Cafe Napoli

Had the cioppino soup was very good and loved the house salad although way too much dressing. Service was excellent

Started with the beef carpaccio. It was very good, served with a mixed green salad on top. The dressing had a smokey flavor, similar to Chipotle. The beef was very delicious. For my entrée I had the Veal Saltimboca (spelling) which was out of this world. The cheese was melted perfectly on top covering the layer of prosciutto. The only thing lacking was the side served with it which was fingerling potatos and green beans. Though the potatos were good, I think it could have been spiced up with a better side. For wine I had a glass of St. Josephs from the Northern Rhone region. It was fantastic. Service was great, ask for Melvin.

This place is super fun. The food is scrumptious and the service is superb.
They have some of the best, youthful, up to date DJ’s in all of St. Louis and it get’s really crowded on the weekends. It is no longer a place that is kept quiet. Alot of folks know about it… but many are particularly afraid to come to this spot because it does have an upper echelon Air of luxury and taste to it.
I enjoy the beverage options as well as the food.
I love this place!

My wife and I have been here twice so far and it has by far exceeded our expectations both times! It is very pricey so it is more of a «special occasion» place for us. The food is outstanding. We have had the steak, salmon w/​pasta, seafood pasta dish, and the veal chop. All were delicious! On top of that, the service at this restaurant is the best that I have seen. Dress nice… don’t be like me and waltz in wearing jeans and a hoodie (I didn’t know it was fancy the first time and just walked in looking for a place to eat), but still, they sat us right away and treated us with amazing service!!!

Wow! Best restaurant in STL hands down. My wife and I went for the first time this evening and were beyond impressed. The service is great! My wife got the filet mignon and loved it and the chicken Parmesan was UNREAL. We will definitely be back soon!

Excellent food! Exceptional service. Unparalleled experience. From the appetizer to specials (I chose the Chilean Sea Bass) to the desserts (I chose the bread pudding– outstanding!) all was excellent.

Came here for Clayton restaurant week. The other reviews that detail the lengthy process of sitting down, receiving drink menu, and finally food menu were accurate. The drinks were really good. The food was good but not great, it was too rich for me. Service was excellent.

The only negative is that this is such a popular place that it can be crowded and noisy with lots of drinking going on — not the ambiance I prefer.
However, it is a clear 5 star for the food and service, whether it’s lunch or dinner. Their fish is always perfect and their wait staff, even the newer ones, are exceptionally trained. Their pasta is also amazing. There are less expensive places nearby, but for consistently high quality upscale food, Napoli never disappoints.

Try Café Napoli’s Stacked Salad and a glass of Pinot Grigio — a perfect late night meal on the outdoor patio.
I would like to return to see what else I can love.

In town for business, went here for lunch. 3 stars on the food. Had the tortellini with prosciutto and mushrooms. Cream sauce was just right and not to heavy. Need to add a little more prosciutto. Reminded me a lot of Patrizio’s in Dallas. Great patio, great location, and the service was on point.

Was not a big fan… We called ahead and were told that we would have no trouble getting patio seating but when we arrived 15 minutes later they said itd be a 45 minute wait. The restaurant has nice atmosphere, but the service and food are extremely slow. When it finally arrived everything seemed to have an excess of pepper… Not to mention that it’s already pretty pricey. Will not be returning.

Café Napoli is typical Clayton Image without qualified backing. I don’t mine at all paying for expensive meals if they’re worth the price. I got the veal and was slightly disappointed. The flavors were nothing to really brag about. They covered the whole veal sambucca with cheese to the point that the flavors were hidden. Seems more like an overpriced venue than an exceptional Italian restaurant.

My favorite place to eat when I visit St. Louis. Bustling place full of beautiful people. Not a very big place, so it gets filled up pretty quickly. This place has both quality and the quantity. The menu isn’t very adventurous but it’s filled with reliable standards. Portions are generous. Among the appetizers, calamari & toasted ravioli and when available fried soft shell crabs stand out. Standard salads; caprese is filling and tasty, caesar comes with real anchovies. Their pasta dishes have been pared down. Linguine with seafood is a favorite; slightly salty and buttery, it’s addicting. Specials every day that they bring to the table to show. Nice variety of steaks and fish. Nice but pricy wine list. Attentive service. Not a cheap place but very satisfying. Never had a bad meal here.

