Nice ambient space. Enjoyed the brick oven pizzas and the Tiramisu dessert. Limited vegetarian appetizer options.

Okay, so we had dinner here based on hearing from others that the food was really good. It's located inside an old church so the history of that was appealing as well. They only take phone reservations so you have to call. Walked into our reservation everything standard up until then, and we got our seats and it was a really small corner booth with barely enough room but fine we rolled with it. They must have only had one server because it took almost an hour to get our drinks. The server came to see us about 10 minutes in and said be right back...fast forward 45 minutes she comes back takes a drink order and says it's going to be a little bit because she also has to make the drinks since the bartender called off work. Okay, rolled with it finally got our drinks. Finally placed food order and for a fear of waiting by longer we ordered apps and main course at a the same time. Well, both came out back to back lol of course. Shrimp appetizer from the Valentine's Day menu, chicken parm and chicken Marsala - all delicious! We didn't have enough room on our table but figured it out. Dessert - chocolate cake also really good. Service was not great but I also wonder if it's because they seemed to only have 1 person working. This is a place I'd consider ordering take out from and not dining in again. read more

Nuova Italia - Italian Near Me - St Charles, Illinois

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I love the food at this restaurant so much I wanted to bring friends. Our experience was awful! We were greeted by our server who said they are understaffed and underpaid! Not a good first impression. And then it took us 45 minutes to order drinks and we ordered food right away as we didn't know if she would come back! The food was delicious which is the redeeming quality but we did not get soup which comes with the meal. So disappointing! We let the hostess know when we left of the experience as it is locally owned and thought they should be aware and it didn't seem like it mattered. Unfortunately we will not be back as there are so many other places to choose from! read more

Wow the best food ever had in my life thanks to the one and only chef Rosario he over did and went beyond my expectations the pasta was cook to perfection al dente and I mean Al Dente not too hard not too soft perfect the tomato sauce was executed with love and passion. The focaccia was so good was too bad I stuffed myself with the focaccia and the soup I had no room left to finish that entire enormous platter. We also had the grilled calamari with grilled veggies OMG best ever cooked tender and juicy and the marinate was excellent not too acidic nor salty is was just perfect . The ambiance was going to the medical times the way the decor is inside very romantic if you are on a date. I truly enjoyed the food trust me I have been to so many restaurants and this was my favorite homemade zuppa di pecce wow thank you Rosario you did it read more

Nuova Italia - Pizza - Italian Near Me - St Charles, Illinois

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Wonderful ambiance, ideal service BUT the sauce, which is the center of all Italian restaurant meals was horrible. It ruined both of our meals and we have lived and eaten for 50 years in St Charles. Quick fix but we would never return. read more

Food is 5 stars for sure, it's huge portions and the flavor is so good!! We've dined here 4 times now and have tried quite a few things and have loved them all. Service is another story. each time we've gone there have been two servers and when we get the tall Italian guy he's super attentive and great. But unfortunately the woman is not great and it makes for a less than stellar experience. She comes across as rude, she always seems overwhelmed and then she goes MIA at times. We brought friends for the first time and they even made comments about how she's allowed to still work there since she's not great. If it wasn't for her I'd definitely give the five stars! read more

Dinner was great mostly because I had great company. The location of this restaurant was beautiful (old church) and perfect for an intimate dinner without a lot of other people. Service was good (prompt and checked on us frequently). Though he was super flirty with my colleague. I wonder if it was just her or if he's just like that with everyone. The appetizers were amazing! We had the shrimp and the meat and cheese plate. My bacon wrapped steak and pasta was mid. Not as good as I expected. Everyone else seemed to like their meals. The chocolate ice cream was heavenly! read more

Hey we went to lunch at Nuova italia restaurant my aunt and my grandpa went up stairs I could not go up because the owner do not let me go upstairs the owner is so upset and rude and he was rasing his voice not respectful their food is was so delicious I had mussels claims calarmar with rice 10/10 stars you should go there it is so peacefu and quiet and relaxing their decors was beautiful it feels like romantic restaurant waitress they are so nice read more

Food was amazing. Servers, especially the owner's daughter, were both very attentive and had amazing recommendations. Loved the ambiance inside and can't wait to dine in again. 10/10 service read more

I never ate here, but heard that it was very good. Was planning a small dinner party, had several questions. Stopped in one afternoon to drop off a check & book the room. I spoke to Paul, he is the rudest person in the restaurant business I have ever met. I had questions regarding allergies. He basically told me I was making things too complicated & that I should probably go somewhere else! I couldn't believe that a customer would be treated that way! I walked out, checkbook in hand ! What an Ass. Wouldn't step foot in there if u paid me! read more

