Came here for dinner with my daughter, based on the reviews, and was not disappointed. This…read moreestablishment has a very charming vibe, with a back patio that's cool and quiet, away from the street. Its location near the amphitheater entrance of the Pompeii Archeological Park makes it very easy to find. The food was fantastic, the pasta was perfect. The service was absolutely top-notch as well. I highly recommend this restaurant for a casual evening with friends, or a quiet evening with a date.

This is by far the best restaurant that I have been to throughout my entire Italy experience. The…read morefood was so delicious, and the house wine was a great value! The desert was heavenly, and the pasta is home-made. But the number-one best thing about this restaurant was the service. Our server, Roberto, went above and beyond to ensure that my family had exceptional service. He speaks incredible English, and he even made drawings for my kids! I will definitely be coming back in the future, and I insist anyone coming through Pompeii visit.

We were hesitant to stop since there were no reviews, but ate here anyway. It was great. Wonderful…read moreantipasto, fish, ravioli, and gnocchi. Server was kind enough to work through our lack of Italian. Don't hesitate to stop, it was a great surprise!

Great service and excellent food! Great atmosphere! No problem the place has a lovely classic…read morelook. Around the corner from the square. Just beautiful

Winter in Pompeii is engulfing. It engulfs you through silence, empty restaurants and restaurant…read moreowners trying to salvage every opportunity to get just one more guest. It's calm. In this fashion, we were lured into this establishment by the owner while walking through the silent street on a gloomy afternoon. The open, airy space is pleasant and unpretentious. The welcome by waiters was more comparable to a greeting that a host would provide for guests into their own house. Being presented with a wide spanning menu felt completely unnecessary, as within moments of sitting down, the chef came out of the kitchen to greet and tell about the house specialties. The middle aged Italian man was dressed very cleanly and despite little knowledge of English, provided a better recommendation than one could ever desire from yelp or from the menu itself, which still laid untouched on the table. The prosciutto bruschetta was bursting with flavor of fresh, ripe tomatoes that gave off the sweetness of a cherry, the fullness of sun ripening and the flavor that can only be experienced in a dream. The paccheri pasta looked as beautiful as it tasted, in a pleasant green color and the flavor profile that one can only experience in select establishments. Amusingly from the name, the Carlo Alberto pizza was the least favorite of the dishes had here, but was very interesting. If coming through to visit Pompeii, do not miss this establishment.

This is a tiny hole in the wall pizzeria down the street from what I think is the only hotel in…read moretown. It's a neighborhood place. No tourists or English spoken. As with everywhere else I've seen in octtaviano, there's a group of men loudly talking and gesturing nonstop. They seemed to get a kick out of the fact I'm from Chicago. Very exotic. All the pizzas are made to order by hand. There's an big oven that takes up much of the space in shop and noticeably heats one of the walls. Knowing no Italian, I just said "mozzarella and salami" when I ordered. That worked. But looking at the menu there's a lot more choices than that. I noticed that fries on pizza is popular. Have to give these guys kudos for using real salami instead of pepperoni. Somehow I suddenly feel like I've been getting ripped off for years in the states. It's all made fresh by hand, was only €3.80. What's not to like. They even sell beer.