I AM SUCH A FAN! YOUR FOOD IS SO TASTY!
but beware, this place is def $$$!
1. Food
–I know that this is an italian restaurant, but holy moly, their fish options are soooo goooood. i’ve gotten their sea bass twice in two diff preparations both times it was superb. my colleagues have tried the salmon and trigger fish and both raved how great they were!
–bone in filet was also super tasty, cooked really well!
–a tasty house salad with creamy italian dressing, i reallllly enjoy it
–I would actually pass on the apps – the bruschetta and calamari were both pretty standard, nothing fantabulous about them
2. Service
–I hate to be this girl, but a SERIOUSLY, its a slowwwwwwwwww service, please allot for at least 2 hrs for this meal
–the first time i came, it was probably the fastest – 20 people in the wine room at the bar section; our server was fast and so was the kitchen
–the 2^nd and 3^rd time (parties of 2 and 6 respectively), it was sooooo slow; i get, they have a process, but it really just takes too long
1. drink/​wine orders (20min)
2. THEN they bring you a menu (10min)
3. bring the tray of today’s meat/​fish selection (15min)
4. allow you to think it over (10min)
5. take your order (10min)
6. wait wait wait wait wait wait for food
7. salads come out, then entrees are pretty fast
3. Space
–I don’t particularly care for the space, so no rave reviews there
–BUT, they have some great team dinner spaces — couple of private rooms that can accommodate huge groups! definitely take this into consideration!
I’ll be backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Service is great!
Bone in veal with shiitake mushroom reduction was delicious. Linguini fra Diavoli with seafood could be better.
Nice décor but overall bit pricey.

Disclaimer: This review pertains to the bar side (Bar Napoli) — not the food side (Café Napoli).
Bar Napoli is in a great location in Clayton — safe, clean, slightly upscale. I’ve gone here on multiple locations to start the night off since it’s close to my apartment and centrally located in St. Louis. They have two main bars, so if the front one is packed, the one in back is usually quieter and more accessible.
The front bar oftentimes has a wedding party dancing after the reception to a mixture of sounds from a DJ. I’ve heard everything from rap/​hip hop to techno to stereotypical wedding songs played. Just depends. It’s an open space with room for dancing, and there are typically two or three bartenders taking orders.
The back bar is a little more lounge-​y, the music is quieter, and there’s seating for small groups, nice art, and the bartenders have more time for chit chat.
Overall, Napoli is a great spot to mingle, get some reasonably priced drinks, and dance a little.

In short — a small and boring bar, but a really good restaurant. Went there for a business dinner and sat in the wine room. Very nice and intimate; great for conversation vs. the loud main dining room. The menu offered a little bit of everything, but I had the sea bass accompanied by broccoli and mashed potatoes with a side salad. The food was very good and the wine was excellent.
I would say that Café Napoli is a decent restaurant and I would certainly not mind eating there again. It’s just not a «memorable» place; aside from the room we ate in, nothing really stands out or leaves you with an impression you will not soon forget, which considering the prices, is a little disappointing. But again, I would not discourage you from trying it.

OK I’ve been coming to St. Louis for years and finally stumbled across this spot. I was here on a Wednesday night and this place was jumping. We had a big group of about 15. We didn’t have reservations and they seated us in 5 minutes. The place was packed. They gave us our own private room and two waitiers. The service was good and the food was great. I had the calamari for an appetizer and Steak for my entrée.
They had a DJ spinning while we were eating and at some point the place turned into a nightclub. It was off the hook. The restaurant also has an outdoor eating area that was packed and seemed like a good spot for people watching. If you’re in St. Louis I would definitely put this place on your short list of places to go. (If you want to have a good meal, music, and atmosphere)

When we entered for lunch on Friday, we awkwardly stood there for maybe 3 minutes, unsure of what to do. There was no one standing behind the podium, and there was a waiter talking on the phone. After he finished talking, he wiped up and attended to something behind the bar instead of attending to patrons. The waiter who came to us after we were seated, however, was very warm, friendly, and enthusiastic. We asked a few questions, and he answered them with zeal: D
We ordered the Bruschetta di pomodori appetizer, which had anchovies… those thingies I hear about being gross when put on pizza, but when cut up and placed on bread, the result is quite delish. Nice balance of salty and savory, crunchy and creamy. Why does everyone hate on the poor critters? If you don’t order an appetizer, that’s okay too, because Napoli also serves bread with packaged salted Land O’Lakes butter.
My Veal Piccata was thin, but soft and tender. The white wine and lemon butter sauce made my meal taste strangely like Chinese takeout XD The red peppers and green herbs (can’t remember if it was parsley or cilantro) really made it look like it too!
BF got the special of the day: Rainbow trout with pepper sauce. It came as a huge pan-​fried filet smothered with a bright creamy pepper sauce with several pieces of nicely salted cauliflower. He said the pepper flavor was too strong near the end, but I didn’t think it was that bad~ :)
Café Napoli is a nice place to drop in for lunch. It wasn’t busy at all (3 tables, including us), but guess it made sense since it was… 3pm. :P Their dinner prices soar upwards by quite a lot, so lunch is a good time to sample their menu. The presentation of each dish is well done, and our waiter was so nice ^^ They’re on the fancier side, but they don’t try to make their food too complicated. :)

