We were there last night, Thursday, October 22nd.(It was my birthday, BTW) The service was great, the Chicken Alfredo had plenty of sauce and tasted excellent. The Chicken Marsala hubby had was excellent. The bread was fresh, wine was excellent. We didn't have to wait at all for a table. I was very pleased. The last time we were there several months ago, before the pandemic, the service was slow, food was dry and not appetizing. I was in a wheelchair and couldn't get in. This has been rectified and deserves 5 stars! Thank you! read more

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Pompilios is a little Italian gem in Newport. It's a very old school atmosphere and has some fun history as Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise were here shooting a scene for the movie Rain Man. The food is always very delicious and comforting. The salad with the house Italian is great. The dressing is oily and has a unique bite to it. Some of my favorite dishes are the lasagna, chicken Parm sandwich and the shrimp Ronaldo. I like to do scallops instead of shrimp which they'll do for a small up charge. This dish has angel hair pasta, big chunks of cheese, olives, sun dried tomatoes and it's all tossed in a garlic-y oil sauce. It has tons of flavor and the portion is big enough to share! The bar area has live music on Thursday nights (maybe more) and it's just a fun, tasty little spot for dinner! read more

Pompilios - Shrimp Ronaldo - the shrimp + scallops - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

First off I have to mention our amazing server Chris. He is super helpful and just a great guy. He made us feel welcome from beginning to end. The menu is chock full of Pasta's served with just about any sauce you can imagine. The 4 of us ordered pasta dishes including tagliatelle with vodka cream sauce, puttanesca with meat sauce and angel hair with olives sun dried tomatoes and feta. We also cheese filled rice balls with marinara and the meatballs in a robusto marinara. The wine list is extensive and served properly by our server Chris. We ended with tiramisu and limoncello. We were not rushed in the least and encouraged to take our time which I appreciated. We all had lots to take home. One of the best Italian meals I've enjoyed on a long time. I highly recommend. Ask for Chris. You won't be sorry. read more

Delicious food, incredible service, Italian atmosphere! We love this place! Definitely an incredible experience.

A local favorite of the Yelping Baby Boomer! Located at 6th and Washington in Newport KY, Pompilio's opened their doors in 1933 and the restaurant still has an old Italian atmosphere with great food and service. The current owners are all from Newport and provide great service to the community. They have a nice bar with a huge selection. You can also go out back and play Bocce Ball on two courts while you drink and socialize. The steak sandwich, meatballs, salads, lasagna etc are all really good. In 1988 Hollywood came to Pompilio's. The Greater Cincinnati Film Commission had arranged for the use of the restaurant for the filming of a short segment in the 1988 award winning movie Rain Man. It was right there in the old dining room, just off the bar, that Dustin Hoffman as Rain Man ordered pancakes. ("Today is Tuesday, I must have pancakes.") As he got up from the table, he knocked over a box of toothpicks and immediately called out the number spilled on the floor. September 2019 Pomp's catered a reception for me on The Purple Bridge in Newport KY. The food was amazing and the price was more than fair. The servers also have great service to all my guest. I received many compliments on both the food and service. read more

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Atmosphere was great as was the service. Had the braciola which was a bit dry for my liking but the wine really helped. The Chianti. I had the Cesar salad with anchovies and finished with desert. I love the atmosphere and although you can get a better meal elsewhere, for the price, service, and atmosphere, I have to say it is on my list to visit from time to time. read more

I really like the environment, except for the back room where we were seated. The ability to reserve online is so easy and efficient. We arrived on time and were seated immediately. The lighting and ambiance is "off" - not cozy, and it was a little on the cool side. The starter bread was not enjoyable - I would have liked something that was fresh/warm, less dense and more crusty - it was like day-old, store-bought bread. The meal menu is pretty diverse and reasonably priced. (We opted out of appetizers so I can't speak to those.) There were 4 of us. Overall, we all liked and enjoyed our meals. The chicken on my chicken alfredo was a tad dry and sauce a bit soupy and bland - but plenty of parmesan at the table. My husband and I did not get dessert but our friends did. The choices were quite appealing, and they said theirs was delicious. Service was good - our waitress was efficient and checked on us appropriately. Restroom is 'meh' - small, meets the essential requirements. Will we go back?? Of course we will! It's been there for years and is a N. KY. restaurant landmark! Not perfect, but pretty much everyone local likes Pompilios! read more

