Home Cooking

A North End Italian restaurant where the owner's mother makes the meatballs

ou’ll feel like part of the family at Ristorante Limoncello, which sets itself apart with its charm from the countless Italian restaurants of the North End. The staff occasionally bursts into song, or will offer a quick language lesson. But the real secret is the signature meatballs. They’re made by Concetta Badolato, the mother of owner Maurizio Badolato, all of whose immediate family is involved in the restaurant in some way. The great but little-known backstory: Badoleto was a waiter at another restaurant and won $1 million in the lottery, allowing him to live his dream of opening his own place. As for the limoncello that gives the restaurant its name—a natural liqueur known to help the digestive system and made with lemons grown only on the Italian island of Capri—it’s from his grandmother’s recipe. Vallejo

Shhhh! Concetta Badolato also makes her braciola
for guests who order in advance. Another specialty:
the linguini frutti di mare, a collage of mussels,
clams, and shrimp over a delectable seafood sauce.

Shhhh! One brother is a waiter; another, a chef. A sister, two nephews, and a niece also work at the restaurant.

Shhhh! He's since hit twice more,
once for $10,000 and once for $20,000.

Shhh who knew

Actor Danny DeVito introduced his own line of limoncello after appearing on the television show The View, apparently drunk, and blaming it on limoncello. It was too refined to be served in the Boston bar that was the subject of the sitcom Cheers, in which his wife, Rhea Perlman, played a waitress, DeVito said. "Imagine if Norm came in every night and said, 'Limoncello!'"