Art M.
Yelp
DISAPPOINTING!
I come to NYC 2-3 times a year, and when I do I make sure to stop by Caffe Napoli which is one of my favorite spots in Little Italy. I came out on my birthday Monday 02/17/25 with my son and buddy for my usual birthday dinner, and we ordered 2 spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna. The normally would bring you a basket of focaccia, and balsamic and oil to dip the bread in. Keep in mind we were there around 8:40 pm on a Monday and there were no other customers but us. So, I expected to be waited on hand and foot. That did not happen. The waiter was cool, but nothing extraordinary... I had to request bread and the balsamic.. no problem... I ordered a Manhattan cocktail and it lacked alcohol and flavor.. It tased like a watered down version...we then ordered calamari as an appetizer.. The waiter tried to get me to order a $36 appetizer which I declined. The cocktail sauce used for the calamari tasted like spaghetti sauce with no horseradish for flavor (as per usual) not to mention the calamari didn't have the small squids, just the rings which I thought was odd.. they must've gone with a cheaper version and it was very greasy... When the food came out, we noticed the portions shrunk drastically. The meatballs were a little pink on the inside, the dinner tasted ok, but I had a feeling we would have to go get pizza after to get filled up. When the bill came in, I noticed it was $142..I was like wow, theres only 3 of us, what did we order? My son pulled up pictures on his phone from the last 2 birthdays and he can confirm the portions drastically shrunk.
2 plates of spaghetti and meatballs
1 plate of lasagna
1 Manhattan cocktail
1 Calamari
I then noticed they charged me an 18% gratuity which was $20 and I thought this was why the waiter was pushing for the $36 appetizer! It all makes sense... the owners don't pay well so they pass on the buck to the customer. The staff gets very lazy because they get the automatic 18% gratuity for lousy to mid service... with that being said.. I'm very disappointed, and I think I am done with this place.. Maybe it's time to go back to De Gennaro across the street.. so sad..