This is a great little local place with a lot of character and charm. Very traditional Italian cuisine with homemade pasta. You will receive very large servings, so be prepared to share or take some home. I highly recommend the antipasti appetizer. read more

Not impressed at all. Servers looked disheveled. Place is dirty as if they've been using the same old mop water for years. They definitely need a face lift, i understand they have a appearance they like the place to have but the chopping ceiling and the dirt around the vents I'm sure isn't one of them. Now on to the food: its over priced for pasta, chicken, veggies and sauce. The $16.99 meal for one I ordered could have been made at home for the whole family for the same price. The alfredo sauce was almsot too heavy with not much flavor. I also wish they made a pesto sauce for the people with a nut allergy. Their creamy pesto sauce has pine nuts in it. Onto their hostes: she told us it would be an hour and a half wait for a table of 5. We waited because it was mothers day and that's what my mom wanted for dinner.. We waited for about 30 minutes, while she sat families with 3 or 4 people as soon as they walked in (they weren't accepting reservations due to the holiday). She was not very attentive, for as long as we were waiting you'd think she would have offered us a beverage. But she did not. I had to go to the bar and get one for myself. After about an hour of waiting i asked how much longer it would be since she kept seating other families and there were 2 tables that were big enough to accommodate my party of 5. She said they were getting my table ready now, it would only be another minute. Well, another 10 had gone by and she finally took us to our table (one of the 2 tables that were already ready) Will not be coming back. Very dissapointed in this staple in Newport history. read more

I hadn't been here in years (high school) and I think I'd overhyped this in my head (probably because of the Rainman status). The food was good but not super memorable. I'm admittedly not a fan of sitting at a table in the center of a restaurant but that is where we were seated as there are very few booths for 3. The ambiance is cute. The bread is memorable only because it is the first time in the history of visiting an Italian restaurant that I haven't filled up in bread. It is basically out of a bag I could buy at Kroger. My lasagna was good, my husband enjoyed his chicken parm, and daughter liked her chicken tenders (she didn't care for her onion rings but I liked them). Our glasses of wine were well poured ;) The best part was dessert and we ordered two: a brownie with ice cream and a chocolate galaxy cake. Both were delicious and we ended up taking a majority of the cake to go. Next time I'll try the tiramisu. I think we'll come back and try something new on the menu because there really were several things to choose from. I just wish they'd up their bread game. read more

3.5/5 if I could. We came here for a birthday. Overall our server was very friendly but not as prompt as we would like. I loved loved loved my pan seared salmon with raviolis and my father enjoyed the rigatoni Theresa. The sampler was a big portion but was cold when we got it so not as good as we would have liked. The seafood raviolis were just ehhh. They also had to substitute broccoli for asparagus which they ran out of so that might be why. The peanut butter chocolate cannoli was delicious but the tiramisu could have been better read more

**** Review 41 **** This is one of my in-laws' favorite Italian places (the other is Olive Garden). That said, I've been coming here for over 5 years, and I've never been a fan. I've had everything on the menu hoping that the next dish is better tasting than the last, unfortunately it's not. The sauce is bland and tasteless, like it was out of a can. The calamari is chewing and over breaded, and it's served on a plate with more fillers than calamari. The burgers are over cooked and dry, and the buffalo wings are small tough. Decided to get the Tiramasu, and it wasn't too bad, it did taste homemade. The service is good, and the staff is friendly. The place has a large enough area on the inside, and a patio that is about half the size of the inside. As long as my in-laws like this place, I'll have to keep coming. I've just been eating enough before I come so i don't have to eat here, which is sad because I love food Italian food read more

Pompilios - Decent enough Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

Have been coming here for years. Had a really disappointing experience as relates to food quality recently. Both myself and my friend had what would appear to be hastily prepared and bland tasting dishes. Service was not at its usual levels either read more