Been there four times and was very pleased with food and service every time. Had nine relatives for dinner for the Holidays and people ordered a variety of food , no complaints, everyone enjoyed their dinner. Suggestion-Bar tab was crazy high, don't let your relatives order drinks. read more

I have only heard great things about this Restaurant and have meant to try it for a long time. They say everything happens for a reason and after my phone encounter this afternoon I am so glad I did not make it there. I called to find out how to get a gift card for a present and was told they are out of gift cards. I asked if they knew when they were coming in and was told, "no, we can't help you". I asked if they could print me up a certificate and was told "no, we can't help you". I asked for any type of suggestion and was told again "there is nothing we can do for you". I was and still am astounded by the sheer rudeness of the Staff and their unwillingness to help. It's pretty easy nowadays to track orders and the turnaround time on a printed gift card I would think is pretty quick. So to recap I asked for a gift card which would be giving them revenue, the people using the gift card would spend more money bringing in more revenue and they couldn't help me. I'm just not understanding. read more

We had the best dinner! Paul was an exceptional server, he was funny, attentive, gave great recommendations, and checked in with us frequently. The food is amazing! The homemade pasta was delicious and all of us enjoyed our dinners. It was a quiet Tuesday night and soft music played and the crackle of the pizza oven was adorable read more

Sorry to write this......Disappointed with this meal. The penne, chicken, and broccoli were all served barely warm -- closer to cool, really -- and the flavor was flat from start to finish. No seasoning, just bland and uninspired. For the price, I expected something with at least a hint of taste and proper temperature. Wouldn't go back. read more

Unfortunately, my second dining experience here was not as favorable as our first. It's amazing how bad Service can ruin a dining experience. How can such a remarkably good restaurant be shorthanded for servers. Our service was horrible and unacceptable. If you want excellent wine and good food come here if you want. Good service go elsewhere. read more

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The owners daughter was our server was very fast and gave great suggestions for food and drinks. Great pizza, vodka pasta, wine, cocktails and a good clean atmosphere. Good for a nice date or pizza Wasn't the biggest fan of the Carpaccio Di Carne Di Manzo appetizer but 10/10 everything else read more

Ordered carry out, filetto di manzo in vesuvio sauce medium rare. Got home to see it was well done and ZERO vesuvio sauce. So dry and flavorless. Thanks for the expensive mummified meal! #FilettoDiHockeyPuck read more

Nuova Italia - They forgot the Vesuvio sauce, that's just water from the grey ass steak there, WAY overcooked it (asked for medium rare) - Italian Near Me - St Charles, Illinois

This is a great place ambience wise if you're looking for somewhere quieter and a little bit of a romantic feel. Based on an old church, it sure set the mood for us. We had the bolognese and pizza. The pizza was great but I would have loved the pasta to be a little more Al dente. The sauce itself was good, I've had better but bolognese varies from place to place and it was overall a tasty meal read more

Nuova Italia - Pizza Salame and Bolognese - Italian Near Me - St Charles, Illinois

Waitress asked if we knew how to read after we took a minute to decide. How RUDE ! Called the after we left and I asked to speak with the manager and the guy says I can't talk to the manager until I tell him my last name, another how rude moment. He then proceeded to put me on hold for almost 10 minutes so I hung up and called the Owner Antonio. The rude waitress's name is Jeanette. read more

We were excited to go to this location as we went a year ago and had a great experience and the chicken Marsala was awesome. During this visit our food came out cold and the chicken Marsala had zero flavor. The previous time we had ordered it came with mashed potatoes. This time it was 3 Vesuvius wedge potatoes. I asked the waitress if I could get mashed potatoes instead. She looked at me funny and told me I had to give the wedge potatoes back first or she would have to charge me. I said that was fine. She took the 3 wedge potatoes off of my plate and left. We started to eat and noted my dinner and one other dinner was cold. I ate mine any way and waited nearly 10 minutes for the mashed potatoes to come out. Once served I told her I was about done eating. She apologized and told me it took so long because the new cook had to heat them up. I told her my meal didn't taste like chicken Marsala, that it was cold and asked if I was given the right plate. She said yes. The meal had zero flavor. The Marsala sauce tasted like it came out of a jar at best. I then tried the mashed potatoes. They were instant but fortunately tasted better than the Marsala sauce. Sad to say but I will never go back. The waitress was apologetic about one of our other parties meal as it was so cold it still felt refrigerated. She did not charge us for her meal. read more

Horrible service and dirty restaurant Waited 30 min and nobody came by the table (we even had a reservation) staff was rude came by eventually asked what we wanted and we waited 2 hours to be served... bizarre and awful dining experience... 0 stars... read more

Food and ambience are fabulous. Portions are large enough to take home and enjoy a second time! We will return.

