We stopped in before a Cards game and even though they were fully staffed and half empty, they were very very slow. The waitress was not listening to us. We wanted to sit, order, and get our food asap but instead we had to wait 10 minutes between sitting and gettng drinks in. 10 more minutes to get 4 waters. 10 more minutes for the order. 30 minutes for th food. Once we got the food, it was horrble. My baked pene was baby food soft, hot as the sun, and drowned in a red sauce that was Willy Wonka sweet. My wife's Alfredo tasted like rancid butter and noting else. Her chicken tasted more of fish than chicken. And then i was expensive. I felt like I got horrible value. They go from 1 star to 2 for even being open on gameday and at least being nice.
(2)
Deano G.
okay - My buddy tried the seafood risotto & I had a bite.... OMG it was delicious & will be the first thing I get on my next trip to St. Louis! Thanks Guys... It was wonderful!
(4)
Carlos S.
I do not know what everyone on hear is talking about this place is GREAT. I have been here 3 different times (All Star Game Week, Random Week in August, and recently during the NLDS). This place is always very welcoming. The bread is fresh and the meals come out hot. This location is "Baseball Centric" as one can tell from the decor on the walls. You maybe hard pressed to find individuals who enjoy this place appartently; however, rest assured the cliente that frequents this place is old school Italian who probaby do not use Yelp to write reviews. Enjoy, I know I do everytime I go.
(4)
Channa P.
I can always tell how much I like a restaurant by how long the place sticks with me after my visit. I dined at this place two weeks ago and the food and atmosphere are starting to fade to vague notions instead standout memories. I ordered the ravioli stuffed with seafood. It was good, but I always forget when you order ravioli you literally get 7-8 pieces instead of a helping bowl of pasta. My food was tasty, but nothing special. I could have been biased because a friend told me the night before he had the :the best Italian ever." It was good, but not the best. The place looks like an old scene from Goodfellas. It's two rooms joined like a shotgun house. The place has been open for about 30+ years (so it's obviously a well-liked place) and the buidling dates back to the early 1900s. If you are by the place give it a try.
(3)
Tom J.
This is a good spot for dinner before a Cardinal game. The food is standard Italian as you'd get on the HIll. Quality is consistently good. We went yesterday and had spaghetti with marinara (the restricted diet choice) and a breaded tilapia special (with a side of veggies and salad). The tilapia was delicious, although it could have used a little more seasoning. They also put several tablespoons of olive oil on the plate, which I thought was excessive. Others at our table had chicken parmagiana, lasagna, large salad, which all looked great. The dinner salad was tasty. A tad heavy on the oil. Service was very friendly and prompt. She laughed at all of our jokes. Of course they're always more fun when you buy several bottles of wine. The atmosphere is casual, along the lines of Friday's, but with a very local feel. The best part is probably the consistency, along with the convenient downtown location. Parking is definitely not a plus - your on your own, as far as I can tell - no valet on the nights we've gone. If you've never been, give it a try sometime, especially if you have time before a Cardinal game.
(3)
Tami P.
I've been to a lot of Italian restaurants and this place is near the bottom of my list! Came in after a baseball game and was told it would be a 35 minute wait and they closed at 9. I get it but it was 8:15. Was she telling me to leave or what? Got out seats and the waitress took our drink order. I asked for ice tea and a straw. She then took our order. We ordered the chicken parm and linguine with sausage. We sat and sat and sat. Finally after about 20 mins, We asked for bread. She brought it and then about 5 mins later she brought the salad. We asked for cracked black pepper. She brought a container of crushed red peppers like for pizza! And the salad was luke warm. Still no straw. Finally dinner came. Waitress asked if we wanted parm cheese. We said yes and more bread. After 10 mins of nothing we had to ask another waiter. Still no straw. What kind of Italian place doesn't bring parm cheese and bread especially when she asked if we wanted it?!?! The food was mediocre at best. Sausage was plain. Parm was dry. We were still eating and the waitress dropped off the bill and said "whenever you're ready". Guess she deemed us unworthy of dessert which we had planned on having. In a nut shell: food was mediocre and service was horrendous!!! Worst service I've ever had, especially for a place charging $19 for an entree. I'd skip this place and hit the hooters!!!! And ps I'm still waiting for my straw!!
(1)
Brian A.
Wonderful little Italian place. Went there during the NCAA tournament (covering it for television) with a co-worker of mine. Both of us really enjoyed our time there. Our waitress was great and the food was even better. Now, I'm not an Italian food connoisseur like most of the other people who reviewed this place on Yelp, but it tasted pretty great to me. We had the Toasted Ravioli, which was superb, and I had the Cannelloni, which I devoured in about 10 minutes. Cleaned my plate actually. The atmosphere was awesome. Tiny little joint where I felt like I was having dinner in someone's dining room. We had to wait a little while thanks to the numerous people in town for the NCAA tournament, but we enjoyed looking at the pictures on the wall of all the athletes who had visited the place and had a beer from the bar near the front door. I gave it 5 stars instead of 4 because the University of North Carolina cheer squad was there when we were. That pushed it over the top. Still a great place to eat if you don't want fancy and just want some great Italian food.
Very Disappointed. First time back in many years, and will not return. Linguini was not edible, The waitress said the salads "came with the meals" but for some reason we still had to pay for them - my wife didn't want one in the first place. The lasagna was only below average, but at least edible. Huge portion that I could only choke down about 1/3 of. Asked the waitress to box it up so I could take the rest home since it was costing so much, but my waitress decided to toss it in the trash instead. Probably best outcome, I suppose. So the bill was $50 for a small house salad, 1/3 plate of lasagna, some stale bread and two diet cokes. Will. Not. Be. Back.
(1)
Tara C.
I love this place! Every time I am in STL I eat here. The best part is they only Sell ABI products, no Miller Light. This place is great for groups or just you alone, I have taken two bachelorette parties here and it worked out fine. Only down fall is they DO NOT separate checks so keep that in mind.
(5)
Josh S.
We met a friend downtown last week for dinner and this was the spot of choice. Every time he is in town he always eats here at least a few times, so it has to be pretty good, right? We were seated quickly and out server came around to get our drink orders. He seemed to struggle a bit when trying to come up with the beers that they had, either on tap or in the bottle, but he managed to get all of our drinks and was off. We ordered some toasted raviolis and the calamari for starters. The toasted ravs were thicker than what I am used to having and that was the good thing. They were full of filling, unlike some places I've had them. The best part was the calamari though. The calamari was breaded, but not heavily and it was served with roasted red peppers. This added a unique flavor to the calamari that I've never had paired with it, and it was quite good. Came time for the main course and I went with the Chicken Nunzio. The white sauce was good, but the crab meat was almost non existent. I think I tasted crab twice while eating the chicken nunzio. Overall the dish was good, but had there been more than two bites of crab meat it would have been a LOT better. Even though I was stuffed, our server had me at cheese cake, and he warned that it was a big piece of cheese cake. I think big was an understatement. It was a piece easily big enough for two, but I think our table of five could have all had some and been satisfied. It also was good, not great but good. I went in with lower than normal expectations due to the reviews, and came out having at least met those expectations.
(3)
Brent M.
From start to Finnish one of the best italian meals I've had in years. The calamari was amazing and do yourself a favor and save room for the cheesecake just make sure you have someone to split it with.
(5)
Jessica B.
I had always been scared of this place because the outside is a little scary looking, but when you go inside it is beautiful! Super clean, the server was very attentive, good prices for the servings, and best of all you can tell the ravioli is homemade, not the frozen kind like most of St. Louis' fried ravioli! Portions were pretty good and just a nice atmosphere.
(4)
Gioey O.
If you want Italian food or even Italian-American food don't go here. Every few years I forget what crappy food they serve here and I try it again. Yesterday I had the fried calamari and it was the worst I ever had. I don't know how Gitto's got the idea that calamari topped with a pile of jalapenos and onions was either Italian, tasty or cool, but it was definitely none of the above. The only part of the dish that was worse was the fried calamari itself--in this case a concoction consisting of about 90% tasteless breading and 10% tasteless calamari. The house salad was pretty good, though.
(1)
John D.
Style and substance in a place with a TON of St. Louis character and history. Great food, Classic Italian menu with good variety. You might catch the old man in there too on some nights. St. Louis Italian at its best.
(4)
Mia S.
Oofa. I've lived in Italy. I certainly didn't expect dishes that were authentically Italian in downtown STL (especially from a place that touts its provel). But I also didn't expect them to be that bad. We ordered house wine; the chianti was ok, but the cabernet tasted more like sangria. The server didn't bring any bread until we specifically asked, during our entrees. (And the bread was kind of like the take-and-bake stuff you get in the grocery store.) The toasted ravioli have mystery meat in them, which I wasn't expecting (but to be fair, I didn't ask and assumed they were cheese-filled). I debated about the caprese salad, and as soon as it showed up knew I shouldn't have ordered it. Four thick slabs of mealy tomato topped with a teeny piece of... provel? Mozzarella? And red onions for some odd reason? Plus a dusting of dried basil. For entrees, we got the fettuccine alfredo, which was just alright. The pasta was al dente, which was nice, but the sauce was just ok. The other entree was the manicotti (I'd wanted the eggplant parm, but it came with "meatsauce" which the server said was beef, so I passed on that). I gather it was filled with and topped with provel. The marinara was very sweet and thin, almost like spaghettios. The server wasn't particularly friendly and sort of tossed things like the bread on the table. All told, this was $80, which was so not worth it. Pass on this, folks. I should have tried that calzone place nearby.
(1)
Ashley V.
We came here with a group of 7, recommended by our hotel conceirge. We got seated right away. Took a while to get our drinks, the server did not know the menu. Refills took forever, sprite tasted like soda water, Lump crap meat topping looked like gravy. Baked lasagna was good and so was the tortellini. I would not recommend this place.
(1)
Jess S.
Food was excellent. A little pricy, but delicious. Atmosphere is crowded, loud, and distractingly busy. Wait staff was attentive and kind.
(3)
Jon D.
This is our first visit to CGs and I must say, the food and service were both quite good. It compares favorably against other Italian restaurants in the area. The calamari fritti appetizer was exceptional. The breading was light and cooked to perfection. The Pasta Messina's flavors were complex and spot on. The shrimp was very fresh as was the mushrooms. The one downside was the chicken. It was a bit on the dry side.
(4)
Anthony O.
We have eaten here ever year we are in town for the last 5 years.. Have always enjoyed the food chicken Parm hands down awesome toasted raviolis are great! The service is always on point.. We will be back soon never a bad meal check it out!!!
(4)
Travis T.
I had one day here in St. Louis and all I wanted was Toasted Ravioli - one of my favorite things about the city. There are all sorts of claims of who was the original restaurant to come up with it. Charlie Gitto has been a staple here in St. Louis for some time. I ordered my food to go so I didn't get the full experience. The toasted ravioli was delicious and I got my fill in for the day. But what I noticed while waiting for my order is what was disappointing. The hostess was all flustered and confused and many of the servers were on edge. Charlie was there and pretty much sat at the bar chit chatting with his little entourage ignoring most of the issues going on. Then one of the servers screwed something up behind the bar and the bartender tore into her in front of everyone. Wow... I'm glad I grabbed my food and got out of there. I don't how anyone could enjoy their job with all the tension in this place. I did enjoy looking at all the sports memorabilia. Sorry Charlie, I think time you get off your behind and get back to managing a restaurant.
(3)
David J.
Wow!!!! Is all I can say?????? How do you make classic American Italian food very mediocre even a chain restaurant can do it better then this place. The amount of effort put into not making food well is mind numbing 100$ for bad Italian food the people need to be warned. Go to subway it is bad but not as bad as this place.
(1)
David M.
Really, really good eggplant parmigiana and friendly wait staff. A great, fun evening! And a good meal to boot!
(4)
Alex W.
So. Rediculously. Great. I came with a large group from a conference. We'd had the top room reserved with a dinner buffet, however that quickly spilled over into the upper bar area due to more people unexpectedly coming. The restaurant was as quick to set up additional tables for the surprise guests - bravo! Myself and a few ladies decided to sit downstairs at the bar and eat due to the last-minute space issues. I'm glad we did - the Card's game was on TV, and the A/C was more...prominent than upstairs. Our adorable & sweet bartender was great to us - no care that we had our big plates of dinner there. He also kept our drinks a-flowin'. A couple of times I didn't realize one drink was empty because he'd already gotten a refill set up for me! Charlie himself came by the restaurant during our dinner and one friend and I were a little shy to ask for a pic, but perhaps next time we will.
