The bustling Streets of St. Charles development did not have an Italian restaurant—until yesterday.
Napoli III, the third iteration of the popular Italian eatery, opened December 16 at 1450 Beale, on a prime corner in the seven-year-old development.
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Tucano’s Brazilian Grill and prasino were the first restaurants to locate in the complex, which now includes Dewey’s Pizza, Firebird’s, Narwhal’s, Wasabi Sushi Bar, Mission Taco Joint, and P.F. Chang’s, among others.
Tony and Kathy Pietoso opened the flagship Café Napoli in Clayton in 1989. It moved to the corner of Forsyth and Bemiston several years later, in 1994. Over the years, it expanded several times, beginning with Bar Napoli in 2003, which was operated by sons Kye and Ande. The brothers went on to run Café Napoli and Napoli 2, in Town & Country, respectively.
Kye Pietoso will manage the St. Charles location, along with executive chef Jon Berger, who had been at Napoli 2 since its inception. (Twenty-year Napoli veteran Jesus Lopez will replace Berger.) Ande will replace Kye as general manager in Clayton and, keeping it in the family, Chris Holmes, a cousin, will replace Ande at Napoli 2. Patriarch Tony Pietoso oversees all three locations.
The new Napoli location—which will open exactly when a July press release said it would—occupies 4,500 square feet and seats 130 inside, a four-seasons room seating 25, plus two glasses in private rooms (that can be combined) seating 25 each. An outside sidewalk patio will add another 18 seats.
The interior at Napoli III is more contemporary than either of its two predecessors. In the bar, eyes gravitate upward to an assortment of different lights: gold spirals, pendant globes, black drums, a dramatic gold ribbon chandelier. It’s a more casual look by design; the color palette is gray and black, the tabletops are devoid of cloths, and the seats and barstools are comfy leather with fabric backs.
Kye Pietoso describes the menu as “a combination of what we do best at the other locations.” Arancini, eggplant parm, T-ravs, calamari (fritti or Livornese), carpaccio, veal and beef meatballs… All are present and accounted for.
Five worthy salads are led by the “stack,” a staple at both Napoli locations featuring a wheel of fried eggplant. Chicken and veal dishes come three ways and in two portion sizes.
Salmon, scallops, and, notably, sea bass and the house shrimp and lobster scampi (both pictured below) have all been big sellers. The veal chop vino rosso and three steak options are the most pricy alternatives.
But it’s the pasta offerings that are perhaps the most interesting. Café Napoli only uses dried pasta, and Napoli 2 uses house-made fresh pasta. Napoli III has both, and customers can witness the latter being made inside the kitchen.
Even though masks are not mandated inside the restaurants in St. Charles County, Napoli’s staff wears masks, and customers are required to do the same when entering the building and seated at the table, the same policy as in Clayton. To limit crowding, tables have been generously spaced, and no standing is allowed at the bar. “If every restaurant followed this process with social distancing, more and more people would feel comfortable about going back out,” one Yelp reviewer noted. “The staff didn’t crack under the pressure of those giving attitude about the seating and admitting process.”
Napoli is open daily for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to close, and due to limited capacity, reservations are required.