Great meal, superior service, outstanding value ... as good as it gets for the price!…read more My iPhone decided to go on the fritz again while my wife and I were spending the night at a hotel in Mercogliano, a hillside town about 30 miles (50 kliks) and a world away from Naples, Italy, after visiting the famous mountain top abbey called Santuario di. The Abbey of Montevergine has been the site of religious orders dating back to the 12th Century and sits almost 5,000 above the base of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It was reportedly the hiding place of the Shroud of Turin during World War II and is home to the massive and celebrated Byzantine painting on wood of the "Madonna" (Blessed Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus). Anyway, back to my crappy iPhone. We were searching for a place to eat on TripAdvisor (because there was a dearth of reviews in the area on Yelp) and found an excellent option, Pizzeria La Tavernetta, which appeared to be in close proximity to our hotel, Hotel Mercurio. However, when I clicked on "Directions", both Google Maps and Waze could not pinpoint my location even though "Location Services" was enabled on my iPhone. So, we decided to do it the old fashioned way and ask the hotel desk clerk. He took us outside and pointed to the restaurant next door and sure enough, it was La Tavernetta ... HOOAH! As we entered, we were greeted warmly by the pizzaiolo and one of the owners apparently. There was a smattering of occupied tables in the large dining room and a party of about 35 celebrating a birthday at the long table next to ours. I began to become concerned after 10-15 minutes of being mostly ignored by the waiter and thought about going elsewhere, but I knew he (the only waiter) was overwhelmed by the large group and decided to wait. Am I glad we did! The owner came over and apologized shortly thereafter and the young waiter was nothing less than superb from that point forward. We started with a bottle of mineral water, the local red wine, and the antipasto San Valentine (€8), a massive plate (plates actually) filled with various salamis, prosciutto, guanciale, two medium balls of mozzarella di buffala, two bruschette (plural of bruschetta, which is prounounced brew-sket-ah, not brew-shet-ah as most Americans do), black and green olives, as well as marinated and roasted mellenzane (eggplant), mushrooms, and carrots. Accompanied by a basket of bread, it was a feast in itself, well worth the €8, and we nearly filling before our main courses arrived. My family comes from a town about ten miles away and the wine was a bit drier than the local wines made there, but it was dark, fruity, and robust, an excellent value at less than $5 a bottle. I had been craving my favorite frierielli (broccoli rabe) and sausage pizza for over a month and seeing it on the menu had no other choice even though they have a nice selection of primi (pastas), secondi (meat dishes), and contorni (side dishes - potatoes, vegetables, etc). The pizza was as big as any I have had in Naples, the home of the best pizza in the world, and one of the best sausage and frierielli pizzas I have had, including Naples. The crust was perfect, thin yet firm and slightly crispy (unlike Roman pizza which is like eating a cracker with tomato and cheese) and was well covered with fresh mozzarella, broccoli rabe, and large chunks of fresh, sweet sausage. The waiter read my mind and offered "olio piccante" (a spicy olive oil flavored with peperoncini) before I could get the words out of my mouth, adding just the right amount of spice to accompany the perfect pizza. My wife had the baked scamorza, a stronger tasting cousin of mozzarella found mostly in Southern Italy, and porcini mushrooms (€10) and again we were not disappointed. Two large melted balls of cheese topped with just the right amount of sauteed porcini mushrooms was filling and delicious. We stopped to talk to the owners, brothers I take it, on the way out and were treated to a small complimentary glass of "digestivo", in this case a local green liquore reminiscent of absinthe, but made by the abbey monks from herbs found on the mountain slopes near Sanuario di Montevergine - a perfect ending to an outstanding meal! Unlike many reviewers here and elsewhere, I give five stars rarely (as you can see from my rating distribution). My ratings are based strictly on "bang for the buck" and for €33 plus tip, this was a meal deserving my five-star rating and I can safely say that Pizzeria La Tavernetta is "THE BOMB"! CombatCritic Gives La Tavernetta The Coveted 10 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

The perfect place toneat pasta, pizza, meat and whatever thing you want. Nice waitresses and a…read moreperfect old and classic room.

Amazing restaurant! My husband and I stumbled into this place not fully knowing what we were…read moregetting ourselves into. Maurizio was the sweetest. He said he would take care of us and he certainly did! What's even more amazing is that my husband and I watched Maurizio take care of every other customer in the same manner. He was kind, personable, and ensured every patron had a great experience. Everything he brought out was exceptional! We especially enjoyed the gnocchi, the beef, and the tiramisu! Thanks for a great night!

While looking for lunch before visiting the Herculaneum historical site, we found this restaurant…read more We quickly got an overview of the menu by the host (which was written on a board, which makes me think everything is freshly made). While receiving the overview, we didn't know what to choose: everything sounded exquisite and delicious. We had a mix of a starter and a "primo piatto" and two "secondi" to finish. Every dish was nicely presented and equally tasty as we imagined during the menu overview. Needless to say we were very happy to have found this place!