(5)
Karla F.
Charlie Gitto's is a St. Louis institution so we went with very high expectations. We visited while on vacation. Although the restaurant was busy, we were seated almost immediately. The venue is noisy, but in a cheerful, bustling kind of way. Our server was knowledgable about the menu and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, but my partner found his just average. We both agreed the tiramisu was divine.
(4)
Holly H.
My husband is a regular for lunch here, as it's walking distance from his office. I decided to meet him for lunch today because I'm a huge fan of The Hill location and was curious to see how it compared. I was surprised at how casual this location is in comparison to the other locations. It definitely doesn't have that same charm and elegance that I prefer, but I see why this informal and relaxed spot draws such a big lunch crowd. The bread was very fresh and good. We asked for a little olive oil and parmesan cheese to go with it, as we're not big fans of buttered bread. I personally like to save my calories for bigger and better things. :) The portions served during lunch are the regular dinner size portions, which are very large, so my husband and I split a small house salad and the baked penne. This entree is not served at the other locations, along with several other dishes that are only offered at the downtown location. Plenty of new choices caught my eye, but that penne was the winner. And a winner it was! It has a tomato and cream sauce mixture and is topped with lots of provel cheese before being baked. It's very rich and very delish! My in-laws joined us today as well and they also split their huge portions of chicken soup, house salad, and lasagna. There wasn't a single bite left when we were all done. This is one of those instances where a half-star is needed because I would truly give my rating 4.5 stars. I loved the food, the different menu choices, and service here, but because I'm a girl who's all about the ambiance, it didn't quite compare to my favorite location on The Hill in that department.
(4)
Brett M.
Dropped in on my most recent visit to STL. I was really surprised at how good their food was. The house salad was delicious. The Gluten Free Pasta tasted so good I couldn't even tell it was GF. And the service was over the top. This downtown atmosphere is likely the same it was 20 years ago. Lots of wood, celebrety pictures, cozy tables, a small bar, and the owners were hanging around for lunch. I highly recommend this spot if you want good Italian and want to see an original STL restaurant.
(4)
Kenny R.
Downtown Gitto's, I'll miss you. Gitto's on the Hill....we're still good Sir! First, I'm sorry and it breaks my heart. Tonight, as a local who visits on foot often, I was reduced to one of those suburbia type folks that wait outside of Olive Garden....where are the Mom and Pop's? Downtown CG's, We moved tables to try to GET YOUR ATTENTION for service....but you NEVER noticed us. When I told "Mariah" that I was a local and I hate to tell her "you've lost my business", she told me "ok, I'm sorry" in her sweetest 17 year old non-business sense voice. She won't miss us. What happened CGs? Used to be so good and value your customers!
I love the atmosphere/ambiance of this place more than the food itself. I keep expecting to see Don Corleone sitting in the back when I walk through the door. The food is good, but I'm no big italian fan, so... I do recommend stopping by if you are downtown, and have a beer and some French onion soup (yes I know its italian) just to check out the place and the pictures.
(4)
Christie S.
Provel haters keep walking. There's nothing for you here. Provel lovers, however, let me tell you a little story about the BEST BAKED PENNE OOZING WITH PROVEL EVER KNOWN TO MAN! This is the dish that keeps me coming back to Charlie Gitto's because I haven't found it anywhere else. With such perfect simplicity, the dish consists of penne noodles with meat and cream sauce baked with provel and topped with parmesan. The "baked with provel" part is where it gets good! You get oooey gooey provel cheese in every bite. The "baked in" part also means that occasionally you'll hit a little provel pocket in the pasta that's pure heaven. All of the other entrees passing by looked great, but I would never stray from this provel-laden gem! Charlie aint no dummy, either! He's charging the tourists $9 for toasted ravioli. That's hilarious! He's also charging $5 for a side salad that doesn't come with your pasta, doesn't look like much, but is incredibly flavorful (think Pasta House style)...so who would resist it? Service was incredible at the bar during our short wait and at the table. Although dated, you'll enjoy looking at all the pictures on the wall of past celebs that ate there - lots of baseball players passing through and, my favorite, Larry Connors when he had hair. Awesome!
(4)
Mario R.
Great service, terrible food. The bruschetta is just tiny slices of bread with a tiny piece of cheese on each slice, then topped with two or three tiny pieces of tomato. I've had better at freak'n Fridays! For dinner, I ordered the seafood risotto. It was a plate of mush with a few pieces of seafood. Just awful. The only plus is that the service was fantastic. That's not enough to bring me back though. PS toasted ravioli sucks. Sorry St Louis, but it's just a poor man's empanada. Had it in two spots to give it a fair shake too
(1)
Danny H.
Fantastic. Discovered this place on a road trip, and now we stop here every time. Cool atmosphere (complete with pictures of famous guests on the walls), friendly staff, and amazing foood.
(5)
JT B.
This place has gone down hill. The inside of the French Onion soup was warm at best. Sent it back. Got the main dish which was cold on the inside but the plate was hotter then hell. Sent it back came out the same way. Won't be back!!! Must be new ownership
(1)
Jonathen F.
Tonight was the Final night of our Honeymoon in St. Louis. So we decided to do something special. We had heard such good things from people all over St. Louis. The gentleman next to us at the Cardinals game Saturday night gave rave reviews. The Concierge at our Hotel said it was the best Authentic Italian in town. Even one of my Wife's clients who comes to St. Louis regularly said it's amazing so we figured we had better try it. I had such high expectations. I'm a Chef by profession so I do know how a restaurant "should" be ran. We arrived at 7:30 the restaurant was busy as expected. Even on a Monday night it was packed. This is usually a good sign. We were told the wait would be about 20 minutes. That was fine. After 15 we were seated. After 5 minutes of not seeing our waitress I assured my wife it was just because the restaurant was busy. After 15 of not seeing a server period I got up and asked the hostess if the server even realized we were at the table. After another 10 minutes our server finally came to the table to get drink orders. We placed our Appetizer order, Drinks, Soup, and Dessert because we didn't know when we would see the server again. After the server left I started a stop watch. I kid you not. Normal service to put in a ticket and get 2 sodas should take 2-4 minutes. Even 5 would have been acceptable. Count it with me. 20 minutes to get our drinks. I clicked my stopwatch again. Any guesses on when Appetizer arrived? 25 minutes after and we had to ask for drink refills at that point. 15 minutes after that our dinner arrived and we asked if we could have some bread. She brings us bread but it comes with these cheap butter packets. Seriously is it that hard for them to get a stand mixer and whip some butter with honey and pipe it on a plate? I should have realized when I saw Alfredo on the menu it wasn't authentic Italian. Incase you don't know. Alfredo is not Italian. It was made in Brooklyn NY, USA. When our dinner did arrive I will say aside from the cheese being burnt to the bowl clearly from sitting under heat lamps in the back and the bowl being served on a plate way to big for it. "The bowl constantly moved on the plate when you tried to eat it" The lasagna had pretty good flavor. The ravioli I wouldn't feed to my dog. So chewy and cold. We didn't dare send it back who knows we would have gotten social security before we got our plates back. We actually received our Cannoli in a timely manner and this was delicious. Right after our dessert she had no problem rushing us the check. If the rest of our meal had arrived as fast as the check phew.. This might have actually been a good experience instead of lasting bad memory of our last night in this beautiful city. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone who wants to experience an authentic Italian experience. Average Entree price is $17-$25. Average Appetizer is $10-$12. So for 2 drinks. 2 Appetizer, 2 Soup, and 2 Entree. Around $90.00. Total time in restaurant 1 hour 47 min. I'd fire my servers and replace my FOH Manager if this ever happened. They should be embarrassed.
(1)
Henrik k.
We went to Charlie's and the food was delicious. Service was fast. Had a great dinner with friends.
(5)
Jolena S.
This place is a step back in time. One wall is covered with decades of visitors autographed photos. The menu is a great example of classic Italian offerings done well. I had the Chicken Bellini (breast stuffed with prosciutto and cheese with broccoli on top and he had the Steak Francesca (sp?). Both were well prepared and had a good veggie medley with them. House salad was good but large so I barely put a dent in it. The soup of the day, clam chowder, was fantastic. Paired with a bottle of cab and it made for a nice date night!
(4)
Shawn C.
The atmosphere is worth the stop. Classic American Italian cuisine. Food is heavy but good.
(3)
Derek H.
I'm giving Gitto's downtown an official bump up to 5 stars. While I stated in a previous review that I felt the food was a touch better at The Hill location, the service I continue to receive at the downtown location is unmatched. I come here probably once a week, sometimes with a coworker, sometimes alone. I usually sit in the bar area, mainly because the service is so good. The bartender remembers what I like to drink, what I don't like in my salad, makes good menu suggestions, and she even remembers that I like my bread served with some parmesan cheese and olive oil. I like that I don't even have to ask for any of this. I just show up and she knows. That's what I call great service! Lately, I enjoy coming on Wednesday's for lunch, because they have a good special. You can get a nice size chicken parmigiana, that comes atop a bed of pasta. It comes with a side salad all for $11. This is a good deal for Gitto's. You can also fill up on as much bread as you want, and I take advantage of this because it's quite good. The chicken parmigiana is very good here, so I highly recommend giving it a shot if you come here for lunch. Overall, I just wanted to pass along my ratings bump. I will most definitely be back here.
(5)
Tim M.
Fantastic atmosphere. Old style tile floor. Sports memorabilia everywhere. Brouchetta was very tasty. Bread was fresh. Warm. Broiled chicken breast with grilled tomatoes and zucchini. Very tasty. Tuscan Chicken Risotto was also very tasty. Canole is home made and also delicious. The owner and name sake ... Charlie are at the table next to us with a group of friends.
(5)
Doug S.
Hit: Garlic cheese bread appetizer Miss: ordered the spaghetti bolognese; sauce was watery and tasted like it came from a jar from the grocery. I also found it to be over priced; ordered an appetizer, 1 entree with a meatball and it was $23. Had water to drink. This place is over rated.
(2)
Teresa S.
I came here with my friend Alan on a short work trip to St Louis. He has been here many times before and thought it was absolutely fabulous. Sadly I was not impressed at all. But, I will give them another chance because, we had one of the worst servers ever. Apparently she had never done this before. Anyway, we were greeted and seated right away. Which was nice. we got there about 4:00pm so there were only a few people in the place. The first thing after being seated was I had to go to wash my hands before we ate. I did have to go up the stairs to find the restrooms. I could of killed myself on the way down,though. The carpet is all worn out and if you had heels on it could be ugly. One of the toilets were non working. So there was only one ,just saying. Anyway, we ordered very quickly. We each got soup and an order of Chicken wings. As well as a dinner entree. We wanted to take stuff to go as well. (Leftovers) Our server was Bridget or so the check said. Anyway , we waited and waited ,and waited. We were the only ones at a table. Finally , I had to ask the bartender. We never got our soup or bread and there is no way that that takes 20 min. When I told her, she said, oh you guys don't have any of your order yet? Yes, that has been a long time. I will go check. After she went back then our server came out with our soup, which was barely warm. We had to ask for drink refills at this time. Finally the wings came out. Wings and soup were very good, it just took over 25 min,for us to get them and other than people sitting at the bar we were the only ones there. Finally our food came out. We had to ask for bread with it. Which we should of gotten with the soup or even before actually. I got the Cod and it was good, my friend got the Baked Lasagna, he said it was wonderful. Of course we took half of it to go. because, we had just eaten the soup and chicken. Food was good , horrible customer service. That is why I am willing to give it another chance. It was decorated cool, with lots of old photos of the owner and many celebrities. If you come in just do not get our server. It will ruin your day.
(3)
Scout C.
The roast beef au jus was great, especially on garlic cheese bread (this was recommended by the server). The bread served as appetizer (free) could use improvement (tasted like wonder bread and the butter didn't add any flavor). The calamari was cooked to perfection and the mushroom with crab meat was very delish. Atmosphere was laid back down home old school italian and the people friendly.
(3)
Kelly P.
Absolutely awful. Like Hunt's tomatoes from the can with dried parsley sprinkled on top mixed with pasta. Poor quality. They should have tried harder,I don't know how they sleep at night. McDonalds would have been an equal choice.
(1)
Camille R.
Great family restaurant! The toasted ravioli was delicious. I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and loved it. Huge portions. My son ordered a hamburger and fries. He insisted that this was a 5-star restaurant.
(5)
Rory J.
