La Cantina Italiana Ristortante

Located along Route 135 in Framingham, Massachusetts, La Cantina Italiana Ristortante is a good choice for an Italian-American meal. I would not say that La Cantina is fine dining, but it is consistently good, priced well and is a great place to go with friends and family. Located on Waverly Street (Route 135) in Framingham, there is parking available both adjacent to the restaurant and across the street from La Cantina. On some nights valet parking is available.

Once you come into La Cantina there's an open waiting area that's adjacent to the bar that's located in the front of the restaurant. In back of the bar area is the dining room, which is a single, wide open room where the tables are. It can get kind of noisy when the restaurant is packed since it is one big room.

Menu

There's something for everyone on this Italian-American style menu. All the traditional favorites like chicken parm, penne with broccoli and chicken, and veal marsala. The menu tends to skew towards what I'd consider Italian inspired meals. The entrees, whether they be the fish, steak, chicken or pasta, all come with a garden salad that generally comes with Fanny's dressing unless you ask for something else. I wouldn't ask for something else if you like Italian dressing at all though, since this is really good dressing.

There are quite a number of different appetizers available including standbys like buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders. There are also a number of seafood appetizers (not really my thing) and some Italian style appetizers like bruschetta. Soups and salads are also available and there's a full-service bar available and I've never heard any complaints from my husband or anyone else about the drinks that they serve.

Prices on the appetizers range from about $4 to $10, while entrees range from $10 to $20 with pasta dishes being the cheapest and steaks being the most expensive. We generally end up spending about $20 to $25 a person on a meal depending on how many alcoholic drinks there are.

Experiences

I generally get the penne with broccoli and chicken when I'm at La Cantina. I like the way that they keep it simple with a garlic olive oil sauce and you get a whole lot of food for what you pay. I almost always end up bringing enough home for another meal the next day. I've also enjoyed the chicken parm along with a couple of other dishes and I've never heard any complaints from anyone that has been with me.

Sometimes we do have to wait quite a while to get a table, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. I think the longest we've waited is about 45 minutes. I'm not a huge fan of the close seating either, if only because it gets so noisy that it's sometimes hard for me to hear the conversation at our table.

I've never had bad service at La Cantina. The waiters and waitresses have always been helpful and nice and the flow of the meal has always been good with appetizers and salads coming out and meals following shortly afterwards.

In The End...

When we're looking for an Italian meal with friends in the Framingham area, we almost always consider La Cantina. It's decently priced, has good food and good service and everyone enjoys their meal.

Restaurant Address & Info

La Cantina Italiana Ristortante

911 Waverly Street, Route 135
Framingham, MA 01702
(508) 879-7874