Bartolino’s South

Good was delicious. Service tonight was a little lacking for the quality of restaurants it is known to be.

3 stars for service. 1 star for rudeness. 4 stars for food.
I went to Bartolino’s on my business trip because of the recommendation of a friend of mine who is a local and loves the restaurant. I can see why. It’s not fancy, but it’s a warm comfortable family restaurant type atmosphere with reliably good food and a great menu. The happy hour at the bar is a real deal with well drinks, cocktails, martinis and house wine for $ 5. The marinara sauce is really extraordinary and comparable to some in my Brooklyn neighborhood (don’t tell the mafia in Brooklyn I wrote that).
The menu is a fairly traditional Italian one with a significant seafood variety too. I chose the calamari over the flash fried spinach and the meatball appetizer. Together, these were a perfect meal for me. The calamari was lightly battered and not greasy, and the spinach was delicious and served in a large portion underneath the calamari. The accompanying marinara was wonderful. So many other options looked inviting.
The food was not the problem. Neither were the younger guys who were servicing the tables, filling water and delivering the bread. They all were really friendly and constantly attentive. Unfortunately, they had to serve most all of my requests because my server was so inattentive. He had zero personality, and honestly only showed up at my table when he was delivering food. He did not speak passionately about the menu, offered no specials, made no attempt to get to know me or welcome me on my first time, and he certainly did not upsell. They should promote some of the younger guys who had much better personality and were much more aware of the customers’ needs.
But my one star for rudeness was due to an unbelievably rude host who scolded me when I tried to get an happy hour drink at the bar after sitting at my table. The happy hour specials were great, the restaurant had few people there, and I wanted a drink to accompany my meal at the happy hour price. Now, granted, maybe it was a bit out of place for me to walk to the bar instead of ordering from my table, but I’ve done it plenty of other places with no issue — especially on a quiet night. I could have just ate at the bar as a single person but decided to sit at a table and have a full experience. I ordered from the very friendly bartender. As soon as she was making my drink, the host came over and said, «No, you can’t have an happy hour drink at your table. You must drink it at the bar. It’s our policy.» The bartender was embarrassed that she had interrupted her so abruptly, and I returned to my seat shamed for asking for a drink. I certainly wasn’t going to purchase one at my table after that, so the restaurant received no drink money from me at all because of «their policy».
First, of all your policy be damned. I“m not suggesting that it isn’t a good general policy to encourage, but if someone does violate it, just graciously say, «Sir, enjoy your drink tonight, but just want to let you know that we generally ask that you buy your happy hour drinks at the bar next time. We appreciate your business.» That’s all she had to say, and the restaurant would have made $ 5 from me, and the bartender a good tip. Instead, she costs the restaurant $ 5 and a bit of their reputation.
Hospitality means graciousness and an eye for the customer’s needs. I actually went to the bar because I’m waiting for a client to pay me a long overdue check, and I’m having to watch my spending right now. Because my friend recommended the place to me, I wanted to relax and enjoy my time there. Instead, the host made me feel ashamed and ruined the experience. I told her so afterwards, and she stood by her behavior because «that is what her owner would have done too.»
That’s unfortunate. It sounds like the owner and she might want to read Danny Meyer’s «Setting the Table». Or maybe just read The Golden Rule. Policy enforcement is the opposite of hospitality because policies are about the owner, and never about the guest.

I’ve lived nearby my entire life and just made it here for the first time. Wowsers! The atmosphere is warm and cozy. Wait staff buzzing around getting folks taken care of. Their service is impeccable. I don’t believe I’ve ever had this level of service anywhere in the St. Louis area. Our glasses were never even half full. Now… the food. Husband had the penne pesto and was impressed. I had the tutte mare. It was delicious. There was a tremendous amount of seafood in every bite. I had the light cream sauce. OMG! It was a great choice. We plan to come back. I want to try the calamari and a fish dish next time. It looked so good passing by us to those who ordered it.