The godfather was filmed in St. Louis?! Wait... no, this place just has that feel. It helps that the 80 something year old owner sits at the bar and greets all of the patrons coming in, he also chats up all of the local cops that come in and eat at the bar. For being in downtown, this place feels exactly like a neighborhood italian joint. We were seated quickly and had glasses of chianti in our hands within 2 minutes. We ordered the toasted ravioli to start (because hey, we're in St.Louis) and they were really good. Much less pasta and much more meat than the others I had tried on my visit. I was with a party of 3 coworkers and none of us could decide on what to eat. Seriously, the menu is extensive. My coworker that lives in St.Louis recommended the chicken parm, but cautioned us, it is a large portion. Actually, he said that about everything on the menu... We settled on getting 3 things and splitting them, the chicken parm, chicken nuzi and monti mari. All were very good, but the monti mari and chicken parm were superior. The monti mari had a spicy cream sauce over the linguine that was TO DIE for, plus it took like 5 minutes just to get all of the seafood out of their shells and into the dish. It was overflowing. The chicken parm is a large breast, split in half and lightly breaded with a sweet marinara over spaghetti. It was really good. I could have that a few times a week. The chicken nuzi was just okay. It paled in comparison to the two dishes listed above and with the crab meat and cheese it just came off as too heavy.
(4)
Sandra S.
Great steak, alittle overpriced. Get the toasted ravioli which is a staple of st Louis. With that said, it's the Midwest and this is as good as it's gonna get.
(4)
Heather F.
Amazing atmosphere and I loved the music! So classic! And the food was DELICIOUS. Now I know why I had heard of this restaurant before coming. This should be on your list of places to eat at in St. Louis because if not, you're missing out.
(5)
Vince C.
GO TO CHARLIE GITTO'S ON THE HILL!! Absolutely amazing. The staff is exceptional and the food can't be beat. However, do get ready to spend a small fortune as you pay for what you get. If you can swing it, this is a great date venue no matter the occassion.
(5)
Anando S.
Decent food but too expensive. Just an entree and a beer cost me almost 40 bucks. I had a salmon which was very good. Very nice service.
(3)
Richard K.
We had a group dinner here, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Highly recommend this place.
(4)
Joelle S.
The atmosphere was nice, but casual. We enjoyed looking at all the autographed photos that covered most of the walls. Our server was friendly and pretty good. The food...was okay. I expect more from the renowned Charlie Gitto's. I had Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. The best part was the chicken. The sauce tasted like it was from a jar. It was a huge serving, and I brought up 80% of it, which I added spices and cheese to. It helped a little, but the base was already so blah that I couldn't do much. My mom was with me and she had manicotti, which she thought was fine. Better than mine at least. The prices were fair, but I was pretty disappointed with the food. I won't be going back to this particular Charlie Gitto's. The one in Chesterfield is much pricier, but has AMAZING food.
(3)
Hans M.
Seated fast with reservation. Service has been sub par... Had to ask twice for water, napkins, utensils, then had to ask for bread and butter. Server now seems to be kicking it in gear. Food is FANTASTIC!!!! Tortellini is best I've ever had. Wife's Penne Bellini is reported to be excellent. Mom-in-laws Cavatelli w/ Broccoli is very good. Toasted Ravs were tasty and very meaty. This is still one of my faves in the STL. It's not good that it's my mother-in- laws birthday and we were asked if we wanted separate checks. Overall, good value and great food, but service could be better.
(4)
Casey R.
Some local friends recommended I stop here to eat. I enjoyed the toasted ravioli the first night I was in town so much that I went there again the second night! Great service, nice atmosphere with a bar but still a family place. World cup was on! I would have liked it a tad more if they had better (and by that I mean local) beers on tap. 312 and Sam Adams just weren't ideal for me. Schlafly isn't that a St Louis brewery.... That would have tickled my fancy a little more. The T-ravs were amazing but I wouldn't get the garlic alfredo pizza unless you like super thin soggy crusts. The toppings fell off quickly and the fork wouldn't go through the crust very well at all. Flavors were great just the sauce had too much liquid for the crust to handle.
(5)
Tom M.
First time to STL and they were referred by the hotel. I walked over after a long drive to get to STL and was pleasantly surprised. The salad and dressing was worthy of a "refill" and the seafood risotto was delicious. I bit salty but still very good. The service was attentive and friendly. I have bookmarked here for my next visit.
(4)
Anthony D.
It is what it is, and if you're not expecting too much you won't be disappointed. Let me start with the good: the service here is great, I love the ambiance with all the sports memorabilia on the walls, and the down-home feel is terrific. If that's all you're looking for in a meal, you'll leave here happy. You might leave here happy anyway. I just can't get over the fact that it's not particularly good food. I've been here 3-4 times over the years, mostly for work dinners that require me to be in attendance. I've sampled plenty of different things on the menu, and have come away disappointed with everything that doesn't end in "oasted ravioli." The common theme seems to be too much sauce, too much cheese (and believe me, it takes a lot for me to say "too much cheese" in any context), too much garlic, too much SOMETHING. None of these dishes have any balance. And I expect more from a place that's considered at least somewhat iconic -- a place that, in all honesty, I really WANT to like. Listen, this review seems a little harsher than I wanted it to be, because I HAVE had good experiences there. But I haven't had anything resembling a great meal, and for me that makes all the difference.
(2)
Doug L.
Service mediocre. Ignored for a bit. Got the sampler appetizer and it had little flavor. All about the same. Got the seafood pasta. None of it tasted particularly fresh. Maybe pre made. If I come back I'd try somewhere else first
(2)
Paul H.
I just stumbled on this place through Yelp because it was within walking distance of the hotel and it sounded pretty good. Glad we did! f you're looking for good Italian food in a relaxed, friendly restaurant / bar with a neighborhood feel, this is it. Old locals blend with first time tourists in a casual old school environment. The original owner hangs out and talks to his friends. Our waitress, who had probably been there 20 years, was very friendly. There's a huge wall of all the celebrities, sports stars and leaders who have dined there. I recommend this place for a nice, relaxed dinner in downtown St. Louis.
(5)
John A.
The food is okay, but has the potential to be a lot better. The beer is unusually expensive considering other establishments downtown.
(2)
Fran M.
I was here about 15 years ago, and I was super excited to come back...and I was just a little disappointed. My memories of this place were so much better than the reality that greeted me. Don't get me wrong, the food was ok, the service was ok, and the feel was ok...but my memories told me it should have been so much better. The pasta dishes were swimming in sauce - like SWIMMING; the bruschetta was sadly lacking in flavor; and the room felt cramped, even though it was practically empty on that particular Thursday night. I must rave about the toasted ravioli appetizer - excellent!! It was super good and made me remember why I always "use to say" Charlie Gitto's downtown is my favorite restaurant! My advice, enjoy it for what it is - a nice spot to go to before a Cards game to experience a little Italian restaurant/sports bar. If you go with that expectation, you've got it made!
The food was wonderful would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting St. Louis. Very hopping place service was great.
(5)
Elizabeth W.
My first trip to St. Louis. Gitto's was recommended. The downtown location is quaint and welcoming as is the staff. Toasted ravioli appetizer was the best. Penne Bellini was good but not fabulous. Most of all it was a place where we could eat and visit and not feel rushed. I will come back and try other dishes if I ever return to St. Louis. Great service.
(4)
Stephanie B.
Let's be honest here, I was nervous. A family friend was in from out of town and he always eats here and invited us along. After a brief glance at the reviews I was terrified as to what I had gotten myself into. It wasn't that bad. But my Italian grandmother would probably roll in her grave if she tried it. Started with the toasted ravioli and it was good, better than most of what I've had in St Louis. the calamari fritti was interesting. Regular fried calamari tossed with roasted red peppers, green olives, olive oil and garlic. But the mixture made the batter on the calamari wet and gooey. Had it been served the way it's pictured on their website it would have been much better, with everything on the side. Then onto the house salad which was very good and comes with all entrees. Main dish I had Veal Parmigiana which was cooked well and served on a bed of angel hair. Don't dare ask to sub the type of pasta though. I got a strange look and simple no. Also, they don't have a wine list, yep... an Italian restaurant without a wine list... I don't get it either. Cheesecake was good and a large portion to share. So all in all, not bad, not good, but next time our friend is in town I can make it through dinner.
(3)
Courtney C.
I was on a mission to try toasted ravioli my first time to St. Louis. I wish I was able to try the location on Shaw Avenue since this location has a whole star lower than that one and the location on Olive Blvd. Water under the bridge! I came here after seeing the Gateway Arch and it was FREEZING! Our server was awesome and made tons of recommendations because he knew it was our first time. Needless to say, the toasted ravioli was awesome but I wouldn't mind if next time they added an extra marinara sauce. Next, we ordered the Caprese Salad because....we love caprese salad and couldn't help ourselves. I would this to have MUCH to salt on it and was also a little thrown off as regular vinegar was used instead of balsamic. Hey, different people do it different ways. Onto the main courses...I was between the Penne Bellini and the Gnocchi and decided to go with the Penne. I wish I tried the Gnocchi lol. The Penne Bellini has portabella mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes but it was basically swimming in oil! Would you like some pasta with that oil? Secondly, the sun dried tomatoes came out of the can or wherever they came from and just threw em' on top. For anybody who has had sun dried tomatoes, you know that the taste is extremely...strong. For the boy, he got some type of alfredo noodles with italian sausage. The pasta was great but I found the sausage to be very eh. I didn't find anything special about it. Overall, 3.5 stars but since our server was so great I'll give it a 4. Next time, I'm really going to try aiming try one of the other locations! Also, the ambiance is great and totally feels like a family style restaurant with pictures EVERYWHERE.
(4)
Robin W.
The menu posted out front looked promising. My husband ordered & the waitress asked what salad he would like. I ordered & she asked the same question. When we received our bill, we were charged $6 for my salad! The waitress made it sound as though my salad was included. It was iceberg lettuce with half of an artichoke heart; no where near worth $6. I ordered the house Chianti & it was undrinkable so I asked for a cabernet instead. I was charged for both even though I sent the chianti back. Our waitress disappeared for quite some time. The food was just OK. Our bill came to $63; definitely not worth it. When we asked about the salad when we were paying, the person at the cash register said that she was only the hostess so she could't do anything. I highly recommend that you find a better Italian restaurant in St. Louis.
(1)
Jim O.
Service was terrible. Food was something out of a can. Nothing was fresh. Not worth the time or money.
(2)
John D.
Great atmosphere! Good food. Try the garlic cheese bread for an app, and the baked ziti with the mixed red and cream sauce. Both were great! The portions are large, so don't be afraid to share, especially if you're getting apps or dessert.
(5)
Lisa C.
We had family friends from NYC in town and decides to take them here. It was also one of the few restaurants on the hill that was open on a Sunday. The atmosphere was nice and the food was pretty good. The men loved the oysters and the manicotti was deliciousness. The server however upset myself and the other lady with me. He was very condescending to us not to the men but to us. He made remarks that left us both feel irritated, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our evening.
(4)
Andrew C.
If you're in a hurry, hungry, or thirsty, this place is NOT for you. And by in a hurry, I mean finish lunch up in 45 minutes or less. Atmosphere: The atmosphere is nicely decorated and is well air-conditioned...dim lighting with a few big screen tv's Food: This is where it begins to fail. I had gotten the italian sausage sandwich, which was a pretty hearty portion. However, fries came out soggy and a bit cold and the marinara on the sandwich had been soaked through. Service: This is where it failed. Empty glasses much of the time and received 1 refill in the hour that we were sitting there. Each of the entrees took ~25-30minutes to come out after ordering. I understand busy restaurants with slower than average service, but this one seemed a bit much for such a "simple" order. The food wasn't worth the wait...prices were between $7.99 and $8.99 for each lunch entree. Based on my experience here, this place will not get another visit from myself or any of my coworkers.
(2)
Ally D.
Wow. Do people in St. Louis know what good food is? Terrible food, terrible service. I've been here twice - fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The calamari was bland... the Fettuccine Alfredo looked like it had been sitting under a heating lamp for 20 minutes. Paid $4.00 to add shrimp and only got three pieces. They were, however, nice enough to throw in a random hair. Never. Again.
(1)
Leslie S.
Don't ever go here when there is a Cardinals or Rams game going on. You will have a very long wait. Otherwise, this is one of my favorite Italian places for Italian basic menu choices. Good salad, good bread. I have had the spaghetti and meatballs (lunch) and the beef-filled tortellini with peas, mushrooms, and prosciutto (dinner). Both were awesome, and I look forward to going back here to eat again! Service was ok, and speed of service was pretty good --- again never before a game.
