A farm-to-table gem in Winchester. Small but hand-wringing menu -- so hard to choose. Spilt Bucotini and Bolognese with the wife. Will be back often.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Smores Dessert
Nick Barrasso
My wife and I visited A Tavola for the first time tonight for our anniversary dinner. It was fantastic. The atmosphere was romantic, inviting and comfortable while still family-friendly. I could see myself coming here with friends, too.
After just one bite of the bread I knew that the food was going to be great – and it certainly was. There was care put into the details like the beautifully thin slices of mortadella on our antipasti board, or the amount of torch on the s'mores dessert. The ragu bolognese and tortellini both hit all the right notes as well.
This will sound like a ridiculous exaggeration, but I literally teared up at some point before our mains came out. I grew up in an Italian-American family, and the smells, tastes and textures brought back intense memories like going to buy fresh bread with my grandfather and eating homemade Sunday meals.
You won't need a childhood like mine to enjoy A Tavola, but please trust me when I say that this is Italian food done right and at a more than reasonable prices.
Bravi to the chef and the whole team. I'm looking forward to dining in again soon.
When it's *this* hot out, all I want are 'summer light' bites
Luckily A Tavola in Winchester fits the bill! What I love is that everything was so fresh and the menu is everchanging; the night I dined there, Chef Joe spoke highly of the fisherman he got the branzino from and the farmers market he got some of the produce used in that night's dishes from.
Some of the dishes I was able to taste (& my phone ate first) were: * Beet Salad - horseradish crema, cucumbers, whole grain vin * Branzino - blistered shishitos, shaved artichoke salsa verde * Halibut - olive oil poached herloom tomatoes, basil, oregano & garlic * Strawberry Shortcake - vanilla white cake, fresh and macerated strawberries, cream cheese whip * Blueberry Ricotta Cake - ricotta, blueberry glaze
All of these dishes were complimented by my two craft beers - Bent Water Brewing's Premium Lager on Draft and Lone Pine Brewing's Summer Lights Citrus Wheat Ale. A Tavola, like their food menu, has a rotating beer & cider menu featuring new brews from New England craft breweries and cideries.
Incredible food in a warm, intimate space featuring an open kitchen, newly opened expansion and a patio space to take advantage of this beautiful weather!
A neighborhood restaurant that is truly invested in the community through collaborations, giving back and even partnering with the local elementary school to run a Seed to plate program to educate children about how to harvest ta garden and turn it's bounty into food for the table - a true seed to plate full circle! They also offer cooking classes, wine dinners, BBQ & Bourbon Dinners so keep an eye on their Instagram and website for upcoming events!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Matt Greil
Went out to dinner tonight with some friends who recommended the place and said that they've gone several times and they enjoy the food. As we have never been here before we asked our friends for what they like to get when they visited the restaurant. They said the menu rotated so they never really have the same items on their menu. I get that some restaurants do it so it's totally normal.
Before we get on to the food, one of the servers came up and asked us if we'd like some water; they offered still, tap, and sparkling. We first chose Still not really thinking anything of it, the server came over with a bottle of water and poured it we didn't say anything look totally fine, it wasn't until the end of the meal we were actually charged $6 for the bottle of water!! Okay next time I will definitely go with tap.
We ordered some beverages, two Palomas, one beer and one lime Ricky. Drink prices weren't bad at all I mean $10 for a can of beer is not crazy but alcoholic beverages between $12 and $18 are in the norm these days.
There were about eight different appetizers, we ordered two of them, we got the Roasted Eggplant (wasn't too bad I think it was a little spicy from the sauce, I did like the goat cheese that was mixed in with the lettuce leaves) and the Smoky Mozzarella Sticks (I thought these were pretty good, I'm not a big fan of anything that's smokey especially drinks, but I actually liked the smokiness of the mozzarella sticks. One of our friends wasn't crazy about it but he's a picky guy anyway).