So I'll start with the positives: Service was attentive but laid back, she was always around when we needed her but not overbearing. The antipasti platter was tasty, good amount of meat and cheese for the price ($10). My pasta dish was ok, but not really any better than Olive Garden. They definitely load up the sauce, which is probably a perk for some. The negatives: We sat at the bar, waiting for our party to arrive and to order some happy hour drinks. The bartenders were quick to serve us and the prices seemed fair. The bar experience took a turn within a few moments. There was a group of 6-7 middle aged guys at the end/corner of the bar. They definitely seemed like regulars in the way they took over too much space, walked in and out of the area freely and were pretty clearly only there for drinks. As we started to sip, I overheard each of them make some extremely racist, hateful and derogatory comments and loudly at that. The language was jarring and included comments about sexually assaulting a congresswoman, ripping "that thing" off the head of a Muslim woman and using a racial slur to refer to a former president. Their conversation was so loud that 6 seats away we could hear every single word. I tried to get the attention of the bartenders but either they were ignoring them or me. I think the most upsetting part of this, these men were definitely regulars. They clearly felt comfortable taking over the bar area and spewing hatred. The bartenders served them with familiarity and likely have heard the same remarks over and over. I think this says a lot about an establishment with the company it keeps. I would suggest management have a frank conversation about hateful and offensive language with these people. There is no circumstance where the bartenders and other patrons didn't hear all of this, these men very loudly boasted for the entire 15 minutes we sat there and presumably continued. If this is indicative of the restaurant, spend your money at Sotto for a similar experience or Olive Garden for less money and similar food. read more

If you want a plain-old pasta dish (not house made pasta) and you don't want to do the dishes, they will provide. You won't be "wow-ed," but it can fill the need for a carb-crave. They have a few different sauces that can be worth a try, but don't be expecting haute cuisine. Seems to cater the Miller Lite bucket kind of crowd. #imasnob read more

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I've been coming to Pompilios for over 25 years and the experience has never been better. We had a table for seven on a busy Thursday evening and the dinner was flawless. Delicious eggplant Parmesan, excellent side salad, and great draft beer. We also enjoyed the garlic butter and the complimentary bread before the meal. First timers and life long diners agreed, Pompilios is the best when it comes to good Italian good! read more

My wife and I love this restaurant! Melissa in the bar is amazing and her service is amazing! Melissa is funny, anticipates needs and just makes the all around experience better. 10/10 recommend the restaurant 20/10 recommended Melissa! read more

Food was cold and bland for my liking, but nice ambiance and friendly staff. I tried it based on other reviews and was slightly disappointed. read more

This place used to be so so good 10-15 years ago. My previous visit here was not good. The lettuce in the salad was old and transparent and brown. And my spaghetti sauce was watered down. I suspect they aren't draining the pasta well enough. I decided to give it another shot today. My father and me ordered the Braciole. It was ice cold in the middle. We sent it back and all they did was microwave it and brought it all back scorching hot haha. Not even fresh servings. This was the final straw. There's other places with much better quality at the same price point. *Edit: the manager on duty stopped by to apologize for their error and offered a giftcard for the future.* read more

Celebrated a birthday recently. The food was delicious and really hit the spot! Enough food on the plates to split and share if you wanted to. Family brought delicious homemade cake made from scratch. My grandma specifically asked them to not clean up our table yet as we were just going to step outside to take a photograph yet when we came back inside, the cake was gone. That is the part I don't like about Pompillios. read more

I was so excited to take my out of town guests to have dinner here last night. It was so disappointing. It started with sliced, dry, white bread in a basket?? There were 3 of us and we each had a different entree. Not one of them was what I would call "good". They were flavorless and not at all what was expected at this highly recommended place. I will say the service was good and she was very friendly. read more

Pompillios is one of my favorite places to do carry-out. It's not the best italian I've ever had, but the portions are huge and it's very warm-comfort food. There's nothing better than picking up some Pompillios with a friend and carb-loading on the coach while watching something regretful on Netflix. There's something about Pompilios that gives you that mom 'n pop vibe. You may recognize the restaurant from its iconic appearance in the movie Rainman. I'm not sure that I would want to go to Pompilios for a fancy night out, but it's great for those times when you just want some no-frills italian food. Again... there's nothing wrong with the interior- but I've always enjoyed my experiences more when ordering takout here. Sometimes the service can be just a little on the slower side, so a carry out order let's you enjoy your carbs in the privacy of your own home! read more

I love this place been coming for many years. My last two visits have turned me away from here till they figure out the food situation. I don't know if they have switched to frozen instead of fresh. But every time I get food from here it's always cold when it comes to the table. Like frozen still cold. I also feel the quality of food has gone way down. read more

Was in town for a long weekend from Nashville. We are here two out of the 4 nights we were in town. The food is beyond authentic and the Bellinis go down too easy! Definitely our favorite Italian joint of all time. read more

Great service/ beautiful restaurant and bar/ it had very mediocre food. No steaks on the menu. The chicken parmigiana was below average.

