Piccolo’s

I am so excited to find this place. I have been on the lookout for a local go-​to Italian restaurant. I believe I have found it!

I have been going to Piccolo’s since it’s opening. It is by far my favorite restaurant in Worcester. Not only is the food delicious but the place has the kind of charm you want from a local restaurant. The servers are all super friendly and knowledgable about the menu. The owner, John, is always around to say hello or offer a recommendation. My absolute favorite item on the menu is the Pollo Maria Theresa. It is a pasta dish with lobster spinach and chicken in a slightly creamy sauce that has a hint of lemon. It is perfection.
Other items that are must trys:
Fried oysters– do you need a reason?
Spaghetti alla bechra– perfectly spicy against the red wine pasta. Literal comfort in a bowl
Veal Parm (and I don’t like to eat veal but it’s too good not to here)
It’s the perfect place for a date, family/​friends dinner or solo night at the bar.
Do not skip this place if you are in Worcester for dinner.

Reminded me of old Shrewsbury street Italian restaurants. Atmosphere was intimate, service was excellent. We had the calamari and garlic bread for apps. I had the lobster Mac and cheese for an entrée. Everyone in my party thoroughly enjoyed our meals. I would highly recommend Piccolos to anyone who enjoys good classic Italian food with a slight twist.

I went on Friday, 01/​08, at 18:00. I sat at the bar that had 3 people drinking and 1 couple dining. The bar was staffed by 2 women.
I selected a special, Pappardelle Bolognese, which was very bland tasting. It had none of the flavors, or depth of flavors, of a long cooked sauce (ragu). My next disappointment was in the dessert offerings — they had no Italian desserts! No tiramisu, no cannoli, not even cookies!
The service started out nicely with a friendly greeting and a prompt food and wine menus but quickly deteriorated, to the point, that, my server had her back to all of us so she could text without us seeing her.
The noise level is very high in the front part of the restaurant as the bar and front dining area have no physical separation.
It’s been almost 10 years since my last disappointing visit and I see no reason to visit soon again.

Classic Italian feel. Great food. We had chicken apple cider special which was awesome. Owner is always accommodating. Fast service. Our special guest really enjoyed the wine selection :)

Went here before a concert at the DCU with 3 other friends. The place is relatively small, it was not crowded at all which I thought was odd and that got me worried that I was in for a bad experience. Having said that, my wife ordered a fish entrée over pasta and 2 of us ordered Chicken Parm dinner. I can’t recall the other entrée. The food was very good and honestly one of the best Chicken Parm dinners I have had in years. huge piece of chicken, very moist on the inside and tasty sauce. The only complaint I have is just that there was one waitress on in our section and it did end up getting a tad crowded because of the concert so she was definitely running around. Other than that, a great find and we will be back next time we are up that way.

This is the restaurant in Worcester which receives my highest recommendation. It seems like a diamond in the rough yet it’s located right in the middle of Shrewsbury (for all intensive purposes the pinnacle of restaurants in Worcester).
I had ravioli, garlic bread, and a caesar salad they were perfect. My companion had the Pesce Piccolomondo and she raved about it!
You simply must try it!!!

I travel for business all the time. There are few times I am wow by a place. Piccolos is simple amazing, the food and the service is top notch. The master chef john is so personable. Truly a good a gem.

Food was very good but the service was not which is why I gave only 3 stars. Waitress (I think Kristen) was very poor. She took over 15 minutes to get a glass of water, didn’t offer bread, and then when we asked for a dessert menu (at this point we were one of three remaining tables left) that took about 20 minutes.
All portions were good size and everyone liked them but I’m not rushing back there any time soon.

What a splendid evening of beautiful cocktails, salads, appetizers, wine snd pasta! Our server, Kristen, could not have been more delightful and accommodating.
She knew the menu and specials thoroughly. Fried oysters were perfectly cooked and delectable, the house salad delicately dressed with lemon and mint
Enhanced dressing is addictive, veal cutlet thin, crispy and tasty
On a bed of homemade Gemilli. Haddock and lobster on fresh angel hair with asparagus with a lemon sauce.
Desserts were so delish!

My favorite dish is veal parm. On a healthier note, the Bel Mondo salad is stellar. Fatima salad also grand. Bar scene is full of fun people almost every night. This place is my go to in Worcester for a Shrewsbury Street experience.

What a joke… Went here for drinks with friends after the fireworks tonight and head trashy bartender with the tight tanktop and gut hanging out screams «ID’s!!!» before we can even find out what they have in bottles from the one mildly friendly bartender who wasnt drinking a cocktail behind the bar or swearing about customers within earshot of guests. Head bartender seemed to be more interested in drinking her white russian and slamming things around than to bother being an ounce friendly. Hostess was picking her nose/​nosering and drinking her cocktail in between texting at the podium. And other shorter younger bartrnder was swearing about a few kids that asked to use the restroom… wtf. Couldnt wait to finish our drinks and leave. I dont think i have ever been to a more classless place. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this restaurant/​bar. There was nothing hospitable about this place or the staff that we encountered tonight.

I liked the food, but was disappointed by the management. I brought a minor quality problem to the attention to the waitress, she turned to the other waitress and said «I better tell xxxxx.» After she returned she acted like nothing happened and asked if we wanted coffee or desert. When we said no, she returned with the check. No adjustments or anything! They NEVER addressed the quality problem.
The poor waitress are getting no backup from the management to address customer issues. I will think twice before going back.

