Prezza Restaurant

Food Allergy. Dear jvecc – Please accept my personal apology for the negative experience you describe below. I assure you that we take the safety and well being of our guests very seriously at Prezza, especially those with food allergies.

After reading your post, I readdressed our food allergy policy with my staff and will make sure that the experience you have described does not happen in the future.

Please let me know what I can do to make it up to you. Please call Prezza and ask for Anthony - (617) 227-1577.

Best,

Anthony Caturano…

This place almost KILLED me!. How is it that in this day and age of increased awareness regarding food allergies that some restaurants just still don’t get it?? Most restaurants now realize the liability which exists today, and understand the risks at stake for both the establishment and customer alike. As such, most restaurants do indeed take the necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of their patrons. For whatever reason however, there are still those restaurants that fail to meet even the most basic expectations in this department. A recent experience I had at Prezza in the North End convinced me that there are still establishments out there that either don’t care, or just plain don’t get it.

As someone who has a severe allergy to tree nuts, I take every precaution possible to make sure I have a safe experience when dining out. However sometimes there is only so much one can do; there comes a point when you must rely on your server and the chefs preparing your food. Unfortunately neither chef nor server could get it right at Prezza, and my dining experience was marred by what was an all too close call with tragedy.

Simply put, I had informed the waitress upon ordering that I have a severe nut allergy. The fact that she assured me both that the dish I had selected was safe AND that the kitchen would be notified of my allergy nonetheless did not seem to ultimately matter. I ended up being served food that was deemed safe, and unfortunately discovered AFTER it was served and AFTER I started eating it that it did in fact contain nuts. Midway through eating the entrée I realized something was not right and called the server over to confirm once again that there were no nuts in the food. She disappeared into the kitchen for a second time only to come back a few minutes later to nonchalantly inform me that yes, there were indeed nuts hidden in the sauce of my entrée. Fortunately I stopped eating prior to getting a full blown allergic reaction, and promptly took my medication to prevent any serious medical condition from developing. In retrospect, the waitress’s ineptitude was apparent even prior to this incident, when upon her being asked for a wine recommendation, she responded that the hundreds of wines on the menu were “pretty much all the same.” That is scary in-and-of itself, especially for a restaurant which supposedly prides itself on its extensive array and knowledge of high end wines.

My issue with the restaurant is threefold: 1) the menu inexcusably failed to disclose that there was a major common allergen contained in the dish 2) the waitress, either by virtue of ignorance or ineptitude, failed to disclose the nut ingredient to me even AFTER I notified her of my allergy at the time of ordering and 3) an obvious lack of communication occurred between the waitress and the kitchen which could have resulted in a potentially fatal error. I blame both the waitress and the chef equally for this inexcusable gaffe. The waitress is clearly unqualified and unfit to be a professional server, and the chef/kitchen staff have no attention to detail in both the wording of their menu or the preparation of each individual order.

I was lucky in this case that I did not have a full blown life-threatening allergic reaction, and the same can be said for Prezza - they were likewise VERY lucky. However that does not exonerate them from having incompetent chefs and servers which risk the safety and health of their patrons. Any restaurant can learn from this story, and how it is essential to properly train both their servers and chefs in the field of food allergies. By doing so, a restaurant may avoid the unnecessary exposure to the type of liability which could essentially destroy it in an instant.…

Easily Top 3 Restaurants I've Ever Been To. My guy lives in Boston, I'm here a lot and we've had dinner countless times. We popped in Prezza on a whim and were blown away. Every bite of every plate was delectable, and the wine list was impressive. We have pretty high dining standards, but were blown away by the offerings here. Will definitely be coming back.…

Beautiful place. I travel alot and end up checking out places by myself. I ate at one place in the North End and walked over to this place after getting a recommendation from a guy on Hanover. This place is beautiful. Great wine list and the menu looked good. I was full from my other stop, but I had a Valpoli-somethin'. This place is down one of the side streets and a little hard to find. Thought it was great. Love the North end.…