Spiga is the kind of restaurant you want to love. The staff makes you feel well cared for. The food is presented nicely, and it can taste as good as it looks. But it can also be oversalted or undersalted, fishy in flavor or funny in texture. When I first moved to Boston, an impoverished youth, my mother came to visit and took me to Iocco’s Galleria Italiana as a treat; it was one of the earliest wonderful meals the city offered me. I want Spiga to be just as good.

Read the full Globe review (Devra First, Globe Staff)

Pictured, Paccheri Amatriciana, in a sauce of tomatoes and pancetta.

18 Highland Circle, Needham. 781-449-5600. www.spigaitaliana.com. All major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair accessible.

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