Mario’s Restaurant

Mario’s Restaurant is the Italian dining room at 347 Chelsea Street in East Boston, not a generic downtown spot. The official line is “closest thing to mama’s cooking.” Call (617) 567-8608 for dine-in or takeout; they ask you to phone in orders. The menu is antipasti and house plates: caprese, eggplant, grilled shrimp, calamari with hot peppers, sausage with cherry peppers, arancini stuffed with Bolognese, shrimp scampi, pappardelle Bolognese, lobster ravioli in vodka plum tomato, linguine with shrimp, clams, and mussels, penne alla vodka, chicken or veal parmigiana, and limone. Chelsea Street in East Boston, ZIP 02128. Come for a cutlet or a bowl of pasta in this neighborhood room, not the heart of downtown.