Zagat (Under)Rated Italian Food :: Maurizio’s, North End, Boston

There are over 80 Italian restaurants in Boston’s North End, mostly along Hanover, Prince and Salem Streets. So many choices, so little time.

We strolled up and down the main streets for a few nights before grabbing a corner table at Maurizio’s. This unassuming Sardinian eatery has about 22 seats upstairs and 30 more downstairs. It’s family run — most of these places are. It’s charming hostess/maitre ‘d greeted us with a complimentary glass of French sparkling wine.

And it’s underrated for its Zagat rating because Maurizio’s is a find among dozens of me-too Italian restaurants. In fact, this 12-year-old North End eatery has been top rated in the Zagat Guide and a three-time winner of Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston Award.

Coming from San Francisco and being familiar with the menus in our North Beach Italian restaurants, you see a different variety of pasta noodles and menu choices on the East Coast. We have sausage, veal, chicken and fish. They have the same, but with exotic combinations.

At Maurizio’s, they stretched the limits with my wife’s saffron risotto with a half-lobster and shrimp. It was a huge platter and ate her way through most of it. Our daughter inhaled the Orecchiette alla pugliese– Orecchiette pasta sauteed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, broccoli rabe and sausage meat, with a touch of white wine, while I dug into the Malloreddus alla campidanese — a Classic Sardinian pasta dish served in a savory meat sauce made with sausage, lamb, diced vegetables, red wine and tomatoes.

Try it, you’ll love Maurizio’s.
A: 364 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113
T: 617.367.1123
W: www.mauriziosboston.com