il Molo

Wow. Can't say enough about this restaurant !!
In the North End it can be extremely difficult to find parking for dinner, especially when a restaurant doesn't have valet, but luckily there are 2 parking lots a block away from the restaurant for $20ish depending on how long you stay.

Everything was great from the hostest to the food!
There was actually breathing room between the tables unlike a lot of the restaurants in the North End.

Our waitress was awesome. I forget her name, but she was so amicable and personable. The food was amazing. We loved everything we ordered, and both agreed the fried rangoon was the best we've ever had before. The only downside was we wished the bread in the beginning were at least a little bit warmed up. It was cold when it got to our table, but that's not worth losing a star over.

Anyways just do yourself a favor and make a reservation to eat here!

Dinner with colleagues this evening, we were a little concerned about the basement setup as we walked in but it all got better when we were seated at a nice table with comfy seats and white table cloth. The young lady who served us was pleasant and smiling the entire time.

The filet looked great, served with fries. I've never seen a steak plated like this - bone-in and served vertically. A good cut but not nearly enough meat on there for a full meal. Filet cut, so there's that.

I chose the seafood stew and it was excellent. A large portion of salmon, shrimps, scallops, clams, mussels and underneath, a huge hunk of crab still in the shell. All of that served on top of a tomato risotto that somehow didn't splash everywhere. Very tasty and enjoyable, though ending with the crab and having to crack it after it was covered in tomato-ey juiciness was odd.

A very nice meal and thoroughly enjoyed. Not quite perfect but very, very good.

Good service by Adam.

Spaghetti clams light and flavorful.

Scallops risotto well seasoned.

Fresh oyster and clams good.

Mini lobster rolls didn't have the freshly shackled flavor or texture of bouncy crispness.

Black truffle butter complimentary with bread a big plus!

Clam chowder had too much potatoes.

Let me start off by saying that I whimpered a little when I wasn't one of the Elites who got to partake in Il Molo's exclusive Yelp event last year. *Cue the violins*

But as they say, good (or in this case, great!) things come to those who are patient. Fast forward to Sept 2017, I finally found myself dining here for a surprise engagement party and nothing was spared. Now, let's get on to the food!

Per our usual, we engulfed our tables with an entire menu's worth of apps x 2. It's hard to choose only a few favorites but if you're stuck, you can't go wrong with the octopus, lobster crab cakes or the shellfish tower. The carnivores in our party also salivated over the steak tartare.

The octopus had a nice mesquite flavoring but it was also the most softest piece of octopus I've ever had. This is coming from someone who had grilled octopus every other day when in Greece. The crab cakes were super fresh and had a very generous crab to breading ratio and finally, for the indecisive, the shellfish tower is a must. The raw bar was exquisite and the crudo of the day was exceptional which happened to be salmon that day; Great mix with a little bit of everything. The calamari and the mussels were solid choices but more traditionally prepared.

For entrees, I had the pleasure of indulging in the swordfish, the daily pasta with lobster, mushrooms and truffle butter and the il Molo Polo. All tasted wonderful and were prepared perfectly. I highly recommend the swordfish for something lighter. It was so moist, not dry and stringy as it can sometimes be when it gets overcooked and the daily pasta with lobster over the Il Molo Polo for those that aren't afraid of a little carb coma after. Promise you it will be well worth it!

All in all, it was a perfect evening. The food was superb and the service team was engaging, friendly and helpful. As a seafood aficionado, I'll admit, I can sometimes be a pesky pescatarian but my experience at Il Molo that night brought a smile on my face that lasted for days and dayssss.

The service and food was fantastic. Our server had great recommendations for wine that both my husband and I loved. The mussels were beautiful done with a great broth that made us ask for a second round of bread to sop it up.
We then split an order of linguini and clams that was perfectly seasoned with al dente pasta. I would return here in a second!

Awesome experience here. Lovely fruity olive oil with crusty bread to start, tasty lobster rangoon with nice chunks of lobster in it, and beautiful main dishes. The only negative was the bar tender- who was not nice. The waitress and hostess were over the top helpful and attentive though. I got the pasta arrabbiata with mussels and octopus, and my friend got a fish dish which had salsa and lobster in top. They make the pasta there and the seafood is extremely fresh.

I want to give this place 5 stars, but I don't think I ordered the right food. So many locals frequent this restaurant, and they all recommended me to get the cod, but my stubborn self got the lobster pie and I regret it. Service at the bar was fantastic. Got a really great drink with Frangelico (wish I can remember the name). Clam chowder was delicious. Lobster pie was very good with huge chunks of lobster, but the flavor wasn't quite there and I did not like that the "pie crust" is just crackers on top. I saw others get the cod and it looked fantastic. Would love to come back and try that instead.

Came here with my best friend for a special dinner and I was beyond satisfied with the food! We made a reservation on yelp on a Saturday night at 8pm. Upon arrival we were seated immediately.

Waiter was funny and a little awkward but was very helpful when asked questions about ordering and portion sizes. We decided to share everything and got a hot tower, a lobster pasta, and salad.

The hot tower was so much fun!! And everything was delicious. The oysters Rockefeller were so creamy and addictive and the mussels were fat & juicy. Lobster pasta was also really good, possibly up there with island creek oyster bar's!

The salad, pasta, and hot tower was the perfect amount of food for two small ladies who are big eaters. Highly recommend coming here on a spontaneous weekend night dinner as the tables are relatively easy to reserve.

Such a good italian/seafood destination! Came for dinner to meet up with some friends in the area and was surprised I had never heard of it while living in Boston for 6 years for school. It's a little separated from the rest of the North End and has a slightly more modern and sea-themed feel/decor. Don't let the seashells and starfish fool you though, you still get amazing quality pasta and italian flavors!

Prix fixe menu: $32 for 3 courses, and you get a lot of food! I took home leftovers. I had the grilled lamb skewers, the lasagna, and the rum cake (as they were sadly all out of the gelato and the cannoli that night). The lamb was cooked really well, the lasagna was super flavorful and cheesy, and the cake was moist and delicious!

Oysters: not pictured, but we went for a selection of 3 total, one of each variety they had that day. They came with lemon, tabasco, and two sauces-one of them was raspberry flavored which was kind of fun!

Swordfish: really really good! The cook on the fish was perfect and it had a good crispiness on the outside. Definitely worth it and the quality you would expect with the Boston Harbor basically right outside.

Service was excellent and the food was delicious!

We started off with a Tomato and Burrata Salad followed by the Oysters Rockefeller. Both prepared excellently.it was my first time ordering Oysters Rockefeller so I have nothing to compare it against but this was probably one of my favorite dishes of the night. The salt and pepper calamari was probably one of the best that I've had however the chopped lettuce garnish on the bottom of the plate made the bottom few just a tad soggy, but still tasty overall.

Our main course were the Seafood Stew and the Bolognese which pretty much sums up the concept of the restaurant of tip toeing the line of a seafood/Italian restaurant. The Bolognese was perfectly al dente and all the meats they use were grass fed organic I believe. That's a big plus in my book.

We unfortunately had to end dinner early to go to another appointment in the night and took a portion of the food to go. Later on in the evening when my wife and I were hungry and dug into the leftovers, it was as delicious as we remembered.