Stellina Restaurant

I work in watertown sq for many years. I come to Stellina’s as a regular spot. It is something I always look forward to nice relaxing break in my day or for a business meeting. The staff is extremely friendly and not much change over. The owners are great family run. The space has large windows and high ceilings. When can try the outdoor seating they have grape vine setting which is cool. Lunch prices are great and food can’t be beat!

Absolutely fantastic! The food was delicious and the service was excellent. Favorites were the warm tomato salad, the boar pasta, and the cheese plate. The tiramisu was HEAVENLY!
Wonderful restaurant

First time patron… food was AMAZING!!! I can’t believe I have never been here and it has been around for so long! I will definitely go back. The server was ok. There was a food runner that was very nice and pleasant…

The décor and the ambience was great at this restaurant. They also have outdoor seating in the summer. Server was extremely helpful and the bar is clearly a popular place. I found the food extremely greasy including the bread. Maybe this is what people in Watertown prefer? My hubby thought it was greasy as well. I would say the food is similar in greasiness as Not Your Average Joe’s, but generally more expensive.

We walked in through the street entrance, which turned out to be the back entrance. The host saw us and walked down to the door to seat us. The overall ambiance of the restaurant was nice, but a little cramped. The host was not particularity nice, but the wait staff was.
We started with a Ceaser Salad and Crab Risotto Cakes. I really enjoyed the Crab Cakes and the cucumber salad that was served with it. For the entrée we ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and the Grilled Faroe Islands Salmon. The chicken was served with fusilli pasta. I LOVE pasta and am very picky about my pasta. The fusilli was bordering on overcooked… I ate some of it and left the rest. The chicken was alright, but the tomato sauce was flavorless. Also the sauce that was placed on the pasta had huge chunks of onions in it – they were the size of quarters. I really did not like the onions and picked them out of the sauce. I did not try the salmon (I am not a fan of fish), but was told that it was very tasty. I did try the risotto that came with it, and it was pretty good. For dessert we ordered the Cannoli and the Crème Brulee Napoleon. The Cannoli was a little too lemony for my taste, but the Crème Brulee Napoleon was really good.
Overall the place was okay. The tables were too small – there was barely enough room for the water glass once the entrees were served. We even had to remove the salt and pepper shakers and the candle from the table to make room for the plates and drinks. My entrée was nothing spectacular. I would return for dessert and a drink, but not for dinner.

The food is great, local & fresh. The wait staff is usually helpful. Nice wine list. Lovely atmosphere. Do not miss the opera night with family style meal — superb & great fun!

Stellina Restaurant did an excellent job attending to our Wedding Rehearsal Dinner for our son and daughter in law this past weekend. The cocktail hour on the patio was very enjoyable, and a lovely atmosphere. The dinner, held inside, was from the private event menu was very good. Nice that guests can have a selection of entrees. The wine selection was very good, as well as the beer selection. The staff really out did themselves to ensure the guests were well attended to. We would recommend this venue for private events, especially when the patio is available for a cocktail hour. Very nice option.

I had dinner here on Thursday night with my sister, her husband, my nephews and a close friend of the family. We LOVED this place. All of the food (pizza, grilled shrimp, mussels, haddock, and a pasta entrée) were well prepared an plated attractively. We ordered the family sized Caesar salad as well and it was delicious (great dressing, just the right amount of cheese, and really fresh romaine cut into exactly the right size pieces). Our server, Debbie, was great. She was very knowledgeable and made excellent suggestions. We all had cocktails from the specialty menu and the «New Old-​Fashioned» was the best I’ve ever had. All in all a 10 as a dining experience. Run, don’t walk! They take reservations and have a great outdoor patio.

Our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Mary Jane is a wonderful waitress. We have been away all summer but she remembered that my husband always orders extra limes for his water… she brought them over to the table as soon as we sat down. I love the chicken Marsala.

We had such a great experience here. We visited on a beautiful summer night and sat outside, right next to the fountain. The food was authentic and absolutely delicious. I ordered fettucini alfredo with chicken, which was not on the menu, and it was to die for. In my experience, alfredo sauce tends to be more on the bland side — not the case here. Call ahead to make reservations to avoid waiting. It is pricey, but it’s well worth the experience!

This is our regular Friday night venue. We love sitting at the bar. They have a wonderful selection of unique cocktails, wines from all over the world, and local beers. There is no way to go wrong with the menu. My favorite appetizers are the charcuterie plate, which is always changing, the warm tomato salad, and the cheese plate. The entrees change several times a year, as well, and everything is delicious. The salmon, steak and lamb, and shrimp scampi are always impeccable. I can’t believe this place doesn’t have at least four stars. It is consistently good!

I have to say this restaurant is quite a disappointment. I’m not sure why people like this place. The food is not very interesting and lacking in flavor. Our waitress also seemed to forget us and left us awkwardly waiting for our check until the host noticed and cleared our finished plates.
The bread was good, and so was the pesto spread that was served with it. I got the swordfish– it was cooked well enough, but I felt I could do that at home.
My friend had the veal scaloppine. I don’t personally eat veal, but I tried the sauce. It was ok, but he said the veal was bland and had too much cheese on it. He couldn’t finish it. I think what I’d like is bold flavors. If you are ok with mediocre food, it’s ok, but not for the price. That’s what gets me– for the price you’d expect a lot more creativity and flavor.
Trust me, if you’re into food, save your money for some place better.
This isn’t my first time there. I’ve been there once before and didn’t remember the pasta being that great. In fact I remember very little about it, which says a lot.

