Arturo's Ristorante

Arturo’s Ristorante

54 East Main Street
Westborough, MA 01581

508-366-1881

Arturo’s website misleads. It says “Arturo’s Ristorante, specializing in Italian cuisine, has been serving the greater Worcester and Metrowest area for 27 years.”

Maybe the name “Arturo’s” has been around for 27 years (originally owned by Arturo Cartagenova and his wife Diane, starting out in West Boylston, moving to Worcester before finally settling in Westborough about 12 years ago). A couple years ago Domenico Fabiano bought the place and has been quietly improving the food quality since.  In many ways, this is a different place.

The original Arturo’s was a bit of a miss. It was one of those places with promise, and after going a bunch of times, it fell off the radar. Having a family, it was always wildly frustrating you couldn’t order pizza for the kids. “Arturo doesn’t want this becoming a pizza shop.” 

Domenico has worked tirelessly as “chef/owner”, bringing new life to the menu (and offering a decent pizza selection for kids….while not evolving into a pizza shop.

On a recent Thursday night, three of us headed over to Arturo’s for a family get together.

The place was hopping, and they seated us to the right of the door. People frequenting the old Arturo’s will think of this as the waiting area; there are now tables there. Unfortunately, it was too cold for comfort and really dull for people watching.

We orchestrated a shift at the bar, allowing the three of us to sit together (with our thanks to the two ladies graciously sliding over.)

Drink service was fast; food service was not.

After giving us a round of adult beverages and olive oil for dipping, we had to ask for bread…and it was served piping hot.

We then had $10 mussels…and they were prepared perfectly with a nice hint of garlic.

We then waited what seemed to be an eternity for our dinner. The menu states, “Freshness and flavor are the trademark ingredients that go into everything prepared at Arturo’s. Sure, it takes time and effort to prepare your food the Arturo’s way, but for us, there is no other way.”  We just didn’t know they seemingly ran to Roche Brothers for our ingredients.

(Having been there one other time for business, the delay seems the norm.)

Our main courses were a highly fought over truly delicious $21 Lobster Ravioli, a rather plain $16 penne chicken broccoli alfredo, and a rather pricey $30 special tenderloin (and it was very tender), served with asparagus and small potatoes.

Of course, the topic of the RAG scale came up. One suggested RED for SPEED, and GREEN for FOOD.

I’ll summarize it this way. If you haven’t been to Arturo’s lately, you should head back over to enjoy. Go when you have time to allow the kitchen to create.

Hours

Lunch

Monday - Friday             11:30am - 3:00pm

(Bar menu served Mon-Fri 3:00-5:00 at bar)

            Dinner

Monday - Thursday        5:00pm - 9:00pm

Friday                           5:00pm - 10:00pm

Saturday                       4:30pm - 10:00pm

Sunday CLOSED

Arturo’s Ristorante gets a GREEN LIGHT…go and enjoy.

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money