Little Napoli

Little Napoli is a great little gem in Carmel!  My boyfriend and I were walking around Carmel looking for a great place to eat dinner.  We were lucky to stumble upon this place!  We walked into Little Napoli and we could quickly see that the restaurant was full.  We quickly discovered that you really need to make reservations if you want to come to Little Napoli, that is how popular they are!  We gave our name to the hostess, and she told us that she would really try to fit us in and she did within 20 minutes!  Wahoo!!  We started with their famous cheesy garlic bread and it was delicious with nice chunks of fresh garlic!  Even better the marinara sauce that it came with was amazing!  Then I ordered the baked canneloni tricolore which basically has 3 sauces - a white alfredo sauce, marinara sauce, and pesto cream sauce.  It was filled a generous amount of chicken and the marinara was absolutely delicious.  The alfredo sauce was pretty good, but I was not a fan at all of the pesto sauce.  If I were to order this again I would only get the marinara sauce!  My boyfriend ordered the ribeye, which was nice, juicy, flavorful, and cooked to perfection.  The ambiance of this place makes you feel like you are in Italy and can be a great romantic place for you and your significant other.  We loved this place!  I would definitely go back!

Fiance and I were in Carmel for a few nights to plan our wedding, and we were in search of a great dinner spot.  The Yelp reviews and the online menu helped us to choose Little Napoli.  

First comment is: be sure to have a reservation!!  We made the mistake of walking up at 7:00 PM on a Saturday without a reservation and judging by the population of the dining room, the wine bar next door (also part of the same ownership, and features the appetizer menu), and the back patio, we thought there wouldn't be a chance of getting in.  However we were pleasantly surprised, as the very friendly hostess worked some magic and was able to get us a window table within 15 minutes.  

Big thumbs up for all of the staff, as in addition to the friendly hostess, we also received friendly, attentive table service.

Now to the food.  Overall, we were happy with the meal, although we weren't blown away.  The Carmel location appears to demand higher prices than we felt the meal was worth, but one can't really knock the prime downtown Carmel location.  

The gnocchi was fantastic.  I'm not usually a big gnocchi fan because it's so hard to find great gnocchi, but Little Napoli just became my spot for it.  If I'm in the area with a craving for gnocchi, I'll be sure to make a special trip.

We weren't very adventurous that night, so the remainder of our ordering included their famed garlic bread, Diavola pizza (Spicy soppresatta salami, basil, chili oil), and Chicken Parmigiana con Pappardelle with Alfredo.

I'm afraid we can't really agree with all of the rave reviews for the garlic bread.  It was nicely toasted, but it was pretty bland.  Certainly not the best we've ever had.

The Diavola pizza had great toppings, all of which were very fresh.  The flavor was solid.  However, the crust was a bit thicker than what we were hoping for since we were expecting a bit more of the Napoli style.  Overall, probably wouldn't order the pizza again considering all of the other tasty looking options on the menu.

The Chicken Parmigiana was very tasty.  The crust was nice, the chicken was juicy, and the sauce was fresh and full of flavor.  We absolutely loved the incredibly fresh pappardelle that came with the chicken.  It's one of the things we remember most.  Would definitely order the dish again.  FYI, the portion is pretty large (we took half of it home).

Overall, we felt the hype seems to be a bit overblown.  The food is good, but I have to believe there is better Italian in the local area.  The options are Carmel's answer to the dressed up traditional red-sauce type place, with a few tasty looking non-traditional options.

Would we go back?  Honestly, would probably try a few of the other options in Carmel first, but eventually would likely make it back.

Finally I found it!! Best Italian restaurant I have ever been to .. The cheese just melts into your mouth and you want to have more.. Garlic bread is delicious, pizzas are mouth watering. We also tried the eggplant Parmesan it was fantastic.. The ambience is great the only problem wait time is usually 15-20 mins & sometimes it will be a while before you get your dish.  Nice wine collection !!!