Pepe Bocca - Somerville

The cook went out and after 30 minutes waiting for our food, our server informed us so happy that we left. I was bummed b/c I bet the food is amazing, only nobody to cook it!

It is regrettable that while eating is fantastic, it took almost 2 hours to get it. I don't think I'll be back soon

When we sat, we were told that the kitchen was blackened and there would be a small delay in the kitchen. That was good with us because we had a good conversation. We bought a $70 bottle of wine, but it was simply poured without opportunity to try it. Over 90 minutes later, none of the restaurants at the Essen restaurant had. Some just left. We have an order first. The quality ranged from fair to good. When we were finished (about 4 hours after arrival) we thought we should compose a dessert. But we were told that Dessert would take a long time. In view of our experience and the hour, we gave up. I don't know if it was the only waitress's fault, but we wondered if she was also the cook if she would disappear for a while. There was no explanation or excuse for long waiting beyond the wounded remark.

Food quality was excellent. It took 2 hours to get our food that seems like the norm. Place was much better before it became a full service restaurant.

I had high hopes for Pepe Boca. I was certainly disappointed. When we first arrived everything seemed nice. We were seated right away. I now know why the restaurant was half empty. They brought some bread which was the only edible thing in the whole place. The waitress seemed extremely incompetent and incapable if answering basic questions about the very limited menu. She said she would ask the chef but apparently he was not in the kitchen. I ordered the charcuterie board for a starter and then ordered our entrees. It took over 1 hour for a board of sliced salami and cheese to come out of the kitchen, during which time we were not even offered a refill on our drinks. We had to request refills of our water 3 times before it was brought. The main entrees then took an hour longer to arrive. We were just about to leave before our food came. I wish we had. Three of us had ordered the gnocci which was burnt and inedible, I had the Osso bucco which was tough and grisely. The risotto had no flavor at all. The other two people had the pizza which was less than average. By the time we had finished I was very angry. The waitress blamed the kitchen, a new menu, and staff change for the problems, failing to give an excuse for her ineptitude(usually if a kitchen is that far behind a good waitress can ease the stress by being more attentive or at least making sure the drinks stay filled). I felt like I was just cheated out of my hard earned money. The restaurant should have adjusted the bill for such a poor experience, but that would have taken a single competent person to realize what was happening and there were none to be found. As we were leaving, never to come back, two or three other tables around us were experiencing the same misery. I always hope for local restaurants to succeed, and maybe Pepe Bocca can turn itself around, but I will not be going back there ever again.