Table of 5… We were all wowed. Only 1 of us had been here before. Bartolino’s South has it ALL! It grabbed me as soon as we entered. The front garden areas with heaters is perfect. Walk in the door and the ambience envelops you. We had reservations, and I requested a cozy quite area for a hearing impaired guest at our table. We were seated in a very remote, quiet, cozy corner sofa table. Mission accomplished.
We ordered cocktails. A margherita (fantastic) Chianti and Pinot Grigio (good) and a Kettle one slightly dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives (MAGNIFICENT).
On to apps, the sautéed calamari. Oh my gosh. I cannot tell you how spectacular this was with the mushrooms and kalamata olives. It would be delicious over capellini as an entrée. My second favorite calamari anywhere! Second only to La Familigia in NY.
We were told the specials and I was unsure how sweet the Riesling sauce over the lobster stuffed sole would be. Jeff, our server, brought me a generous portion for me and the other guest to try venue ordering. It was terrific. So our table ordered the lobster stuffed filet with Brussels sprouts, the lobster and crab stuffed sole with the Riesling sauce over angel hair, sole Modega, eggplant Parmesan, and baked spaghetti. We also had the house salad. Every single thing that we ordered was over-​the-​top delicious.
We had containers to take home but we splurged on cannoli for dessert, and there was no disappointment.
Even the coffee was extra special.
Last two points of interest… first the bathroom. I have only seen this in Europe before. Press the green button and it automatically puts a fresh seat protector on the seat of the toilet. just don’t push the button while you’re sitting on the toilet, you might get a swirly! LOL LMAO.
Lastly, as we were leaving, unbeknownst to us they had music and dancing in the bar,. BONUS! And a televisions, with the football game on, BONUS FOR THE GUYS! The guys watched the football game and had a beer, while us girls dance the night away.
What a spectacular night. Perfect from beginning to end!
PS Spoke a while with Laura, the proprietor, she wax delightful! The sprinkles on the top of a great evening among friends.
OBVIOUSLY, we will be back… Often

Awesome food and the employees are very nice… excellent service!!!

My dining partner recommended this restaurant since the weather wasn’t agreeable with our planned Indian get away.
We were greeted immediately and we had reservations at 6:30. So we were able to get a table at 6:15.
This place seems more like an upscale version of the Pasta House. The atmosphere was nice and pleasant. The service was decent. We were given the options of the dinner special. However, the waiter had some difficulties remembering the prices for the dinner specials.
I ended up ordering the Angel pasta roseanna, which was an angel pasta platter with scallops and shrimp in a very delicious butter and white wine sauce. The platter did not come with a side, but I wanted one, so I ordered a baked potato.
As I said before, the platter did not disappoint, but the baked potato was pretty worthless. It was barely cooked and I had difficulties with eating it. There was not enough sour cream to go with it and they had no cheese options or chives or additional butter. It was pretty bland.
The price for both of us came to over almost $ 90 and for this experience, it was overpriced food.
In my opinion, ramp up your game on your dinner sides and get more educated servers. The server was pretty nice though, but it wasn’t a worthy experience for the amount that was paid.

Had a girls holiday party for 10 people
In the bar area last night. Thank goodness for reservations. Great service, wonderful band!!! A little crowded and noisy-​but isn’t that part of the holiday season? The apps were tasty-​very good fried calamari-​and I love their salads. They have a pretty decent wine selection as well. Good evening overall.

My first time there and it was wonderful! The atmosphere was soft and kind of romantic. Perfect for a birthday dinner .
The service was good. I thought the service was good but my husband thought it was hovering to not there all.
The food .
The bread service was good. Nice fresh bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and butter. Very good. Like the oil and vinegar the best.
The appetizer homemade toasted ravioli. Yummy ! Warm and chewy. The stuffing was wonderful. The sauce clearly was homemade. It was just perfect. My husband really really like them .
The entrée: I got the chicken Sambucco and my husband got a seafood linguine. Mine was slightly sweet, which for some reason I was not expecting. It did add to the dish. The sauce I could have licked off the plate. My husband’s dish was great. I had a few bites and the clams and mussels were great. The calamari was slightly chewy. He really liked it ! Which is saying something since he is not a Italian fan.
The desert: Apple bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream with a caramel drizzle. Holy mother of goodness! That was good ! My mouth thanked me my blood sugar did not !

