While in Boston a couple of weekends ago, my family and I had dinner at Gennaro’s 5 North Square the night before the Boston Marathon. Having heard that restaurant wait times during the marathon weekend were often very lengthy, I made reservations weeks in advance on OpenTable. We arrived to find our table for seven set and ready for us.

Oil And Cheese

While looking through the dinner menu, and deciding on a bottle of wine, some fresh bread was dropped on the table along with some oil and cheese for dipping. There were two different types of bread in the basket, one of which was almost cake like and quickly became the favorite of our table.

Masciarelli Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

My wife quickly recognized a bottle of wine on the list that she has grown to love, Masciarelli Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, so we ordered a bottle of it for the table. Everyone liked it well enough to order another bottle of it before dinner was even served.

North Square

Our table overlooked the very nice North Square. After placing our order, members of my family took turns playing with my one year old son out in the square. The room that our table was in downstairs wasn’t large at all, only holding a few tables, but I’m told the upstairs can seat up to 65 for dinner. There is only one restroom on the main floor, which is next to the very tiny bar area.

Chicken Parmigiana

For dinner I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana ($22), which featured a huge double breast of breaded chicken on top of house made fettuccine noodles and plenty of Marisa’s marinara. This dish was very well prepared and I enjoyed eating every last bite of it.

Manicotti Italo - Americani

I also had some of my wife’s Manicotti Italo – Americani ($20) with ricotta, spinach, and nutmeg. Rather than the bolognese ragu that comes with it, she opted for the diavolo sauce. Unfortunately the diavolo sauce didn’t really add as much spice as I was hoping.  Furthermore the ends of the manicotti were overcooked. With that said, the ricotta filling was delicious.

Others in our group had the linguine & scampi, the rigatoni with Sunday gravy, the lasagna, and a seafood special. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their dishes, though my mother who ordered the lasagna was disappointed that there was no meat in it. I had a few bites of the lasagna and I thought it was some of the best I’ve ever had.