The food was very tasty, but the overall experience was a little unsatisfying. We had a reservation for 8pm but were not seated until 8:20, after being told it would be 10 minutes a few times. It was extremely loud and hard to hear each other talk, but I guess that speaks to how popular it was on a Saturday night.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Classic Deep Dish Pizza
Danielle G
The ambience is what makes this place a 4. It has a classy atmosphere & tasteful decor that makes you feel like you’re at a moderately nice place.
The food itself was good, not great, with standard Camberville pricing. The menu really boiled down to slightly dressed up pizza and pasta.
I went on a weekday night as a party of 10 and appreciate they were able to sit & serve all of us.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Jea Kim
Great vibes, amazing carbonara, but everything else just decent.
Walked in on a Monday night without a reservation. Located in the lobby of the new Cambria hotel (3 star), the restaurant seemed really nice with its sleek, modern design that wouldn’t feel out of place in five-star hotels. The atmosphere was unexpectedly inviting—somewhere between stylish and family-friendly. As for the food, it mirrored my mixed experiences with Chef Scelfo’s other restaurants in Cambridge.
Favorites: Carbonara Decent: Rigatoni, Broccoli Rabe Poor: White Clam Pizza
The focus at Josephine was pizza: deep dish and thin crusts. We opted for the Frank’s White (White Clam) thin crust pizza, but it was very disappointing—overcooked, rubbery clams, barely-there garlic, and equally rubbery cheese.
The Rigatoni and Broccoli Rabe were decent but forgettable. The rigatoni’s portion size was generous, but the umami from the pecorino and house-made sausage didn’t quite pack enough punch. The Broccoli Rabe, on the other hand, leaned heavily on citrusy notes, which were somewhat tamed by the cheese. It was an upgrade from the usual bitter or smoky takes on rabe, but its seasoning was still a tad overpowering.
Thankfully, their popular Carbonara really lived up to the hype. Rich, creamy, and topped with perfectly cooked guanciale—juicy, tender, and most importantly, not overly salty.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Ben Benson
I went to Josephine with my fiancée recently for a date night, but also to try it because we thought it had the perfect location and style to be a venue for our rehearsal dinner and had seen great reviews.
Unfortunately, we were very disappointed in the food and drinks. We were especially excited about the deep dish pizza, and while it looked great and smelled good, it was very undercooked despite the half hour cook time. The sausage topping was still very raw inside and there seemed to be almost no sauce.
Our server was very kind and professional and offered to re-fire the pizza, but we didn’t feel it would help much given that it was already cut and frankly was not particularly tasty. The drinks were dissatisfying for the price point as well.
Again, the ambiance and service are great. The food and drinks *look* good, but ultimately we couldn’t stomach almost any of it and left dissatisfied. Our server was kind enough to discount the pizza, which was appreciated, but even then we paid almost $90 including tip for two drinks, one small appetizer and a single deep dish pizza, of which only the appetizer was good enough to finish.
I try not to leave negative reviews in general, but frankly I had high hopes for Josephine and was disappointed to have a bad experience. We will be looking elsewhere for a rehearsal dinner restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Classic Deep Dish Pizza, House Made Mozzarella Sticks Brunch
Victoria W
carbonara was decent. zeppoles were delishh. decor was nice but it was sooooo loud
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Crispy Rice Suppli
Danny Alvarez
The food is awesome. One of the best caesar salads I have had. The chicken parm is huge, was definitely plenty for three people.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Judith Judith
We ordered a bottle of wine, pizza and Caesar salad, Food was delicious, HOWEVER We were not there one hour and was rushed out. Couldn’t even tell you why , but we took our food and wine to go. Our server said his manager pressures servers to rush. There were plenty of open seats. The vibe from when we walked in was off because we didn’t have a reservation. Very disappointed in how it’s managed.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
smiral patel
Gorgeous space, prices are high, horrible service. No people skills. Why ruining nicely build restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 1
Molly Calkins
Overall really expensive for what you get. Meatballs are pretty much the only thing that’s out of the ordinary. Deep dish pizza is soggy in the middle. Also they made us pay for the “birthday” dessert that we didn’t order. Cute and aesthetic is the only saving factor. Waitress did not come back for drink orders
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Begranter
Tl;dr - my initial reaction was wondering how long the restaurant has been open. I can see the vision and potential but for our party of 9 everything was just off enough to make you wonder if they need some more time to pull it all together.
Took about 15 minutes to order drinks, another 15 of them coming out in a staggered fashion, to the wrong people, and some missing completely. Cocktails were tasty and drink selection abundant, though there was curiously no replacement Pinot Noir option for the $18 glass that was out of stock. Food quickly started to come out and was delivered staggered. All good, except we kept getting the wrong dishes and others were missing until we reminded the server. I felt like I was running expo for the restaurant. Buratta was delicious, caprese pizza was pretty good though it could have used another minute or two in the oven and no spicy oil for the crust was a bummer. The carbonara was like mac and cheese, the suppli had none of the telephone wire like cheese strings that makes suppli suppli, and the zeppole wasn't cooked all the way. While service was friendly and eager, feeling like we had to constantly manage the delivery of food and drink really got in the way of enjoying the meal with our party. I actually prefer staggered food delivery, but it only works if everything that was ordered shows up and it's a particularly poor model for that first round of drinks. To cap the night, we're eating dessert and finishing our drinks and we're offered a plate of meatballs. At least it was consistent?