(4)
Rick S.
The atmosphere is friendly and inviting. Good service too! The food is OK. I was going to have the Lasagna special but since everyone else was having that I went with the meatloaf special. Served with mashed potatoes it was good and wholesome. I also had the homemade cream of chicken soup good but WAY too much salt! This place has been around forever and is a good hang with friends.
(3)
Jeannette S.
So I'm not Italian and I really enjoyed the food here. We had salad and the calamari fritti - both were very good. I can see where some may not like their red sauce but I thought it was very good. The chicken parmigiana was not the best that I have ever had but it was good and I would order it again.
(4)
lovesmyanimals l.
Why oh Why do I keep punishing myself by eating here.... I keep thinking, oh it will get better next time. Sadly, mistaken. My last experience, well was and is the last time I go here. Seating: I asked for non-smoking, i was seated in smoking, then re-seated in smoking and then 3rd time around within 5 minutes seated in non-smoking. Cleanliness: Non-existent I think. Where is the health department? Dirty, dirty, dirty. Yes I know this place has been here forever, but shame on the restaurant for seating people in filth. Dirty tables, eating utensils, floors, ick. Service: The most positive thing I can say about this place is the food service, not the hostess. The servers have always been helpful and quick... Food: Watered down pasta sauces, toasted ravioli not great... All in all over the past few years the food quality has gone down... If you want the good Gitto's go to the hill. If you come here, don't have high expectations. Good for a beer before the game and that is about is good as it gets.
(1)
Mick C.
In search of toasted ravioli, my wife and I stoppped by for lunch one day. At first, we were seated in the smoking section and so asked to move to the non-smoking room. We ordered the fried calamari, which was topped with onions and peppers. The coating was pretty bland and, without an accompanying sauce, extremely dry. We asked for a side of marinara sauce to add some flavor. The caesar salad was pretty good (lots of dressing included) and the toasted raviolis were very nice. Overall - you can certainly do better.
(2)
Brad B.
I went the weekend of the Mo ILL game it was very busy. We had no reservation but they got us in. It was hard to get a drink as we waited for a table but we did get a table in about 30 min. The serves was slow but the food was pretty good. I will give it another chance when they are not starting out in the weeds.
(3)
Keeli S.
A wonderful Italian landmark! Excellent food and waitstaff! I've been a huge fan for many years!
(5)
Suze R.
We were searching for an Italian place on a recent visit to St Louis, read many positive reviews so we chose Charlie Gitto's. We should have went with our gut feeling upon walking in, but stupidly we decided to stay. The atmosphere is very casual and rather dingy. We ordered an appetizer of garlic bread thinking it would be pretty safe-well the bread was lousy, cut super thick and loaded with some disgusting melted cheese the locals call provel. Let me tell you it is gross and there is nothing Italian about it. It tastes and looks like imitation cheese. Our waitress suggested their special house salad, AWFUL! It was drenched in Italian dressing, I mean, it was so soggy the lettuce had absolutely no crunch left in it. Our entrees came, I had the tortellini with prosciutto, mushrooms and peas in a cream sauce. Sound good right? WRONG! Well my dish must have been plated and left sitting there because when it arrived it had formed a skin on top of the sauce it was swimming in. My friend ordered lasagna, the sauce was likely out of a jar, YUCK. Apparently his place has been around for years, a real head scratcher?!? If you want fresh, real authentic Italian food you won't find it here. Big disappointment.
(1)
Joe M.
Bad service and bad food. Went before the Rams game yesterday. Though there were only about a dozen customers and at least that many waitstaff, after 10 minutes I finally stopped the bus girl and asked her for help so we could get waited on. No one even offered us water. The house salad, which I thought came with the meal (it does not, and it's $5.00) was very watered down, like they rinsed the lettuce and did not drain off the water. The bruschetta was served on what reminded me of Melba toast with very little toppings, that broke apart as soon as you took a bite, also very bland. Also had the crab cakes, nothing special here either. Their signature dish of baked lasagna was okay, but tastes like Stouffer's from the frozen section at the grocery store. For two people, my bill of $71 plus tip came to $85. NOT worth it. I will not go back and will tell friends of my experience. I am usually not this critical, but the experience ruined my football Sunday downtown with friends. But at least the Rams won.
(1)
Derek W.
I went to this establishment in downtown St. Louis 90 minutes before a Cardinals game. It has a classic downrtown wooden bar Atmostphere with a dinning room towards the rear of the building. There are plenty of signed autographs of celebrities on the wall that help lend Charlies much needed credibility. I went three others and we ordered their house salad and three different meals. The house salads came tossed in Italian dressing. The dressing wasn't remarkable but the iceberg was wilted as if it had been tossed for quite some time. The red sauce on the spaghetti were zesty and tasty. Their baked penne was extremely sweet and very rich. Probably done with almost all heavy cream and sugar? The portions of Charlie's were enormous. One large dish of pasta could probably feed four people easily. Our waitress was extremely friendly checking back often and the food was presented at comfortable pace. I will say that the bar staff was extremely rude. Being that this is a family place there were several small children there. A father was having difficulty getting the stroller out the door and the bartender shouted across the room "close the f-ing door". I am sure that we was concerned about the hot air getting in, but still rude. Overall if you are looking for large portions of average Italian food Charlies could be your place
(2)
Jeanie S.
Our server here was awesome. The old girl had definitely been around the block a few times, and possessed the self-assurance and casual familiarity of someone who knows the food service biz like the back of her hand. This place has no pretensions (kind of like our server). It's well-worn and comfortable. Best of all, it was open late on a Monday night when we were tired & hungry. Our appetizer of Portabella Mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat was delicious. We split this dish and my "I don't care for seafood" dining partner took more than his 1/2 share (and would have taken more had I not been armed with a sharp fork and quick reflexes), it was that good. The spinach salad was huge and delicately dressed. Our only letdown was the Pasta Messina (sauteed shrimp, chicken, red pepper, and portabella mushrooms in marinara sauce), which was quite bland. All in all, we had a filling, late night dinner at a reasonable price at Charlie Gittos. I wanted to try the Spumoni, but I was too full. Man, I love Spumoni.
(3)
Tommy E.
Casual Italian dinning. Red and white checked table cloths, inexpensive chianti. Don't expect this to be the other one. The other C. Gittos is very posh and over on the Hill. This one is right downtown. Casual relaxed Italian food for dinner. The staff are so nice. Just go, sit amongst the tourists, and enjoy a big 'ol plate of pasta. Loved the garlic bread, you get lots. No idea why it's rated like this, maybe people are expecting too much. It's a nice, fun, tasty, Italian cafe.
(4)
Maggie F.
I was about to settle for breakfast as lunch when this charming little place caught my eye! I can describe the decor, atmosphere & service with one word. Warm :) I would have included the food in there but that was steaming hot, lol! It was also delicious. Not your run of the mill fake Italian food here. I was completely satisfied with my entire experience.
(4)
Jessica H.
Love their crab cakes. All their dishes are great and they are most accommodating. If you are a picky eater and nothing on the menu suits you they will make almost anything for you.
(5)
Chris K.
This place is just plain awesome. Literally I have not found anything here yet that I didn't think was absolutely delicious. The bread was fresh italian bread done right. The fresh parmesan, the Cesar salad, the Manicotti, the Lasagna, the Cannoli, the hot wings, the Clam chowder, and the Linguini with clams. I must say the red sauce has a touch of sweetness, which some people may not like, but I do. I even got gluten free Chicken Alfredo that was awesome! I like the fact this place is more casual and comfortable than the other locations, and it has lots of unique memorabilia. It is not rare to see Tony himself inside the restaurant. I am impressed. This is THE place to go downtown for pasta if you ask me, and ive lived here in St.L my whole life. I am conflicted going here. So many new things I have yet to try, but I love the stuff ive already tried so much Its hard for me to deviate. The bathrooms are A HIKE, and parking isnt free, but WOW is it worth it.
(5)
Scott J.
Went here for lunch. There were 4 of us. Everyone agreed it was very average at best. The house salad was good. The entrees lacked flavor. Service was decent, but a little slow for a weekday lunch.
(2)
Brian N.
This is a solid 3 star. We got takeout, bolognese, caprese salad, and dinner salad. All were solid for your typical american italian restaurant.
(3)
Matt S.
Gitto's is one of my favorite places in the city, because it doesnt try to be something it's not. Gitto's is a casual Italian restaurant with a great sports flair in a great downtown location. Thats it guys. They aren't competing with Tony's - let alone the other family restaurant on The Hill. My advice - go simple. They do simple very well. Great angel hair pasta and great marinara sauce with either sausage or great jumbo meatballs. Great St. Louis style salads. Very good lasagna. Rigatoni and tortallini's are also really good. Roast beef sandwhiches, meatball sandwhich and salcissa sandwich are great. Beer is cold, cheap wine by the glass. I hear a lot of people here say that the staff is not friendly to them.......well thats probably because you look or are acting like a jagoff. Staff goes out of their way to be incredibly friendly to me everytime I come in. I've had some great history here. My Dad took me here when I was 9 or 10 years old and had some bad medical news. He told me he had a great place that would cheer me up. It did, we ran into Tommy Lasorda, who along with Mr. Gitto spoke with us for 10 minutes and then gave us tickets to the Dodgers/Cardinals game that night. Since i have worked downtown (2003) I have taken tons of clients and friends in here for lunch or before Cardinals games and have had nothing but great times. In 2009, while trying to entertain a huge group of people that flo in from all over the country for Melissa and I's wedding, we chose Gitto's for our Rehersal dinner venue. We had the entire upstairs - one room for drinks and the other for dinner. It was unbelievable. Keep doing what you're doing guys - I'll keep bringing everyone from my 8 year old son, to my best client into your place.
(4)
Todd K.
Went here for business dinner on a Monday night with 9 colleagues as our office is across the street. Very busy for a Monday.= good food. Been here many times for lunch, with fairly consistent service and food. Ordered the St. Louis standard toasted ravioli for the table and they brought out three heaping plates of food with sauce to dip. Very good and meaty. Ordered the chicken parm and was very satisfied. Huge chicken breast over dry pasta. House salad is awesome--maybe the best salad I've ever had. Could make a meal of the salad and the toasted ravioli. Chicken was good and well prepared, but pasta was lacking sauce. Ordered extra sauce with waitress, which was delivered very quickly, and all was good. Would go here again. Colleague next to me had osso buco with risotto and he was very happy with his selection. Very friendly and homey feel. Try it if you are in the area.
(4)
Timothy G.
Ugh. I'm Italian and this is just horrible. All the sauces taste like they poured a cup of sugar in each serving. Maybe hitting here at lunch and getting a sandwich makes sense, but an entree at dinner, no. Don't do it. If you're from out of town for a Cardinals game, go to the stadium and keep on walking south until you see Broadway Oyster Bar. Or if that's too far, hit Jimmy John's.
(1)
Erica Lee A.
This place is wonderful and the food is fantastic! :) Just a nice, cozy, little Italian resturant. Had ravoli last night and i was soo stuffed i couldnt eat their delicious sounding dessert. But beware of their prices for the foods! It is NOT cheap.
(4)
Chad F.
You won't be disappointed but also not likely to rave about. Veal parmegan was just warm enough to not return. Just fine but not as good as can make at home. Veal artichoke special was fine but unremarkable. Reasonable prices. Ok service... As with food nothing bad but not great i.e. never refilled water until meal was done.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dinner Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Sean T.
We stopped in before a Cards game and even though they were fully staffed and half empty, they were very very slow. The waitress was not listening to us. We wanted to sit, order, and get our food asap but instead we had to wait 10 minutes between sitting and gettng drinks in. 10 more minutes to get 4 waters. 10 more minutes for the order. 30 minutes for th food. Once we got the food, it was horrble. My baked pene was baby food soft, hot as the sun, and drowned in a red sauce that was Willy Wonka sweet. My wife's Alfredo tasted like rancid butter and noting else. Her chicken tasted more of fish than chicken. And then i was expensive. I felt like I got horrible value. They go from 1 star to 2 for even being open on gameday and at least being nice.
(2)Deano G.
okay - My buddy tried the seafood risotto & I had a bite.... OMG it was delicious & will be the first thing I get on my next trip to St. Louis! Thanks Guys... It was wonderful!
(4)Carlos S.
