Taranta

I was looking for a restaurant for my boss ( we are in Charlotte, NC) to take clients while in Boston. Often times I find this to be a challenge since reviews are often not true. I went out on a wing when I picked Taranta for my boss to take her clients too. When I arrived at work the following morning I received an email from my boss who was still in Boston raving about the food, the presentation of the food, the wait staff which was awesome and the lovely table Chef Duarte had set for them on the Patio.

Today, she came back into the office with the others who went with her to attend the meeting with our big client. All of the attendees raved about the food. The awesome pork chop that one attendee ate, the lobster ravioli and most of all the service, I could go on and on.

My recommendation would be to take a chance and select this restaurant, I am hoping to go to Boston soon and when I do I am going to go to Taranta.

Thank you Chef Duarte for making me shine from Charlotte, NC 8>)

Posted 08/06/08

This small italo-peruvian restaurant located in the heart of the North End knows exaclty what its doing. The cozy atmosphere is perfect for the food they server. There is a undisputable knowledge of both food styles that are blended with perfect synergy. Added to this, the service was superb. Our waiter was very good with wine and food suggestions. Even thou the wine list is very small they have some good choices in a wide range of prices.

If eating something different than linguini carbonara, spaghetti frutto di mare, or ?oqui four cheeses is what you are looking for this is the right place. Do not hesitate to try Taranta. This place definitely has lots of Soul.

Posted 01/13/08

I chose to take my girlfriend here in celebration of her birthday and was very pleased. We arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled reservation time but were seated promptly anyways. It's worth noting that this was a Wednesday night around 8 pm. Our waitress was eager and informative when it came to answering any questions we had on the menu, drinks, etc. She gave us ample time to decide on our food, explained some of the finer details of our choices, and let us be. The food was excellent - I recommend the pan-seared tuna dish of this season and especially their signature pork chop dish. The staff was extremely helpful when it came to me secretly requesting a piece of their chocolate tort with a candle for my girlfriend's birthday (the tort was also delicious). Also worth noting that their mixed drinks were tasty, creative, and strong, and complimented our meals elegantly. I will definitely be returning; this quality of food coupled with knowledgeable as well as friendly service is a real treat.

Pros: Service and food were excellent, very friendly staff.

Cons: I felt a bit crowded in the dining room

Posted 05/23/07

I went here with a few of my friends a couple of weeks ago and the food was absolutely amazing. The portions were huge but I can't complain because everything was so delicious. Our waiter was a little too eccentric for my taste but he provided excellent service despite how crowded it was. We arrived a little before our reservation so we went to LuLu's Bake Shoppe nearby (which I highly recommend!). The host was also apologetic for keeping us waiting, even though we had gotten there early. Great experience!!! If you are looking for a dessert, the limoncello flute was great!!! Definitely somewhere I will be going to again.

Make sure to visit LuLu's as well. They had this chocolate mousee type dessert in a chocolate cup that is one of the most AMAZING things I have ever eaten.

Pros: Wonderful food, wonderful service, friendly staff....

Cons: none

Posted 03/24/07

I, too, joined Goldfly for what we had hoped to be a fabulous dinner in the North End. As aforementioned, the service was slow, unfriendly, and unprofessional. If you prefer to avoid a night filled with negativity, I suggest not asking for bread, which will only result in a 2 min. lecture on when it will be received, ( only AFTER the order has been placed). In addition, one should not dare to request salt and pepper for their last then flavorful meal. Halfway through my luke warm chicken, the waitress finally came to the table, took the salt shaker and the pepper mill, thrust both at me, and told me to, "have fun." Then, after waiting for over 25 minutes for her to come collect our charge card, she failed to thank us, say goodbye, or even tell us to have a good night. But then again, why would she care, considering her guaranteed 20% tip off our 7 person party. She could have spilled our meal on us and still gotten her undeserved tip. In conclusion, we all agreed, a 25 cent Whopper at Burger King would have been more enjoyable- at least they would have made it our way.

Pros: nothing

Cons: everything

Posted 03/11/07

My girlfriends planned a girls night out last Saturday night, and we decided to try Taranta because of its great reviews. We arrived and the host told us to walk up to the 3rd floor, he did not show us the way (rude!). The seating was cramped, and the waitress was slammed--one waitress for the whole floor! She took too long to come over to us, and when we asked for bread after waiting too long, she snapped at us and told us we cant get bread until after we order. She brought us wine and spilled it over the table, and didnt clean it up!! red wine!! I ordered the raviolo special and got 4 pieces of ravioli and it was cold when it arrived. My friends got the chicken, and salmon. The salmon was burned and the chicken was dry and cold as well. For the amount of money we spent, the service was poor, the food was not great. I will not be dining there again, ever.

