Local diners have a big reason to celebrate, and so do the Dining Divas & Dudes: Downtown Lafayette has a new Italian restaurant! Located at 220 Columbia Street, which was formerly occupied by Merlin’s Beard, Flavor Country Urban Diner, and Bea One, among others. Chef and owner Giovonni Antonio hails from Naples, thus the name Napoli’s, and has another restaurant in Champaign IL, which was so popular, visitors from other cities begged him to open one in theirs. Lafayette is the lucky winner. Chef Antonio greeted us warmly and welcomed us inside. It’s a family operation with favorite family recipes in a big menu with something to please everyone. We got to Napoli’s around 11:20am and were the only ones there, but by 12:10pm, it was almost full. Word is getting around about this place.
There’s a large seafood menu and three of us indulged in this. Linda had Shrimp Scallopini, which is shrimp, clams, bay scallops, and baby clams over fettuccine with sherry wine sauce. For her, “it was perfection. The shrimp were cooked just right and delicious. The clams and scallops were equally well done, and the noodles absorbed the flavorful sauce.” Oddly, the entrees in the seafood section of the menu come with side salads, but most others don’t, or at least aren’t mentioned on the menu.
Jo ordered the Shrimp Napoli, five jumbo shrimp sautéed in olive oil, white wine, lemon, garlic, fresh basil, and Italian herbs. This was an appetizer but was plenty for her for lunch. She said, “I’m no expert on sauces but this was a butter and lemon sauce with a tangy, rich flavor seasoned perfectly. I would happily order that dish again!”
There is a Homemade Baked Pasta in Brick Oven section of the menu and the Manicotti (homemade pasta stuffed and rolled with ricotta cheese and Italian herbs, topped with marinara and mozzarella oven baked) appealed to Iseral. His reaction, “The manicotti was soooo flavorful, full of rich ricotta & mozzarella cheeses mixed with the right amount of Italian herbs which made it very filling. I got the lunch special which was plenty and I left stuffed. Very cheesy and just the right amount of marinara sauce. Best I have had in years.” High praise!
Tetia was in the mood for something spicy and ordered Chicken Picante, sautéed in fresh garlic in light spicy marinara sauce and Italian herbs, served over homemade spaghetti (medium spicy). She said it “had a subtle kick as its name would imply - not too spicy that it would blow out your ability to taste the homemade noodles. The sauce is definitely the hero of this traditional dish as it makes up for any loss of juiciness of the chicken breast. The sauce was so delicious that it was enjoyed on the noodles, well-seasoned chicken, and with dabs of bread that came with the entrée.”
Kay got the Chef’s Favorite (I mean, why not?), fresh chicken and shrimp with capers and Italian herbs on homemade tortellini with Alfredo sauce. It was a very generous portion and she took half of it home and enjoyed it all over again. She really liked the combination of flavors and the Alfredo sauce was light and delicious, not overwhelming as is sometimes the case, and the tortellini were toothsome!
There are several desserts on the menu and we shared two of them, Tiramisu and Limoncello Cheesecake, not that we were still hungry, but we sacrificed for the good of this review. They were both excellent, Jo favoring the cheesecake, but there was none left to take home.
In case you missed it, we all loved Napoli’s. Take our advice and get there soon. Buon Appetito!