I do not know what everyone on hear is talking about this place is GREAT. I have been here 3 different times (All Star Game Week, Random Week in August, and recently during the NLDS). This place is always very welcoming. The bread is fresh and the meals come out hot. This location is "Baseball Centric" as one can tell from the decor on the walls. You maybe hard pressed to find individuals who enjoy this place appartently; however, rest assured the cliente that frequents this place is old school Italian who probaby do not use Yelp to write reviews. Enjoy, I know I do everytime I go.
(4)Channa P.
I can always tell how much I like a restaurant by how long the place sticks with me after my visit. I dined at this place two weeks ago and the food and atmosphere are starting to fade to vague notions instead standout memories. I ordered the ravioli stuffed with seafood. It was good, but I always forget when you order ravioli you literally get 7-8 pieces instead of a helping bowl of pasta. My food was tasty, but nothing special. I could have been biased because a friend told me the night before he had the :the best Italian ever." It was good, but not the best. The place looks like an old scene from Goodfellas. It's two rooms joined like a shotgun house. The place has been open for about 30+ years (so it's obviously a well-liked place) and the buidling dates back to the early 1900s. If you are by the place give it a try.
(3)Tom J.
This is a good spot for dinner before a Cardinal game. The food is standard Italian as you'd get on the HIll. Quality is consistently good. We went yesterday and had spaghetti with marinara (the restricted diet choice) and a breaded tilapia special (with a side of veggies and salad). The tilapia was delicious, although it could have used a little more seasoning. They also put several tablespoons of olive oil on the plate, which I thought was excessive. Others at our table had chicken parmagiana, lasagna, large salad, which all looked great. The dinner salad was tasty. A tad heavy on the oil. Service was very friendly and prompt. She laughed at all of our jokes. Of course they're always more fun when you buy several bottles of wine. The atmosphere is casual, along the lines of Friday's, but with a very local feel. The best part is probably the consistency, along with the convenient downtown location. Parking is definitely not a plus - your on your own, as far as I can tell - no valet on the nights we've gone. If you've never been, give it a try sometime, especially if you have time before a Cardinal game.
(3)Tami P.
I've been to a lot of Italian restaurants and this place is near the bottom of my list! Came in after a baseball game and was told it would be a 35 minute wait and they closed at 9. I get it but it was 8:15. Was she telling me to leave or what? Got out seats and the waitress took our drink order. I asked for ice tea and a straw. She then took our order. We ordered the chicken parm and linguine with sausage. We sat and sat and sat. Finally after about 20 mins, We asked for bread. She brought it and then about 5 mins later she brought the salad. We asked for cracked black pepper. She brought a container of crushed red peppers like for pizza! And the salad was luke warm. Still no straw. Finally dinner came. Waitress asked if we wanted parm cheese. We said yes and more bread. After 10 mins of nothing we had to ask another waiter. Still no straw. What kind of Italian place doesn't bring parm cheese and bread especially when she asked if we wanted it?!?! The food was mediocre at best. Sausage was plain. Parm was dry. We were still eating and the waitress dropped off the bill and said "whenever you're ready". Guess she deemed us unworthy of dessert which we had planned on having. In a nut shell: food was mediocre and service was horrendous!!! Worst service I've ever had, especially for a place charging $19 for an entree. I'd skip this place and hit the hooters!!!! And ps I'm still waiting for my straw!!
(1)Brian A.
Wonderful little Italian place. Went there during the NCAA tournament (covering it for television) with a co-worker of mine. Both of us really enjoyed our time there. Our waitress was great and the food was even better. Now, I'm not an Italian food connoisseur like most of the other people who reviewed this place on Yelp, but it tasted pretty great to me. We had the Toasted Ravioli, which was superb, and I had the Cannelloni, which I devoured in about 10 minutes. Cleaned my plate actually. The atmosphere was awesome. Tiny little joint where I felt like I was having dinner in someone's dining room. We had to wait a little while thanks to the numerous people in town for the NCAA tournament, but we enjoyed looking at the pictures on the wall of all the athletes who had visited the place and had a beer from the bar near the front door. I gave it 5 stars instead of 4 because the University of North Carolina cheer squad was there when we were. That pushed it over the top. Still a great place to eat if you don't want fancy and just want some great Italian food.
(5)Christiana L.
If there's any place you should go while you're visiting the famed Arch in Downtown St. Louis, it's Charlie Gitto's! I heard from a St. Louis native that they do really good Italian food and so, after an expensive dinner at a steakhouse the night before, Charlie Gitto's was clearly our dinner destination. The waiters and waitresses at this establishment were very polite (much like the rest of St. Louis) and it helps that this restaurant was not too crowded so you can really sit back and relax. My table ordered the toasted ravioli to start and it was great. Crispy on the outside and hot and sumptuous on the inside. What really stood out for me was the sauce in my entrée because there was a distinct note of white wine in my pasta. It was delicate and I very much enjoyed my dish. My company and I were stuffed to the brim even though it was just one starter and our individual entrées. I wish I had known about Charlie Gitto's earlier so I could have went there more often during my short stay, but I'm glad I was there at all. A definite must-visit establishment. C.
(4)Chris V.
Very Disappointed. First time back in many years, and will not return. Linguini was not edible, The waitress said the salads "came with the meals" but for some reason we still had to pay for them - my wife didn't want one in the first place. The lasagna was only below average, but at least edible. Huge portion that I could only choke down about 1/3 of. Asked the waitress to box it up so I could take the rest home since it was costing so much, but my waitress decided to toss it in the trash instead. Probably best outcome, I suppose. So the bill was $50 for a small house salad, 1/3 plate of lasagna, some stale bread and two diet cokes. Will. Not. Be. Back.
(1)Tara C.
I love this place! Every time I am in STL I eat here. The best part is they only Sell ABI products, no Miller Light. This place is great for groups or just you alone, I have taken two bachelorette parties here and it worked out fine. Only down fall is they DO NOT separate checks so keep that in mind.
(5)Josh S.
We met a friend downtown last week for dinner and this was the spot of choice. Every time he is in town he always eats here at least a few times, so it has to be pretty good, right? We were seated quickly and out server came around to get our drink orders. He seemed to struggle a bit when trying to come up with the beers that they had, either on tap or in the bottle, but he managed to get all of our drinks and was off. We ordered some toasted raviolis and the calamari for starters. The toasted ravs were thicker than what I am used to having and that was the good thing. They were full of filling, unlike some places I've had them. The best part was the calamari though. The calamari was breaded, but not heavily and it was served with roasted red peppers. This added a unique flavor to the calamari that I've never had paired with it, and it was quite good. Came time for the main course and I went with the Chicken Nunzio. The white sauce was good, but the crab meat was almost non existent. I think I tasted crab twice while eating the chicken nunzio. Overall the dish was good, but had there been more than two bites of crab meat it would have been a LOT better. Even though I was stuffed, our server had me at cheese cake, and he warned that it was a big piece of cheese cake. I think big was an understatement. It was a piece easily big enough for two, but I think our table of five could have all had some and been satisfied. It also was good, not great but good. I went in with lower than normal expectations due to the reviews, and came out having at least met those expectations.
(3)Brent M.
From start to Finnish one of the best italian meals I've had in years. The calamari was amazing and do yourself a favor and save room for the cheesecake just make sure you have someone to split it with.
(5)Jessica B.
I had always been scared of this place because the outside is a little scary looking, but when you go inside it is beautiful! Super clean, the server was very attentive, good prices for the servings, and best of all you can tell the ravioli is homemade, not the frozen kind like most of St. Louis' fried ravioli! Portions were pretty good and just a nice atmosphere.
(4)Gioey O.
If you want Italian food or even Italian-American food don't go here. Every few years I forget what crappy food they serve here and I try it again. Yesterday I had the fried calamari and it was the worst I ever had. I don't know how Gitto's got the idea that calamari topped with a pile of jalapenos and onions was either Italian, tasty or cool, but it was definitely none of the above. The only part of the dish that was worse was the fried calamari itself--in this case a concoction consisting of about 90% tasteless breading and 10% tasteless calamari. The house salad was pretty good, though.
(1)John D.
Style and substance in a place with a TON of St. Louis character and history. Great food, Classic Italian menu with good variety. You might catch the old man in there too on some nights. St. Louis Italian at its best.
(4)Mia S.
Oofa. I've lived in Italy. I certainly didn't expect dishes that were authentically Italian in downtown STL (especially from a place that touts its provel). But I also didn't expect them to be that bad. We ordered house wine; the chianti was ok, but the cabernet tasted more like sangria. The server didn't bring any bread until we specifically asked, during our entrees. (And the bread was kind of like the take-and-bake stuff you get in the grocery store.) The toasted ravioli have mystery meat in them, which I wasn't expecting (but to be fair, I didn't ask and assumed they were cheese-filled). I debated about the caprese salad, and as soon as it showed up knew I shouldn't have ordered it. Four thick slabs of mealy tomato topped with a teeny piece of... provel? Mozzarella? And red onions for some odd reason? Plus a dusting of dried basil. For entrees, we got the fettuccine alfredo, which was just alright. The pasta was al dente, which was nice, but the sauce was just ok. The other entree was the manicotti (I'd wanted the eggplant parm, but it came with "meatsauce" which the server said was beef, so I passed on that). I gather it was filled with and topped with provel. The marinara was very sweet and thin, almost like spaghettios. The server wasn't particularly friendly and sort of tossed things like the bread on the table. All told, this was $80, which was so not worth it. Pass on this, folks. I should have tried that calzone place nearby.
(1)Ashley V.
We came here with a group of 7, recommended by our hotel conceirge. We got seated right away. Took a while to get our drinks, the server did not know the menu. Refills took forever, sprite tasted like soda water, Lump crap meat topping looked like gravy. Baked lasagna was good and so was the tortellini. I would not recommend this place.
(1)Jess S.
Food was excellent. A little pricy, but delicious. Atmosphere is crowded, loud, and distractingly busy. Wait staff was attentive and kind.
(3)Jon D.
This is our first visit to CGs and I must say, the food and service were both quite good. It compares favorably against other Italian restaurants in the area. The calamari fritti appetizer was exceptional. The breading was light and cooked to perfection. The Pasta Messina's flavors were complex and spot on. The shrimp was very fresh as was the mushrooms. The one downside was the chicken. It was a bit on the dry side.
(4)Anthony O.
We have eaten here ever year we are in town for the last 5 years.. Have always enjoyed the food chicken Parm hands down awesome toasted raviolis are great! The service is always on point.. We will be back soon never a bad meal check it out!!!
(4)Travis T.
I had one day here in St. Louis and all I wanted was Toasted Ravioli - one of my favorite things about the city. There are all sorts of claims of who was the original restaurant to come up with it. Charlie Gitto has been a staple here in St. Louis for some time. I ordered my food to go so I didn't get the full experience. The toasted ravioli was delicious and I got my fill in for the day. But what I noticed while waiting for my order is what was disappointing. The hostess was all flustered and confused and many of the servers were on edge. Charlie was there and pretty much sat at the bar chit chatting with his little entourage ignoring most of the issues going on. Then one of the servers screwed something up behind the bar and the bartender tore into her in front of everyone. Wow... I'm glad I grabbed my food and got out of there. I don't how anyone could enjoy their job with all the tension in this place. I did enjoy looking at all the sports memorabilia. Sorry Charlie, I think time you get off your behind and get back to managing a restaurant.
(3)David J.
Wow!!!! Is all I can say?????? How do you make classic American Italian food very mediocre even a chain restaurant can do it better then this place. The amount of effort put into not making food well is mind numbing 100$ for bad Italian food the people need to be warned. Go to subway it is bad but not as bad as this place.
(1)David M.
Really, really good eggplant parmigiana and friendly wait staff. A great, fun evening! And a good meal to boot!
(4)Alex W.
So. Rediculously. Great. I came with a large group from a conference. We'd had the top room reserved with a dinner buffet, however that quickly spilled over into the upper bar area due to more people unexpectedly coming. The restaurant was as quick to set up additional tables for the surprise guests - bravo! Myself and a few ladies decided to sit downstairs at the bar and eat due to the last-minute space issues. I'm glad we did - the Card's game was on TV, and the A/C was more...prominent than upstairs. Our adorable & sweet bartender was great to us - no care that we had our big plates of dinner there. He also kept our drinks a-flowin'. A couple of times I didn't realize one drink was empty because he'd already gotten a refill set up for me! Charlie himself came by the restaurant during our dinner and one friend and I were a little shy to ask for a pic, but perhaps next time we will.
