Cafe Napoli — Restaurant in Clayton

This was one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life (in this price category). I am not usually this nitpicky but when I spend ~30 per entree I expect good service. For background I came in at 9:00pm on a Saturday with a party of 7.

The first salt shaker was not working. When I checked under the lid there was toxic blue gunk clogging the holes. I showed an apathetic waiter the problem and he got me a "new" one. The new one had a cracked lid and would get salt all over the table with each use. At the end of the night when I showed Tim he joked "oh you broke it?"

2 of the wine glasses at our table for 7 were dirty. The first comment I overheard back to the kitchen was "the guests said the glasses were dirty." The proper comment would be "these glasses are dirty". I have polished dishes before and I would get chewed out for a mistake like this. Waiters showed apathy like it happens everyday.

The menu I received was full of breadcrumbs which I had to wipe off.

I asked the wine guy to stop pouring me wine since I was done. He continually poured wine and I ended up with more wine than I started with. I ended up having to give the rest of my glass of wine to my friends. It would have been nice if they could've kept the rest in the bottle for my friends so we didn't have to share glasses.

Bread basket was empty for 30 min after being told they were getting another. Only given two bread baskets total for the night. The second bread basket had bread that was not properly sliced so we all had our fingers digging in to separate it. The reason we needed the second bread basket was because the food took about an hour. Olive garden wins in this category.

Friend ordered a veal dish and he received the chicken version.

Waiter Tim took the checks from the table while we were still there and very obviously counted his tips a few feet away from us. I'm sure many of you reading this understand this is a no-no in the restaurant business. Especially for this price range.

The food was nothing special and can be easily recreated at home. Not what I go to a restaurant for (other than convenience). The side for my $27 dinner appeared to be unseasoned baked broccoli.

We were interrupted from eating and asked 3 times in the span of 2 minutes how our food was. Waiter made snarky comments like "this table got very quiet" after we started digging into our food. Perhaps because we were hungry from waiting an hour for our food.

I tried one of my friend's clams and there was a rock in it. Almost damaged my tooth.

They ran out of check presenters. Never seen that happen before.

Summary: Very innatentive and apathetic waiters. This restaurant needs to have less seats so they can focus on the customer more. The waitstaff have no pride in their work and this restaurant only exists due to the location, patio, and bar. They have quite a pretentious menu for the...

I had higher expectations that just weren’t met. Our group had been planning to go to Cafe Napoli for some time and finally got all 12 people together with a reservation. We were seated in a semi private area with two large tables one of which was for us and the other was already occupied by other patrons.

Here’s where some of the problems began. For a table of twelve we were given one drink menu (All be it on an iPad but it took forever for everyone to get an opportunity to look). Then it took a while for us to even be able to order drinks because it seemed our waiter was spending a lot of time and attention on the table behind us. I understand the waiter has many tables to care for but the waiter would drop off an item and then rush away to the other table without even acknowledging anyone at our table. Finally after a while the waiter returned to take drink orders it seemed as though we were being pushed to order their version of bottle service for wine tasting. This may be a great option for some but as most of us all ordered different drinks it wasn’t something we were interested in. This wine service was mentioned 5 times before having a chance to even look at a food menu. Seemed very forced and wasn’t well received.

Almost everyone ordered appetizers. Two appetizers never showed up, we courteously waited assuming maybe these two took longer. Once everyone finished there apps we asked about the two missing appetizers. This was handled expediently and they were brought out relatively quickly, but was still frustrating that these were forgotten and two members of the group had to hurry to eat theres before the food arrived while no one else was eating there appetizers.

The food arrived in good time and we had delicious meals amongst us! Drinks were refilled in decent timing as would be expected.

Once the time came to pay we were informed that the waiter would not be able to split the checks amongst 12 people as it was just too difficult. Unfortunately this was never discussed with anyone at the table and was a shock to most of us there. If you allow a large reservation this information should be given to guests before arrival to make sure that everyone can be made aware. Ultimately the check was broken down after several people complained about the issue.

So overall the food and drinks were very good but the service and attention was lacking. Not sure we will return...

Update: So none of the below ever happened from the review from the owner. I don’t have a violent bone in my body and said bartender has a history of having erratic behavior towards customers. I have plenty of receipts from people who know her. It’s their way of saving face and not taking accountability instead they will make up a lie to protect her. I never threw a receipt at anyone but what she did do is get in my face several times and also left from behind the bar to taunt me numerous of times. If you’re going to comment please comment with facts and not lies. Plenty of people know how you guys roll. It’s laughable at this point. Everyone who knows me and my reputation have said you all are full of it lol! Also the bar side has turned so ghetto on the weekends. Use to be a classy spot but they are running it to the ground with the ghetto vibes and bottle service and letting bartenders harass and assault people but then lie and try to flip it on me. I have several witnesses who saw this girl and what she did that night. As the owner you NEVER tried to contact me to speak with me which shows how unprofessional you are.

Disappointed After 10+ Years of Loyalty

I’ve been a loyal customer of Bar Napoli for over a decade with no issues—until my experience in March completely changed that. A bartender named Alyssa became irate and unprofessional behind the bar for no apparent reason, creating an uncomfortable and embarrassing scene. I calmly explained the situation to the bar manager, Nic, who initially appeared to take it seriously—he even implied she had been let go due to her behavior.

To my surprise, I returned the following week only to see Alyssa back behind the bar. Another manager, John, later informed me that she had been brought back under strict conditions due to previous incidents. Despite all this, I somehow ended up being banned from the establishment—based on what I can only assume were false claims made to cover up her inappropriate behavior.

This was not only unfair but completely unprofessional. It’s disappointing and hurtful to be treated this way after supporting a business for so many years. Bar Napoli used to be a place I felt welcome, but sadly, that trust has...