Amazing. The salad, the atmosphere, the pasta. A local favorite serving up live music and authentic cuisine. A few locals suggested it to us and I'm glad we tried it. Will make it a point to come back whenever I swing through Newport, Kentucky again! read more

Pompilios - Man-Can Sampler - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

I have been coming to Pompilios for as long as I can remember. Understandably, things change; ownership changes. Regardless, I opted to meet a friend in the bar area for some drinks and to catch up on the NCAA Tournament. We had no issue finding a place to sit and were immediately greeted by the bartender, who was great. We had zero issues with service at the bar while we were there. Nevertheless, we both ordered food to go and for whatever reason, the food tasted flat, saltless and completely out of the norm for what Pompilios traditionally delivers. I'll be back; however, I will NOT order the Chicken Parm Sandwich ever again. read more

I visit Pompilio's probably once a month and usually give a shining review. This one isn't bad, but the service did stop after the server encountered an issue with an earlier check. He lost the cash that was in the server book to pay the bill and had to pay back $130. I've served for 20 years and totally know how that feels. Yet I also know that, as a professional, the service does not stop. The server came out strong though and I thought we had a ringer. He took our order quick and the food came out just fine. The manager delivered our dinners and then we struggled to get refills or continuing service beyond that point. The busser came to the rescue and took care of our refills. I did speak to the manager who was very nice and apologized profusely. She hooked us up with a couple of to go desserts even though we insisted that we were good to go. We will be back. I understand not every experience will be rockstar. I ordered the tour of Italy as usual and it never disappoints. My girlfriend had the cannanoli and she loved it. We left happy and will be back. read more

I recently moved back to Kentucky we haven't been there since i was a kid. we went here saturday, we had a great time Our food was good, and the staff was better. our server was very sweet and very hard working and the whole team worked like a well oiled machine. The manager Teona was so wonderful to us we were watching her through the evening working very hard for her team , we seen her at the front host stand, taking food to tables, she talking to multiple people the whole night and gave us some great information on the restaurants history. The restaurant is iconic on its own but seeing how great it's being taken care of by the staff is delighful after all these years. We will make this a regular stop for our family. read more

Had a reservation and we were seated promptly. The server was friendly and courteous and promptly took our drink orders and answered questions about the menu. The decor is quaint in an older building. Our food arrived hot and aromatic...tempting our senses and our taste buds were further rewarded with savory delight. The servings were plentiful and the server (Andrea) was quite attentive and gracious. This was a last minute Mother's Day dinner for which we were generously rewarded. read more

Took us over 20 min after setting down to place order, than it was 70 min for are food to get there, we ask 3 times for are garlic bread never did get it ?? Are food was not good ,burnt , Will not go back .after spending 126.00 on it should have been top notch but was not any wear near as good as Olive Garden Place was not clean either even if it is a old building. Troy Hodges read more

Classic Italian joint. Has the memorabilia from Rain Man. Also has bocce courts out back in the nice weather. Food is prepared by hand. Never been wrong on anything I ordered. read more

This is one of those restaurants with a long storied history that has a loyal following and has been around forever. These restaurants usually go in one of two ways...they are either amazing or a mess that is living off their preputation. Unfortunately my experience here was the latter. I thought both the food and service was decidedly below average. read more

I will never set foot at Pompilios ever again. Nothing can be said or done to make me go back to that horrible and pathetic excuse for an Italian restaurant. My husband and I love Italian food and we have really tried to find that awesome "hole in the wall" Italian place in the area that we could go to. Pompilios is no where even close to that. Our waitress was rude, and you could tell that she just didn't want to be at work that night. Not one smile and she rolled her eyes at me when I asked her for a wine recommendation. I ordered the eggplant parm and I was SO disappointed with this! Hey- Pompilios! Do you KNOW what an eggplant parm is supposed to look like??? It's supposed to be crispy and fried and delicious with chunks of mozzarella cheese. What you served me was worse than a grade school cafeteria. It was a soggy disc the size of a hockey puck. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that you fried them last week, froze them, thawed them, then microwaved them. I hope you show up on an episode of Restaurant Impossible so Robert Irving will flip your table of "authentic Italian food" all over your floor. And all of Northern Kentucky knows that you love your sauce and are always promoting it, blah blah blah. Well let me tell you what doesn't taste good?? Is when you take an entire jar and pour it over WELL over cooked rigatoni noodles and that nasty, disgusting excuse for eggplant parm. I have had people ask me for Italian recommendations and I make sure and tell them about you guys, and the horrible food you serve. Your Italian relatives are probably rolling over in their graves knowing what you've done to their name and to their food. If I could give you 0 stars, I would have. read more

