L'Antiquario — Restaurant in Naples

These were definitely the best drinks we had in Naples, but if you come here expecting a Top 50 Bar experience, you may be disappointed.

Very slow service. After we were seated, it took around 20 minutes before anyone took our order, so by the time we got our first round we had already been in the bar for 30 minutes. It also took us around 25 minutes to get the check after we finished our last round. Around half the time we were at the bar we did not have any drinks.

One of the best parts of a good cocktail bar is watching the bartenders work. They have impressive grace of movement and work flow management, and turn bartending into an art. At this bar, I watched a bartender fumble around for several minutes looking for lemon juice, and also noticed that different bartenders made the same drink using different techniques - not a big deal, but for a Top 50 Bar I would expect some consistency.

There was a complete lack of interaction from the bartenders. I assumed at first this may be due to a language barrier, which would make perfect sense, but they also didn't talk to anyone else at the bar. Also, even though we were seated at the bar, a server came around behind us to take our order - maybe the bartenders were too busy looking for ingredients.

With all those issues, the drinks themselves were also a mixed bag. The Pisco Punch and Triple Negroni were excellent, but everything else was medicore at best. The Ramos Gin Fizz was completely over diluted with soda water, and we had another drink I can also describe as a mezcal old fashioned with lime juice, for some reason.

These are not major issues for a typical bar, but for a place that is supposed to be a Top 50 Bar, it just becomes disappointing. In a typical city known for cocktail bars, like NYC, this would be an average spot, and an order of magnitude off from other...

Simply lovely. I visited Antiquario during the last week of a month dedicated to a collaboration with a Cuban Rum (Eminente), so the whole place was in a Cuban mood, which was really nice. I tried cocktails from this special rum menu list, from their classic signatures and also, later on, a couple of cocktails from a special guest from Singapore. Personally, my favourite one was a special version of the Pisco Punch, but all of them were simply lovely. The only cocktail which I did not enjoy fully was a non-alcoholic drink (From their signature menu, which I honestly forgot the name), but I believe this is also because in Italy the not alcoholic culture is just starting, compared to other places where it's more developed. While sitting at the counter, the chat with Domenico was nice, other clients were friendly and the atmosphere was really nice. I believe I stayed there for 4 hours and the time flew by. Next to the cocktails they serve water, taralli and olives. Just because here we are talking about a place which is definitely recommended and aim to perfection, my last personal improvement point is related to how the perfume food spray is used on top of cocktails. I love it, I think the smell adds an amazing note to what you are drinking, but when you have customers sitting at the counter I think it would be nice to be sure to not spray something that should be on the cocktail you are preparing also on different customer's cocktail. I've seen this little mistake done by both bartenders and on multiple times, but again this is something very little and minor that you notice when everything else is perfect. I hope to be back here soon. Thank you again for the...

According to the white jacket clad bartenders inside this is not a "speakeasy," however the jazz-era soundtrack, discreetly labled door and interior lighting and decor all say otherwise. The bartenders we spoke to (and I did insist on speaking in Italian, over their polite attempts at English for tourists), told us that the Antiquario theme was a bit more like a pharmacy where people in Naples once went for the hard stuff. When I compared this to New Orleans they acknoledged the history but denied a connection. At no point was alchol forbidden in Italy in the manner that we puritanical Americans once did, and with a new wellness-based abstemiousness on the rise, a need for expert bartending is more important than ever. We tried all of their signature cocktails (don't worry there were just four): A Moroccan Tea that was a delight; a carousel of Negroni shots that was less that pleasing to Manan, but perfectly nice for me, where various local wine+vermouth combinations varied the standard Negroni format; a lemon-based gin gimlet served in a plastic lemon (with an extra side of kitsch), which Manan found guzzlable; and finally a somewhat disappointing banana flavored Ramos Gin Fizz (disappointing for the banana flavor mostly and a lackluster consistency under an impressive foam float. There you go, all the drinks in...