Our group had the most amazing experience at the venue .. the food.. service and space was perfect! This is a hidden gem that I will now frequent on a regular basis .. they make you feel like family.. fantastic place!!
Dana Edwards Szigeti
We cannot say enough thank yous to Ginger and her wonderful team! Due to the pandemic, we had to change our wedding reception venue within just a few weeks before our wedding date. Ginger made sure we had a wonderful wedding reception with fantastic food and service for our guests, all made with safety and health precautions following health guidelines. We were able to reserve a whole side of the restaurant (which looked lovely!) and the covered patio and back gardens. We had
Kristina Chriscoe
Always fun atmosphere and great food
Rebecca Maletta
Amazing food and service. Blown away by the meal. Definitely THE place in Gainesville to get Italian food.
Ann Shortelle
So glad that Napolatanos is OPEN! Great dinners tonight, and great service too. Support
Ben S.
Best pizza and calzone anywhere. Great entrees. Great service. I have been eating with Dean and Ginger since 1978 and it is still my first choice for anything Italian, any time I can get over there.
Ed W.
This was an ok meal with adequate service, but nothing was too special. The building looks like a repurposed house and has two pretty big rooms off of a central lobby kind of area. There is also a back porch that would have been awesome, however it appeared to be closed. I had the Lasagna ... it has been ages since I had good lasagna, and unfortunately, I have still not had good lasagna. The sauce was really good, and it was nice and cheesy, but the noodles were like limp. It was almost as if it had been reheated or something, instead of coming fresh out of the oven. The salad that I had was just iceberg lettuce, and some slivers of carrot ... not even a tomato. There is a pretty cool looking bar area, but all in all I was not overly impressed.
Richard S.
Would give 6 stars if I could! Nancy was fantastic server, very attentive and genuinely cared about my shellfish allergy. Food was delicious, everything from house salad dressing to sausage and pastas. Manager came by several times to ensure everything was going well. Reasonable prices for the portion and quality, well worth every penny. Will definitely recommend to all, and will be stopping here everytime I visit Gainesville.
Lucas Z.
This local Italian establishment has been based in Gainesville for over 40 years. Going in the average age of their patrons was probably 70+ and you can tell that they are loyal customers. The service was good and they seem to have good specials such as half priced appetizers on Tuesday. I ordered the prime rib special and asked the meat to be medium. What I received looked medium rare at best and when I asked the waiter she told me that was what medium was like (take a look and please let me know if you agree with me). Overall the food was flavorful and tasted authentic, the wine reduction of the chicken Marsala really made it something special. Support Local.
Joseph Vincent C.
I live off of tower rd. South from Nappy's. I wanted to place a delivery order. I know this isn't really relevant but it's true...My Father has used them for catering multiple times in the past decade and a half. They deliver within a five mile radius. So the manager gets on the phone and tells me that he can't deliver to me because it's 5.8 miles away. I get it, technically it's too far. I've never actually gotten on yelp to complain until now. If you want to actually succeed in business you usually cater to customers every so often. I know Nappy's has been around forever but I'll never go again. I told my Father the story. He's not going back or getting catering ever again. Losing by a customer, let alone 10 customers is a petty unsavvy business choice. All this over a 1.6 mile round trip difference. Thanks. Piesanos has better pizza anyway.
I have visited this restaurant several times. Not it's time to say just how awesome it is. Every meat from pasta dishes to fish and chips are great. Our last server Emily was fantastic. Took great care of us. Again love this place
Kaitlyn R.
We had a ceremony and reception here in July and it was a great experience! Rather than using the normal outdoor venue, we were able to use a small tucked away area of the garden which was perfect for a ceremony. Ginger was great to work with and very responsive and helpful. She did not charge us to use the private rooms or the gardens. Originally, we opted not to have chairs because of the cost, but day of, Ginger was very sweet and let us borrow chairs and 2 huge fans as long as we set it up and took it down ourselves. Which was no problem and the fans helped so much with the bugs and humidity. She also gave us string lights to use for the gazebo which made pictures so much better. They had a few parties scheduled before us, but they were still very flexible and let us come in and set up the gardens hours before our event and were able to move the party before us an hour early so we had even more time to set up the room. We had about 30-35 people at our event and the room they gave us was made for 40-45max. It was a bit crammed with the chairs up against the wall. But it was doable and thankfully everyone there was comfortable with each other so it was totally fine. It was a bit hot even with the fan on, but that was probably due to a mixture of a large amount of people in there along with a really hot July. The food was great and our guests liked the veggie lasagna and the pork loin a lot. Salad dressing was really good as well. Ginger also let us use the patio with no extra fee and that was great for dancing and doing desserts with more room. The only things I would say that could be improved on would be making sure drinks were being refilled. Our servers did give us our toast nicely and set up the food with good timing. And they were very sweet and approachable, but I do wish they refilled drinks because of how hot it was. Overall, our experience was fantastic and I'm very happy with how everything turned out. Our event was a bit last minute, but Ginger worked with us wonderfully and helped cater to all our needs.
