Massimo's - Ristorante Massimo

Extremely professional, personable, wonderful staff. Food is delicious, wine options are fantastic.. Their dining room brought me back to Italy. Massimo is very friendly and makes you feel welcome.

Only note I would mention is that my husband and I felt the bread could use some work. For being an authentic Italian restaurant, higher quality bread is a must! With good quality olive oil.

Would absolutely recommend for a special occasion dinner!

10/10- absolutely incredible! Highly recommend the Tagliatelle Carbonara and the dessert box was the best ending. The butter rum cotton candy was to die for! Service was phenomenal!

This is my 2nd time here at Massimo, and it's even better than the first. I took my wife here early in our first year of marriage, and we both loved it. We always said that we would come back, and we finally did it tonight for the occasion of my mother and brother, who shared a birthday. Everything was as amazing as we remembered, if not even better. Service is fantastic, atmosphere is perfect, good is phenomenal. I will be coming back again and again when I'm in the area.

Fabulous experience from start to finish! Be sure to make reservations ahead of time and dress well. Orders for each course are taken all at once and the servers time everything based on your eating speed. Highly recommend the asparagus!

This has got to be the best restaurant in New Hampshire. I’ve been here 10-15 times and everything has been flawless every time. Service is amazing and the owner is a great guy. No matter which dish you get you can’t go wrong. I just wish the gnocchi dish was always available!! So good

This is my favorite Italian restaurant hands down! The food was beyond amazing, the drinks were spectacular, and the service was the service was awesome.. 2 story restaurant. The bottom floor had more of an old world feel, and a bit more contemporary upstairs. I highly recommend the small plates with the cheese sampler. We did the choose 3 for $18 And enjoyed every single dish.

Arrived without a reservation, but was able to sit outside on the first night the patio was open. The cheese starter (tallegio with sun dried tomato, Gorgonzola with fig and onion chutney, and Brie with smoked duck and sweet pepper jam) was well done-all had a nice balance of sweet and savory. The bucatini alla amatriciana was delicious and filling. Cocktail was well made. Nice selection of wines. Service was great. As an out of towner would recommend but would suggest a reservation and more of a business casual attire.

Went for 5 year anniversary dinner August 2022. We had a lovely time. The food was magical, the service was extraordinary, the atmosphere was perfect. I highly recommend any of the pasta dishes. One thing I would have liked to have seen was warm/toasted table bread to start instead of the cold underwhelming table bread we got, but no big deal. We were very pleasantly surprised with a complimentary cannoli for our anniversary.

My boyfriend and I came here for his birthday last night and it’s definitely one of our favorite restaurants that we’ve been to so far. Within five minutes of sitting down we both already enjoyed the setting, which was classy and intimate. The food (we got the meatballs for apps, and the carbonara and halibut for our main meals) was very good. The service was excellent—our waiter, Mark, was personable and extremely knowledgeable on the menu. Overall great experience and we’ll be coming back.

Dinner was perfect and spot on with awesome presentation. We sat in the downstairs which was nice and cozy.
Housemade pasta and bolognese sauce was perfect. Scallops as an appetizer was delicious and could have ate 30 more.
Desert was perfect and not traditional but was to the max on every level.
Staff was super attentive, our waitress was new but she was great.
Owner stopped by and greeted us at our table which was nice.

We had 4:30 dinner reservations main dining room was not available which was fine for us. Only the bar area was open. The staff was very professional even when rude customers came in and demanded a seat without reservations the staff remain calm and professional. In my opinion they handled the situation with the utmost class. The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous it has that high class Italian feel. Drinks were very well made. Dinner was fantastic. My wife had the Bolognese & I chose the ribeye that was recommended by our server /bartender Peter (awesome guy!) At first I thought the ribeye was pricey but after the first taste I knew it was worth every penny I honestly cannot think of another stake I've eaten my lifetime that was as good as this cooked perfectly & great flavor! We will be back next time we are in Portsmouth with our a doubt

The best thing about our experience were the staff. Everyone was so friendly and our server was extremely attentive. We could tell they were in high spirits and had great attitude, which is rare during this time, so it was much appreciated! The food was very delightful - we had the carbonara with truffle (recommended by our server), gemelli pasta with duck, kobe meatballs and panna cotta for dessert. Cute atmosphere perfect for a special occasion.

