parmesan. The lobster ravioli was also excellent. Bread brought to the table complimentary. Moderate size wine list with great choices of Italian wines. Paired/shared ownership with the restaurant next door (sharing a bathroom and kitchen). Same owner for both places. Al Dente is the classic Italian restaurant. Next door is the trendy and upscale restaurant with the same food. Both places feel like something special-even on a Wednesday. Kitchen is run by cooks from El Salvador who know Italian food and sauces. Portions are huge and I should have saved half for later. Complimentary cream limoncello to end the meal. If food is the goal, this place has whatnot takes.

A hidden jewel in the north end! Delicious soup, pasta was very good! The bread was a little hard, such a great service, the lemon cello was a plus.

The quality of service is amazing! Michael and the owner Joe are both great guys and keep everything authentic Italian and relaxing. Ordered the Veal Valentino last night and got to say by far the best Veal Valentino I've ever had. Also love the outside seating!!! Highly recommended

Great reviews, figured we'd check it out. Had to wait for a table, small place. Once in, service was quick. Bread was cold and stale. Food was good, few pastas and a salad. Never saw our server again once food was brought. Overall, not bad at all.

This place was incredible. My family and I enjoyed a solid Italian dinner with exceptional service.

Easily my new favorite Italian place in the North End. The service was absolutely incredible. Our waitress was hilarious and sold us on the homemade pasta. It was probably the best Alfredo and pasta I have ever had. We will be going back again and again.

The best tasting food, flavor 11. We went there the day before my birthday and ended up there again for my birthday. Incredible.

5 stars for this wonderful little restaurant right in the heart of the North End! We have been to Beneventos a few times which has the same owner as Al Dente but we were looking to try something new. We had a fabulous waitress, Joanna. She was humorous, super friendly and on top of her stuff! For appetizers we ordered calamari and spinach crepes. Calamari is a North End staple but the crepes were something fun to try. As for the main course we ordered chicken milanese, chicken marsala, chicken umberto and lobster ravioli. Great quality and great portions! Apps + food are a little pricy but very typical for the North End. Also they validate parking which is a HUGE bonus!

Had the Primavera with linguine... too much water in the plate that diluted all the flavor. Essentially got a plate of linguine, vegetables and cloudy water with zero flavor. They didn't offer the cheese as advertised in the menu - had to ask for it. All in all not representative of what one would expect in the North End. Oh, and if two of you go to dinner and just want to share a salad, be prepared for an uptick in the price unless you order more food. To their credit, I had a tasty meatball sandwich for lunch once which prompted me to try dinner...

Both my husband and I said this was our favorite meal during our time in Boston. I got the ravioli with marinara and he got the shrimp scampi. Cute little place and the staff was very nice. Great amount of food for the price!

What an exceptional establishment, with excellent Italian cuisine. Fresh, home made pasta with decadent additions. I loved their Chicken Umberto (on special) it was one of the best pasta dishes that I have had in years; juicy chicken, sautéed spinach, crisp cheese on top, served over their home made pasta. I absolutely recommend coming to this restaurant hungry as their servings are massive!

We made a reservation for 19:30, and arrived right on time, we were told to wait a few minutes outside. There were many people waiting outside some with reservations and others without. It took half an hour until we actually sat down Inside, so I assume the reservation only puts you first in line when you arrive, this of course Is NOT how reservations should work. The inside of the restaurant was packed (Saturday evening) and super loud, we could barely hear each other and the waitress. We ordered food and wine, pumpkin ravioli as a starter which was very good, and then our main dishes arrived and they were huge. Pretty much everyone walks out of here with a doggy bag because of the size of the dishes, too bad most of them aren't really that good. We got their house specialty gnocchi and it was like a tomato sauce soup, way too much and not good quality. We also got a chicken dish with "risotto" (actually just rice with some red pepper and cheese) on a gorgonzola cream, I could barely taste the gorgonzola in the cream Which was a big letdown. The prices are definitely high but since the dishes are huge it makes more sense I guess?

Amazing Italian food! We loved both dishes we tried, the Gnocchi Al Dente and Tortellini in Vodka sauce. We also tried both the red and white sangrias, very tasty. Would highly recommend and we plan to return.

food was fresh, tasty, and came in huge portions. highly recommend the bruschetta! i sat outside since the interior ambiance wasn’t super impressive. the service system was a little strange too. there was a hostess who sat us down and waited outside to greet customers, but she could not take orders from the customers seated outside? she always had to call the waitress over whenever we requested something. service was somewhat slow, but not bad.

Got the shrimp and scallop with vodka sauce. The seafood never misses here. Plus the outdoor seating and sangria made it fantastic altogether. The complimentary lemoncello shots helped too

Joanna my server was working harder than any other server I have ever seen. She had awesome recommendations and knew there menu well. The restaurant offered homemade pasta which was so delicious. The only downfall was a very basic salad which just included, iceberg, onion and tomatoes.

Everything about this place was excellent (except one thing). The location couldn't be better, the restaurant could not be more charming, and the food was delicious. The only reason I did not rate this place a five star is because of the server we had. I believe she said her name was Marion and she was inattentive, she disappeared, and when she'd reappear she was short and abrupt when asked for things like more water, salt & pepper, and more napkins. Fortunately she did manage to bring us our dinners steaming hot.

The food here is better than average, though not the best I've had, and the portions are huge. The roasted fig salad was delicious. Overall, it's pretty good for the price (relative to other North End restaurants). However, our server and one other in the small restaurant were wearing their masks around their chins, which is unnerving during the current Delta variant peak in the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, they refused to accept my Discover card as payment, although they accept AmEx, which is more costly to the merchant. One would think a restaurant would accept all forms of payment, especially after having had to struggle through the past 18 months of pandemic. I will be patronizing any of the other North End restaurants that accept Discover cards, rather than coming back to Al Dente.

Nice little Italian American place off the Freedom Trail. Cute little patio along the narrow street out front. Large portions. Choice of pasta type to match with sauces, including fresh pasta options.

Was recommended by the Hotel Concierge ..was not wrong. Great Italian that does not bust the budget. The Chef made a special order of lobster ravioli topped with fresh calamari…. Was so good. Great place good people! He even complimented us with two free wine infused chocolate after dinner drinks. What a pleasant experience!

After not being able to get a reservation at the more popular Italian restaurants on Hanover, we stumbled across this place and are so glad we did. The food was outstanding! The service was on par, as well. Annette was fabulous. My husband got the shrimp scampi, and i got their homemade gnocchi with vodka sauce. Maybe some of the best vodka sauce we have ever had! We will definitely recommend!

Amazing food, the Lobster Ravioli was definitely a highlight here. Staff were great, very polite and friendly. Will most definitely visit this place again when in Boston!

A fantastic, authentic Italian dinner in the famous North End. Our waitress, Angela, entertained the entire restaurant with her charisma and humor as we splurged on the decadent lobster ravioli. A great, reasonably priced spot to have a delicious Italian dining experience with a splash of pure Boston charm. I cannot wait to come back again!

Authentic Italian cuisine place that serves excellent quality pasta. Recently got the carbonara with veal, eggplant rollatini, and seafood saffron risotto, and everything was superb. Minimal seasoning for all the dishes definitely highlighted the natural flavors of the ingredients, and pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. I was especially glad to finally find a place that does carbonara properly. Instead of using the creamy sauce, they used a mix of egg yolks, parmasean, and bacon in perfect ratio. Risotto wasn't the best I tried in North End, but I was still impressed with the amount of seafood they packed in the dish. Looking forward to trying more of their pasta dishes in the future.