Amazing food and a personable owner make up for subpar service and cramped dining conditions. Everything is delicious; from the roasted beet salad, the Palermo pizza, Chicken Gremolata and the to die for Godfather Chocolate Cake. Just go in with lowered service expectations and you will thoroughly enjoy your meal. read more

This is definitely one of our favorite restaurants! We are lucky to live walking distance from this place. They are always very accommodating and the service is outstanding. Today, we had a large group and they offered us the most delicious buffet! THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS AS ALWAYS, but most importantly they went out of their way to make a simple Sunday lunch super special for our group. Our friends from West County were very impressed and hope to return soon! Thank you for a wonderful afternoon! You guys are the best!!! read more

We are from out of town and stumbled upon this little place. Glad we did ! We had the pepperoni pizza and spaghetti with meatballs, an extra side of meatballs and a side of house made sausage. Everything we had was delicious and made fresh in house. Give them a try! Plus very friendly staff that is there to make your dining experience pleasurable! read more

Incredible food and service. No idea what April O. Is talking about. Sounds like to me that maybe she was the problem...not the restaurant. I would recommend Peno to anyone looking for great food with a great atmosphere. Maybe the best pizza in town. We will be back soon!!! read more

The tables were so close together that it was an invasion of personal space and privacy. The people next to us said grace together and talked about very personal things. I did not want to hear about this, but I was trapped. I could not have a conversation with my guest it was so loud and crowded. Then, there were empty tables across from us. Greedy and selfish to pack people in. The experience was so awful that it made the average food taste horrible. It would have been more comfortable to eat on plane in a coach seat. I will never go back. read more

Peno was an exquisite environment. We enjoyed the spinach arugula salad with the chicken/turkey meatballs and Ragu pasta. Highly recommend this Sicilian Italian Soul Food Restaurant. read more

Peno - Sicilian Car Bomb was To Die For. - Italian Near Me - Clayton, Missouri

Love bringing my family to Peno when they are in town. The restaurant is fairly small, so the atmosphere is relaxed and intimate. The waiters are always friendly and helpful. Good wine selection and the mussels are wonderful. read more

Ok listen up people. If you haven't tried this place there is no hope for you. Every time we go into Peno's for dinner we are stunned at the revolving and creative menus and the incredible people who drive this tour de force in Clayton. The small kitchen and talented chefs with the host/owner Pepe's grandmother's recipe books continue to stun and dazzle customers through original and authentic Sicilian fair. The kitchen has more power than Three Mile Island. We started with appetizers of braised lentils my wife quickly dipped freshly baked bread into. They even take the time to infuse the loaf du pain with olive oil. Glorious. I ordered the meatballs which were big enough the looked like they were caught in an atomic radiation accident or were in an old uhf movie attacking The Golden Gate Bridge. Lean and mean they were delicious. My wife ordered the pasta with ribbon pasta and salsicca Italian sausage. I'm addicted. That salcicca was like heroin and I ate a good portion of her dinner. I need more!!!!!!!She is not talking to me now. Thanks Pepe! :) I wound up sharing my swordfish with her which was light and rich and cooked just the way I requested. A couple of martinis for us and a little wine and this dinner was off the Richter scale. My wife has forgiven me but Idiot savant that I am it took me so long to try this gem. Fantastic job Pepe and staff. Bravo read more

I stopped in to Peno for the first time to meet a friend so I really had no expectations. I was pleasantly surprised with Peno. It's very quaint and relaxed. I was impressed with the variety on the menu and my server was very helpful and knowledgeable in explaining all the specials. I got the house salad and Chicken Bomarrito which was excellent. I also got to see several plates pass by my table and they all looked amazing. I was glad my server told me to save room for dessert because the homemade Gelato ( saffron, roasted apples and almonds) was really unique and delicious. I will definitely be back. read more

Wasn't overly impressed when I first walked in, but ended up being blown away by their true authentic Italian food. We ordered the Giuseppe Pizza and Beet Salad and both were amazing. The dessert was what blew us away! We ordered the Lemon Ricotta Cupcake and it was the MOST AMAZING dessert we've in a loooong time - if not ever. It's a must. The owner, Peppe, couldn't have been more welcoming, gracious and appreciative of our business. It's worth ever morsel. Highly recommend for a quiet date night!!! read more

Being an Italian from NY, food was ok. Snails for app, not much flavor and not enough garlic butter sauce to dip in. Homemade bread was very hard, crust was too thick. Had the pasta with sausage and prosciutto, it was ok, little more salty than expected. Wife got seafood pasta, fish was over cooked, flavor was great though. Solid 3. read more

Excellent gem in Clayton! Food is ridiculously good, homemade Southern Italian! The owner and staff really make you feel welcome and are happy to share their love of food. The Palermo Pasta, Truffle risotto and lamb shank were fabulous and the berries and zabaione was AMAZING. One of my new favorite places! read more