Wanted to love this restaurant- it’s super convenient as it’s in the Cambria Hotel but I don’t. My suppli was inedible, it was so salty I couldn’t eat it. Hubby’s scallops were good. The service was bad. Maybe they were having a bad night. It was so loud inside, just not my vibe. The manager was gracious, but I will be looking for another restaurant when I return to Somerville.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Our waiter, while nice, did not check in with us enough. We were ready for round two of drinks and had to flag him down to get our order in. Then after placing the drink order, we waiting probably 15 minutes for the drinks....we were one of 5 tables in the entire restaurant. Tuna was under seasoned, Caesar salad was too salty, thin crust pizza too salty (crust was good). My martini i had to send back because it simply was not drinkable. (I never send a drink back). We pivoted to wine which was executed well and tasted delish. Unfortunately I won't be coming back here unless I know I'm getting a glass of wine, and next time i would sit at the bar for better service.
Saamrat
Service was abysmal here. Our waiter (the tall one) couldn't care less. Our food arrived before our drinks. He forgot one of our drinks and to remind him, we tried really hard to catch his eye (he didn't check in on us until after our food was finished). The pasta was really bad although the drinks were phenomenal! The pizza and dessert were just okay. The wait staff just couldn't be bothered to check in with us. Even the check took 20 mins after multiple reminders to arrive. Probably one of the really underwhelming service experiences I've had in the greater Boston area.
Tony Nenopoulos
I don’t have a single complaint with the food or our server, Oscar. Everything we ordered was delicious. I was a deep dish pizza skeptic until the Alice Pizza arrived. I’m a convert. We started with suppli, Caesar salad, followed by entrees of scallops, carbonara, thin crust mushroom pizza and rigatoni. Dessert was rice pudding and olive oil cake. Thank you Josephine’s!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mel
I've walked past this place so many times but wrote it off as just a hotel restaurant. Finally tried it, and it was v tasty. Pepperoni deep dish pizza, pasta special, and cacio e pepe regular pizza were all great. Wouldn't get the tiramisu or arancini again, but would get everything else. A fun spot for deep dish especially since that's a rare find in Boston.
The food was very tasty, but the overall experience was a little unsatisfying. We had a reservation for 8pm but were not seated until 8:20, after being told it would be 10 minutes a few times. It was extremely loud and hard to hear each other talk, but I guess that speaks to how popular it was on a Saturday night.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Classic Deep Dish Pizza
The ambience is what makes this place a 4. It has a classy atmosphere & tasteful decor that makes you feel like you’re at a moderately nice place.
The food itself was good, not great, with standard Camberville pricing. The menu really boiled down to slightly dressed up pizza and pasta.
I went on a weekday night as a party of 10 and appreciate they were able to sit & serve all of us.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Great vibes, amazing carbonara, but everything else just decent.
Walked in on a Monday night without a reservation. Located in the lobby of the new Cambria hotel (3 star), the restaurant seemed really nice with its sleek, modern design that wouldn’t feel out of place in five-star hotels. The atmosphere was unexpectedly inviting—somewhere between stylish and family-friendly. As for the food, it mirrored my mixed experiences with Chef Scelfo’s other restaurants in Cambridge.
Favorites: Carbonara
Decent: Rigatoni, Broccoli Rabe
Poor: White Clam Pizza
The focus at Josephine was pizza: deep dish and thin crusts. We opted for the Frank’s White (White Clam) thin crust pizza, but it was very disappointing—overcooked, rubbery clams, barely-there garlic, and equally rubbery cheese.
The Rigatoni and Broccoli Rabe were decent but forgettable. The rigatoni’s portion size was generous, but the umami from the pecorino and house-made sausage didn’t quite pack enough punch. The Broccoli Rabe, on the other hand, leaned heavily on citrusy notes, which were somewhat tamed by the cheese. It was an upgrade from the usual bitter or smoky takes on rabe, but its seasoning was still a tad overpowering.
Thankfully, their popular Carbonara really lived up to the hype. Rich, creamy, and topped with perfectly cooked guanciale—juicy, tender, and most importantly, not overly salty.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
I went to Josephine with my fiancée recently for a date night, but also to try it because we thought it had the perfect location and style to be a venue for our rehearsal dinner and had seen great reviews.
Unfortunately, we were very disappointed in the food and drinks. We were especially excited about the deep dish pizza, and while it looked great and smelled good, it was very undercooked despite the half hour cook time. The sausage topping was still very raw inside and there seemed to be almost no sauce.