I don't even know where to begin!
My experience at Massimo's was one of the best I've ever had! I'm an Italian-American who grew up in Boston with some of the best at-home italian cooking, and italian restaurants at my fingertips, so I feel like I know a thing or two?
I went to Massimo's with 4 of my best girlfriends on a Saturday night, mid-Winter. We sat downstairs in the Main Dining Room. The atmosphere was romantic and inviting, upscale but relaxed. I just loved all the exposed brick and wood everywhere. The lighting was bright but still cozy, and long white table cloths gave a fine-dining elegance to the overall aesthetic. The only thing missing for me was music. Some accordion or chitarra italiana twinkling in the background would have been the cherry on top!
From their wine and cocktail lists, we sampled few options, the favorite being the Sicilian Cosmo. Our first course was an array of appetizers - Kobe Beef Meatballs, Venison Tartare, Jonah Crab Cake, Burrata, and one of the prosciutto "small bites." All were delicious, especially the meatballs! For entrees we had the Agnolotti Ravioli, Pan Seared Cod, Braised Short Rib, and a pasta special for the night that included spaghetti in a fennel butter sauce with 3 types of seafood. All entrees were excellent - the only negative being that the spaghetti special had almost no seafood, but the overall flavor of the dish was out of this world! For dessert we all ordered perfectly crafted espresso martinis (amazing!) and shared the Tiramisu, Sorbetto and a couple of the petite cannoli. The tiramisu was a crowd pleaser not only due to the superb flavor, but also the buttered rum cotton candy topper! Wow!
Other important points: Our server Sam was the best!! He was so fun and accommodating, but still kept it very classy - the perfect balance. And Massimo himself came around to all the tables to say hello! He was so friendly and sweet - it was great to meet him!
Can't wait to go back!!

Step down the entrance stairs and you’ll find yourself in a dimly lit Tuscan restaurant with romantic touches of brick, stone, and rich mahogany crossbeams. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our three course meal for restaurant week (see attached pictures). The portions are on the smaller side, but that’s to be expected for an upscale restaurant such as this. We will certainly be back for other romantic occasions.

The food was excellent, the service was wonderful, and the atmosphere was beautiful. I’ll gladly come back and recommend anyone to go wether it’s an intimate date or grabbing a couple bites and a drink. Peter was an amazing server and took great care of my wife and I. Tenouttaten/10 would drown myself in butternut squash ravioli again.

Wonderful place for a dinner. Great atmosphere for a dinner, conversation, while enjoying the food and excellent service. Every dish I ordered was very well balanced and flavorful. Can't recommend more. Customization friendly, can modify ingredients and adjust to your taste. Wide variety of vine options presented.

My husband and I enjoyed every part of the experience at Massimo’s...the ambience of the restaurant, the friendliness and attentiveness of the staff, and the delicious food. We shared the gnocchi and the lobster risotto, which had chunks of delicious lobster meat throughout the dish. It’s a must try!

Outstanding food...exceptional service!..really.... exceptional service by the whole team!! Real 5 star treatment.. whether it's date night, or a special night out, you cannot go wrong. The cannoli for my wife's birthday was a nice touch!!!

We recently celebrated my brother’s engagement with a party of 8 people. Right away our server let us know that we could not order appetizers or food until our 8th person arrived, all food orders have to be put in together. Thankfully I could call the person, get their order, and we were able to start with apps. Wanted to share so others were not surprised.

Any other time with just two people has been seamless!!

Food is amazing!! Every single thing was delicious. The Espresso martini was perfectly made and the Veal was incredible. Highly recommend this place for intimate dinners and just have your whole party there for larger groups.

Food and service always wonderful. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to enjoy a nice dinner in Portsmouth.