BiCE Ristorante - Naples — Restaurant in Naples

The one star is for the service and I would give it 3 stars for the food. My family actually made the comment that they feel like they were eating banquet food at best. Just ok! We had a reservation on Feb 19th at 7:45. We were seated right away because the restaurant had empty tables and quite a few empty ones around our table. 20 min later after being seated , I asked the girl who brought us initially our water if our server can come to take our drink order. She left to go get him and comes back to say in these exact words " HE IS BUSY." OK!? So we went ahead and ordered our drinks with her and asked her if she could at least put in our appetizer order in the mean time while we wait. She went ahead and did so. Half way through our appetizers I asked the same girl " Isn't it strange that we were half way through our appetizers and we still haven't had our server come to the table?" She was shocked and went to the manager to see what is happening with our table. There seemed to be an argument or a very heated discussion amongst the server that was supposed to serve our table and the manager. Prior to this , the server was walking past our table several times only taking care of 2 tables by us and never said anything to us. So now the girl who took our drink order came back to our table and said she was now going to take our food order with a poor explanation that she really didn't know what happened but that she would take our dinner order now. SO WIERD!! The restaurant was practically empty now. The manager came to the table and mumbled something in a somewhat of an explanation that the server didn't know that he was getting another table. OK!!!!???Than who was????!!! We had a reservation!!!! He didn't apologize and it just made the whole experience awful watching them argue in front of us as if they were doing us a favor!!! TERRIBLE COMMUNIATION BETWEEN THE STAFF AND SO UNPROFESSIONAL! We had gift cards for this place that we bought at Costco but forgot to use them so we went back to Costco to see if we can exchange them for another restaurant. The gentleman that was helping us at Costco wasn't shocked when we told him the story because he said that he also had a bad experience there. NEVER GOING BACK AND MAKING SURE WE TELL OUR...

Feeling extremely generous with the 2/5 star after being straight up disrespected by the Bice hostess. This evening, I had a reservation after previously speaking with a staff member on the phone (not even an app or online schedule) for 3 people. We waited about 15 minutes for our table to be set, which is quite fine, they are busy, we love to see the long-term places on 5th packed, as my family and I have been coming to Naples for years. A different hostess then leads us to a table in the back dining room, where I say, “Excuse me Miss, I’m sorry, but I think our reservation was for the front patio, is there anyway we could still sit out there?” thinking it would not be a big deal if I mentioned it, or if they had accidentally taken us to the wrong spot. She then is apologetic, taking us back to the main hostess, as the main hostess tries to explain to me that their reservations are not for “designated areas”. Confused why my initial reservation was allowed for the front patio, I agreed to wait for the next open table at 8:15, as our res was at 8. An older gentleman then walks up to the hostess, as my party and I are waiting, with a Party of 3, asking to be seated. The hostess says, “Yes, we have a side patio table open if you’d like to sit there.” Hesitant, this gentleman walked out to check out the table on the side patio, clearly have had dined at Bice before, as well. He then came back to the hostess, disagreed to that suggestion, and was right away, sat in the front patio, in front of my reservation for the party of 3, at the first, and only available table. Lucky them. I went up to the hostess inquiring about what happened and she told me, “that because I ‘rejected my original table’, I am moved to the bottom of the waitlist, including those parties who don’t have reservations.” I simply had to walk away as I was completely disrespected because I was younger than the party who walked up. Do...

A good, reliable, consistent dining choice in the heart of Olde Naples. Dishes are professionally prepared, and typically authentic and delicious.

For appetizers, the beef carpaccio, tuna tartare, and parmigiana di melanzane (eggplants) are excellent choices. Choice of pastas is great and diverse: tortellini alla chinaglia, fettuccine al pesto di pistacchio e speck, gnocchi al gorgonzola, and of course, risotto alla Milanese con ossobuco, a signature northern Italian dish!

Meats and seafood are also great choices, definitely try their veal chop alla Milanese, or the filet mignon, or fresh fish of the day, such as the branzino.

The wine list is also quite good, with various vintages from northern Italy. It is always a pleasure to see an Italian restaurant that offers more than the cliche chianti, or undrinkable Pinot grigio. Desserts are delicious.

So why not give it 5-stars? The problem with all Bice restaurants is that they are a franchise: reliable in quality, but boring in a way that the menu never changes. Ever. ...Ever.

Other restaurants have seasonal menus, dishes, or jazz things up by allowing their chefs to introduce a special dish. Bice on the other hand, is highly regimental. What you see is what you get, 365 days a year. Forever. Delicious, yes! But after a while, boring.

My last pet-peeve: A signature aspect of dining at any Bice restaurant, has always been that the waiting staff was predominantly comprised of professional, Italian waiters, and managers. From Italy.

This truly heightened the dining experience. At the Bice in Naples, the majority of the staff is Eastern European. Don't get me wrong, they are professional and courteous as expected.... But I feel like I'm dining somewhere in Belgrade, not Italy, and that's a shame. Again, just a pet peeve.

Otherwise, always a good and recommendable choice for dining right in the heart of...