Besides, the garlic bread, this place is NOT serving great Italian food. Everything tastes jarred or frozen. I'd rather eat at Olive Garden. How do you mess up spaghetti sauce?! We've given this place three tries. Tried everything from their chicken Alfredo to their spinach ravioli to the minestrone and more. It's just not good food. I will say that their garlic bread is delicious and my son loves the meatballs. I've had a bite of the meatballs and they were better than any other entree item I've had from there. Lmao. The kid's meatball dinner was better than the chicken Parmesan, guys! Wtf. read more

I have to start off by saying that the service there was above par, the dinning room is clean and the place has a nice ambiance. The food, however, could use some improvement. We had a small antipasto salad, the egg plant parmigiana, spaghetti with garlic and mushrooms and a slice of apple pie. The antipasto salad was generous with the pepperoni, sausage and cheese, but a little light with the other ingredients. There was one black olive, one green olive, one peppercini and only one cherry tomato. The Salad dressing was a bit bland. The eggplant on the eggplant parmigiana was tasty and well prepared. However, the mushroom sauce had a burnt color as well as a burnt aftertaste that leads me to believe it had been sitting around all day on a warmer. The mushrooms were obviously canned. My wife's garlic butter sauce with mushroom was a disgrace to Italian food. It was prepared using canned mushrooms, what seemed like dehydrated garlic and oil (not olive oil). I can't believe a so called Italian restaurant would not saute fresh crushed garlic and fresh mushroom in olive oil. It was inedible. Both the pasta for mine and my wife's entree was overcooked. Not just a bit overcooked, but mushy. The apple pie was, well, different. It was served sizzling in butter in a fajita pan. Not bad, but it was a bit overpowered by the butter. An odd dish to offer at a Italian restaurant. read more

I really wanted to like this place. My parents have lived in the area for a few months now and I finally convinced them to go somewhere other than the Outback. We were in the mood from some Italian food and Papa Dante's popped up in yelp. Pros: The wait staff was very friendly, though a little quirky. The decorations were very reminiscent of a New York pizza place with photos of celebrities adorning every available wall space. And their garlic bread was crunchy, buttery, and delicious. Cons: Every member of my family (there are 4 of us) ordered a different pasta dish. I ordered baked ziti. What arrived on my plate was like nothing I have ever seen before. They had form pressed and baked the pasta and cheese together then poured pasta sauce on top as an afterthought. My father's lasagna and my sister and mom's eggplant parmesan had the exact same sauce as well. While I am no Italian food expert, I am almost positive that sauce was from a can. In general I found it to be lacking flavor and creativity. I would not go back nor would I recommend it to a friend. That said, I did not try their sandwiches and a few other people seem to have enjoyed those. Still, I would not go out of my way to go here. read more

Love Papa Dante's! I have eaten here several times and always enjoy it. I like that they have "smaller appetite" selections of my favorite entrees. The servers are always great and the prices are reasonable for the amount if food you get. I usually get the lasagna, it's great. I have also ordered the chicken fettuccini Alfredo and love it as well. The atmosphere is fun with all the pictures they have covering the walls. I try and sit in a different area every time we go so that I can see all the diff pictures. Great for a girls night out or an evening out with a special someone. read more

Amazing service and haven't got our entree yet! you have got to eat here! Good calamari and amazing Italian sodas! read more

Papa Dante's Restaurant - Italian soda!!!! Amazing - Italian Near Me - Converse, Texas

Been eating there since I was five back in 1990. Even worked there for about 7 months back in high school. Family owned since it was opened and a staple of the Converse area. Wait staff was always awesome. It very much does feel like old-school Italian. Nice intimate lighting and the walls (their most famous feature) are crammed with photos of stars and celebs. Don Knotts. Jerry and Dean. 80's Mel Gibson. Both Hepburns. To pass the time it's fun to see who you can identify. French bread is delicious beyond belief. Always got the chicken parm, mom got eggplant, and sister got chicken alfredo. Loved my chicken parm or the spicy meatballs every time. Sauce, unlike what a previous reviewer said, is not canned and in fact is one of the most genuine parts, made from scratch every day in giant delicious batches (I used to stick my head in the buckets after washing them out). It has changed, however. Since the economic slowdown, the quality has definitely gone down. It's still good (3 stars), but it's not the Dante's I fell in love with. Thought it was just me until my gf, who used to go out with someone who works there, told me they started downgrading a lot of their products to make larger profits. Meats are definitely lower grade. There is also obviously less complexity. Lower quality products. I am very disappoint. It can be good. It often is. It's a classic. But take it how you will. :/ read more

Great food, love the atmosphere with all the movie posters and photos, service was ok. Meatballs and garlic bread are good. Worth the wait.

