Cunetto House of Pasta — Restaurant in St. Louis

If you’re on The Hill, Cunetto’s is a perfect choice for authentic, family-made Italian food. My friends and I had dinner there last month, and it was an EXCELLENT meal and a wonderful evening! The restaurant was started by two brothers in the back of a pharmacy and moved to its own building in the 1970s. It’s always been family-owned and operated. Like most other restaurants on The Hill, they don’t take reservations, but when we visited on a Sunday night, we did not wait more than 15 minutes for a table even though the restaurant was almost completely full. The entire staff is made up of lovely people! Nathan was our waiter and was extremely accommodating; he was friendly, efficient, and assisted us as we navigated the menu for the first time. We liked the hostess and associate server as well. We all started with the Insalada Cunetto, which was very tasty and topped with an excellent house dressing. Just be sure to ask for the dressing on the side, as they are generous with their application of it. All our meals were served in generous portions! We all had leftovers (as did most people leaving the restaurant). I had the Cannelloni Tutti de Mare, which was DELECTABLE; my friends had the Linguini Tutto Mare and the Lasagna (which was the evening’s special). I was able to sample both, and they were delicious! It’s impossible to fully describe well-made Italian food, so I won’t try. Just know that, for any lasagna, linguini, and cannelloni you might have had in the past that was wonderful, the offerings at Cunetto’s will be even BETTER! The nicest part of the evening was the pace. No one was rushing, and no one seemed to be in a hurry for us to leave. It was lovely, to linger over our shared dessert of tiramisu (which was simply FABULOUS) and savor all the flavors of our meals in truly beautiful surroundings. Again, if you’re looking for authentic, excellent Italian food with recipes that have been handed down through the generations, you’ll find your best meal at Cunetto’s. We...

It's a good thing this place has such a large number of reviews to keep the average rating above a 4 because there were a lot of reviews with a 1 rating. Our first impression was with the owner/hostess taking names...she was snotty and rude when gruffly telling us we would not be seated until our entire party was present. We obeyed her orders to move aside into the bar to wait and when she brought the pager and explained again about her seating policy, I told her I heard her the first time...at which point she said "There's no need to be rude"...I was completely floored by her lousy attitude...even if she felt my comment was rude, in my day it was inappropriate to speak to a customer in such a way. If it weren't for our family members wanting to eat there, I would have left. Perhaps she was having an off day or just in a bad mood, but I have never received such poor customer service in my life. When I asked the gentlemen at the front door about the hostess to confirm she was an owner, he didn't even look up from his podium...also rude! Only an owner could afford to treat customers like dirt. It might be time for the owners to retire if they can't muster enough pleasantness to treat customers in a hospitable manner. It's not what you say but how you say it. Luckily for my party of 9 (thank goodness it wasn't more than 10 or there would have been a bigger policy violation) the food was decent, hot, and our server Julie was a complete delight. However, I will never return...I doubt I'll be missed but if Cunneto's ever comes up in any conversation I ever have with anyone I will be sure to relay my dissatisfaction from now until the end of my days. On a side note: I noticed while we were eating the hostess is not so rigid with her seating policy if you know her...she seated a 4 top as they arrived and didn't have them wait until their entire party...

This was my first visit to Cunetto's and all of us agreed we would not be back. I ordered the Cannelloni Frutti di Mare (seafood stuffed canneloni). It came out flat with a mushy filling and the canneloni were so overcooked they fell apart. There was so much parmesean stuck to the top I had to scrape it off...and it came off it a big hard piece! It was supposed to have a cream sauce and it had none. We sent it back to have the sauce added and it came back with the "sauce"... a thick, gloppy mess! We thought it was melted mozzerella, that's how gloppy it was. The plate was "sizzlling" from sitting in the over for so long. The noodles were browned. When I told the server it was unacceptable she was so rude and said "well, that's the way it's supposed to look. I'll just tell them you didn't like it". Then she walked away with a huff. It's the first time in my entire life (I'm 60) that I've sent something back and asked for it to be removed from the bill. It was unedible at best.

My friends expensive steak was so tough and grissly he was unable to eat some of it. He could barely cut through it! So disappointing....seriously disappointing.

The server we had was non-existant for us. We had a busser that was great...she made the rounds, etc. None of us were ever offered drink refills and my sister never even had ice in her cup. There was a table of 7 sitting next to us who had excellent service, offered refills of drinks numerous times, they were brought things while we waited for everything. It was obvious she was their main focus for the bigger tip. So disappointed in...