First time here. Tiny authentic Italian place. Little hidden gem-two years old they said. I had chicken cannelloni $21. Four cheese, chicken, homemade shell, san marzano tomato sauce (which authentic imported Italian tomatoes supposedly). The tomatoes in sauce tasted so fresh. I believe it. However, the sauce was too salty. Everything else about the dish was high quality and delicious. Rest of the table ordered beef () spedini served with angel hair pasta. Wow. I've only had chicken spedini but the bit I had of beef was so hearty-pure comfort food. So good. Also ordered at the table was chicken gremolata served with itty bitty tiny pieces of pasta that *almost looked like risotto but regular pasta. Not too rich sauce but chicken was too salty for person ordering. Ok but you NEED to order cheese garlic bread, off the dinner menu "only at lunch" but they were so sweet to make us some! It was amazing. Tons of parmigiana. But the dessert?! "lemon cupcake" was more like a bombe and topped with homemade lemoncello whipped cream which had a beautiful marshmallow-y texture and flavor. Served with strawberry slices, was like a an awesome pink lemonade flavored candyland ! Can we talk about the "chocolate T-rave" though?! My gawshh. Huge crispy fried pasta stuffed with Nutella and marscarpone served warm. SERVED WARM. Creamy warm amazingness. Like a crazy crispy Italian pop tart. Topped with pistachio crumbles on creme anglaise and berry sauce.... just why we haven't been here before I couldn't say but we'll all be back.... read more

This was great food would recommend to anyone. Price was very reasonable and the food was outstanding will go back for sure for seconds.

Ate lunch @ Peno early this year. Enjoyed the food (Beef sandwich and green bean salad) while I thought the service was somewhat shambolic. Went there 2 weeks ago for lunch after seeing a movie @ the Tivoli. Website and Facebook said open Sat. from 11 AM to 9PM. Went in and stood around for about 5-7 minutes before Chef/Owner came out and said oh were closed sorry. Wouldn't serve me. Also place smelled funky as not good. read more

The food and service were great! We started our meal with the mussels. They were cooked perfectly in a sauce with just the right amount of spice. The countryside bread salad was next, it was delicious, the tomatoes, basil and onions were so fresh and the flavor of the dressing was light and complimented the veggies perfectly. I had the halibut with pine nut butter and lentils. My husband had the Tutto mare (sea food pasta). Both were excellent. I wish I was a better writer so I could aptly capture the flavors and the textures of these delicious dishes, so GOOD!. Next dessert, a lemon cupcake, which was sponge cake filled with mascarpone cheese and topped with a lemon glaze, perfect! My husband had chocolate ganache with hazelnuts it was also perfection. We will be back. They also make pizzas, I can't wait to try them. read more

Amazing atmosphere, welcoming staff, artisan chef....incredible. I throughly enjoyed the experience. I will definitely be back. And, will recommend it to my coworkers, friends and family. Thank you, Mary, for your outstanding service, and thank you John, for your amazing cuisine. read more

Such a fantastic place! I made my own pizza and was not disappointed by their toppings. While the pizza was great, the true star of the meal was their bourbon slushy. This bourbon slushy was one of the best I've ever had, but be careful. They are strong! Would highly recommend supporting this great local place. read more

Excellent food. I love family owned restaurants. Pepe is very creative. We have had casual lunches and dinners as well as a more formal dinner. They also ofer delivery. Ive lived in the neighborhood 40 years, and am thrilled with this new restaurant read more

My boyfriend and I were trying to find a good Italian place to go to this past weekend, so we thought we would check peno out. Saturday evenings can be very busy, so we called ahead of time to see if they would be able to seat us. I called about ten minutes before arriving, and they said they would be able to seat us once we came in. Once we got there, they had no table ready for us, and had us wait at the bar. They told us they would seat us shortly, but seemed very rushed and short staffed, and not too happy to have us there. We could see that other people had pasta and salad dishes, but after waiting for about ten minutes at the bar, they offered us a menu, with only pizza options! Clearly they had other food there, but neither my boyfriend or I were given the full menu. Missing a page is understandable, but the both of us? come on. After about another 15 minutes, we were yet to be seated, so we left, feeling quit frustrated. The service clearly needs some improvement. I have heard great things about the food, what a shame that we were treated this way, and didn't even have the chance to try the food. read more

This place is a hidden gem. A small bistro on a side-street just of Wydown in Clayton. Excellent pizzas with creative ingredient-combinations. Every pasta dish I've tried has been delicious and unique. Very nice and quick service. The small outdoor patio is great on a summer night. The patio has good shade so it doesn't get crazy hot on the warmest nights. Highly recommended. read more