(5)Karla F.
Charlie Gitto's is a St. Louis institution so we went with very high expectations. We visited while on vacation. Although the restaurant was busy, we were seated almost immediately. The venue is noisy, but in a cheerful, bustling kind of way. Our server was knowledgable about the menu and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, but my partner found his just average. We both agreed the tiramisu was divine.
(4)Holly H.
My husband is a regular for lunch here, as it's walking distance from his office. I decided to meet him for lunch today because I'm a huge fan of The Hill location and was curious to see how it compared. I was surprised at how casual this location is in comparison to the other locations. It definitely doesn't have that same charm and elegance that I prefer, but I see why this informal and relaxed spot draws such a big lunch crowd. The bread was very fresh and good. We asked for a little olive oil and parmesan cheese to go with it, as we're not big fans of buttered bread. I personally like to save my calories for bigger and better things. :) The portions served during lunch are the regular dinner size portions, which are very large, so my husband and I split a small house salad and the baked penne. This entree is not served at the other locations, along with several other dishes that are only offered at the downtown location. Plenty of new choices caught my eye, but that penne was the winner. And a winner it was! It has a tomato and cream sauce mixture and is topped with lots of provel cheese before being baked. It's very rich and very delish! My in-laws joined us today as well and they also split their huge portions of chicken soup, house salad, and lasagna. There wasn't a single bite left when we were all done. This is one of those instances where a half-star is needed because I would truly give my rating 4.5 stars. I loved the food, the different menu choices, and service here, but because I'm a girl who's all about the ambiance, it didn't quite compare to my favorite location on The Hill in that department.
(4)Brett M.
Dropped in on my most recent visit to STL. I was really surprised at how good their food was. The house salad was delicious. The Gluten Free Pasta tasted so good I couldn't even tell it was GF. And the service was over the top. This downtown atmosphere is likely the same it was 20 years ago. Lots of wood, celebrety pictures, cozy tables, a small bar, and the owners were hanging around for lunch. I highly recommend this spot if you want good Italian and want to see an original STL restaurant.
(4)Kenny R.
Downtown Gitto's, I'll miss you. Gitto's on the Hill....we're still good Sir! First, I'm sorry and it breaks my heart. Tonight, as a local who visits on foot often, I was reduced to one of those suburbia type folks that wait outside of Olive Garden....where are the Mom and Pop's? Downtown CG's, We moved tables to try to GET YOUR ATTENTION for service....but you NEVER noticed us. When I told "Mariah" that I was a local and I hate to tell her "you've lost my business", she told me "ok, I'm sorry" in her sweetest 17 year old non-business sense voice. She won't miss us. What happened CGs? Used to be so good and value your customers!
(1)Jessie R.
I really liked this place and loved the décor and feel of the restaurant. I ordered the baked lasagna, it was way rich but sooo good! I am considering going back tonight because I couldn't choose between the carbonara, baked penne or lasagna. The prices and service are great too! For two dinners, a cup of soup, glass of wine and an iced tea our bill was under $50. I would truly recommend this restaurant.
(5)Jim W.
I love the atmosphere/ambiance of this place more than the food itself. I keep expecting to see Don Corleone sitting in the back when I walk through the door. The food is good, but I'm no big italian fan, so... I do recommend stopping by if you are downtown, and have a beer and some French onion soup (yes I know its italian) just to check out the place and the pictures.
(4)Christie S.
Provel haters keep walking. There's nothing for you here. Provel lovers, however, let me tell you a little story about the BEST BAKED PENNE OOZING WITH PROVEL EVER KNOWN TO MAN! This is the dish that keeps me coming back to Charlie Gitto's because I haven't found it anywhere else. With such perfect simplicity, the dish consists of penne noodles with meat and cream sauce baked with provel and topped with parmesan. The "baked with provel" part is where it gets good! You get oooey gooey provel cheese in every bite. The "baked in" part also means that occasionally you'll hit a little provel pocket in the pasta that's pure heaven. All of the other entrees passing by looked great, but I would never stray from this provel-laden gem! Charlie aint no dummy, either! He's charging the tourists $9 for toasted ravioli. That's hilarious! He's also charging $5 for a side salad that doesn't come with your pasta, doesn't look like much, but is incredibly flavorful (think Pasta House style)...so who would resist it? Service was incredible at the bar during our short wait and at the table. Although dated, you'll enjoy looking at all the pictures on the wall of past celebs that ate there - lots of baseball players passing through and, my favorite, Larry Connors when he had hair. Awesome!
(4)Mario R.
Great service, terrible food. The bruschetta is just tiny slices of bread with a tiny piece of cheese on each slice, then topped with two or three tiny pieces of tomato. I've had better at freak'n Fridays! For dinner, I ordered the seafood risotto. It was a plate of mush with a few pieces of seafood. Just awful. The only plus is that the service was fantastic. That's not enough to bring me back though. PS toasted ravioli sucks. Sorry St Louis, but it's just a poor man's empanada. Had it in two spots to give it a fair shake too
(1)Danny H.
Fantastic. Discovered this place on a road trip, and now we stop here every time. Cool atmosphere (complete with pictures of famous guests on the walls), friendly staff, and amazing foood.
(5)JT B.
This place has gone down hill. The inside of the French Onion soup was warm at best. Sent it back. Got the main dish which was cold on the inside but the plate was hotter then hell. Sent it back came out the same way. Won't be back!!! Must be new ownership
(1)Jonathen F.
Tonight was the Final night of our Honeymoon in St. Louis. So we decided to do something special. We had heard such good things from people all over St. Louis. The gentleman next to us at the Cardinals game Saturday night gave rave reviews. The Concierge at our Hotel said it was the best Authentic Italian in town. Even one of my Wife's clients who comes to St. Louis regularly said it's amazing so we figured we had better try it. I had such high expectations. I'm a Chef by profession so I do know how a restaurant "should" be ran. We arrived at 7:30 the restaurant was busy as expected. Even on a Monday night it was packed. This is usually a good sign. We were told the wait would be about 20 minutes. That was fine. After 15 we were seated. After 5 minutes of not seeing our waitress I assured my wife it was just because the restaurant was busy. After 15 of not seeing a server period I got up and asked the hostess if the server even realized we were at the table. After another 10 minutes our server finally came to the table to get drink orders. We placed our Appetizer order, Drinks, Soup, and Dessert because we didn't know when we would see the server again. After the server left I started a stop watch. I kid you not. Normal service to put in a ticket and get 2 sodas should take 2-4 minutes. Even 5 would have been acceptable. Count it with me. 20 minutes to get our drinks. I clicked my stopwatch again. Any guesses on when Appetizer arrived? 25 minutes after and we had to ask for drink refills at that point. 15 minutes after that our dinner arrived and we asked if we could have some bread. She brings us bread but it comes with these cheap butter packets. Seriously is it that hard for them to get a stand mixer and whip some butter with honey and pipe it on a plate? I should have realized when I saw Alfredo on the menu it wasn't authentic Italian. Incase you don't know. Alfredo is not Italian. It was made in Brooklyn NY, USA. When our dinner did arrive I will say aside from the cheese being burnt to the bowl clearly from sitting under heat lamps in the back and the bowl being served on a plate way to big for it. "The bowl constantly moved on the plate when you tried to eat it" The lasagna had pretty good flavor. The ravioli I wouldn't feed to my dog. So chewy and cold. We didn't dare send it back who knows we would have gotten social security before we got our plates back. We actually received our Cannoli in a timely manner and this was delicious. Right after our dessert she had no problem rushing us the check. If the rest of our meal had arrived as fast as the check phew.. This might have actually been a good experience instead of lasting bad memory of our last night in this beautiful city. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone who wants to experience an authentic Italian experience. Average Entree price is $17-$25. Average Appetizer is $10-$12. So for 2 drinks. 2 Appetizer, 2 Soup, and 2 Entree. Around $90.00. Total time in restaurant 1 hour 47 min. I'd fire my servers and replace my FOH Manager if this ever happened. They should be embarrassed.
(1)Henrik k.
We went to Charlie's and the food was delicious. Service was fast. Had a great dinner with friends.
(5)Jolena S.
This place is a step back in time. One wall is covered with decades of visitors autographed photos. The menu is a great example of classic Italian offerings done well. I had the Chicken Bellini (breast stuffed with prosciutto and cheese with broccoli on top and he had the Steak Francesca (sp?). Both were well prepared and had a good veggie medley with them. House salad was good but large so I barely put a dent in it. The soup of the day, clam chowder, was fantastic. Paired with a bottle of cab and it made for a nice date night!
(4)Shawn C.
The atmosphere is worth the stop. Classic American Italian cuisine. Food is heavy but good.
(3)Derek H.
I'm giving Gitto's downtown an official bump up to 5 stars. While I stated in a previous review that I felt the food was a touch better at The Hill location, the service I continue to receive at the downtown location is unmatched. I come here probably once a week, sometimes with a coworker, sometimes alone. I usually sit in the bar area, mainly because the service is so good. The bartender remembers what I like to drink, what I don't like in my salad, makes good menu suggestions, and she even remembers that I like my bread served with some parmesan cheese and olive oil. I like that I don't even have to ask for any of this. I just show up and she knows. That's what I call great service! Lately, I enjoy coming on Wednesday's for lunch, because they have a good special. You can get a nice size chicken parmigiana, that comes atop a bed of pasta. It comes with a side salad all for $11. This is a good deal for Gitto's. You can also fill up on as much bread as you want, and I take advantage of this because it's quite good. The chicken parmigiana is very good here, so I highly recommend giving it a shot if you come here for lunch. Overall, I just wanted to pass along my ratings bump. I will most definitely be back here.
(5)Tim M.
Fantastic atmosphere. Old style tile floor. Sports memorabilia everywhere. Brouchetta was very tasty. Bread was fresh. Warm. Broiled chicken breast with grilled tomatoes and zucchini. Very tasty. Tuscan Chicken Risotto was also very tasty. Canole is home made and also delicious. The owner and name sake ... Charlie are at the table next to us with a group of friends.
(5)Doug S.
Hit: Garlic cheese bread appetizer Miss: ordered the spaghetti bolognese; sauce was watery and tasted like it came from a jar from the grocery. I also found it to be over priced; ordered an appetizer, 1 entree with a meatball and it was $23. Had water to drink. This place is over rated.
(2)Teresa S.
I came here with my friend Alan on a short work trip to St Louis. He has been here many times before and thought it was absolutely fabulous. Sadly I was not impressed at all. But, I will give them another chance because, we had one of the worst servers ever. Apparently she had never done this before. Anyway, we were greeted and seated right away. Which was nice. we got there about 4:00pm so there were only a few people in the place. The first thing after being seated was I had to go to wash my hands before we ate. I did have to go up the stairs to find the restrooms. I could of killed myself on the way down,though. The carpet is all worn out and if you had heels on it could be ugly. One of the toilets were non working. So there was only one ,just saying. Anyway, we ordered very quickly. We each got soup and an order of Chicken wings. As well as a dinner entree. We wanted to take stuff to go as well. (Leftovers) Our server was Bridget or so the check said. Anyway , we waited and waited ,and waited. We were the only ones at a table. Finally , I had to ask the bartender. We never got our soup or bread and there is no way that that takes 20 min. When I told her, she said, oh you guys don't have any of your order yet? Yes, that has been a long time. I will go check. After she went back then our server came out with our soup, which was barely warm. We had to ask for drink refills at this time. Finally the wings came out. Wings and soup were very good, it just took over 25 min,for us to get them and other than people sitting at the bar we were the only ones there. Finally our food came out. We had to ask for bread with it. Which we should of gotten with the soup or even before actually. I got the Cod and it was good, my friend got the Baked Lasagna, he said it was wonderful. Of course we took half of it to go. because, we had just eaten the soup and chicken. Food was good , horrible customer service. That is why I am willing to give it another chance. It was decorated cool, with lots of old photos of the owner and many celebrities. If you come in just do not get our server. It will ruin your day.
(3)Scout C.
The roast beef au jus was great, especially on garlic cheese bread (this was recommended by the server). The bread served as appetizer (free) could use improvement (tasted like wonder bread and the butter didn't add any flavor). The calamari was cooked to perfection and the mushroom with crab meat was very delish. Atmosphere was laid back down home old school italian and the people friendly.
(3)Kelly P.
Absolutely awful. Like Hunt's tomatoes from the can with dried parsley sprinkled on top mixed with pasta. Poor quality. They should have tried harder,I don't know how they sleep at night. McDonalds would have been an equal choice.
