Rino's Place - Boston

I came for my friend birthday as my two favorite foods are Lobster and pasta. I am bringing everyone I know here now as I will be their hero. The chicken parm was off the charts and they give you enough for two meals!

Had a wonderful evening here! It was close to where we were staying and is understated from the outside. Atmosphere is lively and authentic. Food was delicious and the serves were really big. We shared bolognese and veal volstana. Would love to go back and suggest it to anyone in the area.

So when you see a place that has this high a rating you wonder if it's a bit overhyped. It's not this place is flat out awesome.<br/ <br/ It's small and located in the middle of a residential area on a street corner. You probably wouldn't give it a second glance if you drive by, and it would be your loss.<br/ <br/ Inside it's small and cozy I imagine it's difficult to get a table on a weekend.<br/ <br/ The staff was very nice helpful and attentive. Kitchen service was excellent didn't have much of a wait.<br/ <br/ The food is amazing I had pasta al forno and it was incredible. Portions are huge I'm a big eater and didn't come close to finishing.<br/ <br/ It excellent value too about $35 for dinner and a couple of beers. Too good to pass up really. I wish I could stumble into such excellent meals every time out.

First of all, is it worth the wait? NOWe got there at 8pm while visiting Boston and without knowing anything about the restaurant the day before and there was 15 people already waiting more than an hour freezing outside, so we thought, why not? Should be worth it and we had a good time chatting while waiting with other customers. After waiting for exactly 2 hours, we finally got a table while trying not to have such a high expectation due to the long wait.I had the lobster ravioli and I have to say that it was pretty good, specially the sauce with fresh pieces of lobster on top of the ravioli and both the food and the plate arrived very worm to the table so thumbs up for that; but it had to much pepper, something that for a chef is as serious as putting too much salt, it's hard to fix when already served.We also had the gnocchi and unfortunately I must say it had too much flour given that they didn't melt in your mouth and were gummy, and stick to your teeth.Definitively, they do not pretend to be good on desserts since the Menu was quite reduced on that and none of them convinced us to try them.Finally, I was very disappointed with the wine Menu; we tried two Italian wines from Toscana and they were awful, I even returned the first one since its taste was very metallic...conclusion, pricy and bad quality selection of wines except maybe for the Malbec For Ever Young.The wait of 2 hours or more perhaps it is worth it for a Michelin starred restaurant, but not for this one. I am sure there are other Italian restaurants in Boston that won't make you wait that much and are much better in pasta, wines, desserts and service.

When visiting landmark restaurants in major cities, I try my best and temper expectations.  Everything I have heard and read about Rino’s in East Boston was that it was fantastic.  Here is a picture above of the street corner where it is located.  What you don’t see here are strip malls, huge parking lots, and flashy signs and lights.  It’s just your small neighborhood diner that has only about 10 tables in it.  Stepping into Rino’s you won’t see glitzy, commercial decoration, elaborate seating and tables, or a large bar area filled with ornate glasses.  What you will see is a dining area just big enough to sit a few dozen people, and a restroom you have to go through the kitchen and just past the dish washer to reach.  This is the type of place of legends.  They don’t let any of the glitz and glamour do the talking for them.  What they do is offer you some of the best Italian food  I personally have ever had, with service to boot.