If you have the chance, eat here! Food is fresh and so tasty. Amazing service. I have never done a review on yelp before. May not again but loved this place so much I felt compelled to share. read more

If you crave fine cuisine in a totally chill unpretentious situation then this is your place. Blood Orange Fig Cannoli: hands down greatest piece of cannoli I ever had, and I've had 'em all over! read more

Try to appear well-to-do if you want good service. I had been to Peno once in 2016, not long after they had first opened. I really enjoyed that experience but a friend of mine was also a "guide"--he had befriended the owner and we received some special treatment. The wine and food were great. I returned this past weekend with my partner and received fairly chilly treatment. Our server looked at me dubiously when I had mentioned that indeed I had been to Peno before, and when asked about a particular wine, he condescended to clarify the wine grape instead of giving an accurate description of the wine itself. Such a remark leaves one wondering whether he enjoyed being snarky or doesn't actually know anything about wine. Considering only one other staff member could address my wine questions, I encourage the owner/managers to develop wine education on their facilities. The original waiter abandoned us to focus on another table that had arrived after we did. This table comprised of a conspicuously wealthy couple, so from the server's self-interest, I understand that it was perhaps more worthwhile for their time investment. But such a move works against the best interest of their host, ie. the restaurant, which would want to provide superior service to all of its patrons. When a server does this, they represent discrimination on behalf of their institution, risk dissatisfying other diners and encourage negative feedback / word-of-mouth advertising for a restaurant. The couple actually received food before we did. Luckily, James introduced himself to us and became our server, and provided adequate service. The food itself was fine. The arugula and spinach in the beet salad were seasoned lightly and well. The pizza was OK. I enjoyed the sweetness that the raisins brought to the tomato sauce, but the sausage was underwhelming and somewhat bland. A spicier contrast would have been welcome. read more

Ate a delicious lunch here with my husband and our toddler. The service was very good and the food was wonderful. It is all Italian food but ranges from pizza and sandwiches to seafood pasta and rack of lamb. My husband and I ordered the Louie roast beef sandwich and the chicken meatball sub, which were great, and cannelloni for our kiddo. The cannelloni was excellent--tomato sauce was fresh and full of flavor. They also have a nice wine list. Cant wait to go back! read more

I went into this restaurant to get something to go, and was specific that I did not want microwaved food. They said that they did not use a microwave to heat the food. Minutes later I saw the cook taking my meatballs out of the microwave! After they made an attempt to justify doing this, even though I had specifically asked them not to microwave my food, I insisted on a refund and I left. I surely won't go back. read more

Discovered this place on yelp, and found it to be truly outstanding, legitimate Italian food, as you would be served in Italy. Ate there this past Sunday evening. Cute outdoor seating, as well as indoor. Everything we had was an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10...truly off the charts. We had the summer antipasto that had a wide variety and each bite was truly delicious. We also had the seafood pasta and a dessert that included house-made ice cream that was bliss. They do fresh, local, seasonal food that is relatively simple but bursts with deliciousness because it is cooked really, really well. The chef is clearly extremely talented. The entire menu is also very reasonably priced -- both food and wine. The prices are noticeably better priced than other places for the quality. The service was also impeccable -- attentive without being intrusive or distracting. read more

We got there for a super early dinner, or a late lunch (5 pm). The chef was alone, and chatted with us, and then went back and made the food, and then served it to us. The food was quite good. Not too much, not too little. It's worth going back. We had a pizza and a salad, both of which were nicely flavored, and not overwhelming with too much cheese or anything like that. We will go again. read more

A neighborhood gem with fresh, delicious meals and a full menu. We've tried a number of dishes -- chicken, meatballs, seafood -- and all were just perfect. There are also some great sides that could make their own meal. The inside space is cozy and quiet, so you can actually have a dinner conversation. Plus there is a cute little patio. Love this place -- it's a great addition to the neighborhood. read more

Good service, disappointing food, wine served warm. We went to Peno with a group of friends. The place is tiny and quite loud, though there is outdoor seating available too. The service was friendly as fairly attentive, but the food really was disappointing. On the appetizer menu they have something called Eggplant Involtini, which touts a "tomato gravy" and pistachio bread crumbs. It's eggplant parmesan - I guess "gravy" is another word for sauce. My husband ordered lasagna and he said both the pork and the noodles were overcooked. I ordered a pizza that included browned butter as a topping - I couldn't taste it, but there were areas where the crust was soggy. The biggest surprise was that all their "house wines" are served warm. The waitress said they only chill the "expensive"wines. We ordered a $44 bottle and it was warmer than room temperature - I guess stored in the kitchen somewhere. I had high hopes but all six of us were very disappointed in the quality of the food and the lack of attention to detail, and we will not return. read more