As for our meals, one of us got the cheeseburger And he thought it was okay nothing special but the cheeseburger, he also said that the fries were a bit soggy not really on the crunchy side. I'm somebody that generally eats french fries no matter how they taste and I was picking them off his plate and dipping them in the sauce of my tortell (more on that to come). Another one of our friends got the Bucatini, a spaghetti type dish with mushrooms and mozzarella. She said it was cooked over al dente, didn't really know that was much of a thing I didn't try any of the pasta but it still looked really good. Don't get me wrong the presentation of everything was amazing! Now on to the final dishes, my fiance and I both ordered the tortellini and was surprised at how amazingly delicious the cheesiness of the tortellini was. We weren't too crazy about how they put arugula on top of it it was just a mix of flavors with the cheese that I wasn't too crazy about. Also the sauce at first I thought was delicious and then when I found out it was some kind of variation of pea soup and some kind of sauce I was a little taken aback by it.
I would have much preferred it to be in either a red sauce with some sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of it even though there was Parmesan cheese in the middle of the tortellini, or even in a creamy Alfredo sauce, mmmmn that would have been PERFECT!
Now we get to the bill... Between the four of us, with a Lime Ricky, 3 alcoholic drinks, 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, that $6 bottle of still water and a soda, which also included, yes INCLUDED an $8 "Kitchen Team Fee (4%)" [what in tarnation?!] I don't even know what that was don't even ask me. The final total came out to around $220 (ballpark). I mean if you ask me it's Italian food, none of it was seafood that we ordered, I get it they're going to charge more because of the type of food what it is So the average price of all of our dishes was around $27, but overall I was a bit surprised by the end result of the bill. The service was great don't get me wrong, Isabel I believe was her name she was great awesome server great customer service. All the food came out pretty quickly which was great it was hot I was happy with that. But we tried The restaurant we're not really in Winchester that too often but we were in the market to tr
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tiramisu, Gnocchi
Adam Tomczyk
Visited Boston for an event that was hosted at A Tavola. Amazing place, great tasty food and super nice and polite staff. Old Fashion drink was amazing:-)
10 stars out of 5! This was the first place that my husband and I ate at mid-pandemic, after recently moving to Winchester. And it was such a great experience that we've never stopped going back - no really, we're there at least once a week. It's got a small, family vibe with staff and food quality that rival much bigger, fancier joints with higher price points. Fresh ingredients, thoughtful and creative menu planning, family-friendly, reasonable prices, options for those with food allergies, engaging cooks and servers that know us like family -- and all of this right in downtown Winchester! They also host amazing wine dinners where you get the chance to sample a range of lovely beverages that aren't easily found in liquor stores, and have done a fantastic job catering for our family holiday meals and parties. We honestly never expected to find a place like this in the Boston area, it's a true gem and a source of community, and we take all our friends there.
Dietary restrictions: I have a dairy allergy - and A Tavola has never poisoned me! They treat food allergies and intolerances very seriously, starting from making the reservation through the entire experience of checking in, ordering, serving, and eating. You can sit at the bar - I mean the chef's counter! - and literally see everything that's going on. And they cook food exactly the way I would at my own home - obviously much higher quality, because I'm a horrible cook - but with the right techniques to keep it dairy free. Moreover, they've innovated dishes so that I don't have to miss out on all the good stuff. I'm used to avoiding dessert when I eat out, because it inevitably has milk, cream or butter - but A Tavola has a couple of amazing options that are completely dairy-free and also delicious.
Parking: Lol it's Winchester, so you really don't need to worry about parking. We have never once had trouble finding free street parking within a 1-minute walk of A Tavola.
Kid-friendliness: We have kiddos with special needs, and we rarely take them out to eat -- except for A Tavola, where we go frequently. The staff couldn't be more friendly and accommodating - and our children LOVE their pasta. Win-win for us, because we love the adult food and beverages ;) Just had our 5-year-old's birthday dinner there.
