Boston Restaurant Talk reports the Chateau, a chain of big ol' Italian restaurants, is opening its seventh location on the John Mahar Highway near South Braintree Square.

We go the one on Rte. 1 in Norwood sometimes. It's pretty cool in an Anthony's Pier 4/Ken's kind of way, only without the sad days-gone-by vibe you sometimes get in those places (plus, there's something relaxing about watching people practice their putting at the golf course on the other side of the picture windows).

Jen can't decide, but says the cannolis at Mike's have one advantage - if you buy so many that you can't eat them all at once:

... From personal experience, I have found that the cannolis from Mike's Pastry keep longer. The shells seem to stay relatively crunchy for at least one whole day (overnight), whereas the Modern Pastry cannolis get soggy in less than 24 hours. This could be because the Modern shells are smaller, lighter, and more delicate than the heftier, cookie-like shells from Mike's. ...

Lawn Guylander who finds herself stuck in Boston seeks help getting Italian and Chinese food in Boston of the sort that can only be found in New York because the water's different or something (oh, wait, that's bagels).

And one other thing: "I need some advice from other New Yorkers ONLY."

Jen reports on a recent visit to the North End restaurant:

... Their chefs definitely know what they are doing and can execute excellent dishes. The downside? The menu is not very large, and it's a bit pricey. Even though we really enjoyed our meal there, in the end we both agreed that our favorite restaurant in North End is still Prezza. Being pasta lovers, we were a bit sad that there were only a few pasta choice on this menu. Nevertheless, this is still an excellent restaurant and definitely worth trying. ...

Wicked Local Needham reports the owners of two restaurants named Pomodoro in the North End and Brookline are stewing over a Needham restaurant's attempt to paste the same name - which means "tomato" in Italian - on its storefront: The former's lawyer wants the latter to can it and threatens to dice them up, in a saucy letter to both the owners and Needham officials. The owners of the Needham restaurant refuse to be crushed, say there's no heirloom status for "Tomato" as a name.

Of course, all this leaves West Roxbury residents wondering if Pomodoro's Italian Kitchen can catch up.

They haven't gotten rid of the giant 'V' yet, but the owners of Vintage on the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury have changed the name to Sofia Italian Steakhouse, which no doubt went over really well at Sophia's Grotto, an Italian restaurant in Roslindale.

Dish This reviews the dated and cheesy, but at the same time still elegant and homey Ristorante Fiore on Hanover Street, concludes that while there are better places, "you definitely would be in for a good meal if you choose this spot."

North End Nudists Unite appreciates the Daily Catch, also on Hanover, for its complete lack of charm:

... It's raw and real. Broken mirrors and scratched wooden chairs.

There's no cheesy busts or Venetian tourist-shop paintings on the walls.

Plus - it may be the only restaurant in the North End that doesn’t blast Italian Opera music at all hours of the day.

There is a special place in my heart for an establishment that cuts out the crap and sticks to the one thing they do right. The food. ...

It was 7, nobody felt like cooking, so we got in the car and drove over to Vintage, figuring we'd check out the new restaurant in the "old" building. Got there to find there was a 90-minute wait for a table. Whoa, how'd it become so popular so fast?

So we got back in the car and drove up to Mandarin Gourmet in Brookline.

Tavolo Pizza could open tomorrow in the new Carruth building, Lower Dot reports.

ParkwayBoston.com reports Vintage is getting bought by Alfredo's of Quincy (pending a city liquor-license transfer, natch).

Earlier:
West Roxbury restaurant pulls up steaks.