Il Casale - Lexington

We had a fantastic dinner last Saturday night. The wait staff was superb and the food was outstanding. Instead of looking at a menu and wondering what I would have, I looked and said how am I going to decide? I want to try everything.

The ambience in the restaurant was pleasant and the service was good. I 'd say that our server didn 't check on us as much as I 'd like and he seemed to be distracted. The pasta was a touch over-cooked and the fried eggplant was more like fried eggplant pieces, than an actual eggplant 'steak '. I had to add salt to my dish. All in all, though, the experience was good , not great . I 'd go back, but there 's better Italian in the area.

This was an all around pleasant experience with a good menu, excellent service, and a not too busy ambience (Thursday evening). We like it better than its sister restaurant, Wellington, which is also in Belmont, in that it has a more diverse menu and more reasonably priced meals with many half portions. Certainly a go-to choice.

Good food, great service. The servers and waiter were all very attentive. We went for a birthday dinner with a young kid (we went a bit early around 5:30pm), and had a very pleasant experience. They surprised us with ice cream with a candle because I mentioned that this was for a birthday (ice cream was very good, too). Definitely interested in returning!

Il Casale Belmont: Good food, nicely designed space from converted fire station, excellent service, but not outstanding food for the price. Fruiti Misto, bolognese pasta were very good. Risotto with scallops was just ok, with too much lemon flavor. Tiramasu was overly chocolate, and don 't bother with the cappuccino. For a few bucks more, you can have a far superior northern Italian dinner that is altogether in another class at a nearby longtime standout venue in Waltham, whose name also begins with Il C... . (I won 't mention the name. Be warned that regular-height tables in the front part of the restaurant can be very chilly as people enter and leave the building, despite an exterior vestibule constructed outside the front door.