Went for dinner on Friday night with my daughter, a college student (hungry!) and husband and had an awesome meal! It is a very cool little place, it is dark, but loved the atmosphere, even the tin ceilings! BUT THE FOOD… now that’s why we are going to come back to Piccolo’s again and again! I can’t believe we havne’t been here but everyone we encountered was so nice. Our waitress suggested the «famous garlic bread» so we tried it and it was yummy and different, and was served with a gorgonzola cheese dipping sauce! My husband had the seafood over pasta dish that was served in a delicious spicy tomato based sauce with loads of seafood! My daughter had the ravioli in a pink vodka and artichoke sauce that she loved and i had the Eggplant Siciliano that was out of this world… thick slices of tender and lightly fried eggplant with just a touch of light red sauce on top. Then, it was accompanied by cavatelli sauteed with spinach and garlic that was to die for delicious! We were all stuffed or we would have had dessert, because they looked wonderful! This place reminded me of an intimate italian restaurant in the north end of boston… it was cozy and charming and the food was fabulous! We’ll be back!

this place is great. awesome dining room and bar. delicious food. well worth your dollar. this is the place to go for quality italian food and a quality family owned restaurant.

First time here. Came here for restaurant week. Normally the menu consists of appetizers, entrée and dessert. Here they offered soup, salad and entrée.
The soup of the day was described by the waitress as «tomato base with macaroni.» really? How did the waitress not know it was minestrone. It was ok.
The strawberry Caesar salad was fabulous. It had some type of strawberry vingarette/​Caesar dressing. The croutons were homemade. The size was large.
The entrée was sautéed chicken with banana peppers, spinach and feta cheese in an oil wine sauce. Kind of bland and way too many peppers.
The place was slow especially for a Friday night and the waitress was non existent most of the time. $ 2.25 for Ice tea and no free refills.
The décor was ok. The room was uneven and all the tables leaned to 1 side.
Nothing to write home about and not likely to return (except for maybe a take out caesar salad).

Our family went for a celebration. Boy was I disappointed. Service was sub par and there were barely any people in the restaurant.
Our drinks arrived in these tiny little glasses. Had to keep reordering refills which got to be annoying since the waitress never came around.
The bread finally showed up on the table. it was STALE. I was so embarrassed because I suggested this place.
Food was just OK especially for the prices they charged.
I won’t be going there ever again.

What a cute little place to have dinner. That said I think I wanna come back for lunch. The prices are average Worcester Shrewsbury street Italian restaurant prices, and this place comes without the pretentiousness. The service was so attentive it was borderline annoying but all of the food was very good, no fancy presentation. Its super dark in this place, even at the bar. Given the size of the place, I can’t say its good for groups, unless that group is of 4 or less. Some may call that cramped, but I call that intimate. Its not a business lunch/​dinner spot, but rather a date night place, when you really are too lazy to do anything spectacular, but still want a romantic setting and good eats.
The bar is actually kinda neat here; small, but fully stocked with a lot more liquor than you’d expect. The drink menu is pretty creative for such a tiny operation.
I had a mushroom ravioli that did indeed have pasta that was made that very day. After making it fresh in my own kitchen plenty of times, I can say that I can recognize the taste. The sauce was a buttery light mix of garlic and lemon. It really was perfect and not a filling ravioli dish that makes you feel like rolling home.
My date has a braised pork dish, that may have just been a special but was out of this world with the perfect sauce. Speaking of sauce, if you are on the hunt for the NEAR perfect red sauce… this is the place. It is essentially Italian food but the menu hints at a lot of Mediterranean influences. Again, pretty typical of Worcester but not unwelcome to my belly.
Take your boyfriend (in sweatpants or dress pants) and love it up.

Bottom line: rude, clueless waitress + terrible overpriced food
My wife and I stopped in on New Years eve for dinner en route from NYC to NH. We sat down in the same room as the bar (not the main dining room). It was the start of a horrible experience.
The first problem was the menus. Because it was New Year’s Eve, only a few «special» (read overpriced) dishes were available. After waiting 15 minutes for our waitress, I finally went to the Maitre’d and asked if this was all that was offered, to which she said yes.
I went back to our table and waited another ten minutes for our waitress. I have no idea what she was doing, since there was only one other couple in the room she was working.
She finally came, and we ordered drinks, some garlic bread (we weren’t given bread like the other couple) and our fancy dishes (which didn’t include salads or soup).
We got our drinks 10 minutes later, drank them dry, and didn’t see our waitress for 15 more minutes. We ended up waiting 15 more minutes until we got our garlic bread (total of 45 minutes!). Our dishes came twenty minutes after that.
The veal I ordered was tough and flavorless. The Fettucine Alfredo my wife ordered was so bad, she had to ask for some red sauce to make it palatable. Absolutely horrible. I mean… really, how can you screw up an Alfredo sauce? Everything was completely tasteless and bland, even by New England standards.
In addition, the waitress included on my wife’s plate, non gratis, a spoon that had old cheese (we think) gunked on it. What a classy touch!
Our bill came to over $ 65. We spend nearly an hour waiting in a near empty room until our main dishes arrived. The waitress was clueless and seemed to be under the delusion that she was working in a five star restaurant. «Everything’s homemade» she kept babbling, expecting us to be impressed, apparently.
What an absolute rip off. We should have gone to the diner next door.

After attending a concert at the Hanover Theater a few nights ago, my wife and I enjoyed a late dinner at Piccolo’s along with our good friends. The homemade lasagna (with the homemade sausage) was tremendous. Both my wife and I loved it and our friends enjoyed their meals as well. Great, attentive service is also worth noting.