BEST TUTTO MARE IN AMERICA
I have had this dish in all of the top Italian food restaurant areas – Boston, Chicago, San Fransisco North Beach, points in between and, of course, the Hill. Bartolino’s is simply the best (ask for the off-​menu light butter garlic sauce version). My wife’s shrimp scampi is her favorite anywhere because of the unique grilling & sauté. Most people in St. Louis South County don’t realize they have such a great Italian restaurant right in their neighborhood. We did when we lived here and even more so now that we have moved 1,000 miles away. We stop in ever time we visit.

This is the place for some wonderful food. I get the opportunity to visit them a couple of time a year and always ask myself why I don’t come here more often. The steak modiga is great — the sauce is not overpowering the medium rare medallion cold perfectly. Highly recommended! The staff is always very accommodating and pleasant.
Always busy — call ahead to be safe.

One star is only for the waiter who was very nice. I wished I had went to the pasta house instead. The Caesar salad was the parts of Romain lettuce that should actually go into the trash can and not be in a salad. The fish tasted frozen very disappointing. I will never go back. I don’t believe the owner is really Italian. Or he may have a clue of what good Italian wine really is !!! Very expensive for what you think may be special «Not»!!!

Their food is decent quality. I would not go out of my way for it. The staff is friendly.
One of the things that baffled me about this place was that I was ordering food for a local client, about 22 people. I wanted to order Salad, pasta, chicken and a few other things in catering style. They told me they don’t do it that way or the manager could not quote me a big meal for 30 people. They could only do it as individual orders for 30 people and the total came out to like $ 900.
That’s crazy. For $ 900 I could have taken my clients to Coopers Hawk in Town & Country. Eaten there on site… had wine along with meals and the food is 10X better.
If this place was a franchise, I understand that they could have company wide rules. But if you have someone willing to get food for 30 people, you cannot accomodate something and charge menu price and not even give any discounts?
I mean, we are not talking about «The Hill». This is average Italian food.
Oh well. I order about $ 700 worth of food per month for this client.
Your Loss!

My CRV had an emergency visit at St. Louis Honda directly across the street from Bartolino’s South and it was lunch time. Neither of us had ever been, but were familiar with their location at the Drury Inn on Hampton in the city. So we took our own lives in to our hands and walked across the busy five lanes of Lindbergh.
I knew before we were seated what I wanted for lunch. I absolutely love their Bartolino’s Special Salad. It’s a huge bowl filled with mixed lettuce and your choice of either turkey or salami. I choose turkey. Then they toss it with provel cheese, pepperoncini, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and tomatoes in their famous house dressing. This is always a favorite for me, I enjoy it regularly as a carry out from Osteria.
My dining partner enjoyed a Pan-​Fried Chicken Milanese Sandwich with Seasoned French Fries. It was Italian-​style breaded chicken with a hint of lemon served on toasted garlic cheese bread. He was only able to eat half, so the other half is going to make another great lunch tomorrow. The Seasoned Fries were your typical fries out of a bag, but still a nice side dish for the sandwich. In hindsight, a side of pasta would have been better.
The décor is old school Italian, a lot of dark wood and dim lighting. The service was attentive, as you’d expect from an Italian restaurant with this price point. Our waitress and her assistant made sure our glasses of ice tea were always full. They also promptly removed our plates when we finished eating.
Nice lunch. Glad I finally ate here, but I doubt if I’ll be back. Why would I when I have Bartolino’s Osteria in my hood? In closing I will say, the Bartolino’s Special Salad is one Sensational Salad and will be added to my Unilocal list.

This is such a great spot to take out of town visitors because it has a very cozy feel to it. The quality of the dishes are excellent and all the staff are really friendly. I’m not usually big on Italian food but this place always keeps a spot on my short list of nearby restaurants to visit if I ever feel like going out… the bar area is nice if you are flying solo and don’t want to dine in the main area.

We are so lucky all over St Louis to have good Italian fare and this is one of the places that proves it. Good fresh cheeses, correctly prepared pasta and Coke are my highlights. The décor is also great as is the service. Olive Oil and grated Parm on the table is a plus that lots of the pretend-​Italian places fail to offer. The low point was the side salad over-​drenched in the very good house dressing and the somewhat high cost of lunch. When on South Lindy, THIS is the place to eat.