Pompilios - This is what they consider eggplant Parmesan. Nasty!! The eggplant was microwaved! Nasty nasty nasty! - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

Just not good. I won't get into any of the historical mumbo jumbo and Hollywood appearances that everyone else has already covered. I'll just cut to the chase. The food is just not good. At all. We had about 10 people get 10 different things. Everything we tried, and we tried a lot, was blah. It all tasted like it had been sitting in the back, and then nuked in the microwave. The lasagna, which was what I ordered, was a big slopping pile of luke warm sauce that had obviously been poured on top of the lasagna noodles as opposed to being baked within the dish. The special, a pumpkin risotto with salmon was inedible and for the $20 asking price, a compete ripoff. The beer that I had tasted completely flat and watered down. Turns out, it was. We were eventually told the keg was near the end of its life and for some reason they still served it to me. I am only giving Pompillio's 2-stars for the aforementioned nostalgic decor and friendly service. The waitress we had was very helpful and attentive. If you want to experience the scene from Rainman (okay I had to mention something about it) then I recommend going here. Otherwise, just stay away. There is far better Italian in the area. read more

Pompilios - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

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Yes - this place was in Rainman. But beyond that it is far from extraordinary. The menu is standard Italian fare - nothing groundbreaking in terms of selection or taste. Everything is several dollars more expensive than it warrants. The salad I got was disappointing - small with very wilted lettuce. Also, the waitress was downright grumpy - paying very little attention to us (we got no drink refills) and acting like we were a burden though we didn't ask for anything special (she acted disgusted just taking our order). I will not be going back. read more

Classic place with great flavor, anyplace around over 100 years is quality. The bartender helped with the selections. All the sauces, meatballs and Italian sausage are made in house. read more

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I heard about this place for years and years. I know that a scene from Rain Man was filmed there. But I never made my way there to see if it was any good. Then I saw that they were on the Cincy Restaurant Week and knew that was a great time to check them out. I made a reservation via OpenTable for 7:15pm on a Friday. We arrived around 7pm and were sat by 7:20pm. A few minutes behind but not bad considering the place was packed! The ambience is a little odd to say the least. You can tell that they have been there since 1933 but not sure if that is a good or bad thing. The space feels like everything was an after thought. Many will find it to be interesting and unique while others will find it to be weird. I'm still deciding. Service was super fast for a sit down restaurant that was as busy as they were. I had a salad with their house dressing as well as their minestrone soup. I really liked the black olives in the soup. I had the Shrimp Ronaldo as my main dish. It was amazing. Tons of flavor and shrimp. Very heavy on the garlic but I didn't mind. The meal was finished with their tiramisu. Overall, the food made the night and I think it is worth checking out; however, be prepared that you will not be blown away by the venue. read more

Pompilios - Shrimp Ronaldo - great flavor, lots of shrimp and heavy on garlic - Italian Near Me - Newport, Kentucky

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Ugh. I wanted to love this place but it just didn't hit. I ordered the chicken marsala and it was bland. My husband ordered the chicken Alfredo which was pretty tasty but not fantastic. The wine pour and the cocktails were amazing and made our night. Other than that, I would say the place is average. read more

This is a classic Italian restaurant in the middle of Newport. It was established in 1933 and I can't believe I haven't been here in my adult life especially considering one of my favourite movies ; Rainman had some of it filmed here. The place has held up incredibly well considering how it old it is with a classally fancy type of appeal. Our waitress was absolutely delightful as was the other folks we came across here. Complimentary bread was there waiting for us on the table which is a great start for any Italian dinner. For my main course I went with something a little different the Seafood Ravioli. It was big Raviolis stuffed with a cheese and seafood blend and topped with a red pepper sauce. The only seafood I really tasted in the blend was crab which worked really well with the red pepper from the sauce. The sauce was tremendous but they went a little crazy with how much was there as I'm pretty sure I could have filled a swimming pool with what I had. Still a uniquely delicious dish for sure. For dessert we had another Italian classic Tiramisu. Very heavy on the coffee flavour but still a tremendous dessert. All in all a great visit to a definite tourist destination in Newport. A must try for anyone living around it also. read more

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