Saturday, July 12, 2025

Cafe Napoli 7-11-2025

 We'd give this restaurant 5/5.

We hadn't been to Cafe Napoli since our anniversary in December and we ended up sitting at the exact same table.  I think this little area of 2 top tables is for people who are having birthdays or anniversaries, because everyone around us gets the "complimentary" celebration dessert.  

We had a cocktail before dinner and I have to say that I had probably one of the BEST cosmos that I've ever had.  They use plenty of lime and not too much cranberry and it was really good. 

Mike wanted a salad, so, since it was my birthday I splurged and go the cold seafood salad.  It was like a ceviche but it wasn't a ceviche.  They actually saute the seafood and then they chill it and serve it in a lemon sauce.  Around the outside of the dish is a lemon sauce and a balsamic glaze.  The seafood is shrimp, scallops, squid and octopus.  It was really good...not perfect, but really good. 


We picked a nice bottle of Cabernet.  It went well with the red sauce dishes we both had.  It was called Farmstead by Long Meadow Ranch in Napa.  We liked it. 


After coming to Cafe Napoli and Napoli 2 in Town and Country (which has the same menu) I now know exactly what I want to order.  I order the eggplant parm as an entree with a side of angle hair pasta in a red sauce.  It is always good. 


Mike's order is very similar.  He gets veal parm and the same angel hair pasta.  


As I said before, they gave us a complimentary dessert because it was my birthday.  It is a frozen chocolate ice cream with a hard chocolate shell on the outside with a cherry in the center.  It is a nice little sweet to end the meal.  



Obviously, we really like this place.  That is why it is our special occasion restaurant. 

Mamma's on the Hill 7-5-2025

 I would give this place a 4/5

Laurie and Beth had told us that this was one of their new favorites.  Often they like places that we don't.  They just like different foods than we do.  So, we have different tastes.  So, we were sceptical.  

We made reservations for 6 pm.  That is nice.  There aren't a lot of places on the hill that let you make reservations.  Places are getting better, some places now have "waiting lists" online.

This place is small and super casual.  I don't need fancy, but I like it when people don't wear tshirts and shorts.  You can wear those here. 

It is also pretty small.  There isn't a lot of seating space.  We were given a table by the windon and that was good because the big window sill gave us extra room to put the breat basket, plates, etc.

Mike and I are pretty traditionalist when it comes to trying new Italian restaurants.  We try basic red sauce things.  

We started with a cocktail and an order of toasted ravioli.  Mike also got a salad.  The toasted ravs were good but not as good as Cunnetto's.  The salad was good but different, it had a balsamic vinegrette.  Mike liked it.  


For dinner I got spaghetti and meatballs.  They asked if I wanted 1 or 2 meatballs.  I only got 1.  I don't know if that changed the price of my dinner or not.  I had read online that they were known for their meatballs.  I AGREE.  That was probably the best meatball I've ever tasted.  It was seasoned well and was SUPER tender.  The red sauce was good...not perfect, but good.  I would totally eat this dish again because of the meatball.



Mike got their baked lasagna.  It was huge.  It is a mixture of red and white sauces in the layers.  Mike doesn't love the white sauce, but since lasagna is all pre-made, he usually doesn't have a choice.  He at a lot and still had a lot left over.  


Their wine list wasn't great and we ordered a wine that was just MEH.  Their wine list isn't available online, so I'm going to put it on here, so I have it for a later date.



Mike got tiramisu and I got a strawberry gelato dessert that was the evening special.  They were both good.  My gelato must have been frozen into that shape and then plated because it was HARD and needed a few minutes to soften up before I could really eat it.  



Overall we liked the food here and said we'd probably come back.  The dining room is casual (no table clothes, casual clothes, etc.) and it is small and somewhat loud, but the food is good enough to warrant a return trip.