Pompilio's Restaurant

Claim
marker

600 Washington Ave
Newport, KY 41071

marker
(859) 581-3065
Incorrect info? Correct your listing
Reviews
( 6 )
( 3 )
( 3 )
( 7 )
( 8 )

Best

This is the Italian Restaurant featured in the movie “Rainman.” It’s in the scene where Dustin Hoffman counts the toothpicks. That being said, the restaurant certainly has some ...

Worst

while the atmosphere is fun, the food is pretty bad

WHY WHY WHY 12/31/2010

Box of Linguine $1.29, 1 Stick of butter 16 cents, 3 pieces of chicken .87 cents=$2.32 more

Save your money! 9/18/2010

If I wasn?t given a gift certificate for dinner I would have rated my entire experience a total bust. The bread was from a cheap loaf of bread such as Wonderbread. The flooring was the worst. I think that is must have been the original carpet since they opened. How much effort could it be to replace it? It looked that they haven?t vacuumed since then either. The service was poor. Our waitress walked by us several times before asking how things were. This might have been a good thing, since I don?t think that she would have liked what I had to say. The spaghetti sauce was flavorless. This is not a place that I would recommend to anyone. more

shameful food........ 8/28/2010

I love wasting $125.00 at a restaurant when I could have got the same products in the frozen section at Kroger. To be honest, that may be where they get the food. more

Way Overated Food 7/27/2010

The food is just not good. The sauces taste like they came right out of a jar. I walked in expecting great food based on the reputation this place seems to have, however, we were greatly disappointed. Meals were pricey and just not good at all. The only thing this place has going for it is old-school feel in a good neighborhood thing. Stay away and go to Carrabas before you go here. Pros: Easy Parking Cons: Food quality more

Awful 12/7/2009

awful just awful, service was poor and food was worse. Cons: bad service bad food more

Beware of service 1/23/2009

My family and I love this place we have been coming here for years. This was the place we would come and have our last dinner before the family would part for school and thier jobs.I must say it looks great and the food is as tasty as ever! But the serves that we exprienced was enough. Our server Gary was the most worst server we have ever had we had to wait at least 15 minutes to be waited on and not to mention couldn't get an appitizer because he was to buzy in the back trying to get off work. Had to buy our drinks from the lady at the bar,and to top it off we had to wait on him for another 15 minutes to get our bill.Needless to say we love the food but don't deserve to be treated the way we were and a big suggestion to Pompilios is Better Service. Beware of service!! more

Good food and good service 5/16/2008

I travel a lot and usually try to eat at a ""local"" Italian restaurant during my travels. While the food was not the greatest Italian food I have ever eaten, it was extremely tasty and I highly recommend this restaurant. My server was very attentive, the portions were very good, and the prices very reasonable. The only unextraordinary part of my meal was the salad--it was just your average, run-of-the-mill salad. Of course, I don't go to Italian restaurants just for the salad. In reading the poor reviews of this restaurant, I can only speculate the people who wrote those reviews are very difficult to please under any circumstances. The next time I am in the area, I will eat at this restaurant again. Pros: Good Food, Good Service, Very Reasonable Prices, Good Portions Cons: Parking, The Salad more

Pompilio's sad 4/28/2008

My uncle ate at Pompilio's every day till he died; grandma lived a few doors away. It wasn't great then and it isn't good now. But we've changed. Everyone cooks better, eats better and dines out in better restaurants with better service. I tried it again to show my grandson the neighborhood and neither of us liked the food but he did get to hear great stories about his great-great relatives. It may be authentic Pompilio's but it is neither authentic Italian nor good. It is a shame. more

lively, welcoming, tasty food, enjoyable 4/15/2008

you are in Newport Kentucky, not New York City where I am from. So this ain't haute cuisine. Having said that, it tastes good. It is a tad bland, but not too salty. The tomato sauce has some personality, the chicken is moist, the pasta is cooked right. The cook, I am happy to report, respects vegetables and worships garlic. The house wine is very decent and very cheap. Most of all, the atmosphere is great. It's friendly, welcoming, convivial. The old building is really charming, especially the amazing old bar. The chairs are unusually comfortable. You just don't want too leave. Even though you're full, you want to try to squeeze in dessert, or at least an espresso. If you find yourself here, check it out. They'll try to squeeze you in among all the locals. You will not be sorry. more

Extremely disappointed 7/22/2007

While our requests to modify our orders were followed, actual service from the waiter was sub par. We never got asked if we needed more drinks until we finished finished with our meal. While poor service is never excusable, it can be tolerated if the food is good. The food was NOT good. To begin with, we both like good bread and were disappointed to find that their ""italian"" bread no better than wonder bread, that's been sitting out for a while and is no longer soft on the surface, but unpleasantly stale and dry. We had the calamari appetizer, where the marinara sauce was very good, but the calamari was over cooked, overbreaded and under seasoned. We did without the olives and banana peppers that are supposed to come with the dish. Unfortunately, there were bay leaves still in the marinara sauce, and for safety, unedible material should always be removed from any dish. The salad dressing was good, at least they have a good vendor for salad dressing. The salads themselves are sad, mostly iceberg (a couple shreds of non-polyester greens) with two cucumber slices and and a halved grape tomato. I ordered the lasagna, popularizied as the house specialty. Well, there was no meat in it, but was topped with a a meat like sauce, the cheese was unseasoned, the noodles were still wet and over cooked and the sauce tasted like it was out of a jar. My husband (who is 3/4 italian) had the veal. It was not pounded down thinly as veal parmesan should be, it was over cooked and rubbery and the pasta that came with his meal was over cooked (think spaghetti-o's) and the sauce in the pasta tasted like tinned meat. We did like the wine we picked for dinner. But, for spending almost $50.00 for dinner, we expected a lot more. Sadly, we thought Olive Garden is better, and we don't even consider Olive Garden to be Italian food. We were hoping for the real Italian food, but got something resembling a pale, terribly bad and unappetizing imitation of what italian food should be. Pros: While small selection, good wine. Cons: Food was awful, service could be much better. more

