My mother is from Butler, and growing up I spent a LOT of time there. I had heard my entire life about whatever soup being like Natiwi's (I'm a southerner, but I know that Pittsburgh accent anywhere!), or "this one time, at Natiwi's..."... BUT I had never actually been myself. Â So when we were back last month for a family funeral, dammit, I requested to go to Natiwi's! Â :-)
Now, while it was a lovely time --- a glass of wine (really hard to mess up), and all of our entrees were very tasty --- there were things that are going to knock off some stars (like always, I wish I could do 3.5, but I do think they were at least A-Ok!). I'll hit the good first...
Entrees: I had a scallopini.... chicken I believe, but it was delicious. I also helped everyone else with their meals so I had leftovers. They were even good warmed up in a hotel microwave two days later.
I apologize, but I just don't remember the other two entrees, but they were also very tasty. I think mine was the best, but it was close...
NOW...
Vodka tonic. Not a good vodka tonic. C'mon people --- 2oz vodka, ~4oz fizzy tonic, squeeze of fresh lime... not hard.
Salads. Poor attempt at salads. Seemed like day old bagged stuff at the grocery store.
Bread. Stale stale stale.
Talking to the locals, it sounds like Natiwi's North is the place to go. Excellent soups allegedly. BUT, I still had a lovely time, and an excellent bookend to hearing about this place all of my life.
Rarely does yelp steer you wrong but this place is awful! After leaving there even the locals made a sour face when I told them where I went to dinner. I ordered a simple chicken dish with ginger and apricots and it was a bowel of grease (see pictures) with 5 fatty cuts of chicken floating in it. Sick. The only good thing about this place was the beer. I would have rather gone to Applebee's and that's saying something.
Review Source:Went here on a trip from out of town. Â The food is solid, and far above expectations for such a small town! Â I recommend the mushroom parmigiana for a twist on an old favorite. Â If they ditched the iceberg salad mix, it would go a long way to elevating the whole experience.
A funny thing happened when we first showed up. Â The hostess seem flustered, and said "You're going to have to wait" prior to taking our name. Â It sounded like the wait was going to be horrible, and she hadn't even taken our name! Â We were more than confused, but it finally became clear that she meant we'd have to wait for a table, which seemed incomprehensible for her. Â We ended up waiting less than 10 minutes for a table, and laugh about it to this day.
Natili's South has 3 levels: a bottom with smoking and nonsmoking sections, a bar , and another dining area on top. It only received 4 stars out of 5 because I prefer Natili's North. This one is too big for when I desire a quiet, speedy, and relaxing meal.
 I still reccomend it though because it's just more not my style. A band plays near the bar area sometimes, but I am not sure what nights.