(1)Camille R.
Great family restaurant! The toasted ravioli was delicious. I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and loved it. Huge portions. My son ordered a hamburger and fries. He insisted that this was a 5-star restaurant.
(5)Rory J.
The godfather was filmed in St. Louis?! Wait... no, this place just has that feel. It helps that the 80 something year old owner sits at the bar and greets all of the patrons coming in, he also chats up all of the local cops that come in and eat at the bar. For being in downtown, this place feels exactly like a neighborhood italian joint. We were seated quickly and had glasses of chianti in our hands within 2 minutes. We ordered the toasted ravioli to start (because hey, we're in St.Louis) and they were really good. Much less pasta and much more meat than the others I had tried on my visit. I was with a party of 3 coworkers and none of us could decide on what to eat. Seriously, the menu is extensive. My coworker that lives in St.Louis recommended the chicken parm, but cautioned us, it is a large portion. Actually, he said that about everything on the menu... We settled on getting 3 things and splitting them, the chicken parm, chicken nuzi and monti mari. All were very good, but the monti mari and chicken parm were superior. The monti mari had a spicy cream sauce over the linguine that was TO DIE for, plus it took like 5 minutes just to get all of the seafood out of their shells and into the dish. It was overflowing. The chicken parm is a large breast, split in half and lightly breaded with a sweet marinara over spaghetti. It was really good. I could have that a few times a week. The chicken nuzi was just okay. It paled in comparison to the two dishes listed above and with the crab meat and cheese it just came off as too heavy.
(4)Sandra S.
Great steak, alittle overpriced. Get the toasted ravioli which is a staple of st Louis. With that said, it's the Midwest and this is as good as it's gonna get.
(4)Heather F.
Amazing atmosphere and I loved the music! So classic! And the food was DELICIOUS. Now I know why I had heard of this restaurant before coming. This should be on your list of places to eat at in St. Louis because if not, you're missing out.
(5)Vince C.
GO TO CHARLIE GITTO'S ON THE HILL!! Absolutely amazing. The staff is exceptional and the food can't be beat. However, do get ready to spend a small fortune as you pay for what you get. If you can swing it, this is a great date venue no matter the occassion.
(5)Anando S.
Decent food but too expensive. Just an entree and a beer cost me almost 40 bucks. I had a salmon which was very good. Very nice service.
(3)Richard K.
We had a group dinner here, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Highly recommend this place.
(4)Joelle S.
The atmosphere was nice, but casual. We enjoyed looking at all the autographed photos that covered most of the walls. Our server was friendly and pretty good. The food...was okay. I expect more from the renowned Charlie Gitto's. I had Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. The best part was the chicken. The sauce tasted like it was from a jar. It was a huge serving, and I brought up 80% of it, which I added spices and cheese to. It helped a little, but the base was already so blah that I couldn't do much. My mom was with me and she had manicotti, which she thought was fine. Better than mine at least. The prices were fair, but I was pretty disappointed with the food. I won't be going back to this particular Charlie Gitto's. The one in Chesterfield is much pricier, but has AMAZING food.
(3)Hans M.
Seated fast with reservation. Service has been sub par... Had to ask twice for water, napkins, utensils, then had to ask for bread and butter. Server now seems to be kicking it in gear. Food is FANTASTIC!!!! Tortellini is best I've ever had. Wife's Penne Bellini is reported to be excellent. Mom-in-laws Cavatelli w/ Broccoli is very good. Toasted Ravs were tasty and very meaty. This is still one of my faves in the STL. It's not good that it's my mother-in- laws birthday and we were asked if we wanted separate checks. Overall, good value and great food, but service could be better.
(4)Casey R.
Some local friends recommended I stop here to eat. I enjoyed the toasted ravioli the first night I was in town so much that I went there again the second night! Great service, nice atmosphere with a bar but still a family place. World cup was on! I would have liked it a tad more if they had better (and by that I mean local) beers on tap. 312 and Sam Adams just weren't ideal for me. Schlafly isn't that a St Louis brewery.... That would have tickled my fancy a little more. The T-ravs were amazing but I wouldn't get the garlic alfredo pizza unless you like super thin soggy crusts. The toppings fell off quickly and the fork wouldn't go through the crust very well at all. Flavors were great just the sauce had too much liquid for the crust to handle.
(5)Tom M.
First time to STL and they were referred by the hotel. I walked over after a long drive to get to STL and was pleasantly surprised. The salad and dressing was worthy of a "refill" and the seafood risotto was delicious. I bit salty but still very good. The service was attentive and friendly. I have bookmarked here for my next visit.
(4)Anthony D.
It is what it is, and if you're not expecting too much you won't be disappointed. Let me start with the good: the service here is great, I love the ambiance with all the sports memorabilia on the walls, and the down-home feel is terrific. If that's all you're looking for in a meal, you'll leave here happy. You might leave here happy anyway. I just can't get over the fact that it's not particularly good food. I've been here 3-4 times over the years, mostly for work dinners that require me to be in attendance. I've sampled plenty of different things on the menu, and have come away disappointed with everything that doesn't end in "oasted ravioli." The common theme seems to be too much sauce, too much cheese (and believe me, it takes a lot for me to say "too much cheese" in any context), too much garlic, too much SOMETHING. None of these dishes have any balance. And I expect more from a place that's considered at least somewhat iconic -- a place that, in all honesty, I really WANT to like. Listen, this review seems a little harsher than I wanted it to be, because I HAVE had good experiences there. But I haven't had anything resembling a great meal, and for me that makes all the difference.
(2)Doug L.
Service mediocre. Ignored for a bit. Got the sampler appetizer and it had little flavor. All about the same. Got the seafood pasta. None of it tasted particularly fresh. Maybe pre made. If I come back I'd try somewhere else first
(2)Paul H.
I just stumbled on this place through Yelp because it was within walking distance of the hotel and it sounded pretty good. Glad we did! f you're looking for good Italian food in a relaxed, friendly restaurant / bar with a neighborhood feel, this is it. Old locals blend with first time tourists in a casual old school environment. The original owner hangs out and talks to his friends. Our waitress, who had probably been there 20 years, was very friendly. There's a huge wall of all the celebrities, sports stars and leaders who have dined there. I recommend this place for a nice, relaxed dinner in downtown St. Louis.
(5)John A.
The food is okay, but has the potential to be a lot better. The beer is unusually expensive considering other establishments downtown.
(2)Fran M.
I was here about 15 years ago, and I was super excited to come back...and I was just a little disappointed. My memories of this place were so much better than the reality that greeted me. Don't get me wrong, the food was ok, the service was ok, and the feel was ok...but my memories told me it should have been so much better. The pasta dishes were swimming in sauce - like SWIMMING; the bruschetta was sadly lacking in flavor; and the room felt cramped, even though it was practically empty on that particular Thursday night. I must rave about the toasted ravioli appetizer - excellent!! It was super good and made me remember why I always "use to say" Charlie Gitto's downtown is my favorite restaurant! My advice, enjoy it for what it is - a nice spot to go to before a Cards game to experience a little Italian restaurant/sports bar. If you go with that expectation, you've got it made!
(3)John H.
My wife and I were looking for something reasonable for dinner before the Cardinals game, we licked into this place. My wife and I both ordered dinner salads that were a bit unusual in that they were mixed with artichoke hearts. They only serve a house italian for dressing, but I was not disappointed. For my entrée, I ordered the Potato Gnocchi which was served in a mixed Alfredo and Marinara sauce. I love Gnocchi and these rank up as some of the best I have had. My wife enjoyed a plate of Cheese Tortellini in Alfredo sauce. Though I thought my meal had more flavor, her dish was tasty as well. I found the wait staff to be very pleasant, friendly and attentive to the customers. If I ever find myself in St. Louis again, I will definitely be coming back
(4)Debra K.
The food was wonderful would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting St. Louis. Very hopping place service was great.
(5)Elizabeth W.
My first trip to St. Louis. Gitto's was recommended. The downtown location is quaint and welcoming as is the staff. Toasted ravioli appetizer was the best. Penne Bellini was good but not fabulous. Most of all it was a place where we could eat and visit and not feel rushed. I will come back and try other dishes if I ever return to St. Louis. Great service.
(4)Stephanie B.
Let's be honest here, I was nervous. A family friend was in from out of town and he always eats here and invited us along. After a brief glance at the reviews I was terrified as to what I had gotten myself into. It wasn't that bad. But my Italian grandmother would probably roll in her grave if she tried it. Started with the toasted ravioli and it was good, better than most of what I've had in St Louis. the calamari fritti was interesting. Regular fried calamari tossed with roasted red peppers, green olives, olive oil and garlic. But the mixture made the batter on the calamari wet and gooey. Had it been served the way it's pictured on their website it would have been much better, with everything on the side. Then onto the house salad which was very good and comes with all entrees. Main dish I had Veal Parmigiana which was cooked well and served on a bed of angel hair. Don't dare ask to sub the type of pasta though. I got a strange look and simple no. Also, they don't have a wine list, yep... an Italian restaurant without a wine list... I don't get it either. Cheesecake was good and a large portion to share. So all in all, not bad, not good, but next time our friend is in town I can make it through dinner.
(3)Courtney C.
I was on a mission to try toasted ravioli my first time to St. Louis. I wish I was able to try the location on Shaw Avenue since this location has a whole star lower than that one and the location on Olive Blvd. Water under the bridge! I came here after seeing the Gateway Arch and it was FREEZING! Our server was awesome and made tons of recommendations because he knew it was our first time. Needless to say, the toasted ravioli was awesome but I wouldn't mind if next time they added an extra marinara sauce. Next, we ordered the Caprese Salad because....we love caprese salad and couldn't help ourselves. I would this to have MUCH to salt on it and was also a little thrown off as regular vinegar was used instead of balsamic. Hey, different people do it different ways. Onto the main courses...I was between the Penne Bellini and the Gnocchi and decided to go with the Penne. I wish I tried the Gnocchi lol. The Penne Bellini has portabella mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes but it was basically swimming in oil! Would you like some pasta with that oil? Secondly, the sun dried tomatoes came out of the can or wherever they came from and just threw em' on top. For anybody who has had sun dried tomatoes, you know that the taste is extremely...strong. For the boy, he got some type of alfredo noodles with italian sausage. The pasta was great but I found the sausage to be very eh. I didn't find anything special about it. Overall, 3.5 stars but since our server was so great I'll give it a 4. Next time, I'm really going to try aiming try one of the other locations! Also, the ambiance is great and totally feels like a family style restaurant with pictures EVERYWHERE.
(4)Robin W.
The menu posted out front looked promising. My husband ordered & the waitress asked what salad he would like. I ordered & she asked the same question. When we received our bill, we were charged $6 for my salad! The waitress made it sound as though my salad was included. It was iceberg lettuce with half of an artichoke heart; no where near worth $6. I ordered the house Chianti & it was undrinkable so I asked for a cabernet instead. I was charged for both even though I sent the chianti back. Our waitress disappeared for quite some time. The food was just OK. Our bill came to $63; definitely not worth it. When we asked about the salad when we were paying, the person at the cash register said that she was only the hostess so she could't do anything. I highly recommend that you find a better Italian restaurant in St. Louis.
(1)Jim O.
Service was terrible. Food was something out of a can. Nothing was fresh. Not worth the time or money.
(2)John D.
Great atmosphere! Good food. Try the garlic cheese bread for an app, and the baked ziti with the mixed red and cream sauce. Both were great! The portions are large, so don't be afraid to share, especially if you're getting apps or dessert.
(5)Lisa C.
We had family friends from NYC in town and decides to take them here. It was also one of the few restaurants on the hill that was open on a Sunday. The atmosphere was nice and the food was pretty good. The men loved the oysters and the manicotti was deliciousness. The server however upset myself and the other lady with me. He was very condescending to us not to the men but to us. He made remarks that left us both feel irritated, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our evening.
(4)Andrew C.
If you're in a hurry, hungry, or thirsty, this place is NOT for you. And by in a hurry, I mean finish lunch up in 45 minutes or less. Atmosphere: The atmosphere is nicely decorated and is well air-conditioned...dim lighting with a few big screen tv's Food: This is where it begins to fail. I had gotten the italian sausage sandwich, which was a pretty hearty portion. However, fries came out soggy and a bit cold and the marinara on the sandwich had been soaked through. Service: This is where it failed. Empty glasses much of the time and received 1 refill in the hour that we were sitting there. Each of the entrees took ~25-30minutes to come out after ordering. I understand busy restaurants with slower than average service, but this one seemed a bit much for such a "simple" order. The food wasn't worth the wait...prices were between $7.99 and $8.99 for each lunch entree. Based on my experience here, this place will not get another visit from myself or any of my coworkers.
