Napoli By the Lake — Restaurant in Gretna

A mixed bag of both good, and just okay for this first visit review of this lakeside eatery. We made reservations for Sunday of a holiday weekend. They were very accommodating of our requested time. The weather was frankly horrible to truly enjoy the lake views, but most tables are window tables, and the restaurant has a modern and casual atmosphere. Our waitress was very friendly, but after a nearby table was visited by a separate waiter, we noticed she never gave us the lengthy list of specials that night, offered us bread, or even brought water to drink. We both had cocktails, which were very unique and tasty. Our initial two choices for an appetizer were both sold out. We were then offered a flatbread offering, which we later found out was on the special menu for the evening. It was both tasty and filling. I had the Sea Bass and my wife had the Ribeye for our dinner choices. My fish was very good, although never before having beurre noisette as part of my dish, the amount of butter resting in the bottom was a little off putting to me personally. I can't say it hurt the flavor, but a quarter inch of oil surrounding my entire meal felt a little rough on my arteries. The Sea Bass rested on mashed potatoes with an added shredded vegetable medley. I can't say I would order it again, but if you're okay with the beurre noisette pairing, I think the flavors are certainly something you will enjoy. My wife ordered her steak medium rare, and it was definitely a medium at best. It also lacked the marbling of a true Ribeye. It wasn't horrible, but a little of a disappointment for her expectations. All in all our experiences rate another visit to this quaint little lakeside restaurant. If you're not offered the specials of the night, definitely ask, as some sounded quite delicious. Not an economical place to eat, but with a few tweaks here and there, I think the experience...

This restaurant is quite a mixed bag!

Long review, tl;dr for other customers: The food is good, though I would say overpriced. FANTASTIC service. So so so loud and noisy in both indoor seating areas. Didn't see a drink menu posted online so I took pictures of what they have summer 2025.

The big stand out positive was the service. Our server Angela was incredible, she was so attentive and kind. The food was cooked to perfection, even the prep was noticeably high quality: my asparagus was trimmed perfectly to cut off the woody ends of each stalk rather than just trimming the whole bunch uniformly. The attention to detail and attention in general we experienced at this restaurant was second to none.

However, the level of thoughtfulness and attention brought to the work by the staff is matched inversely by the apparent lack of thought put into the functional interior design. It is SO. LOUD. in both the dining room and the bar area. Maybe this isn't an every day occurrence, but I was stunned that so many reviews said this was a good place for anniversary dinners - my party of 4 could not hear each other speak without leaning and this was on a random Thursday night!Had I known about this issue, I would have reserved a table on the patio just to avoid the literal headache my mother got. I recommend that the business owner invest in some baffling or noise reducing foam/tiles.

Also for the business owner: why does the door in between the bar area and the dining room open in only one direction? Why why WHY has this not been replaced by a door that swings both ways, like every other restaurant has?? I saw so many servers juggling 5-6 plates or a tray of drinks and having to balance everything to pull the door open with their pinky finger. That's insane and really unnecessarily difficult. Please make everyone's lives a lot easier, and either replace the door or...

We took out an order of wings with mild buffalo sauce and an order of chicken tenders. The chicken tenders came with a side and we opted for mashed potatoes ($2.00 charge) and I ordered a side of rice ($2.00 charge). We also asked for a side of bleu cheese dressing which, along with celery, was an option with the wings. We asked for two sides of ranch dressing for the chicken tenders.

We were told it would be ready in about 20 minutes. It actually took 30 minutes which wasn't that big of a deal.

The chicken tenders were pretty good. Not great, but good enough. The mashed potatoes were actually whipped and heavily buttered potatoes. They appeared to be whipped with a mixer and were the consistency of pudding. Not very appealing.

The wings were interesting. They had been rolled in mild buffalo sauce and appeared to be then air fried which completely dried the skin and minimized any flavor. I'm used to wings being fried and then rolled in the sauce where the wings are actually wet in sauce. These wings had no sauce on them other than what had been fried into the skin. Disappointing. The side of wild rice that I paid for came in a smaller container that was only half full. That was just cheap. Fill the container to the top. It's rice. The bleu cheese dressing was tasty, but they did not include the celery. We only received one of the two ranch dressings we ordered and the ranch dressing was watery. It was the thinnest ranch dressing I've ever seen. It's as if they added water to the base dressing. Not appetizing and not flavorful.

These two appetizers along with the upcharges for the sides and dressings plus tax came to a little over $41.00.

I really wanted to like this place, but it was mediocre at best for the...