Can't speak highly enough of Chef Joe, David, Rachel, Andrew, and the entire staff at A Tavola. We've lived in town for several years and it became our favorite spot quite quickly. That's not just because the delicious, innovative, and seasonally fresh menu. The entire crew goes above and beyond to make you feel like family whether you're sitting at the counter on a casual weekday or having a date night. They never miss and we are so stoked to see them grow into the new space!
I really love the family friendly environment. I usually take the kids on Fridays and always feel welcome. My kids love the food! Especially the chicken tenders and pasta on the kids menu! So it makes take out for a busy sports mom easy! The restaurant is spacious and I can’t wait to see it with the new expansion in the works! It will be fun to grab a drink at the bigger bar that is going in!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
James Sutton
My View: Never, ever order take out from this restaurant. Antipasta terrible. Not provided with bread. Restaurant solution: offer to take bread off ticket. My solution. Reduce amount of charge by 20% tip and lose my patronage. The octopus was tough. I am throwing away the antipasta since no bread provided to properly enjoy. Service and quality of food have gone downhill in last year…….. as for atmosphere, tables were about 25% full when there 5/3/24 which may reflect declining service from full house formerly found there. This once was a great family restaurant.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Paul Chakoian
Nice little place. Good Italian food, great service. More tables than space. A little pricey.
Parking: Metered parking out front, with a larger free lot around back maybe 125 yards away. From the lot, there's a backdoor entrance but it's no longer used.
Had an excellent gnocchi dish. Prosciutto appetizer was one of the best I’ve had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gnocchi, Antipasto
K K
I loved the atmosphere, and the staff was short handed but extremely attentive to all tables.The antipasto was goo but I would have liked a little more choices.I loved my chicken dish, bread was delicious and a friend had bolognese which was very good.Great wine selection.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mom Mc
I was there for a baby shower. Small but very quaint. The service was great and staff attentive. We were served a wonderful, unique selection of appetizers along with a great meal! Would highly recommend this restaurant!
A farm-to-table gem in Winchester. Small but hand-wringing menu -- so hard to choose. Spilt Bucotini and Bolognese with the wife. Will be back often.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Smores Dessert
My wife and I visited A Tavola for the first time tonight for our anniversary dinner. It was fantastic. The atmosphere was romantic, inviting and comfortable while still family-friendly. I could see myself coming here with friends, too.
After just one bite of the bread I knew that the food was going to be great – and it certainly was. There was care put into the details like the beautifully thin slices of mortadella on our antipasti board, or the amount of torch on the s'mores dessert. The ragu bolognese and tortellini both hit all the right notes as well.
This will sound like a ridiculous exaggeration, but I literally teared up at some point before our mains came out. I grew up in an Italian-American family, and the smells, tastes and textures brought back intense memories like going to buy fresh bread with my grandfather and eating homemade Sunday meals.
You won't need a childhood like mine to enjoy A Tavola, but please trust me when I say that this is Italian food done right and at a more than reasonable prices.
Bravi to the chef and the whole team. I'm looking forward to dining in again soon.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Antipasto, Smores Dessert, Ragu Bolognese
When it's *this* hot out, all I want are 'summer light' bites
Luckily A Tavola in Winchester fits the bill! What I love is that everything was so fresh and the menu is everchanging; the night I dined there, Chef Joe spoke highly of the fisherman he got the branzino from and the farmers market he got some of the produce used in that night's dishes from.
Some of the dishes I was able to taste (& my phone ate first) were:
* Beet Salad - horseradish crema, cucumbers, whole grain vin
* Branzino - blistered shishitos, shaved artichoke salsa verde
* Halibut - olive oil poached herloom tomatoes, basil, oregano & garlic
* Strawberry Shortcake - vanilla white cake, fresh and macerated strawberries, cream cheese whip
* Blueberry Ricotta Cake - ricotta, blueberry glaze
All of these dishes were complimented by my two craft beers - Bent Water Brewing's Premium Lager on Draft and Lone Pine Brewing's Summer Lights Citrus Wheat Ale. A Tavola, like their food menu, has a rotating beer & cider menu featuring new brews from New England craft breweries and cideries.
