Giacomo's Melrose

Giacomo's Ristorante in Melrose is now serving lunch daily. I have only heard good things about them and the same for their North End location, so I was looking forward to my visit today.

They are located on Main Street on the side where you get two hours of free parking. On the other side you get 30 minutes, so don't confuse the two. There is also a big communal lot behind the restaurant. The actual entrance is on the side of the building.

The windows down there faces the main street. Behind me is the bar with more seating.

You get fresh (cold) bread. I had to snag the olive oil from a nearby table. Other tables got a cheese shaker. Nice napkins but marginal silverware.

It's an Italian restaurant so trying the "Chicken Parmigiana (16) served with side of linguine" is a must. This shows if the kitchen can cook chicken and if they can cook pasta. Yes, they can on both counts. The unsalted pasta was cooked a tad more than al dente, and the tomato sauce was good. The chicken parm was also cooked really well with moist chicken and plenty of cheese. The tomato sauce was really bright and well seasoned. I don't think a chicken parm can be better than this. Now I have to go back and try a seafood dish.

Address: 454 Main St, Melrose, MA 02176 Phone: (781) 620-1191