Mother Anna’s Restaurant

Reviews

• Lauren M.

  star star star star star 5 June 2026

  We were visiting Boston and this place did not disappoint! If you like Italian food, this is the spot.
  The food was delicious and it was fairly priced. I would recommend the Shrimp Scampi to start and the Chicken Exquisito. I wish I had taken pictures to share.
  The service was lovely, everyone was friendly and accommodating.

• Jared E.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 3 June 2026

  Mother Anna's food was subpar at best.  We ordered the garlic bread which was a cheese monstrosity and not garlic bread by any means.  My mom ate the chicken "exquisto" which was dry and bland and anything but "exquisito".  I ordered the veal Roberto.  It tasted like soggy feet and sugar.  
  
  Lastly, my brother ordered the gnocchi Juliana.  
  
  Upon receiving the meal, he asked that I tasted the gnocchi to see its texture.  I ate it and ended up chewing it for about 5 minutes.  Gnocchi is supposed to be soft and buttery and not have the texture of chewing gum.  After voicing this opinion to our waiter she removed the plate and failed to ask us if we wanted to eat anything else.  Later we found out that because my brother ate the very few pieces of seafood on it, that they wouldn't comp the meal, despite it only having a few bites taken from it.  The rude manager was quick to tell us that we ate all the seafood.  Unfortunately for him, the customer always has to come first and I hope that he learns that lesson.

• Scarlet Y.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 27 May 2026

  Sad to say that this place was a huge disappointment. My boyfriend and I wanted to go on a date and we settled on Mother Anna's. It was both our first time so we didn't know what to expect but the patio seemed packed so we assumed the food would be pretty good. Boy, we were wrong. So wrong.
  
  Let's get started with the apps. For appetizers, we ordered the garlic bread, clams casino, and the calamari. The garlic bread was covered in cheese so thick you could literally peel it off and was soaked in grease. The clams were inedible. It was served on a huge stone plate and was coated in a layer of breadcrumbs and marinara sauce. The clams casino had no clams in them at all and were filled to the brim with breadcrumbs and sauce. It was a big casiNO for me. The calamari however, was decent but that was the only thing we ordered that seemed to be okay.
  
  The appetizers had basically ruined our appetite and we wanted to cancel our entrees. We asked our waitress five minutes after we put in the order if we could cancel. She gave us a face and said no and just walked away. I work in the restaurant industry and this type of service was inconceivable to me. There was no "Let me double check if I can cancel it" or "My apologies, I just checked with the chefs and they already started to make the food". She just gave us attitude and walked away. By this time my boyfriend and I really wanted to leave but we couldn't as we were waiting for our entrees we didn't even want.
  
  We ordered the gnocchi and lobster ravioli. Both were highly disappointing. The gnocchi was served in a huge cereal bowl and had so much sauce it was like eating gnocchi cereal. There was also cheese in the bowl but it was chewy and clumpy and did not go with the dish at all.  The lobster ravioli was covered in sauce that looked like throw up and was very undercooked. We each tried one bite of both the entrees and did not want to eat anymore.
  
  We asked our waitress for the check to which she came back with 10 minutes later. She didn't ask if we enjoyed the meal or anything and we ended up paying for the worst meal we've ever had. Both the service and the food were disappointing. We will not be coming back.

• Nick R.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  Poor Mother Anna. If she's still with us, I pray that she is no longer an active board member of this establishment. If she has left us - God bless - I pray that she isn't rolling in her grave.
  
  The only redeeming quality about Mother Anna's is the patio section. They attract a tourist crowd; plain and simple. I would wager, that a repeat customer at Mother Anna's would be unable to distinguish a can of Chef Boyardee's from an authentic dish from Sicily. Bland - yuck.
  
  The food is incredibly bad. The shrimp and clams that we had ordered were chewy and over cooked- they have surely been sitting. The linguine came straight from a box of Barilla.
  
  If it's a nice day in the North End - please - treat yourself. Take your hard-earned money elsewhere; the view from Mother Anna's patio isn't that nice anyways.
  
  2/5 stars: one for the waiter (Lombardo), the other for the bread (although they should've served it with olive oil)

• Chris B.

  star star star star_border star_border 19 May 2026

  My family visited Mother Anna's for a rehearsal dinner for my sisters wedding. The twelve of us aged 7 through 75 enjoyed conversation, great service, and decent quality food. The price was well below the normal menu prices in the North End of Boston. We sat in the  basement area of the restaurant and had plenty of room and the restrooms conveniently on the same floor. The service was excellent and food was decent. I recommend for large groups and varied palettes. Part of the reason for the 3 stars was that the pipes on the basement leaked condensation on the bride to be...