Espo's Trattoria

I have loved this place but not tonight. I think the kitchen was well above it's pay grade. They served us our salads before our appetizers but when the brought the entrees we asked for the appetizer. They just put the dinners on a side board while they cooked the mussels, served the mussels ( some were still frozen) then we waited for them to find the entrees and we they did serve them they were surprisely under cooked, cold and the pasta was sticky. The chicken was undersized and the veal was raw, rubber, undercooked and never felt the mallet that would have made it a treat. The diining room is small but they have the doggie bags set up so you feel like your are in a grocery store. This can be a good family restaurant but it was so very badly run tonight. You can do better. more

cheap ingredients and many short cuts create not so good italian food. you will get a good portion here, i'll give you that. but the worse italian restaurant in the north end(boston) crushes a place like this. jsut not that good. Pros: nice atmosphere Cons: just not very good more

Two locations - one on Allen Avenue (near Northgate) and one on outer Congress Street (near Westgate - formerly Esposito's). Espo's features homemade Italian fare with huge portions. Delicious bread served with a dish of olive oil with rosemary sprigs for dipping. Meatballs easily 3/4 lb. Lasagna made with ground beef, sausage & pepperoni, again a huge portion. Everything was delicious, service excellent. Open kitchen gives view of cooks stretching pizza dough, preparing salads, etc. Very nice and highly recommended. Very reasonable prices, especially considering quality of the food and the portion sizes. Pros: Friendly staff; good service and huge portions for a reasonable price Cons: Open dining area & open kitchen probably not particularly quiet when busy more