Osteria Tulia — Restaurant in Naples

I looked over the menu after my wife reserved a table for our anniversary. Judging by the menu I quickly determined that the restaurant is higher end and the pricing is much higher than somewhere like an Olive Garden.

That being said, I was expecting a high standard for the food quality and service but a little nervous that I may end up dissapointed since I have a pretty high standard.

When we arrived it quickly became obvious that I wasn’t going to be dissapointed. They were very busy but we were seated immediately with our reservation. Our server was Ezekiel (I apologize if I spelled his name wrong) he was pleasant and very attentive.

I did not see the drink I wanted but he stated that they could make common drinks that weren’t necessarily on the menu so I ordered a margarita. It was made very well.

We ordered the Caesar salad and it was one of the best I’ve had. Very tasty. It has anchovies on it but I encourage people to try it and not just write off anchovies like most people without good taste tend to do. Just cut them up with your salad though because my wife accidentally ate a whole one in one bite lol.

We also had the wood grilled octopus and we enjoyed it. Nothing very different about the dish from other places but it was really good nonetheless. If anything, I think some type of sauce to dip it in would be good.

My wife got a linguini special with clams that she devoured and I ordered the veal parmigiana off the menu. This was my first time ever having veal but figured this was the perfect place to try it. It was spectacular and I tried to eat it all but couldn’t because it was a pretty large portion.

We were going to order dessert but didn’t have to because to our surprise they brought us a full tiramisu with a candle for our anniversary on the house. It was delicious.

We definitely want to go back because there’s other things on the menu we really want to try and I really liked the level of service. The manager checked on us at one point and it was perfect timing because I requested salt and another drink.

I didn’t want to cause our server an issue by asking the manager for a drink refill but I’m pretty sure it didn’t matter because moments after he brought my drink our server walked in the proximity and I’m 95% positive I overheard the manager say to him “You’re doing a really good job.”

I’ve been a business manager in customer-service oriented businesses for years and this place knows what they’re doing.

I shared photos of the octopus, veal parmigiana and the linguini special.

We will be back. 😎

Final note: there’s a valet nearby a little further west behind the buildings on the opposite side of the street. We parked there and it was less than a 5 minute walk to the restaurant. They take card payments if you don’t have cash. Don’t make the mistake of driving down 5th street toward the restaurant as you’ll get stuck in traffic especially with all the pedestrians everywhere. Go around the back of the buildings running along the opposite...

The food, vibe, and service here are consistently very good. The Zucchini Chips are ridiculously amazing. They have explained to my wife how they are made, and it is apparently tedious. These are only available at the 5th avenue location (not Mercato) and are worth the trip.

The pizza … with the right frame of mind - if a 10 is the best pizza I’ve ever had in my entire life, this is an 8. Pretty good for SWFL. This is NOT a NY pizza or Chicago pizza, it is what it is. The ingredients are all good, the crust is actually pretty fluffy between the cheese and the bottom layer and I think it’s because they properly filter the water and use the right flour (it was a lunch break so I didn’t have time to ask). A warning to those who like a tart or tangy tasting sauce: this pizza has a sweet sauce, which I like, so it was all good to my taste.

The main plates came out @ 20 minutes later - not too bad for lunch time on 5th.

My daughter likes this type of spaghetti and meatballs, but I’m not a fan. She says it was good.

I shared the chicken pesto sandwich with my wife and it was very good. I’ve had better locally, but this was not bad in any way.

The Turkey “Panini” … ummm, WOW. I say with no exaggeration that this was the best turkey sandwich I’ve ever had. The flavors were unreal, the turkey was juicy and fresh and it wasn’t like a smashed up panini at all – thick toasted bread, but fluffy in the middle. The bacon was chopped up for a great even consistency. Again, WOW.

The service was outstanding, btw.

We didn’t order it on this trip, but my wife says the salmon here is out of this world.

Update - still great! The chicken parm sandwich is very good.

Update 2 - We visited on Mother's Day (with a reservation). The service was excellent and the food was all great - the burger was good, but the turkey remains the star of the show. The "Classico" pizza is a Neapolitan style and was better than I...

Dined on a Sunday with a friend around 12 noon based on a recommendation by a friend. Outdoor seating is available and we were unsure if the restaurant was open for lunch as there weren't any patrons seated outside.

As we entered, two waiters/hosts greeted us from the back of the restaurant with very warm smiles. We opted to sit outside and had our pick of tables. We ordered tap water and the Mista salad to share as we decided on our lunch entree.

Our waitress delivered a dish with what we learned was eggplant caponata and seconds later a young man came by to offer warm bread from his basket. The bread was excellent...crusty on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. We were each served two pieces which we topped with the caponata (a mixture of chucks of eggplant, capers, roasted tomatoes and oil - delish!)

The mista salad followed and they were nice enough to split it onto two plates. Great, light vinaigrette-like dressing, fresh greens!

Our waitress raved about their homemade pasta so we had to try the gorganelli (slow braised lamb). Again, they split it onto two dishes which made it easy to share. Excellent flavor, perfect portion of pasta. Only critique, for $19 we expected a little more lamb than the shredded pieces in the sauce. The bread waiter came by again during our entree and offered more bread which was timely so we could soak up the balance of the wonderful sauce.

We left satisfied but not over stuffed. Excellent quality and a bit pricy has we both gotten a lunch entree in addition to the salad we shared. Glad we tried it and would...