Ellen B.
Finally, a restaurant in Gainesville with great service and a friendly atmosphere. Living in a college town has given me no expectation of having good service. I am so tired of going places where the service is mediocre at best. The staff went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our experience. The food was just as satisfying, the blackened chicken breast was very moist and well seasoned. Great family restaurant with a lot of variety.
Anonymous ..
Somebody call "Kitchen Nightmares"! Napolitanos has been around for decades. I remember eating there 20 years ago when I was in college at UF. Their garlic bread and salad is still great. But everything else about the restaurant and menu needs an overhaul. Firstly, our waitress had no idea how to process our Yelp 10% off. She literally had to ask ten people. The meatballs were loaded with dry herbs. The tomato sauce was burned. And aparangly chicken francIse isn't a staple item. I got lucky... it was in the specials menu. But aparantly this and many other traditional Italian menu items are just regular menu items. Which I figure is pretty awkward for an Italian restaurant. The food overall was just ok. Nothing fresh. Nothing special.
Matthew O.
For me, this place is ok. This is not a bad place to go to if you want some decent food. However, this place also doesn't exactly blow me away. I do have to say, service was good. The hostess was very nice and polite and the wait staff was very attentive. Our water glasses were always full, they checked in with our table on a consistent basis, and they kept the bread coming. However, food-wise, it was alright. To me, the garlic bread was nothing to write home about. It was nice that it was warm but nothing stood out about it. I could have taken a bauguette and cut it up into pieces and spread some olive oil or butter over it and gotten the same effect. My friend and I opted for the Beef Wellington special. Overall, it was decent taste wise. The filet was cooked pretty well. But, because the piece of filet was on the smaller side, it made the puff pastry appear almost excessive. Some parts of the pastry were also a little too thick, making those parts kinda dry and taking away from the contrast of light flaky pastry matched up with a tender filet. Overall, I would not mind going if other people want to go. But at this time, it is not necessarily a top choice for me to go out of the way for.
Our group had the most amazing experience at the venue .. the food.. service and space was perfect! This is a hidden gem that I will now frequent on a regular basis .. they make you feel like family.. fantastic place!!
We cannot say enough thank yous to Ginger and her wonderful team! Due to the pandemic, we had to change our wedding reception venue within just a few weeks before our wedding date. Ginger made sure we had a wonderful wedding reception with fantastic food and service for our guests, all made with safety and health precautions following health guidelines. We were able to reserve a whole side of the restaurant (which looked lovely!) and the covered patio and back gardens. We had
Always fun atmosphere and great food
Amazing food and service. Blown away by the meal. Definitely THE place in Gainesville to get Italian food.
So glad that Napolatanos is OPEN! Great dinners tonight, and great service too. Support
Best pizza and calzone anywhere. Great entrees. Great service. I have been eating with Dean and Ginger since 1978 and it is still my first choice for anything Italian, any time I can get over there.
This was an ok meal with adequate service, but nothing was too special. The building looks like a repurposed house and has two pretty big rooms off of a central lobby kind of area. There is also a back porch that would have been awesome, however it appeared to be closed. I had the Lasagna ... it has been ages since I had good lasagna, and unfortunately, I have still not had good lasagna. The sauce was really good, and it was nice and cheesy, but the noodles were like limp. It was almost as if it had been reheated or something, instead of coming fresh out of the oven. The salad that I had was just iceberg lettuce, and some slivers of carrot ... not even a tomato. There is a pretty cool looking bar area, but all in all I was not overly impressed.
Would give 6 stars if I could! Nancy was fantastic server, very attentive and genuinely cared about my shellfish allergy. Food was delicious, everything from house salad dressing to sausage and pastas. Manager came by several times to ensure everything was going well. Reasonable prices for the portion and quality, well worth every penny. Will definitely recommend to all, and will be stopping here everytime I visit Gainesville.
This local Italian establishment has been based in Gainesville for over 40 years. Going in the average age of their patrons was probably 70+ and you can tell that they are loyal customers. The service was good and they seem to have good specials such as half priced appetizers on Tuesday. I ordered the prime rib special and asked the meat to be medium. What I received looked medium rare at best and when I asked the waiter she told me that was what medium was like (take a look and please let me know if you agree with me). Overall the food was flavorful and tasted authentic, the wine reduction of the chicken Marsala really made it something special. Support Local.