Pros: none

Cons: lighting, crowded, food, service

Posted 03/10/07

My family and I went to Tarnata this past Sat. night and had an awful experience. We had made a reservation for 7:30pm and even called ahead to make sure they have valet services and they said they personally do not but we could use Bricco's which is across the street. When we pulled up at Bricco the valet seemed annoyed and said they do not do valet for Tarnata. He valeted the car anyway. We checked in with the host at Taranta and when asked about the valet situation he made up some excuse . . . He proceeded to take us up to the 3rd floor to our table and let us know the bathrooms are on the basement in case we wanted to go before heading all the way up. Anyway, we got up to the 3rd floor only to find out that we were with a party of 16 and another party of 14 (we were a party of 5). They then sat a party of 6 next to us. We sat there for 25 min. before we even saw the waiter come up to the 3rd floor and we quickly realized that there was ONLY 1 WAITER FOR THE WHOLE FLOOR! Having worked in food service myself, I can tell you, that is not how you handle 2 large parties plus additional smaller parties. The waiter shouted that he would be over to us in a min. We ended up leaving, not without saying something about waiting for 30 min. before anyone even came over to the table (by the time we left still no one came over). The waiter continued to argue and say we had not been waiting that long at all - what nerve!! So we went down the street to Fiore and had a wonderful, energetic waitress and delicious food. I would NOT RECOMMEND TARANTA AT ALL! It was awful service and they were rude and not apologetic.

Cons: Ugly lighting, cramped seating, loud, POOR service

Posted 03/04/07

WAyyyyyy expensive, but very much worth the wait in lines anytime after 4 pm. Any pasta dish you order is gauranteed to be fully consumed.

Posted 01/10/07

I took my wife to Taranta for her birthday at the end of August. I read all these glowing reviews so we decided to give it a try as we both love fusion food. We went in the middle of the week and early (around 6) so the place was realtively empty. We were seated right away and was greeted by our waitress rigth away. She was great. She was so helpful and informative about the food. We ordered mussels and the special salad and they were delicious. For our main meals we order the pork chop and the steak. They were very good however not this fantastic meal that others have been writing about. I made a reservation on OptenTable and in the comment field mentioned that it was my wife's b-day. I never mentioned that again when we arrived however they mut have seen this and came to us with a candle for her when our desserts arrived (which were delicious). Like I said the service was great and loved the apps as well as the dessert but our mail meals were very good but not out of this world. I would recommend going there but I would not go anticipating this fabulous out of this world meal.

Pros: Apps

Cons: Mail Meals are Good but not out of this world

Posted 09/05/06

My Husband and I choose this restaurant after reading the reviews. We were looking for a spot to have a great dinner. We arrived for our reservation and were seated by the hostess/waitress. Our water glasses were filled and then we waited. We waited 10 minutes before our waiter came to our table. He said hello and then disappeared for another 10 minutes. When he came back we placed our order. He was unsure of what wine to recommend with our dishes. We ordered the antipasto tray which was great. Our main dishes came after what seemed like an eternity and were good but not great. I ordered the baked fusilli and my husband ordered the tilapia, as I said they were good but not great. Then the real waiting began. We waited over 30 minutes from when we put our forks down to when the waiter returned. He never came back to us to ask if we wanted more wine or even to ask us about our food. By the time he came back we asked for the check which took another 10 minutes to receive. For fear of never seeing him again we payed the bill in cash and left. I have never left under a 20% tip at a restaurant. For this waiter we barely left 15% which I still felt was too much. Very bad service for the price we paid. Very disappointed would never recommend this restaurant to anyone unless they had a night to waste.

Pros: Antipasto tray

Cons: Service

Posted 09/04/06

We went here for restaurant week and all I can say is delicious and quite a bargain! We started with the pan roasted mussels and the server made sure to tell us to save the bread for it. The mussels were delicious as was my main course - the grilled skirt steak. I love that all of the restaurant week dishes are on the regular menu. The meal was usperb - the service was fats and efficient. We will certainly be back!!