If you haven't eaten here, you are missing out on some of the best Italian food in the San Antonio area! Take the drive out to Converse and see for your self. I love their baked ziti with garlic bread. I always get the regular serving size which means I'll be stuffed when I leave and have enough to take home for another meal the next day. The memorabilia which covers with walls will keep you mesmerized for hours. Oh, and don't forget to get dessert to take home - cheese cake, and cakes which are delicious! I highly recommend! read more

My family just bought a house right up the road. We decided to try them out! We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was!!! Garlic bread was excellent! Fried calamari was great as well! Very good service and I have been back since just to grab some dessert! The German chocolate cake and cannolis are amazing! I also love the small town feel of this place and will be back and will always recommend to anyone who wants great Italian food for a reasonable price! Well done! read more

It was an interesting place inside. I love that it's family owned. They have lunch portion options. I had the chicken Alfredo. It was delicious. Nothing spectacular. This place definitely makes up for it with their desserts. I grabbed a slice of Italian wedding cake a a key lime cheesecake and both were spectacular! I highly recommend the desserts. You won't regret it. Prices are high on the deserts, $5+ for a slice of cake but it was worth it! read more

Very good food and friendly service. The ambiance is very Hollywood. There is plenty to look at on the walls while waiting for your food. I've been coming here off and on for several years and my work has held many luncheons and dinners here. The food is consistently good and the service is consistently friendly. I love the pizza and pasta dishes. The deserts are definitely over the top good with very large portions. read more

This place is amazing!!! Great customer service and menu variety along with amazing taste and complimentary garlic bread. Some orders to take longer than others, but it's completely worth it. If I had to choose an Italian restaurant to go to, this would go before Olive Garden one hundred times over. read more

So happy to have discovered this wonderful restaurant. The food is consistently delicious and the prices can't be beat. Highly recommend Papa Dante's if you're in the mood for wonderful Italian comfort food. read more

Did not like the food here at all. Flavor-less. Also, the decor, while neat to look at, made the place look kinda dirty.

Food could be more flavorful but the environment is pleasant with many pictures and decorations. Service could be faster also.

The best option for Italian food in the Converse area. Good home cooked style Italian food with quite a bit of variety on the menu. Beats the faux upscale chain restaurants for sure. read more

The Eggplant Parmesan is a MUST. Hear me, please... The Eggplant Parmesan is incredible and I would say their most popular staple. Desserts are very good as well. I personally enjoy the carrot cake as my favorite. I always have to swing by and get it when I'm in the area. This restaurant was started in 1979 and is still family owned and managed three generations later. You'll love the atmosphere, decor, and service. Papa Dante's stays busy with regulars who the staff know by name. I love when you find gems like that! read more

This place is awesome. Old school vibe with all the autographed pictures on the wall. You will not get fancy seating or anything like that, BUT, what you will get is great Italian food! A great relaxing family place for dinner! read more

Great family owned business . Always friendly staff and the food ..... AMAZING . I recommend the chicken Parmesan and getting the garlic bread with pepperoni and cheese as an appetizer. Does not disappoint ! Will be coming back read more

Lasagna had a spicy ness to it I didn't prefer and was hard to cut. Spaghetti was good. Turtle cheesecake was amazing!!

It was good but greasy I had the lasagna I could only eat a couple of bits because of the grease... it made me nauseous, my husband had the Alfredo he wooded his down like there was no tomorrow... so if your not sensitive to grease this is the spot for you read more

We were looking for a local lunch spot like we had in NB. We decided to try this place because it was close. LOVE the decor/ambience. And it was great, like an Italian diner. Was expensive for what it was, especially as lunch. Also, we asked for the child's pepperoni pizza, and I'm sure that's not what we got. It was a 12". What baby could eat that much? Server fail. read more

The place has such a sweet staff! The food was very homey and the portions were very generous. My favorite was the crab cake Alfredo pasta. Nommmmm read more

So I went there to pick up dinner last night. I have been craving some baked ziti for a while. They are only offering delivery and take out at the moment. I called and they were super nice on the phone. It was a 20 minute wait for the food which isn't outrageous. I stopped in to pick up my grub and I cant wait for them to open up for dine in. The place has a lot of cool pix on the wall. There menu and special are clearly marked on a huge screen. On to the food. The price was a little expensive to be eating there everyday but not to where you cant eat there once or twice a month. The amount of food they give you is amazing! It was like 3 servings. Now the ziti was a little different than Im used to but its still really good. The cheese was layered and very good. The sauce was really tasty but this leads me to my only gripe. Ziti is supposed to have a meat sauce. This didn't have a meat sauce. They served it w garlic bread on the side. It was also amazing. I am looking forward to having some lasagna and the desserts in the bakery case looks super tasty! Looking forward to going back... read more

We had a very lovely dinner there one night. It was homey, comfortable and great food. We will go back again and again. The The waitress that served us was extremely kind as I am disabled. She helped me move my walker away from people tripping on it; as well as helping me get into my seat, and going to the bathroom. I will definitely take my family again. Even my grandchildren liked it and I have one that is an extremely picky eater. I highly recommend Dantes read more