Our server was very kind and professional and offered to re-fire the pizza, but we didn’t feel it would help much given that it was already cut and frankly was not particularly tasty. The drinks were dissatisfying for the price point as well.
Again, the ambiance and service are great. The food and drinks *look* good, but ultimately we couldn’t stomach almost any of it and left dissatisfied. Our server was kind enough to discount the pizza, which was appreciated, but even then we paid almost $90 including tip for two drinks, one small appetizer and a single deep dish pizza, of which only the appetizer was good enough to finish.
I try not to leave negative reviews in general, but frankly I had high hopes for Josephine and was disappointed to have a bad experience. We will be looking elsewhere for a rehearsal dinner restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Classic Deep Dish Pizza, House Made Mozzarella Sticks Brunch
carbonara was decent. zeppoles were delishh. decor was nice but it was sooooo loud
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Crispy Rice Suppli
The food is awesome. One of the best caesar salads I have had. The chicken parm is huge, was definitely plenty for three people.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We ordered a bottle of wine, pizza and Caesar salad, Food was delicious, HOWEVER We were not there one hour and was rushed out. Couldn’t even tell you why , but we took our food and wine to go. Our server said his manager pressures servers to rush. There were plenty of open seats. The vibe from when we walked in was off because we didn’t have a reservation. Very disappointed in how it’s managed.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
Gorgeous space, prices are high, horrible service. No people skills. Why ruining
nicely build restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 1
Overall really expensive for what you get. Meatballs are pretty much the only thing that’s out of the ordinary. Deep dish pizza is soggy in the middle. Also they made us pay for the “birthday” dessert that we didn’t order. Cute and aesthetic is the only saving factor. Waitress did not come back for drink orders
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Tl;dr - my initial reaction was wondering how long the restaurant has been open. I can see the vision and potential but for our party of 9 everything was just off enough to make you wonder if they need some more time to pull it all together.
Took about 15 minutes to order drinks, another 15 of them coming out in a staggered fashion, to the wrong people, and some missing completely. Cocktails were tasty and drink selection abundant, though there was curiously no replacement Pinot Noir option for the $18 glass that was out of stock. Food quickly started to come out and was delivered staggered. All good, except we kept getting the wrong dishes and others were missing until we reminded the server. I felt like I was running expo for the restaurant. Buratta was delicious, caprese pizza was pretty good though it could have used another minute or two in the oven and no spicy oil for the crust was a bummer. The carbonara was like mac and cheese, the suppli had none of the telephone wire like cheese strings that makes suppli suppli, and the zeppole wasn't cooked all the way. While service was friendly and eager, feeling like we had to constantly manage the delivery of food and drink really got in the way of enjoying the meal with our party. I actually prefer staggered food delivery, but it only works if everything that was ordered shows up and it's a particularly poor model for that first round of drinks.
To cap the night, we're eating dessert and finishing our drinks and we're offered a plate of meatballs. At least it was consistent?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Burrata and Smashed Avocado
Restaurantji Recommends
Wanted to love this restaurant- it’s super convenient as it’s in the Cambria Hotel but I don’t. My suppli was inedible, it was so salty I couldn’t eat it. Hubby’s scallops were good. The service was bad. Maybe they were having a bad night. It was so loud inside, just not my vibe. The manager was gracious, but I will be looking for another restaurant when I return to Somerville.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Our waiter, while nice, did not check in with us enough. We were ready for round two of drinks and had to flag him down to get our order in. Then after placing the drink order, we waiting probably 15 minutes for the drinks....we were one of 5 tables in the entire restaurant. Tuna was under seasoned, Caesar salad was too salty, thin crust pizza too salty (crust was good). My martini i had to send back because it simply was not drinkable. (I never send a drink back). We pivoted to wine which was executed well and tasted delish. Unfortunately I won't be coming back here unless I know I'm getting a glass of wine, and next time i would sit at the bar for better service.
Service was abysmal here. Our waiter (the tall one) couldn't care less. Our food arrived before our drinks. He forgot one of our drinks and to remind him, we tried really hard to catch his eye (he didn't check in on us until after our food was finished). The pasta was really bad although the drinks were phenomenal! The pizza and dessert were just okay. The wait staff just couldn't be bothered to check in with us. Even the check took 20 mins after multiple reminders to arrive. Probably one of the really underwhelming service experiences I've had in the greater Boston area.
I don’t have a single complaint with the food or our server, Oscar. Everything we ordered was delicious. I was a deep dish pizza skeptic until the Alice Pizza arrived. I’m a convert. We started with suppli, Caesar salad, followed by entrees of scallops, carbonara, thin crust mushroom pizza and rigatoni. Dessert was rice pudding and olive oil cake. Thank you Josephine’s!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I've walked past this place so many times but wrote it off as just a hotel restaurant. Finally tried it, and it was v tasty. Pepperoni deep dish pizza, pasta special, and cacio e pepe regular pizza were all great. Wouldn't get the tiramisu or arancini again, but would get everything else. A fun spot for deep dish especially since that's a rare find in Boston.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cacio Pizza, Pepperoni Deep
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