Pros: Delicious food

Cons: Spendy, parking

Posted 08/25/06

romantic place and fantastic food, I dined here with my girlfriend for our aniversary and we both loved the food and the fine. interesting flare and twist to italian flavors and wait staff was very attentive and helpful with selecting food and wine. eat the hand made fusilli baked in parchment paper, it was amazing. seared tuna is also delightful.

Though the first floor looks small, don't let it fool you. I went back with my family of 20+ and we were seated in a roomy area upstairs with more than enough space. Mgr was great in working with us to determine a pre-fixe menu. (excl wine)

will be back again soon

Pros: Food, Validated garage parking

Cons: none

Posted 07/18/06

6 of us went as a family last weekend to celebrate my birthday and it was amazing!! Everything was nearly perfect. First, the waiter gave us suggestions on wine and recommended a great Shiraz from Argentina. For apps we got Caprese salad which was perfect and Antipasto that was filled with awesome grilled veggies, cheeses and meats. For a meal I got the Sirloin and it was the best steak I have ever had! We were too full ffor dessert but I will definitely be back again! Unreal!

Pros: apps, dinner, service

Cons: close seating

Posted 05/04/06

I went with 2 friends for dinner. The place was empty because it was Superbowl Sunday. All the better for us because the service was very attentive. The prices were extremely reasonable, given the North End location, and the menu was very inventive - Italian with a twist. I really recommend the mussels appetizer - my friends and I agreed that they were the best we'd ever had. All the entrees were delicious, especially the tuna. The waiter was friendly and knowledeable. Unfortunately the sizeable portions left no room for dessert - maybe next time. You really can't go wrong here.

Pros: excellent food!, great service, reasonable prices

Posted 02/11/06

We had our rehearsal dinner of 35 people at Taranta, which was a wonderful experience. The owner was flexible and accomodating in planning every detail or our party, and the space was completely private. Despite monopolizing an entire floor of the restaurant on a friday night, we were never rushed and the service was exceptional. We would highly recommend it for a large group looking for private space.

Posted 08/13/05

last week end we had been to taranta ,first we had been very disappointed about our table in a second floor,finally our waiter arrived he changed the situation to happy ending,he was professionnel,friendly,patient even we gave him a hard time he was smily at one point we thought he was the owner but no he said that he was just waiter,Iwill say thank you you are maestro you made us to have a greatest time in taranta. we will be back more and more often.

Posted 04/13/05

You will see items here that you won't see at a lot of other North End restaurants, so for a resident like myself, it is a nice change. I highly recommended the homemade fusilli wrapped and baked in parchment paper. It's the only place I've seen it in the North End and it is fantastic. Good service, too.

Pros: Service, Baked fusilli

Posted 02/20/05

We made a reservation online the day of. They were very quick in replying via email to confirm the reservation.

When we arrived we were seated promptly and given the specials of the day. We were given details about the food and all of our questions were answered.

The food was some of the best I've had. The starter bread and olive oil was very good. But we also ordered some spicy/marinated olives for starters. The pork chop was large and thick, yet tender and juicy. The glaze was made with sugar cane and rocoto. It was heavenly. It complemented the yuca, spinach, onions, and choclo perfectly. My Peruvian friends got the trout and lamb; portions were not small (no room for dessert). The lamb was amazingly tender, as was the trout; both with fantastic flavor.

This is my new favorite place in the North End.

Pros: Great food w/ spice, Atmosphere, Service

Posted 01/07/05

My date and I were seated right away. After a few minutes, our server filled our water glasses. He returned after 20 minutes to take our drink and meal orders. It was 20 minutes further before our glasses of wine were brought over. He neglected to bring a basket of bread, we requested one from another waiter after 10 minutes. We were disturbed by the lack of hospitality one would think would be attached to a $25-$30+ plate. Finally, our food arrived. The dishes (seared tuna, grilled trout) were small for the price, but were good. Our waiter didn't ask about our meals until it was time for the plates to be cleared. Thankfully, he did not inquire about dessert, as we were anxious to leave this frustrating meal behind. It was about another 10 minutes before he inquired about our check. We paid and left- never to come back.

Pros: good food, immediate seating

Cons: , small portions

Posted 09/12/04

We took advantage of Boston Restaurant Week to try Taranta. It was a great meal, great service (we ordered a bottle of white wine and the waiter brought a properly done ice bucket without our having to ask! No small thing, that...) We'll be going back.

