A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I had been to Comella’s a while back, the Brookline location, and just recently visited the Needham location. The tiny location (Needham) is charming-I love the Pellegrino bottles in the window (they do the same in Brookline). There are a few tables to sit and dine in at, and they were all taken by business men and students.

We ordered take out for lunch-my boss had never tried Comella’s and it’s hard to find a good pasta lunch spot ever since Sweet Basil stopped serving lunch. Comella’s is know for their ‘messes’. A ‘mess’ is a secret recipe, that varies day by day. Sometimes it has lasagna, sometimes shells, and sometimes pasta. There are over 30 different varieties of the mess-for example: Ma’s mess is just the base-a vegetarian option. Pa’s mess is meatballs. Tony 4 eyes is shrimp and sausage. The mess can run you anywhere from $7 to $16 for a single serving, which let me tell you is enough to feed 2 or 3. They also have a “half bucket” which serves 2-3, and a bucket which serves 6-8. In addition to their messes, they also have pizza and sandwiches-so there is certainly something for everyone.

It is pretty busy at lunch time, I called in the order and was put on hold for 8 minutes! But calling ahead is really your best bet at lunch time-so you can just park you car and run in.

We opt for the cheese gnocchi-all pastas are served with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese on top ($8.99).

We also get Bear’s mess-eggplant and shrimp with ziti in marinara sauce with cheese on top ($11.99). The shrimp were a little bit rubbery but the eggplant was excellent. Out of the two dishes, I preferred the gnocchi.

Comella’s is a great choice for lunch-a ton of food for a good price, and it’s pretty darn tasty to boot.

Comella’s

Locations in Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Chestnut Hill, Concord, Needham, Wellesley, West Newton, and West Roxbury

http://comellasrestaurants.com/