Frank Papa's Ristorante — Restaurant in Brentwood

Papa, can. you hear me? We have been going to Papa's for over a decade (this has been one of our son's favorite place - he is half French and a gourmet, even as a little kid- and he even wrote an essay about it for school). This is not a cheap restaurant for St Louis, not at all. Well, I am not sure what happened but tonight was dismal in several ways: the host almost ran me over instead of letting me go first (I am a woman); his explanation was that I didn't know where the table would be. The host is supposed to usher the diners from the back of the party, then the waiter is supposed to take over from that point on, just in time to pull the chair out for the lady. If for some reason, there is only a host and no waiter waiting, the individual is still not supposed to step in front of the diners, but point them in the right direction, take a slightly alternate route at a brisk pace, in time to get to the table first to show which one it is, again to pull the chair for the lady. Yes, I am French, but I have been in the U.S. for a very long time and in plenty of very nice places, and this is the standard I remember. Even if one disagrees, perhaps we can agree on the fact that the host is not supposed to trample guests. This was just the beginning. Then came a charming young man still in training, as introduced by his"mentor", some older guy with ridiculous spiked hair (the 80s called and want it back). Not the style of a nice restaurant, but the worst part is that he was a complete jerk to the nice younger guy, who looked much better, btw. I mean, the mentor could barely contain his eye rolls, taking over, correcting, and of course it made the student nervous and it is no way to teach. BTW, restaurants: you don't have to announce that someone is in training, especially if it is a tag team, it is not like they are a trainee who will do brain surgery on you. Despite the supposedly higher standard of the more experienced waiter, the salad was soggy and overdressed, my fish was half raw (a safety concern, in addition to a culinary one) and my second martini (well earned, I must say) was prepared wrong. The food was mediocre at best. I mean, what the heck happened? I still remember when they put really big stuffed animals every other table during COVID to indicate the need for spacing and make it interesting, especially for families with kids. My son loved it. And the food was really, really good. Papa must be rolling...

Hosted my husbands 50th birthday here. Overall 2 stars. Summary below:

Pros Bussing service. The kids had great manners and refilled waters timely. Sufficient parking (if that matters) Server was nice (but slow) offers a complimentary dessert for birthday guy

Considerations for improvement Lacked attention to details. Example - Had to track down service for the basics: salt, pepper, parmesan, refills, etc We ordered appetizers (ravioli and calamari) While it was a nice gesture to divide and plate separately before bringing out - it was not requested. Many of the guests at the table did not want calamari (and one actually is allergic - so plating her ravioli with the calamari resulted in her not getting any appetizers) This also resulted in other touching and trading around the table with others who did want it. Again, attention to detail missed. Service was slow. Ordered initial drinks and only received 1 refill on drinks, and took a great length of time to get (to the point our party was wondering if our order got lost) Could never get in time any further cocktail drinks. Decor is very dated and lacks a clean theme. Could benefit from being refreshed (including lightening system) Food: Overall sentiments from the party, food was bland. Salad was watery and the entrees missed any opportunity to take advantage of capitalizing on lemons, garlic, and simple seasonings like salt/pepper.

Recap: Food and Ambiance “on the Hill” is more authentic for spending...

Better than the hill! They have a rotating menu of specials (usually 3 a month or something) so there is always something new to try, plus old favorites to fall back on. Great atmosphere, servers are longtime professionals, and every single darn thing I've tried is amazing. Entrees run about $20-$35 for most items. Extensive drink menu, but even the house wines were great.

They handle groups of 8 with no problems. I suggest making a reservation since they get busy. Dessert menu is amazing, I highly recommend the chocolate ravioli. Schedule about 2 hours for this if you include drinks and dessert. Maybe a bit more if you have a large group. The meal has good pacing, but be sure to set aside enough time to enjoy the experience.

Some things to know: while I have attended with a small child, it's really not a family friendly Italian place. There's no kids menu, it's a high end Italian place to go for an exceptional event like an anniversary.

They have some items marked as "market price" on the menu. Market price changes a lot and can be significantly more than the similar items around it, so ask before ordering or avoid them. We ended up with something costing $53 which was quite a surprise but still delicious.

Finally I want to mention their last cute little tradition. They have some kind of extra spicy pasta dish for pregnant women which they joke is used to induce labor. I think...