I order a pepperoni pizza Friday 22 2021 I have never had a worse pizza ever a 4$ tortinos pizza was a better choice and I was changed over 15$ No sauce over cooked dough one inch from the edge no sauce or cheese. For an Italian restaurant maybe they should take pizza off the menu. read more

i've been going to this place since i was a little kid & it never disappoints. the garlic bread is on another level & the service is always great! papa dante's is honestly my favorite restaurant in the world. 17/10 recommend read more

Ok I'm a day late posting this but I have to say it's been a long time since I've been here...so i had the spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, well I have to be honest it was the worst thing I have ever ate, the garlic bread was the only thing that was ok to eat. I remeber this place being good, guess the food went down hill and dont get me started on the wait staff, it took the waitress almost 15 minutes to come over and there was only 2 people in the whole place. I have heard they don't even make the food fresh anymore, they make it the day before and then microwave it when people order something. I was going to order something different but I was afraid that will taste bad too. Guess I won't be going there anymore. Dont know way people are giving the place a 4 star, must be all the old people that go there. Lol read more

Hreat food in large portions. Some dishes seem slightly over priced until you realize they give you 2 meals in 1.

I always love papa Dante's! Staff is friendly and food is fantastic. They've been a great place to get my food to go during the pandemic

I placed an online order for a small pasta & a sandwich (very small order) & they told me about 15-20 minutes. Well about an hour & $40 later, i finally received my food. And i wasnt the only one waiting. The pasta had about 5 ravioli & cost me more than the sandwich. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND; too long of a wait & way over priced. read more

Just what we were hoping to find. A small Italian place with lots of charm and good food. Papa Dante's is the kind of place you want to take your friends and family and linger over good food and good wine. The veal parmesan was really good and tender. They also have manicotti on the menu. I'll try it next time. We loved their marinara sauce. Get dessert to go. The cake slices are huge. We split one slice of orange cream cake. It was more than enough for 2 people. read more

I love this place! The best chicken parmesan and that is all I order here. My wife loves the eggplant parmesan. The bread is so full of flavor and butter that you want to just have that! Unbelievable experience with the atmosphere as well. Nostalgia fills the restaurant with all of the famous people's pictures and head shots. Affordable to boot. Right down the road from my house so that's a plus. read more

Had early dinner tonight. Chicken scampi pretty dry and the laziest dish I have ever seen. My 14yr old could of made it. The sub I had was really good. Everything is high price. Lost of construction all around building I think that's why they might have been so slow. 3 stars is hard to put up there. Deserts good. When I had German chocolate cake at home notice frosting only on top and in between layers. Not around the cake?? read more

Very disappointed with this place. Came for dinner on a Thursday night. It was fairly early, before 6 pm, so there wasn't a crowd. We got seated pretty quick and then ordered drinks not too much longer after. The waitress took what seemed like longer than 5 minutes to come back with 3 waters. We ordered as soon as she came back. We got a salad, shrimp scampi, a kids spaghetti, and sausage scampi I think. It took maybe 15-20 minutes to get the food. When I saw the shrimp scampi I was immediately disappointed. It looked dry, not much of a sauce on it. My kids spaghetti didn't have much sauce either. The scampi was really just oil in spaghetti noodles I've seriously have made better at home. It was so dry and did not have much flavor at all. I waited to see if the waitress would come back so that I could ask for some extra sauce, it really needed something, anything to make it not so dry. Well she didn't come back until we were ready to leave. I stopped eating my food, and my husband was already done by the time she came back to check on us. I asked for the check and left mine and my kids food there. Not worth taking that home. read more

The biggest reason that I eat at Papa Dante's ever... is because they have GREAT cheesecakes... I pretty much always order up their Chicken Parmesan... it's okay (personally I think my homemade is equally as good for a lot less than their price)....but their love ya twice cheesecake is to die for... the candybar cheesecake is excellent as well. Also, I experience good service here everytime I go (but I go against the norm considering the owners/some waitstaff go to my church!) read more

Well, where to start. Awesome service! Attentive, courteous staff and awesome food. Recently moved to Dallas so we have been trying to find a place that compares to Papa D's. Expectations not set. If only Papa Dante's was here. We have had mom and pop shops and chain Italian food places and it's not the same. Set up shop in Dallas! Take my money! read more

Love it the people food and avionce. Can't believe I waited so long to go there.loved the food it was great and the service food were great. Best pizza ever and I loved it it's now my favorite place to go. read more

Its an old,school mom and pop Italian restaurant with in house recipes. Their sauces are made from a secret recipe :). I could just order a bowl of sauce and eat it with their garlic bread! Our favorite dish is the spaghetti/lasagna combo. The walls are decorated with old photos ofmactors and actresses. The staff is courteous and knowledgeable about the menu items. The prices are affordable. Its our favorite Italian restaurant and its closeby. read more

I took my family here on 3-21-12, this was without a doubt the worst "Italian" food we have ever had. The Calimari was clearly frozen, sauce for pasta was flat, and the shrimp was small pink and microwaved. To top it off it was expensive! Your better off warming up a frozen dinner, this place is the pitts! read more