Stellina is absolutely amazing. I’ve never had a meal here that didn’t make me wish I could rewind and eat it all over again mere seconds after clearing my plate. There are not enough great things I can say about this place. If I had one qualm, it’d be that there aren’t more beers on tap at the bar. Granted, that’s probably to keep riff-​raff like me from turning it into their post-​work watering hole, which is – in a word — genius. Well-​played, Stellina. Well-​played indeed.

Came here with 2 friends for wine & dessert. This place is nice but kind of cramped. Ordered the Crème Brûlée Napoleon — sweet enough for three people. It was a nice place to grab a beverage in the bar area.

I liked stellina when I first walked in. Casual classy restaurant. The signs pointed us to the back where we went to a hostess stand. Our friends were already there so we were seated right away. They had this elaborate system of curtains to block the cold winter air. However it’s a whole ordeal to get to the hostess stand if you walk in the back door. There was a sign I saw that directed us back but in puffy coat season it was a bit of a pain. Luckily there were hooks for jackets in back!
I had a pizza. It was good but not memorable. My dining companion had Alfredo. It is was average. We had a charcuterie board that was quite good however! The meats and cheeses were delicious and we particularly enjoyed the spicy mustard. I probably won’t go running to Watertown but it was solid for a weekday meal.

This is a review of the food only, because the server was very pleasant and the ambiance with casual but nice.
The food on the other hand could be likened to an adult version of a cafeteria school lunch.
I ordered the Warm Tomato Salad. It was made with large chunks of mealy tomatoes. I also had the Veal Cordon Bleu. It was very lackluster. The meat was chewy, the cheese was nothing to write home about. The thin ham was the only tasty part of the entire meal.
At $ 26 for an entrée and $ 14 for a simple salad, I expect a lot more.
Not for foodies.

We like celebrating Valentine’s Day the night before so we don’t have to deal with crowds, hype, and overpriced menus, and so we found ourselves at Stellina on the Friday night before Valentines Day, and overall, had a wonderful romantic meal.
We started with the charcuterie plate. I thought the veal, dried cranberry & pistachio terrine and the smoked duck pastrami were standouts, but everything on the plate was fine.
For the main course, we had the Scallops and the Chicken Marsala. There were five large perfectly cooked scallops that went well with a nicely done Romesco sauce. The two risotto cakes that came with it were a tad greasy, but very tasty. Nice little side salad, but too much onion. The Chicken Marsala was really good as well. Nice garlic mashed potatoes, and a sauce so good that we sopped it all up with the bread (which we did with the Romesco sauce as well), although we wished they had a gluten-​free alternative.
We were seated in the small room next to the bar, and even though there seemed to be a lot of people in the room, it wasn’t noisy and it didn’t feel crowded at all, just warm and cozy. And we had a great waitress — friendly, down-​to-​earth, warm and attentive. $ 100 with tax and tip (including a glass of wine) seemed just right. I’d really like to give this place 4 ½ stars, but the service kicks it up to 5, especially since it seems from other reviews that service has been problematic here, at least in the past.

Great, attentive service. Nice atmosphere, especially outside in warmer weather. Get a table near the fountain.
Considered wine list. A good rotation with most of the apps and some of the mains. Not really a red sauce place but they do it well.
What really makes this place special is their eggplant. Part Arab, I value eggplant highly and theirs is the most delicate and perfectly cooked I’ve had outside the mid east or my mom’s table.
I wondered if they used Chinese eggplant due to its creaminess and pliability– we asked the waitress and after asking her kitchen staff informed us that it is, in fact, normal American eggplant. Impressive.
The dessert is great too. I recommend the Neapolitan.

This place is fantastic! Every time I find an Italian gem, I may get a little overexcited… but I just get excited to tell everyone about it!
First of all… the white bean and pesto dip that they serve with the bread is amazing. It is full of flavor and a nice change of pace from the traditional bread and butter or bread and oil.
We started with the Butternut Squash Ravioli and the Mussels fra Diavolo. The ravioli was rich and sweet and came in a perfect portion to just have a few bites each. The mussels were also perfectly portioned and were swimming in a delicious spicy tomato sauce (not too spicy).
For dinner he got the Grilled Faroe Island Salmon Filet and I got the Stellina Meatballs. The grilled vegetables that came with the salmon were perfectly charred and the salmon itself was flaky, perfectly cooked and melted like butter in my mouth. The meatballs in my entrée were moist and full of flavor. There was nothing disappointing about this meal. The service could have been slightly better; there were a few times I felt that we may have been forgotten about — but that in no way would deter me from going back and trying more dishes!

I am now what Is considered a regular. I go to Stellina once every week or two. The menu changes periodically, which keeps it fresh and ther are a few staples. One of my favorites is the warm tomato salad. It’s a big appetizer and really for 2+ people, but I make it a meal and add hot sausage. I love the crostata and they change the fruit. They have interesting apps and good pasta /​pizza dishes. They make nice drinks-​I recommend the Cool Manhattan.
The staff are warm and welcoming, and the manager, Luis, makes me feel like they are happy to see me. The place is cozy with low lights. They have events like author and opera nights. It’s the best place in Watertown Center.