Incredible food in a warm, intimate space featuring an open kitchen, newly opened expansion and a patio space to take advantage of this beautiful weather!
A neighborhood restaurant that is truly invested in the community through collaborations, giving back and even partnering with the local elementary school to run a Seed to plate program to educate children about how to harvest ta garden and turn it's bounty into food for the table - a true seed to plate full circle! They also offer cooking classes, wine dinners, BBQ & Bourbon Dinners so keep an eye on their Instagram and website for upcoming events!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went out to dinner tonight with some friends who recommended the place and said that they've gone several times and they enjoy the food. As we have never been here before we asked our friends for what they like to get when they visited the restaurant. They said the menu rotated so they never really have the same items on their menu. I get that some restaurants do it so it's totally normal.
Before we get on to the food, one of the servers came up and asked us if we'd like some water; they offered still, tap, and sparkling. We first chose Still not really thinking anything of it, the server came over with a bottle of water and poured it we didn't say anything look totally fine, it wasn't until the end of the meal we were actually charged $6 for the bottle of water!! Okay next time I will definitely go with tap.
We ordered some beverages, two Palomas, one beer and one lime Ricky. Drink prices weren't bad at all I mean $10 for a can of beer is not crazy but alcoholic beverages between $12 and $18 are in the norm these days.
There were about eight different appetizers, we ordered two of them, we got the Roasted Eggplant (wasn't too bad I think it was a little spicy from the sauce, I did like the goat cheese that was mixed in with the lettuce leaves) and the Smoky Mozzarella Sticks (I thought these were pretty good, I'm not a big fan of anything that's smokey especially drinks, but I actually liked the smokiness of the mozzarella sticks. One of our friends wasn't crazy about it but he's a picky guy anyway).
As for our meals, one of us got the cheeseburger And he thought it was okay nothing special but the cheeseburger, he also said that the fries were a bit soggy not really on the crunchy side. I'm somebody that generally eats french fries no matter how they taste and I was picking them off his plate and dipping them in the sauce of my tortell (more on that to come). Another one of our friends got the Bucatini, a spaghetti type dish with mushrooms and mozzarella. She said it was cooked over al dente, didn't really know that was much of a thing I didn't try any of the pasta but it still looked really good. Don't get me wrong the presentation of everything was amazing! Now on to the final dishes, my fiance and I both ordered the tortellini and was surprised at how amazingly delicious the cheesiness of the tortellini was. We weren't too crazy about how they put arugula on top of it it was just a mix of flavors with the cheese that I wasn't too crazy about. Also the sauce at first I thought was delicious and then when I found out it was some kind of variation of pea soup and some kind of sauce I was a little taken aback by it.
I would have much preferred it to be in either a red sauce with some sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of it even though there was Parmesan cheese in the middle of the tortellini, or even in a creamy Alfredo sauce, mmmmn that would have been PERFECT!
Now we get to the bill... Between the four of us, with a Lime Ricky, 3 alcoholic drinks, 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, that $6 bottle of still water and a soda, which also included, yes INCLUDED an $8 "Kitchen Team Fee (4%)" [what in tarnation?!] I don't even know what that was don't even ask me. The final total came out to around $220 (ballpark). I mean if you ask me it's Italian food, none of it was seafood that we ordered, I get it they're going to charge more because of the type of food what it is So the average price of all of our dishes was around $27, but overall I was a bit surprised by the end result of the bill. The service was great don't get me wrong, Isabel I believe was her name she was great awesome server great customer service. All the food came out pretty quickly which was great it was hot I was happy with that. But we tried The restaurant we're not really in Winchester that too often but we were in the market to tr
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tiramisu, Gnocchi
Visited Boston for an event that was hosted at A Tavola. Amazing place, great tasty food and super nice and polite staff. Old Fashion drink was amazing:-)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sticky Toffee Pudding, Ravioli
10 stars out of 5! This was the first place that my husband and I ate at mid-pandemic, after recently moving to Winchester. And it was such a great experience that we've never stopped going back - no really, we're there at least once a week. It's got a small, family vibe with staff and food quality that rival much bigger, fancier joints with higher price points. Fresh ingredients, thoughtful and creative menu planning, family-friendly, reasonable prices, options for those with food allergies, engaging cooks and servers that know us like family -- and all of this right in downtown Winchester! They also host amazing wine dinners where you get the chance to sample a range of lovely beverages that aren't easily found in liquor stores, and have done a fantastic job catering for our family holiday meals and parties. We honestly never expected to find a place like this in the Boston area, it's a true gem and a source of community, and we take all our friends there.
