Umberto, Naples

We dined at Umberto's 2 or 3 times in 2007 and were satisfied. In May 2009, the experience was very different and entirely unsatisfactory. There was not a single good dish in the meal. In the fritura mista only the courgettes were good; all other ingredients poor. The seafood risotto was very poor in flavour and technical execution. The veal main was no more than acceptable. The low point was the salt cod main; the fish was simply awful and the only redeeming feature was the miserliness of the portion. The desert was no more than OK. The wine (Falanghina) was fine. We were astonished at how popular this place is. On a midweek evening every table was occupied and some of the customers were locals. We are unlikely to return.

I am Neapolitan and dine at Umberto's regularly. The owners have managed to create the perfect balance between tradition and innovation, with typical local recipes and a touch of internationalism. With the quality wines and the freshness of the seasonal products you can't go wrong! Staff are friendly and professional. It's good to see that they take on board comments and suggestions from reviews and have made some significant changes to the ambiance. Don't miss it!!! Michele

We had a friend's reunion last july at Ristorante Umberto. One of the main reasons we ate there was due to the fact that my wife has a wheat intolerance. The restaurant has an extensive selection of wheat free dishes. They were fantastic. My wife was in seventh heaven. The pasta was fabulous. The roasted chicken juicy, and the veal was heavenly. We also had some pizzas -- excellent. The waiters were all so friendly and extremely helpful to my wife. They paid such attention to detail with regards to her wheat intolerance. They took much time to create a four course meal which she devoured. The service in general was fabulous and the restaurant itself was really great looking. It didn't have the typical tourist trap look. It felt like the real thing.

We stumbled across Umberto's by chance as we ran from the mother of all thunderstorms. Even as drenched rats we were immediately made to feel welcome, and settled in a corner. The clientele was a mix of families, business men, and people just meeting for a bite to eat, but the overall ambience was of people relaxing and enojying some exceptional food. The food is truly superb. No poncyness, no nonsense, simply exceptional produce simply served. The buffalo mozzarella is just amazing. We were originally planning just an hours break and were in there for 3. In fact it was so good that we've been back on a weekend break from London. Simply cannot understand some of the negative comments. Maybe they were expecting something 3* Michellin-esque. I can't think of another Italian restaurant that is more quitesentially Italian. And the wine list is superb.

We just moved to Naples and decided to try Umberto because it was #1 on the Yahoo list with a lot of positive reviews. It did not really live up to that billing. Their website is very helpful with online reservations and we did that. The food was very good, the saving grace of the experience. However, we were given English menus and the only English speaking waiter without being asked. (We both can speak Italian.) We really felt like we were rushed through the restaurant. A little over an hour and we had every course. We felt they were trying to meet what they thought our expectations would be, without ever asking us what we expected. The food was good and made up for the service. I'd go back again but only because of the food.

We come from Spain and stayed at Pinto Storey Hotel in Naples for Easter holiday. I saw the wonderful web site of Umberto's and booked a table online from there. The three of us dining at Umberto! Very warm atmosphere, a lot of people around (but the owner told me that's not always so crowed like that night: easter) and very good typical neapolitan meal. I enjoyed very much the meatballs whose name was "Granny Ermelinda meatballs", the wife of Umberto who funded the restaurant in 1916. My wife had a seafood meal, and she enjoyed the flag fish (a sort of local anchovies) roll with breadcrumbs and vegetables. My son finally had a very special pizza (they call it "Verace") with fresh vesuvian tomato, buffalo milk mozzarella and lots of fresh basil: delicious! I'm looking forward to caming back in Naples and dining at Umberto's again!!

The service was poor. There is considerably better value for what one gets in other restaurants in the general area. Toilets were dark and not very clean. My wife and I, read the yahoo reviews prior to visiting and were disappointed after visiting this establishment.I would not recommend this place to others it is considerably over rated.

We had reservations at Umberto's last night, and we had really good time and delicious food. What a place! The food was exceptional and they had a non-smoking area (actually every restaurants in Naples have one!) and a classical guitar player. You really ought to go.

This restaurant is not more than average. The food was o.k. but price-quality does not match. We, our family, were a little bit disapointed about this restaurant. How can one write about music and singing? It was quiet as on a funeral during our dinner. You can find much better places in Naples.

I Liked the service and the food, expecially gluten free menù: it's one of the few restaurant in Italy where you can choose a dish from a menù if you have gluten allergy.