This place is so overrated.
A friend of mine told me Café Napoli was excellent and that she goes there almost daily for lunch. She raved about how great the pasta is and suggested we go there since she was going to be in town. She made reservations for 3 people for 7:30pm. It was a Thursday night. Not even a prime day. We got there early around 7:25pm and the place was a mobscene. We informed the hostess of our 7:30 reservation and she told us we’d have to wait a while and that they quote «had way too many reservations tonight.» Uh okay. Well we waited. And waited. And damn, it was about 8:00pm and the manager/​host/​whoever kept giving us excuses. We were ABOUT to leave when they finally seated us. It was really obnoxious.
Finally, we sat down and it took them another 10 minutes just to bring the menus, bread, and water. They brought us out two free appetizers as consolation for making us wait so long. Hey, not bad. Well, I tried the toasted ravioli and it was… okay. Not too bad for toasted rav but I am not super crazy about it either, so eh… we also got to try the eggplant parm. It was drowning in cheese and red sauce. The eggplant itself was sliced über thin and I could barely taste it. It was like just eating straight up melted mozzarella with red sauce. Not really my cup of tea but it was free so I can’t complain.
The bread was some of the worst bread I have ever had at a restaurant, and that’s saying something. I think the worst bread ever was Duff’s because it was stale. Well this was 2^nd to that, it was really dry and did not taste fresh at all. Also, my friend found a bug floating in her glass of water. Obviously, they replaced it in a hurry… but uh, ewwww!
I asked the server if the pasta there was homemade. Nope. It’s not homemade. So why did my friend rave about it so much? I guess I had to find out. We ordered our dinners; I decided to get the rigatoni cardinale. It sounded like something I’d really enjoy… pasta, scallops, shrimp, and a creamy wine sauce. Mmm. Well, when our food arrived, it was barely edible.
The pasta, first of all, took «al dente» to a whole ‘nother level. It was HARD and difficult to chew, at least for me. Maybe it was the type of pasta I ordered, I don’t know. My friend’s pasta was angel hair and easier to chew. Secondly, it was SO spicy that my tongue and entire mouth was on fire. I couldn’t taste a single lick of flavor because my tongue was being assaulted with spice. There was NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING on the description for that item on the menu about spicy. My friend, however, ordered the diavolo or something like that, and it was even spicier than mine. She eats spicy food all of the time and even SHE thought it was too hot to handle. She didn’t send hers back but I had to. I just couldn’t do it.
The server was apologetic and he brought the menu back to me so I could try again. Well, I told him I was terrified to order anything else because that clearly was not marked «spicy» and it came out insanely spicy. He promised me the replacement dish would not be spicy at all. I asked if I could get an alfredo sauce with seafood pasta. He seemed hesitant but then he said that yes, they could do a white creamy sauce with clams. OK sounds good. Welllll, about 8 minutes later I got my food but it was the exact dish I had ordered before. Not white sauce. I asked him what was up with that and he said they just wanted to «give it a second try» without the spices. Err, okay then. (Later on, I realized there wasn’t a single white sauce dish on the menu yet my friend insisted she had had several white garlic sauces for lunch.) Odd.
Anyway, I tried my dish the 2^nd time around and it was SO SO SO much better. The pasta was still hard though, and the seafood seemed a little too overcooked, but the sauce had a great flavor, now that I could actually taste it.
But really, the best part of the entire meal was the glass of pinot noir I ordered, which they gave to me for free, by the way, which was really nice of them.
I really did appreciate how kind they were and how they tried very hard to fix all of the mistakes and bad stuff that was happening, but this is not going to bring me back. Too many things went wrong all at once and just getting into the restaurant was a huge pain. I doubt I will ever come back to this place, even if it didn’t cost me anything, and I mean that.
My suggestions:
— Better management/​training needed, especially for reservations. I’d hate to see what a Friday or Saturday is like at this place.
— More attention to detail. Like how our server tried to bring the check out while I was STILL eating. And no insects in drinking water, old bread, etc…
— Better quality ingredients and chefs that don’t taint every dish with a pound of red pepper flakes. Pasta that isn’t super hard either would be a plus, even homemade pasta would make a world of difference. When you charge upwards of 20 bucks for an entrée, it needs to be matching quality. My 2 cents.