Great food, great atmosphere, and outstanding service. I won't even try spelling the four dishes we had except for the order of bruschetta That was the best! And our server, Sophia, deserves special mention; once she found out that one of us was allergic to citrus, she said she would make sure that nothing she served to us had any citrus. We'll make a point of coming back here, especially if Sophia is working. read more

Inattentive and rude staff. Dark and dirty restaurant. We walked in and the host and bartender both saw us walk in. They were both by the bar area and they didn't greet us. After about 10 minutes he sat us at the worst table which was next to a register, main hall, and beverage station even though the entire restaurant had many open tables and it was a non-peak time. I asked to seat us elsewhere and he claimed all the tables had reservations. I said we aren't sitting here so we walked out and won't be back ever. read more

Always satisfied with our meals at the restaurant. They, like many others, are short staffed and the service is a bit slower. Excellent restaurant over all read more

My family and I went to Nuova Italia in St. Charles on Sunday evening. It was a special occasion to celebrate my daughter graduating from 8th grade. My daughter loves interesting architecture so I thought she'd like the old church design. We had a 6:30 reservation. The hostess did not bring us to our table, she just pointed into the dining room and told us "ours was the corner table". We sat at the table for 15 minutes before the hostess, who was also our server now, came to our table. She asked us for our drink orders and told us they couldn't offer soda because their soda machine was broken. We asked for menus because she hadn't given us menus yet. Another 10-15 minutes went by and she brought us our drinks and took our orders. I ordered the chicken vesuvio and my husband and daughters ordered the wood fired pizzas. We waited an additional HOUR. Then our server returned to our table and asked us "What was it that we had ordered again...?" By this time my family and I were really hungry. We noticed other tables had bread baskets but our server did not give us a bread basket. Also, our server never refilled our drinks, even after an hour. The table next to ours had a large party. After our server left our table, one of the ladies from the next table informed us that they had been in the restaurant for 3 hours and when their food was finally served, some of their entrees were hot but some were cold! I told my husband, I am not waiting 3 hours for cold food. Then we did something I have never done before, we paid for our drinks and left. It was the weirdest restaurant experience I have ever had. Our server seemed like a really nice person but the restaurant was either extremely short staffed or extremely badly managed or both. Maybe it was just a really off night. read more

Nice old school Italian restaurant. Nice size portions. Staff was nice. Cool old church building.

We've found ourselves drawn back to Nuova Italia several times over the last few months without really thinking about it. We've brought friends and large groups and everyone has had a great time there. The staff is wonderful and most recently, went above and beyond to provide spectacular customer service. The food is great, with large portions and reasonable prices, all served up in a beautifully decorated setting. If you haven't been in there in a while or maybe ever, I highly recommend a visit. You won't be disappointed! read more

Had a 7:30 reservation for a Birthday, the upstairs had 1 other larger party, they took us up to our table but then they proceeded to set up our table while we stood there with them telling us we were in the way. The waiter never took drink orders for 30 minutes, we also ordered appetizers which was brought out by someone else so the waiter still didn't take our dinner order until 8:30 and didn't get served our dinner until 9:30. The downstairs was empty. The waiter was busy with the other large table and basically ignored us. Food was ok but cold and they forgot 1 person's entire dinner order, service was terrible, will not return. read more

Tremendous, was there last night. From appetizers to desert TREMENDOUS!!! Service, food all great and I'm Italian. The Lamb Cut Vesuvio was recommended by the waitress. I went with it. 5 seniors. read more

Got the chicken Cesar salad, said $4.75 to add chicken breast, when I got the bill it was $6.75. Definitely not worth it for the small amount of protein that was on the salad. It tasted good but couldn't say anything at the visit due to being in mixed company. The server also made many comments on this being a "cheat meal" and that we need to " walk off our meal" after. Didn't appreciate that. Would give another try but prices need to be accurate on the menu, would have ordered differently if so read more

That's it. We are done with this place. Weird place. Have given it many chances. Daughter likes it but the last time was the last time. Calamari was rubbery and chewy. Stingey with the bread. First bread came out was good. Second basket had a couple pieces and was different bread. What? Salad was good. Main meal was meh. I had ravioli. Ok. Daughter had gnocchi. Not homemade. Tasted like that spongey Pasta Perfect gnocchi. Husbands briole was tough. Odd service. They should cut that menu way down and concentrate on making it good and consistent. read more

Great meal and service was amazing as always!! The servings are plentiful and food was good. There is something for everyone. They do go out of their way to make sure you dinning experience is great! There table is never not cleared. read more