Dietary restrictions: I have a dairy allergy - and A Tavola has never poisoned me! They treat food allergies and intolerances very seriously, starting from making the reservation through the entire experience of checking in, ordering, serving, and eating. You can sit at the bar - I mean the chef's counter! - and literally see everything that's going on. And they cook food exactly the way I would at my own home - obviously much higher quality, because I'm a horrible cook - but with the right techniques to keep it dairy free. Moreover, they've innovated dishes so that I don't have to miss out on all the good stuff. I'm used to avoiding dessert when I eat out, because it inevitably has milk, cream or butter - but A Tavola has a couple of amazing options that are completely dairy-free and also delicious.
Parking: Lol it's Winchester, so you really don't need to worry about parking. We have never once had trouble finding free street parking within a 1-minute walk of A Tavola.
Kid-friendliness: We have kiddos with special needs, and we rarely take them out to eat -- except for A Tavola, where we go frequently. The staff couldn't be more friendly and accommodating - and our children LOVE their pasta. Win-win for us, because we love the adult food and beverages ;) Just had our 5-year-old's birthday dinner there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Antipasto, Smores Dessert, Risotto, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Spaghetti Carbonara, Octopus, Salted Caramel Gelato, Ravioli, Ragu Bolognese, Burrata
Can't speak highly enough of Chef Joe, David, Rachel, Andrew, and the entire staff at A Tavola. We've lived in town for several years and it became our favorite spot quite quickly. That's not just because the delicious, innovative, and seasonally fresh menu. The entire crew goes above and beyond to make you feel like family whether you're sitting at the counter on a casual weekday or having a date night. They never miss and we are so stoked to see them grow into the new space!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Antipasto, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Spaghetti Carbonara, Octopus, Ravioli, Burrata
I really love the family friendly environment. I usually take the kids on Fridays and always feel welcome. My kids love the food! Especially the chicken tenders and pasta on the kids menu! So it makes take out for a busy sports mom easy! The restaurant is spacious and I can’t wait to see it with the new expansion in the works! It will be fun to grab a drink at the bigger bar that is going in!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My View: Never, ever order take out from this restaurant. Antipasta terrible. Not provided with bread. Restaurant solution: offer to take bread off ticket. My solution. Reduce amount of charge by 20% tip and lose my patronage. The octopus was tough. I am throwing away the antipasta since no bread provided to properly enjoy. Service and quality of food have gone downhill in last year…….. as for atmosphere, tables were about 25% full when there 5/3/24 which may reflect declining service from full house formerly found there. This once was a great family restaurant.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nice little place. Good Italian food, great service. More tables than space. A little pricey.
Parking: Metered parking out front, with a larger free lot around back maybe 125 yards away. From the lot, there's a backdoor entrance but it's no longer used.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Superb restaurant, one of my Top Three Favorites.
Had an excellent gnocchi dish. Prosciutto appetizer was one of the best I’ve had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gnocchi, Antipasto
I loved the atmosphere, and the staff was short handed but extremely attentive to all tables.The antipasto was goo but I would have liked a little more choices.I loved my chicken dish, bread was delicious and a friend had bolognese which was very good.Great wine selection.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I was there for a baby shower. Small but very quaint. The service was great and staff attentive. We were served a wonderful, unique selection of appetizers along with a great meal! Would highly recommend this restaurant!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Everything was fantastic. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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