(2)Ally D.
Wow. Do people in St. Louis know what good food is? Terrible food, terrible service. I've been here twice - fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The calamari was bland... the Fettuccine Alfredo looked like it had been sitting under a heating lamp for 20 minutes. Paid $4.00 to add shrimp and only got three pieces. They were, however, nice enough to throw in a random hair. Never. Again.
(1)Leslie S.
Don't ever go here when there is a Cardinals or Rams game going on. You will have a very long wait. Otherwise, this is one of my favorite Italian places for Italian basic menu choices. Good salad, good bread. I have had the spaghetti and meatballs (lunch) and the beef-filled tortellini with peas, mushrooms, and prosciutto (dinner). Both were awesome, and I look forward to going back here to eat again! Service was ok, and speed of service was pretty good --- again never before a game.
(4)Rick S.
The atmosphere is friendly and inviting. Good service too! The food is OK. I was going to have the Lasagna special but since everyone else was having that I went with the meatloaf special. Served with mashed potatoes it was good and wholesome. I also had the homemade cream of chicken soup good but WAY too much salt! This place has been around forever and is a good hang with friends.
(3)Jeannette S.
So I'm not Italian and I really enjoyed the food here. We had salad and the calamari fritti - both were very good. I can see where some may not like their red sauce but I thought it was very good. The chicken parmigiana was not the best that I have ever had but it was good and I would order it again.
(4)lovesmyanimals l.
Why oh Why do I keep punishing myself by eating here.... I keep thinking, oh it will get better next time. Sadly, mistaken. My last experience, well was and is the last time I go here. Seating: I asked for non-smoking, i was seated in smoking, then re-seated in smoking and then 3rd time around within 5 minutes seated in non-smoking. Cleanliness: Non-existent I think. Where is the health department? Dirty, dirty, dirty. Yes I know this place has been here forever, but shame on the restaurant for seating people in filth. Dirty tables, eating utensils, floors, ick. Service: The most positive thing I can say about this place is the food service, not the hostess. The servers have always been helpful and quick... Food: Watered down pasta sauces, toasted ravioli not great... All in all over the past few years the food quality has gone down... If you want the good Gitto's go to the hill. If you come here, don't have high expectations. Good for a beer before the game and that is about is good as it gets.
(1)Mick C.
In search of toasted ravioli, my wife and I stoppped by for lunch one day. At first, we were seated in the smoking section and so asked to move to the non-smoking room. We ordered the fried calamari, which was topped with onions and peppers. The coating was pretty bland and, without an accompanying sauce, extremely dry. We asked for a side of marinara sauce to add some flavor. The caesar salad was pretty good (lots of dressing included) and the toasted raviolis were very nice. Overall - you can certainly do better.
(2)Brad B.
I went the weekend of the Mo ILL game it was very busy. We had no reservation but they got us in. It was hard to get a drink as we waited for a table but we did get a table in about 30 min. The serves was slow but the food was pretty good. I will give it another chance when they are not starting out in the weeds.
(3)Keeli S.
A wonderful Italian landmark! Excellent food and waitstaff! I've been a huge fan for many years!
(5)Suze R.
We were searching for an Italian place on a recent visit to St Louis, read many positive reviews so we chose Charlie Gitto's. We should have went with our gut feeling upon walking in, but stupidly we decided to stay. The atmosphere is very casual and rather dingy. We ordered an appetizer of garlic bread thinking it would be pretty safe-well the bread was lousy, cut super thick and loaded with some disgusting melted cheese the locals call provel. Let me tell you it is gross and there is nothing Italian about it. It tastes and looks like imitation cheese. Our waitress suggested their special house salad, AWFUL! It was drenched in Italian dressing, I mean, it was so soggy the lettuce had absolutely no crunch left in it. Our entrees came, I had the tortellini with prosciutto, mushrooms and peas in a cream sauce. Sound good right? WRONG! Well my dish must have been plated and left sitting there because when it arrived it had formed a skin on top of the sauce it was swimming in. My friend ordered lasagna, the sauce was likely out of a jar, YUCK. Apparently his place has been around for years, a real head scratcher?!? If you want fresh, real authentic Italian food you won't find it here. Big disappointment.
(1)Joe M.
Bad service and bad food. Went before the Rams game yesterday. Though there were only about a dozen customers and at least that many waitstaff, after 10 minutes I finally stopped the bus girl and asked her for help so we could get waited on. No one even offered us water. The house salad, which I thought came with the meal (it does not, and it's $5.00) was very watered down, like they rinsed the lettuce and did not drain off the water. The bruschetta was served on what reminded me of Melba toast with very little toppings, that broke apart as soon as you took a bite, also very bland. Also had the crab cakes, nothing special here either. Their signature dish of baked lasagna was okay, but tastes like Stouffer's from the frozen section at the grocery store. For two people, my bill of $71 plus tip came to $85. NOT worth it. I will not go back and will tell friends of my experience. I am usually not this critical, but the experience ruined my football Sunday downtown with friends. But at least the Rams won.
(1)Derek W.
I went to this establishment in downtown St. Louis 90 minutes before a Cardinals game. It has a classic downrtown wooden bar Atmostphere with a dinning room towards the rear of the building. There are plenty of signed autographs of celebrities on the wall that help lend Charlies much needed credibility. I went three others and we ordered their house salad and three different meals. The house salads came tossed in Italian dressing. The dressing wasn't remarkable but the iceberg was wilted as if it had been tossed for quite some time. The red sauce on the spaghetti were zesty and tasty. Their baked penne was extremely sweet and very rich. Probably done with almost all heavy cream and sugar? The portions of Charlie's were enormous. One large dish of pasta could probably feed four people easily. Our waitress was extremely friendly checking back often and the food was presented at comfortable pace. I will say that the bar staff was extremely rude. Being that this is a family place there were several small children there. A father was having difficulty getting the stroller out the door and the bartender shouted across the room "close the f-ing door". I am sure that we was concerned about the hot air getting in, but still rude. Overall if you are looking for large portions of average Italian food Charlies could be your place
(2)Jeanie S.
Our server here was awesome. The old girl had definitely been around the block a few times, and possessed the self-assurance and casual familiarity of someone who knows the food service biz like the back of her hand. This place has no pretensions (kind of like our server). It's well-worn and comfortable. Best of all, it was open late on a Monday night when we were tired & hungry. Our appetizer of Portabella Mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat was delicious. We split this dish and my "I don't care for seafood" dining partner took more than his 1/2 share (and would have taken more had I not been armed with a sharp fork and quick reflexes), it was that good. The spinach salad was huge and delicately dressed. Our only letdown was the Pasta Messina (sauteed shrimp, chicken, red pepper, and portabella mushrooms in marinara sauce), which was quite bland. All in all, we had a filling, late night dinner at a reasonable price at Charlie Gittos. I wanted to try the Spumoni, but I was too full. Man, I love Spumoni.
(3)Tommy E.
Casual Italian dinning. Red and white checked table cloths, inexpensive chianti. Don't expect this to be the other one. The other C. Gittos is very posh and over on the Hill. This one is right downtown. Casual relaxed Italian food for dinner. The staff are so nice. Just go, sit amongst the tourists, and enjoy a big 'ol plate of pasta. Loved the garlic bread, you get lots. No idea why it's rated like this, maybe people are expecting too much. It's a nice, fun, tasty, Italian cafe.
(4)Maggie F.
I was about to settle for breakfast as lunch when this charming little place caught my eye! I can describe the decor, atmosphere & service with one word. Warm :) I would have included the food in there but that was steaming hot, lol! It was also delicious. Not your run of the mill fake Italian food here. I was completely satisfied with my entire experience.
(4)Jessica H.
Love their crab cakes. All their dishes are great and they are most accommodating. If you are a picky eater and nothing on the menu suits you they will make almost anything for you.
(5)Chris K.
This place is just plain awesome. Literally I have not found anything here yet that I didn't think was absolutely delicious. The bread was fresh italian bread done right. The fresh parmesan, the Cesar salad, the Manicotti, the Lasagna, the Cannoli, the hot wings, the Clam chowder, and the Linguini with clams. I must say the red sauce has a touch of sweetness, which some people may not like, but I do. I even got gluten free Chicken Alfredo that was awesome! I like the fact this place is more casual and comfortable than the other locations, and it has lots of unique memorabilia. It is not rare to see Tony himself inside the restaurant. I am impressed. This is THE place to go downtown for pasta if you ask me, and ive lived here in St.L my whole life. I am conflicted going here. So many new things I have yet to try, but I love the stuff ive already tried so much Its hard for me to deviate. The bathrooms are A HIKE, and parking isnt free, but WOW is it worth it.
(5)Scott J.
Went here for lunch. There were 4 of us. Everyone agreed it was very average at best. The house salad was good. The entrees lacked flavor. Service was decent, but a little slow for a weekday lunch.
(2)Brian N.
This is a solid 3 star. We got takeout, bolognese, caprese salad, and dinner salad. All were solid for your typical american italian restaurant.
(3)Matt S.
Gitto's is one of my favorite places in the city, because it doesnt try to be something it's not. Gitto's is a casual Italian restaurant with a great sports flair in a great downtown location. Thats it guys. They aren't competing with Tony's - let alone the other family restaurant on The Hill. My advice - go simple. They do simple very well. Great angel hair pasta and great marinara sauce with either sausage or great jumbo meatballs. Great St. Louis style salads. Very good lasagna. Rigatoni and tortallini's are also really good. Roast beef sandwhiches, meatball sandwhich and salcissa sandwich are great. Beer is cold, cheap wine by the glass. I hear a lot of people here say that the staff is not friendly to them.......well thats probably because you look or are acting like a jagoff. Staff goes out of their way to be incredibly friendly to me everytime I come in. I've had some great history here. My Dad took me here when I was 9 or 10 years old and had some bad medical news. He told me he had a great place that would cheer me up. It did, we ran into Tommy Lasorda, who along with Mr. Gitto spoke with us for 10 minutes and then gave us tickets to the Dodgers/Cardinals game that night. Since i have worked downtown (2003) I have taken tons of clients and friends in here for lunch or before Cardinals games and have had nothing but great times. In 2009, while trying to entertain a huge group of people that flo in from all over the country for Melissa and I's wedding, we chose Gitto's for our Rehersal dinner venue. We had the entire upstairs - one room for drinks and the other for dinner. It was unbelievable. Keep doing what you're doing guys - I'll keep bringing everyone from my 8 year old son, to my best client into your place.
(4)Todd K.
Went here for business dinner on a Monday night with 9 colleagues as our office is across the street. Very busy for a Monday.= good food. Been here many times for lunch, with fairly consistent service and food. Ordered the St. Louis standard toasted ravioli for the table and they brought out three heaping plates of food with sauce to dip. Very good and meaty. Ordered the chicken parm and was very satisfied. Huge chicken breast over dry pasta. House salad is awesome--maybe the best salad I've ever had. Could make a meal of the salad and the toasted ravioli. Chicken was good and well prepared, but pasta was lacking sauce. Ordered extra sauce with waitress, which was delivered very quickly, and all was good. Would go here again. Colleague next to me had osso buco with risotto and he was very happy with his selection. Very friendly and homey feel. Try it if you are in the area.
(4)Timothy G.
Ugh. I'm Italian and this is just horrible. All the sauces taste like they poured a cup of sugar in each serving. Maybe hitting here at lunch and getting a sandwich makes sense, but an entree at dinner, no. Don't do it. If you're from out of town for a Cardinals game, go to the stadium and keep on walking south until you see Broadway Oyster Bar. Or if that's too far, hit Jimmy John's.
(1)Erica Lee A.
This place is wonderful and the food is fantastic! :) Just a nice, cozy, little Italian resturant. Had ravoli last night and i was soo stuffed i couldnt eat their delicious sounding dessert. But beware of their prices for the foods! It is NOT cheap.
(4)Chad F.
You won't be disappointed but also not likely to rave about. Veal parmegan was just warm enough to not return. Just fine but not as good as can make at home. Veal artichoke special was fine but unremarkable. Reasonable prices. Ok service... As with food nothing bad but not great i.e. never refilled water until meal was done.
(3)