Pros: Service, Food

Posted 08/24/04

The first two meals I had at Taranta were excellent, but the third was impossible. Last night our party of four arrived promptly for our reservation, then sat for 15 minutes without being approached by a waiter, after which we got up and left. For at least 8 of those minutes there was not one single waitperson in the downstairs room - just the non-English-speaking busboy filling water glasses.

Pros: great food

Posted 08/03/04

Although late for our reservation due to getting lost in torrential downpour the host was gracious. (It wasn't busy, but it was nice not to have a snooty greeting.) The antipasto for two was incredible, the bread delectible. Lobster ravioli for me was amazing. The waiter was great about suggesting wine, made us feel very welcome. After a few bites, we had to have our entrees wrapped, b/c we were late for a show. He was understandable and speedy about doing this for us!

Pros: Great Service, Amazing food, Romantic

Posted 12/16/03

Expensive, but 100% worth it. The best food of any type I've had in a long time. Would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Posted 11/09/03

Wow. After searching for the perfect restaurant for a perfect night with my wife, we found it!! This place is a 10!! The food, starting with the mussels appetizer, then the sirloin and rack of lamb were just perfect! Service was a 10+. We had a 8:00 reservation and were seated at 8:00 on the dot! I could go on and on. But simply, just go!!

Pros: Food, Service, Ambience

Cons: None

Posted 10/26/03

I made reservations with specific request for a quiet, romantic table to celebrate our 32 anniversary. We were sitted next to a table for ten, on the aisle, on the ground level, ten feet from the front entrance. The food was very good, but that was not the setting I had envisioned to celebrate an anniversary. Also the table for two was entirely overcrowded with only water and wine glasses and the bread with oil. Once the appetizer came things were piled and congested.

Pros: Good food, Good service

Cons: small tables, reser. no value

Posted 06/12/03

Although tucked in at the very end of Hanover Street this restaurant was a great experience from start to finish. Served by an excellent waiter, we tried the octopus/chickpea appetizer and the mini-calzones. The pork loin with a fig/shitake mushroom sauce was heavenly. The veal dish was slightly bland and the only set back of the food. This romantic candlelit restaurant is the perfect date place.

Pros: Excellent service, Romantic

Posted 06/04/03

A great place, especially for younger couples. The waiters are very helpful and advised us to select an excellent wine with our meal. The whole place is full of charm and is somewhat tucked away yet at the same time close enough to main streets.

Pros: Great food!, Interesting dishes, Amazing desserts

Cons: Can get loud, Fairly small

Posted 12/01/02

Very interesting dishes offered here. I would only recommend it if you like exotic food, but I greatly enjoyed both the sea urchin pasta and the grilled tuna. Service was friendly and organized, although I did go when there were very few other customers in the restaurant. Kind of expensive, but all the restaurants on Hanover St are overpriced.

Posted 09/21/02

Fabulous food, great atmosphere. Unique, authentic food, not full of lasagna and pizza. Owner was very cordial, and explained the origins of many of the dishes.

Posted 08/07/02

TARANTA is MOLTO BENE!!!

Best Italian Restaurant i've had the pleasure of visiting.

Posted 08/07/02

really good food and taste to decorations.
Original italian recipes
great and so confortable
really cute and amazing deserts
make you fell like in south italy

Pros: Tasty, good ingredients, good, really good

Posted 07/24/02

Came all the way from Miami after we read The Magazine of La Cucina Italiana, great Pork Chop, Seared Tuna with a very spicy sauce...Very Calabrese, just delicious!! Order the mussels and the Tuna! You will not regret it!
Great dining experience.

Posted 06/20/02

I loved the sea urchin pasta, but my fiancee's lamb dish was horrible. We noted it on the comment card they gave us with the check, which also asked for our email. Two days later we got an email from the owner that explained they had received a few comments on the lamb that night, blamed it on their supplier, and asked for our address. Later that week we received a gift certificate equal to the cost of BOTH our meals! Now that's awesome customer service! We definitely will return.

Posted 06/15/02

This was our first visit to Taranta and we totally loved it. Had the mussels for appetizer. Great sweet sauce, perhaps with caramelized shallots and Marsala? The tuna and the lobster canneloni were also delicious. Had a fabulous hazelnut mousse for dessert. The service was attentive and the ambiance and background music were lovely. Would definitely return.

Pros: validated parking, excellent food, ambiance and music

Posted 06/05/02