I live off of tower rd. South from Nappy's. I wanted to place a delivery order. I know this isn't really relevant but it's true...My Father has used them for catering multiple times in the past decade and a half. They deliver within a five mile radius. So the manager gets on the phone and tells me that he can't deliver to me because it's 5.8 miles away. I get it, technically it's too far. I've never actually gotten on yelp to complain until now. If you want to actually succeed in business you usually cater to customers every so often. I know Nappy's has been around forever but I'll never go again. I told my Father the story. He's not going back or getting catering ever again. Losing by a customer, let alone 10 customers is a petty unsavvy business choice. All this over a 1.6 mile round trip difference. Thanks. Piesanos has better pizza anyway.
Restaurantji Recommends
I have visited this restaurant several times. Not it's time to say just how awesome it is. Every meat from pasta dishes to fish and chips are great. Our last server Emily was fantastic. Took great care of us. Again love this place
We had a ceremony and reception here in July and it was a great experience! Rather than using the normal outdoor venue, we were able to use a small tucked away area of the garden which was perfect for a ceremony. Ginger was great to work with and very responsive and helpful. She did not charge us to use the private rooms or the gardens. Originally, we opted not to have chairs because of the cost, but day of, Ginger was very sweet and let us borrow chairs and 2 huge fans as long as we set it up and took it down ourselves. Which was no problem and the fans helped so much with the bugs and humidity. She also gave us string lights to use for the gazebo which made pictures so much better. They had a few parties scheduled before us, but they were still very flexible and let us come in and set up the gardens hours before our event and were able to move the party before us an hour early so we had even more time to set up the room. We had about 30-35 people at our event and the room they gave us was made for 40-45max. It was a bit crammed with the chairs up against the wall. But it was doable and thankfully everyone there was comfortable with each other so it was totally fine. It was a bit hot even with the fan on, but that was probably due to a mixture of a large amount of people in there along with a really hot July. The food was great and our guests liked the veggie lasagna and the pork loin a lot. Salad dressing was really good as well. Ginger also let us use the patio with no extra fee and that was great for dancing and doing desserts with more room. The only things I would say that could be improved on would be making sure drinks were being refilled. Our servers did give us our toast nicely and set up the food with good timing. And they were very sweet and approachable, but I do wish they refilled drinks because of how hot it was. Overall, our experience was fantastic and I'm very happy with how everything turned out. Our event was a bit last minute, but Ginger worked with us wonderfully and helped cater to all our needs.
Finally, a restaurant in Gainesville with great service and a friendly atmosphere. Living in a college town has given me no expectation of having good service. I am so tired of going places where the service is mediocre at best. The staff went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our experience. The food was just as satisfying, the blackened chicken breast was very moist and well seasoned. Great family restaurant with a lot of variety.
Somebody call "Kitchen Nightmares"! Napolitanos has been around for decades. I remember eating there 20 years ago when I was in college at UF. Their garlic bread and salad is still great. But everything else about the restaurant and menu needs an overhaul. Firstly, our waitress had no idea how to process our Yelp 10% off. She literally had to ask ten people. The meatballs were loaded with dry herbs. The tomato sauce was burned. And aparangly chicken francIse isn't a staple item. I got lucky... it was in the specials menu. But aparantly this and many other traditional Italian menu items are just regular menu items. Which I figure is pretty awkward for an Italian restaurant. The food overall was just ok. Nothing fresh. Nothing special.
For me, this place is ok. This is not a bad place to go to if you want some decent food. However, this place also doesn't exactly blow me away. I do have to say, service was good. The hostess was very nice and polite and the wait staff was very attentive. Our water glasses were always full, they checked in with our table on a consistent basis, and they kept the bread coming. However, food-wise, it was alright. To me, the garlic bread was nothing to write home about. It was nice that it was warm but nothing stood out about it. I could have taken a bauguette and cut it up into pieces and spread some olive oil or butter over it and gotten the same effect. My friend and I opted for the Beef Wellington special. Overall, it was decent taste wise. The filet was cooked pretty well. But, because the piece of filet was on the smaller side, it made the puff pastry appear almost excessive. Some parts of the pastry were also a little too thick, making those parts kinda dry and taking away from the contrast of light flaky pastry matched up with a tender filet. Overall, I would not mind going if other people want to go. But at this time, it is not necessarily a top choice for me to go out of the way for.