V Paul's Italian Ristorante — Restaurant in Pensacola

This was my first time visiting VPauls. It is a beautiful restaurant with a beautiful ambiance. We were very excited to finally try this place for the first time. Our server was very upbeat, pleasant (Joseph) and helpful in explaining the specials, as well as, the way they prepared certain dishes. We ultimately decided to try their lentil sausage soup to try and I tried their lobster bisque. Joseph was thoughful enough to write VPauls on the bisque which made for nice touch & presentation. The cocktail menu was really attractive and their bartender made great craft cocktails. Unfortunately, we were not impressed with the food taste when we received our dinner. Although the presentation was beautiful, the taste did not match. I ordered the Salsiccia Fra Diavolo which had some really pungent tastes competing and clashing (sriracha and gorgonzola sauces- which sriracha isn't even italian). It wasn't good and a definite let down and difficult to eat. The other dish was a special that night, stuffed grouper with vegetable risotto. Unfortunately it wasn't anything that would blow you away either, there was a fried spiraled potato on top, the stuffing was a spicy breading and the garlic vegetable risotto also didn't have complimenting flavors, they clashed between the fried & creaminess of the risotto (3 starches made the dish heavy with 3 different feels in one plate). All in all, I would recommend Management go back and take a look at their recipes. They have a beautiful place, excellent staff, excellent cocktails, but their food may need some revisiting. I had been advised prior to going to not get my hopes up and some had told me not to bother to be honest, but I wanted to give VPaul's a chance and check it out for myself. I know it isn't easy to read a truthful review because unless you receive this feedback, there is no way you will know how you can improve. To be completely honest, I was going to give you 2 stars, but the service was so good, I decided to change it to 3. Joseph was the reason we did not send our food back and still enjoyed our night. He really cared about giving us a great experience from the time we arrived until the time we left and those details were appreciated. It was like he treated us like family, but in a professional manner. I really hope you take my review into consideration because I really want your establishment to succeed, there's too much competition to be missing the mark in the food part of the equation, it's way too important. Thank you for your...

So I came here for my best friend's wedding reception.We had five tables set up for us for the 40 people we had coming, and the decor was super nice and classy, but not too pompous. It was just right. The perfect porridge.

The servers were some of the nicest ones I have encountered in a catering format like that. They really turned on the charm, but they seemed really authentic about it. The lady at the open bar denied no request, and she got tipped very well for her service.

While we were all mingling and drinking and waiting, the servers brought around appetizers for us to sample. There were mozzarella sticks, which were good because they did not taste like they were from frozen. They had some meatball sliders, which were delectable. The bread was so buttery and crisp and the meatball was very moist and umami. And then the star of the show, the crab cake. So much crab in a little ball that looked like it was broiled hard to a crisp outside and a crabby inside. The only thing was there was a lot of oil on the outside of them, but that did not stop me from eating my fair share of them.

As for the buffet food, there was a salad bowl that I passed up, of course. There was a fettuccine alfredo that was good, a bowtie pasta that was even better, and both of them were lightly sauced with a really simple white or red sauce. Not too much, not too little. Again, a good porridge.

With your pastas, you got the choice of meatballs or shrimp. I saw a lot of folks getting both, though, just furthering my point that these guys had A+ customer service. I regret to say I didn't try a meatball, but the shrimp was somehow perfectly cooked. In a giant batch like that, I was expecting rubbery little circles, but no, they were perfect, and the seasoning was very Old Bay/Italian seasoning, but not harsh. Good for everyone's palate. I actually went back for seconds, and thirds.

There were some grilled vegetables and some broccolini. The vegetables were there, and the broccolini was actually very good. I wish it was more plentiful than actual broccoli in real life. It's just better.

Overall, this place rocked my socks, and if you should ever need a catering service/reception hall in the Pensacola area, I would recommend this place. I...

First off our waiter Sam was absolutely fantastic and he took the situation I’m about to write about very seriously and acted accordingly. My son ordered Chicken Parmigiana about five minutes into eating it he started grabbing the food out of his mouth with a look of complete horror. My husband and myself kept asking what was wrong but he was feeling his teeth and trying to deal with what was going on. When he was able to respond he said “mom there’s metal in my food” I grabbed the drink napkin he used and there was metal brush bristles sticking out of the chewed food!!! I immediately waved for Sam to come over and he was also mortified at seeing it apologized and said he would bring him a new dish and take this one off the bill. I wanted to leave the restaurant as soon as possible I was so upset not knowing if any of the metal he may have swallowed while he was saying he was more concerned about his teeth cause he bit down on them! There was a female manager who then brought out the new dish apologized and put the new dish out for him which he absolutely did not eat! They wrapped it up and we threw it out the first garbage can we saw after leaving. I very calmly was trying to tell her how dangerous this was and he may or may not of swallowed pieces and she agreed with me but seemed like she just wanted to disassociate herself from the conversation I was trying to have about this absolutely unacceptable situation! She told us the kitchen staff had just cleaned the grill and the metal bristles came off on the grill and they were never cleaned off. So now I guess I wait to see if he did swallow any and if we have a very major situation on our hands! Today is 10/10 and we just left about 30min ago. I really hope this situation never finds its way to anyone else who chooses...