Wanted it to work, but a disappointment 6/19/2007

My wife and I, my son, and our granddaughter went to Pompilio's on Fathers Day, and I really wanted this to work out, what with the ""Rain Man"" hype, and the fact that real ""Italians'"" have operated this establishment since it's inception. I had the sampler platter and my wife had the lasagna. The Italian sausage was fine, but the eggplant parmesan was limp and soupy. The lasagne was a real disappointment.....only pasta and ricotta, and everything was covered in marinara. The marinara was adequately seasoned, and caramalized, which is good. My son enjoyed his Manicotti. Pros: Relaxed, informal atmosphere Cons: Not really very good Italian food more

Food was just average, expensive, small portions 2/17/2007

I had not been to Pompillio's in many years, I had grown up in the area but had moved away, but when I had a chance to go back I thought it would be nice. We entered the restaurant and was seated the waitress brought bread and took our order most all items on the menu are sold individually . When the sodas were brought to the table they were in 8oz glass bottles, which I had not seen in a long time,(you must pay for each bottle you get , and if you are a person who drinks throughout your meal prepare to put out $6-8 dollars for your refreshments each!. The food arrived to the table promply, my italian meal was not on a plate but in a large soup bowl which I found odd, the food was OK nothing special and we did not drink with this meal, there was 3 of us on the check. The room which we were seated was like stepping back into the 50's so updating could be done. Cons: high price, small portions more

Wonderfully Traditional 4/26/2005

This is excellent authentic italian food for a wonderful price. I grew up in the area, and have moved away. EVERY time I come home, I go to Pompilios. The meal portions are huge for price, but quality is not at all sacrificed. more

A Visitors Treat 2/27/2005

The food was terrific, the portions large and the service was surly and real Italian. One of the highlights of my vacation. Pros: food, portions, value more

Too much Hype 6/11/2004

While the ambience is interesting and the prices fairly reasonable, why bother with this restaurant. With so many excellent places to eat, particulalry Italian in the area, choose somewhere else. The food is incrediably mediocre, though the service is generally good. We only eat here when someone else insists. Pros: sevice, parking Cons: , crowds more

Bad Italian 4/20/2003

Food was not good. Sauces bland and the bread was god-awful. Tasted super stale. We waited forever too. The atmosphere was okay though more

Overrated 1/29/2003

If you like Ragu, this is your place. Food is mediocre at best. Atmosphere is not exactly the best. Looking for good Italian in a superb atmosphere at a good price ... try Karlos Italian Bistro in Florence. Excellent bread, wonderful ice tea, and a Smoked Salmon Fettucine to die for. more

out of a can 1/4/2003

Being new to the area, I searched high and low for authentic or close to authentic Italian food. I decided on Pompilio's and was pleased to see the number of people waiting to dine that night and took that as a positive sign. I can say that it was the worst Italian food I have had next to Chef-Boyardee out of a can. I ordered eggplant parmesan and tried desperatly to locate a morsel of eggplant in the dish and only found seeds. The pasta was chewy-not ""al dente"" and I had about a pound of sauce on a 1/2 pound size plate. Maybe it was a bad night, but I will not try it again. Pros: inexpensive Cons: long wait, poor parking, bad food more

Well Worth Your Trip 12/30/2002

I first tried Pompilio's at Taste of Cincinnati and had to go there. The food is tremendous and the atmosphere makes you feel like you just stepped into the real Italy. They even have a large back yard and outdoor dining area with bocce courts. On my first trip the service was horrendous. We waited almost a half an hour for the server to bring our change back after we paid. I chalk this up to a them being busy or our server being incompetent. I'll definitely try it again for the food and atmosphere. Pros: Wonderful Pasta, Great Wines, Romantic Music Cons: Crowded, Fairly Expensive, Poor Service more

DONT FORGET POMPILIOS 11/22/2002

THE FOOD IS ALWAYS GREAT YOU CAN REALLY TELL THAT THEY HANDMAKE MUCH OF THEIR PRODUCTS. FORGET THE LONG WAITS AT NEWPORT ON THE LEVEE, GO TO POMPILIOS Pros: PRICES, FOOD, SHORT WAIT more
< Previous 1 2 Next >
Menu for Pompilio's Restaurant


Summer SALE!!!:
15% OFF all yearly plans
Use year15 at checkout. Expires 1/1/2021
Editorial
  • The Scene
    This may be the most truly ""Cincinnatian"" restaurant that isn't in Cincinnati. A warm, family atmosphere pervades the dining rooms (one non-smoking, the smaller one smoking)....

  • 9/8/2004 Provided by Citysearch
Additional information
  • Hours: Mon. - Thu., Sun. 11am - 10pm;Fri. - Sat. 11am - 12pm
  • Payments: American Express, Master Card, Visa, Discover, Cash
badge