Antico Forno

617-723-6733

93 Salem St Boston, MA 02113

www.anticofornoboston.com

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Reasonably priced gourmet Italian cuisine, prepared in traditional brick-oven style.

Categories:

Restaurants

Details:

$$, Group Dining, Romantic Dining, Open 7 Days

Insiders:

Sandra M. Kelci H. Photo Photo Photo
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Kid Friendly: yes 0 no 0
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Sun-Thur 11:30am-10pm Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:30pm

Message from Antico Forno

Merchant_icon

Antico Forno is well known for their brick oven pizza but offers an extensive Italian menu to suit every palate. The open layout and new bar area provides a setting for both large groups and intimate dinners. Located on Salem St a short walk from both Commercial and Hanover Streets, Antico Forno escapes the traffic and noise which adds to the relaxing environment and dining experience.

Editorial by

In Short
Most everything on the rustic menu is cooked in a burning brick oven, as the restaurant's name implies (antico forno means "old oven"). The diminutive dining room hosts a mix of loyal locals and tourists, and can get quite noisy when full. Thin-crust pizzas (toppings include homemade sausage, imported buffalo mozzarella and sautéed shrimp) and baked pasta dishes emerge from the oven piping hot. Fresh salads, wood-grilled seafood and homemade pastas round out the menu.

Key Points

  • Large parties are welcome
  • Full Bar
  • Great Date Spot

Reviews for Antico Forno

Ratings_icons Cozy restaurant

Sandra M. | insider Insider | Rank: 25,141

Great place in the North End. Especially in the dead of winter. Restaurant is cozy inside and all the meals are great comfort foods. Everyone we have brought there loves it...

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Ratings_icons The BEST

Anonymous

Antico Forno has delicious authentic Italian meals. LOVE going to dinner at Antico Forno with friends or family in the North End. Great food and a great atmosphere.

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Latest reviews from Citysearch.

Ratings_icons Mortifying Experience

mochi82

Woah! What a horrible dining experience!!! I have never written a review on a restaurant, but tonight I feel inspired.

North End on a Saturday night is very busy so we found one restaurant with no wait....no wonder! Initially, we were happy they seated us right away. Too bad the table was put there as a mere afterthought....between the bar (which doubled as a waiting room), kitchen, and the restroom. Between hungry customers, drinking patrons, waiters with dirty dishes, people in a rush to the bathroom, servers with dishes of food....I felt lucky if I wasn't bumped every 10 seconds.

I told the hostess. Instead of moving our seats, she scolded the waiters in front of me ordering them to walk ALL the way around the entire restaurant to the kitchen. Yes, blame the waiters trying to do their job...and make the customer feel worse. To make matters worse, she would ignore her own order and she would pass and bump my chair about 6 more times after this incident.

I put an extra chair next to me as a mini barricade against the waiters, customers, busboys, hostess, servers...and whoever else wanted to pass. I was then reprimanded because I would cause a nuisance for the the waiters wanting to go to the kitchen. And the hostess, literally flung the chair against the wall behind me. I have never had a dining experience where hostess single-handed made me feel guilty and embarrassed.

Then we finally got our food. Maybe, I was biased by this point...but the food was mediocre. A little salty. Very similiar to the Olive Garden but more expensive. Hopefully, your experience will be different...but would you want to risk it?

Pros: not sure.

Cons: terrible service. bad food.

Ratings_icons Bad Italian American food

Agalag

I was expecting authentic Italian food, got bad Italian-American food instead.
I'm sorry to see a wood-burning stove wasted in such bad pizza. The risotto was even worse.

On the plus side the place was packed and everyone else was enjoying their meal. Every other restaurant in the North End area was packed as well. Very nice area to walk. When I go back to Boston I'll stick to clam chowders and the like.

Ratings_icons Our New Favorite North End Eatery

isabeljo

Four of us visited on Sat. of marathon weekend. Boston was CRAZY that day. Arrived just about 5:00PM . No wait. Cordial staff. Water and bread brought immediately.( just white loaf bread but there was a cheese dipping sauce instead of olive oil that was tasty). Wine list was reasonable. Ordered Calamari and Caprese.
Calamari was breaded lightly, tender and plentiful. Mozzarella was fresh and tomatoes jumbo but soft.
Rigatoni Alla Boscaiola, Rigatoni Salsiccia e Ricotta, Chicken Parm, and Mussels. All were absolutely fantastic!
The room filled up fast after being seated but we never felt rushed or forgotten. Dishes were removed discreetly, water filled promptly, and leftovers bagged without hesitation. We could not have enjoyed the experience more.
We now have a new favorite North End eatery. Not a real romantic or quiet place but delicious food. We have tried several times before to get in but long lines deterred us. Never again.

Pros: delicious food, open for lunch

Cons: small dining room

Ratings_icons Fabulous!

kimmie23

This place is awesome! My husband and I returned from our honeymoon in Italy and ate here a few days later. The food is incredible, the service is great and the atmosphere reminded us of Italy. Not many places make gnocchi that can compare to Italy, but this restaurant does. The fettucini Positano is fabulous as well!! Highly recommended!

Pros: Off of Hanover, all around a great place

Ratings_icons Best Pizza, Worst Service

missreader

I went to this restaurant alone on a Monday night. Not being a Boston native, I walked and walked, finally found it, and was told there would be a 15-20 minute wait. I said "ok!" and was then told I would have to "go outside." That's right - I was not allowed to wait inside the restaurant. I said "it's Little Italy - if I walk around outside I'll find another Italian place to eat!" I was about to leave, when some incredibly nice folks from New Orleans let me sit with them at their table. How awesome is that? Good thing they did, because the trifolata pizza was the best gourmet pizza I've ever had. Amazing. The decor was great, too, as was the wine. Will I go back? Yes, with a reservation. But if it weren't for that pizza, not a chance.

Ratings_icons Solid and reasonable

theduke37

Calamari appetizer is excellent, and the antipasto is very nice. The pizzas are very good, although I recommend getting them well done as they are loaded with toppings which can cause them to be a little soggy on the bottom ifthey don't leave them in the oven a little longer. The baked fusilli dish is really good if you like sweet tomato sauces. Service was so-so. Prices are very reasonable for the North End.

Pros: Value, pizza

Ratings_icons i had heard good things, but....

styna

this restaurant came highly recommended in the North End. We found the food to be very bland and the service was horrible. There were only 2 servers and not a manager to be seen anywhere. We had put our dirty plates and silverware aside(stacked) from our appetizer and they put them back in front of us(very dirty) for our entrees. I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone or go back. Not a good value.

Pros: location

Cons: servers not trained, food bland

Ratings_icons best pizza

marius_neamtu

best thin crust pizza u can have in boston, cozy real italian pizzeria. go and see yourself

Ratings_icons best pizza in north end

opiniat

real italian thin crust pizza , like in Napoli, best pizzeria in boston.

Ratings_icons User review by lilsitalianbabe

lilsitalianbabe

i think Antico Forno has the best food and desserts in the world.......Yea i love the place what do u say they have made good food...******

Pros: good waitress, good food, good people

Ratings_icons Wood brick oven

fairfbost

very good pizza , one of the best thin crust pizza I've ever had. Try Carciofi Porcini etc...

Ratings_icons Good Pizza

devriesryan04

The wood fired pizza is great for the money you pay, I recommend ordering it with as many toppings as you can stand. Also the linguine with the egg sauce is excellent, though i cant recall it's name.

Pros: not very crowded

Cons: distance from subway

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