Classic! Sometimes that description can get one's eyes rolling at old-style, boring entrees. This classic restaurant relies upon what seems like ancient revered recipes. Interesting, not boring! I had gnocchi; my partner had lamb chops, both with a salad (one pickled beets on a bed of arugula; the other a Caesar). Gnocchi is one of those delicate dishes that can turn doughy, not light. Here the delightful pillows of potato and cheese were sauced with a vodka sauce--light and very enjoyable. Tasting my partner's lamb, it was prime quality, cooked perfectly to her request. Our server knew the menu inside out. Unfortunately, a new entrée for me was unavailable that night: Giant Penne with neck bone (he assured it would be great, really! So, next time.) We finished our meal with a flourless chocolate cake which was molten on the inside, slightly soft surrounding and just a bit of crunch at the outer core, served with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. Very good! Portions are not overwhelming, but generous. The atmosphere is warm, relaxed and yes, classic. A perfect place for a couple to sit, relax and talk, or a larger group to dine, laugh, and enjoy. That's what classic should be and is easily found at Nuova Italia. read more

Nuova Italia - Old World Italian dining. Bene! - Italian Near Me - St Charles, Illinois

Very good service and portions for the cost. Highly recommend making a reservation as the place does get busy after 5pm. We had the seafood pasta entree and it was enough so we shared the plate. read more

Great food and beautiful dining room. Authentic Italian food. So good. It is definitely worth a dinner here. In summer, there's an outside area under lights. read more

Three times and there will definitely be many more times I will dine at Nuova Italia. When ho hum chain restaurants, fast food joints, upscale restaurants, new restaurants, old restaurants and every dining establishment in between has brought up their prices 25-30% since early 2020, it's nice to get what you pay for. A novel idea that has diminished, but fortunately, not at Nuova Italia. You get what you pay for and then some. Ambiance is nice. An old church that's very clean, tidy and chock full of little details that ooze Italian flare. Transforms diners into the feel and tone of an Italian trattoria. Service is very helpful & friendly - all that diners need. On this most recent visit, Jaime was all that. Starting with the fried calamari and caprese Insalate - both were ultra fresh, flavorful and delicious. Presentation was thoughtful and portion sizes were bountiful yet appropriate for 3 hungry diners. Large wine list options, fresh unsweetened iced tea (which unfortunately & surprisingly, some places can't seem to do), glasses always refiled. The minestrone soup is full-bodied, well flavored and loaded with veggies. The green salad - either which come with the entrees, was crisp & fresh as well. Lots of veggies & color & garden fresh flavors which adds to the feel of Spring and the start of better times than we've experienced for the last two years. Never ordering the same entrees twice, as there's so many tempting things on the main as well as the specials menu. We all tried something different the other day. The fettuccine Zia Theresa had a nice portion of spinach, tomato, garlic, shrimp & scallops. The rigatoni with mushrooms and tomato crema; the Ziti Geno Napolitano were both delicious as well. Nice that one can order entrees without ingredients or more importantly, salt or add ingredients, without a furrowed brow from the server or kitchen. With pasta entrees in the very fair $19 - $25 range, and portions more than ample for leftovers, diners leave feeling satisfied in both stomach and wallet. When not in Italy, you can still dine like you are! read more

It actually "should" have been better. We have dined there several time and were always quite pleased with the experience. Last night we were seated across from a bus trolley. Every single stack of dishes deposited there were thrown, not placed causing ear piercing and heart shuddering frights. Our server "Irena" from the Ukrain used profanity to us as she declared that America is the worst county ever and exclaimed "This is B_ _L S_ _T! We had intended to enjoy a full meal but left after a salad and appetizer. I mentioned the dish crashing to the owner who was indifferent at best. He did not even offer an apology. Sadly, we will never visit this esablishment again. The food rating would have been quite good. Service,...terrible. Ambiance, lousy. read more

Stopped in on a quiet Sunday and loved everything about this place. Great wine, appetizer and main course. The fried calamari was delicious. I had the Pollo Rollini and my husband had the Rigatoni Boscaiola. Portions were huge, so we got to enjoy our meals again the next night. Our server suggested a Chianti, which was perfect with our meals. Cool building and nicely decorated. Just wonderful! read more

This is to date the best Italian restaurant in the Chicago area, including the city. I grew up in Italy where I still visit often.The pizzas at nuova Italia are excellent in every aspect and the most similar to any Italian pizza. Compared to Eataly, which these days easily sets the standard for contemporary Italian food, they are better. For example, this is the only place in the US where I ever found tuna and onions pizza, a fairly regular staple in any Italian pizzeria! Their pastas are excellent - one easily recognizes the influence of very good Italian restaurants in Europe (Germany) where the chef worked. The veal Milanese is exactly how one would eat in an Italian household and one of the best in restaurants - comparable to some Italian restaurants in NYC. Highly, highly recommended!!! read more

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