Napolatano's - Gainesville

We had a ceremony and reception here in July and it was a great experience! Rather than using the normal outdoor venue, we were able to use a small tucked away area of the garden which was perfect for a ceremony. Ginger was great to work with and very responsive and helpful. She did not charge us to use the private rooms or the gardens. Originally, we opted not to have chairs because of the cost, but day of, Ginger was very sweet and let us borrow chairs and 2 huge fans as long as we set it up and took it down ourselves. Which was no problem and the fans helped so much with the bugs and humidity. She also gave us string lights to use for the gazebo which made pictures so much better. They had a few parties scheduled before us, but they were still very flexible and let us come in and set up the gardens hours before our event and were able to move the party before us an hour early so we had even more time to set up the room. We had about 30-35 people at our event and the room they gave us was made for 40-45max. It was a bit crammed with the chairs up against the wall. But it was doable and thankfully everyone there was comfortable with each other so it was totally fine. It was a bit hot even with the fan on, but that was probably due to a mixture of a large amount of people in there along with a really hot July. The food was great and our guests liked the veggie lasagna and the pork loin a lot. Salad dressing was really good as well. Ginger also let us use the patio with no extra fee and that was great for dancing and doing desserts with more room. The only things I would say that could be improved on would be making sure drinks were being refilled. Our servers did give us our toast nicely and set up the food with good timing. And they were very sweet and approachable, but I do wish they refilled drinks because of how hot it was. Overall, our experience was fantastic and I'm very happy with how everything turned out. Our event was a bit last minute, but Ginger worked with us wonderfully and helped cater to all our needs.

I'll begin by saying our service was 5 stars! Great personality and very attentive. He suggested a drink that I loved, I think it was the Nappy's Nectar. Then he brought out the kiddo a plate of cheese and crackers and a pickle, sounds silly but it totally made the difference in my kid getting cranky while figured out our order. There was live music playing in the background which was nice and helped drown out my kid, lol! I started with a dozen raw oysters and they were fantastic!! I love raw oysters and eat them everywhere we go, including straight off the boat in Apalachicola, and I will come back here just for the oysters, holy cow! Especially for the price at $6.99/6. As for our actual food, it was just okay. I had Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo and hubby had Spaghetti and Meatballs with meat sauce. Hubby really liked his dinner, although I thought his sauce was too heavy on the fennel (tasted more like sausage). My Alfred sauce was okay, kind of grainy, and needed a little something. I will definitely try this place again but choose a different dish. Overall, I would try this place again, especially for happy hour drinks and appetizers.

We used this restaurant for an organization's banquet, and although they were very helpful and accommodating, it still seemed lackluster. We provided the restaurant with a headcount days in advance, but upon arrival, we were crammed in a small room, which barely allowed for guests to walk. For a large portion of the banquet, we had to walk outside of our private room to ask for our drinks to be refilled. Moreover, their seating arrangements had guests sitting directly under televisions and in extremely tight spaces to get into, which made it very inconvenient to get food. As for the food, we were provided an all-you-can-eat menu that came with three kinds of pasta, garlic bread, and salad. Unfortunately, the pasta was nothing above mediocre, but if I had to choose, the ziti was the best. The garlic bread was soft and cold, even if we got a piece immediately after they brought it out. The lettuce in the salad was absurdly large, which sounds ridiculous, but it seems like they didn't even try to cut the leaves in bite sized pieces. I think the restaurant sacrifices the quality of the food for the quantity. Nonetheless, we only paid $20, so I guess this is understandable.

Had my sisters graduation Liner here lunch/dinner). The garlic bread they served as their bread offering was awesome and addictive. We kept asking for more and more bread . After the bread coma I had shrimp scampi with a side of spaghetti. It was literally a side of spaghetti with marinera sauce.I swapped it out for just reg sphagetti because I wanted to eat it with the shrimp scampi as a meal not as a Side. My portions weren't big but everyone else' were pretty big portions

I am going to Vary from my Good, Bad and Ugly format again. Nappys is a cool place and has been a part of gville for a couple decades. It has survived the test of time, Fire, and economic downturn. The reason for that is.... the food is consistently great! The service is good. The beer is cold and the atmosphere is fun. Dean the owner is almost always there and makes it a point to talk to most people. It adds a personal touch. I have been there so many times I can't count. I know I'll be back again soon too. This is a local place for real people. Even if you're a fake person, I'm sure Dean won't mind you stopping by, although he might call you on it.