Courtesy Streets of St. Charles
Napoli III will occupy the corner space at 1450 Beale in the Streets of St. Charles development.
The Pietoso family already has culinary mainstays in St. Louis, with restaurants in Clayton and Town & Country. Today comes word of a third location, in St. Charles.
The Pietosos will open Napoli III, a 4,500-square-foot restaurant, at 1450 Beale Street at the Streets of St. Charles development later this year, according to a press release. The restaurant will include two private rooms, a bar, and outdoor dining. The location will mark the 15th food-service establishment in the burgeoning complex.
“We have a lot of roots, family, and friends in St. Charles, and we love that area,” says Kye Pietoso. "There’s no Italian cuisine in the Streets of Charles, so we thought it would be a perfect fit."
Chef John Burger from Napoli2 will work on the opening menu, which will include a mix of Southern Italian dishes from Café Napoli in Clayton and Napoli2 in Town & Country. Guests can expect to see fresh seafood, pasta, seasonal specials, and fan favorites including the veal chop, penne a la vodka, and pasta carbonara.
The restaurant will also test out fresh pasta and dried pasta sections on the menu to see which options perform best. (Café Napoli only uses dried pasta, and Napoli2 uses fresh pasta.)
Construction on Napoli III will begin in August, and a tentative opening date—possibly in December—will be announced soon. The family might have to push back the opening, depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic, but for now they remain optimistic. “We won’t open if things are as crazy as they are now," says Pietoso. "We’re hopeful that this too will pass. The new restaurant will give people something to look forward to, some hope for the future."
Opening Napoli III in St. Charles marks a full-circle moment for the family. The Pietosos moved from St. Charles to Clayton 24 years ago to realize their dream of opening an Italian restaurant. Tony and Kathy Pietoso opened Café Napoli in 1989, and sons Kye and Ande joined the family business to help open Bar Napoli in Clayton in 2003 and Napoli2 in Town & Country in 2008.
Menu pricing at the new location will accommodate more of a family demographic, Kye Pietoso says. The family wants to bring its favorite dishes to a new audience. “I don’t want them to be intimidated by Clayton prices," says Pietoso. "Napoli III will be a place people can go and have a great family meal on Sunday or conduct a dinner meeting on Tuesday night. We’ll make our menu accommodating to more of a family budget, but we’ll still have the best quality we can have."