This is definitely the place I wanted to be with James & his friends on this rainy Friday night! Besides this being one of my favorite Italian restaurants in South St Louis, I knew Theo People’s of the Original Four Tops was the entertainer this evening. I didn’t realize this is his normal gig every Friday unless he’s doing a show.
The staff was well trained and offered excellent service throughout the evening. The table is already set for a fantastic evening of fine dining with cloth napkins.
Unfortunately, we made reservations for a booth and that was a huge mistake! I was so uncomfortable the whole time and made a verbal remark and Travis who dined with us had made the same observation. The booths forced us to sit up too straight. It was just awful! So make sure you ask for chair seating which have to be a better alternative.
We weren’t disappointed with the food, however, as appetizer and dessert were too much for our table of four to even consider. I personally had the Chicken Spiedini which included a white garlic pasta & small salad while I enjoyed a glass of Merlot wine. James had the biggest juiciest hamburger Ive seen with fries.
We could hear Theo entertaining in the lounge while we were still dining in the restaurant area. By the time we made it over to see him, there was a small lounge crowd and we weren’t able to get a seat, but it was worth standing around just to listen to Theo’s smooth sounds. Gonna be back real soon, Theo!

My boyfriend introduced me to this place. .Let’s start with the cheese sticks… incredible…The house salad is a creamy and amazing. I always get the seafood Risotto as that is my favorite, and it NEVER disappoints me. The service has always been superior as well. Anytime we are in south county, this is where we eat.
I think I need to add a comment on the ladies bathroom. Although it is not very big. The fact that they have automatic seat covers is a huge deal. I wish more places had that!

Me and my fiancé were thinking about having our rehearsal dinner here, so we wanted to test it out. We were immediately greeted and seated by a very polite host. Once at the table, I picked up the menu and immediately saw a little bug crawling on it. I knocked it to the floor and ignored it. A server then came by and filled our waters and dropped off bread. I noticed as I was going to take a drink, there was a decent sized black thing floating on top. Afraid it was another bug, I didn’t look closely before asking for a new one. We ordered our food and the salads came out first. The salads weren’t very cold, but tastes great. Our main entrée came, which was pasta, and both of our meals were delicious. The pasta was hot the portions were huge. The server was very nice and attentive, although it took him awhile to refill drinks and get our bill. Overall, I’d try this place again. The bugs are what really killed the vibe this time though.

We go here frequently for dinner, but just went for a business lunch in the bar.
Very nice private setting, not too quiet or noisy. The bartender was great, on top of keeping our drinks full and food out quick.
We were very hungry, so we ordered the steak modiga off the dinner menu. It was made perfect throughout. Nice size and perfect flavor. The asparagus was just OK though, it was too early for a potato.
We had the tiramisu for dessert, this is one of the best I’ve had!
I highly recommend bartolinos for lunch or dinner.

I came here for dinner tonight with the family. It was my first visit even though I’ve driven by countless times. They have a cute little covered patio out front, but we chose to dine indoors. The interior is nice and there are several separated dining areas instead of one big room, which I liked… it made it seem more intimate and cozy. I did notice that my husband and I were the youngest customers in the restaurant by at least 20 – 25 years. However, we did dine early on a Sunday night so it may be different at other times.
The bread was just okay (plain white bread), but it was served with olive oil and parmesan and that always bumps bread up a notch for me. I ordered a small margherita pizza after the recommendation of our server, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The thin crust was very soggy and the buffalo mozzarella was baked to a weird rubber-​like texture. I could tell that the sauce was homemade, so I’ll at least give it that. Everyone else’s meals looked fabulous though. A few ordered sandwiches (meatball and fish) that were each served with fries. The sandwiches were very large and everyone took half home with them. My aunt ordered the spaghetti bolognese. OMG!!! I always thought the pasta dishes served at restaurants on The Hill were huge, but they’ve got nothin’ on this place! I think she only ate about ¹⁄₅ of the dish, and took the rest home to eat for the next month or so. Every other pasta dish I saw the servers bringing out were just as large.
The prices are very reasonable here. Five of us ate for around $ 70, which is comparable to what you might pay at a chain. I would definitely give this place another shot and order something other than pizza… and maybe sit on that cute little patio with my honey and a glass of wine. :)