Cafe Napoli — Restaurant in Hockessin, Delaware

UPDATED REVIEW:

I strive to provide fair and balanced reviews, acknowledging the positive aspects of an establishment while offering constructive feedback on areas of concern. After dining at this restaurant, I feel compelled to share my experience, as I and a friend became severely ill about 1 hour after consuming the Chicken Piccata.

Unfortunately, I was unable to address my concerns during the dining experience itself, as the illness did not start until after I had left the restaurant. It appears that the issue could have been prevented with improved food handling and cleanliness practices in the kitchen. Both myself and a friend experienced symptoms of food poisoning, including vomiting and diarrhea, shortly after consuming the chicken.

While this restaurant has not received reports of similar incidents in the past few days, several reviews from recent months do mention becoming ill after dining here. I became sick on December 20th, and, unfortunately, I had to deal with this food poisoning throughout my sister's wedding and Christmas. Due to the severity of my symptoms and the hustle and bustle of the wedding/holiday, I was unable to write this review sooner.

Rather than dismissing or minimizing customer feedback—particularly from those who have experienced similar issues—I would encourage this restaurant to assess the freshness and handling of its food, particularly the chicken, to ensure food safety and prevent future incidents.

Everyone has the right to share their experience, and based on mine, I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Became violently ill after eating at this establishment. Would...

My wife and I were in the area and we wanted to pick up dinner from a place we’ve never been. She wanted Italian, and so we stumbled upon Cafe Napoli, saw the 4.5 star rating, and figured we’d give it a shot. Google never failed us before. Until now.

We ordered pasta; spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs, fettuccini Alfredo with grilled chicken, and a Caesar salad. On the trip back to the car with the goods, there was a considerable heft to the bag, in typical Italian fashion, the portions were huge, but I wish they weren’t.

The food looked good when we got home, was still hot and fresh, but that’s really where the goodness stopped.

The fettuccini Alfredo, besides having a substantial amount of sauce, was dry. It lacked seasoning, cheesiness, and was just simply subpar. The chicken at first was impressive, it was nicely grilled, there was a lot of it but, it too was dry, overcooked and under seasoned.

The spaghetti and meat sauce was decent however, the meatballs left a little to be desired. They appeared to be homemade based on their appearance but, they did lack flavor. They also fell apart quite easily, I generally expect a bit more structure to my balls.

Last but not least, we come to the Caesar salad. The salad itself, sans dressing, seemed fresh. Unfortunately it was just chopped romaine and croutons. No Parmesan and no seasoning. The dressing, which we can only assume is some kind of Caesar, was awful. It wasn’t creamy, it tasted cheesy, and was just weird.

Simply put, I’m not sure why Cafe Napoli has 4.5 stars. There’s nothing worse than wasting money and calories on bad food.

Maybe their...

I have loved this restaurant for over 20 years, but something has gone horribly wrong. During my last visit, both the dining experience and the food were a nightmare. My wife and I intended to dine in, but we decided to take our food home due to the overwhelming odor coming from the mopping that was taking place 6 feet from us. The staff was friendly and apoligized, but the issues continued once we returned home. My meal was good, but my wife's pasta meal was actually soupy...so soupy that it had to be strained before eating. It was almost like it had been watered down. The following day, my wife felt horrible and delt with vomiting and diarrhea. While we can't be 100% certain that this was related to the meal, it seems awfully coincidental. It pains me to say it, but I would no longer recommend this reastaurant. I can say for sure that this is the last time we will visit or order anything.

Reply to Owner

Hello,

My name is Bob, not Dan. This sadly underscores my review in that you couldn't even take the time to ensure you were using the correct name when replying to a long-time customer. Also, we did bring issues up directly to the staff...we were clear why we needed to take our meal home. That's why we were given a generic apology on the way out. Lastly, there is really no need for me to call. Good service should not have to be "requested" - it is shown with actions, not words. We would also not be interested in ever eating again at a place that appears to have given my wife food poisoning, thus, we would not be interested in any type of discounted or...