Cafe Baci — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

**Regarding COVID precautions, all the staff wears masks, tables are separated by dividers, each table top is cleaned after use and has a disposable table cloth, all utensils are plastic wrapped with a QR Code for contactless access to the menu.

When I walked in to the waiting area, there was a very elegantly dressed lady dealing with checkins and the FOH but she was busy on the phone. That was understandable as this is a popular restaurant. I was not waiting too long when a gentleman in a full suit who was sitting at the bar approached me and asked me if I was all right. His name was Steve and he looked to be part of the management team. He confirmed my reservation and had me wait for a moment. He asked me if I preferred bar seating or wanted a table. I was willing to wait for a table and I was very appreciative to be given the option. I was fortunate enough to get a nice corner seat which offered a certain amount of privacy and a good distance from other patrons.

The entire restaurant itself is very very spacious. The bar is one of the first thing customers see as they enter. It can seat many people on one side of the restaurant. The other areas have tables that can seat at least 4 people and have dividers.

My actual server was a very pretty young lady name Brittany who was very courteous, energetic and helpful. She gave me some time to decide what do order. The menu I had taken a quick look at beforehand and the choices were quite overwhelming.

My friend who had eaten there previously was very pleased with her food and had no issues with service so I felt that anything i picked would be a good choice. For starters, I decided on mussels with garlic sauce as it was something light yet savory. It has been quite sometime since I ordered mussels and they did not disappoint. For my entree, I was going to go with a classic pasta dish but I went with one of their specialty dishes called the Mamma Mia. It contains a trio of popular Italian dishes (lasanga, chicken parmagiana and meatballs) so you get a little bit of everything. When the dish came to the table, I was floored as it was more food than I expected. The portions for each course were very generous. Steve came by to check and warned me that people end up not finishing the dish.

The busboys came around to regularly to clear plates off the table and I asked one of them to pack the remainder of the Mamma Mia go to. I managed to eat a good portion of the food (mussels were just an appetizer) but wanted to save room for dessert. I had perused that portion of the menu previously and they offer some very delicious options. This is where my awesome server Brittany was a tremendous help since it was my first time dining there. I asked her what her favorite dessert was and she spoke highly of the Fudge Brownie Sundae and the Tiramisu. Those were two tempting options from the way she described them and made it very difficult to decide. The only thing to do was to order both of course.

The plating for each dessert was quite impressive as they both came to the table simultaneously. The sundae was topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel, chocolate syrup, walnuts and whipped cream. I did not want the ice cream and other ingredients to go to waste so I made it a point to finish this particular dessert first. The Tiramisu was a beautiful square cut classic consisting of lady fingers, espresso, marscapone and cocoa. The slice was moist and fluffy. I had a few bites only and took the rest to go. Solid dessert recommendations from my server.

Cafe Baci is a place that I would highly recommend to go eat with friends, family or a date. Customer service was tops and the food choices are plentiful. Brittany checked on me often, and the manager Steve came around as well even though he may have been busy.

Special mention goes to Emmanuel and the rest of the hardworking and...

7/6/25: Ordered pasta and it was OVERCOOKED! How does this place keep failing like this? I got the amore with no chicken but I wanted the shrimp. Oh my goodness this food is not cheap but I had to throw it out. Do they realize how messed up that is to do to people? I spent $30+ on food I have to throw out? I will never return and I won’t ever recommend this place again. Look at my old reviews below. Looks like they just don’t care anymore. Others are complaining but they would rather stake their Italian flag on this food? A shame to their nation. OCT 18 2024 UPDATE: I ordered a Penne Saporite yesterday to go and it was VILE🤢the pasta was completely overcooked and at $30 it was grossly overpriced if it were meant to be so disgusting. I had to add sat and crushed red pepper to make it bearable. They clearly give the old hard disgusting bread to the people ordering take out. The bread has always been that special conversational piece on the table. You can’t have a bite without saying how soft and delicious it is but this time I threw out the entire bag of just dry hard corners. The pictures are the pasta that I ended up throwing in the trash where it belongs before plating some and actually tasting it🤮. I have been coming to Cafe Baci’s for like 15 years. I’ve never even betrayed them with going to the other Italian restaurants on the strip. I sure will now though. How can ITALIANS OVERCOOK PASTA? That’s like Italy 101! I’ve been going here forever. Like real loyalty so I can’t believe how they took my hard earned TEACHER MONEY and gave me food I had to throw in the garbage last night because I just couldn’t eat it. It was Friday, I had a long work week and I said I would drive all the way to Baci’s for some comforting Italian pasta that I could also have leftovers. Teachers do not make enough money to have to throw away $30 worth of pasta. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. I drove in 1 hour traffic to get this. The girl who handed it to me was tall with platinum blonde hair and she had on a white top. She was very sweet. However, it’s clear that this is my last time EVER being a customer here because maybe management had changed or the cooks. Whoever made that food did not care about the Baci name. That this was allowed to go out is disgusting. I am leaving my older review up so you can see an example of how long I’ve been a loyal customer (which goes waaaaaay further than my first review or the dweeb in the picture whom I had to dump like this pasta). You’ll also see how much I lovED Baci’s and vowed to always return. Well, I’ll never come back after they took my hard earned money and served me overcooked and unseasoned pasta. There are sooooo many restaurants now. No need to waste my money ever trying this place again. THIS WAS MY LAST TIME GIVING BACIS MY MONEY! DO NOT OVERCOOK PASTA GIVE ME A BREAK! THIS IS AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND THAT WAS A...

This place was super crowded, we had to wait half hour to be seated! Once you’re seated they serve you with complimentary bread. This was literally the best bread I’ve ever had, it had onions and tomato sauce, and the bread was so fluffy and doughy! For appetizers we had a Caesar salad, calamari, and pear salad. I loved how much cheese was on this Caesar salad! And the Caesar dressing was delicious! The calamari was also to die for, crispy on the outside and so perfectly cooked on the inside! The pear salad was also great, the candied walnuts paired perfectly with the Gorgonzola and the pear! I tried so many entrees too! I tried the Fettuccine Primavera, Brodetto Baci, penne pasta w vodka sauce, Lobster Baci, Penne Alfredo (with no bacon), and the chicken parmigiana w spaghetti. Here’s my rating for each entree I had and the descriptions: •Fettuccine Primavera- Fettuccine, chicken, mixed vegetables, pink cream sauce. Great sauce but I didn’t like how many veggies were put in it. 7/10 •Brodetto Baci- Baby shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, calamari, light tomato sauce, served with linguine. Such a huge portion, perfect amount of sauce. 8/10 •Penne Pasta w Vodka Sauce- I didn’t like the sauce just because it was very creamy and I didn’t taste the tomato. Great for picky eaters though! 5/10 •Lobster Baci- Lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, clams, mussels, light marinara, served with linguine. We asked for a fair amount of marinara and they gave us a pool lol🤣 clams were also very salty. Lobster was delicious though! 6/10 •Penne Alfredo- Penne, grilled chicken, bacon, spinach, cherry tomato, light Alfredo sauce. Perfect amount of sauce and loved the spinach! 8/10 •Chicken Primavera- Breaded chicken, tomato sauce, melted mozzarella, served with spaghetti. Spaghetti was to die for! Loved the crazy amount of mozzarella there was on top of the chicken. The chicken was a little tough though. 7/10

All in all, Cafe Baci was absolutely amazing and I would 100% recommend to all Italian food lovers! I wish I got to try their pizza but...