Nundini Chef’s Table

Houston, United States

3.8

Closed now

29 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 713-861-6331
Website:
www.nundini.com
Address:
500 N Shepherd Dr Ste A, Houston, TX, 77007
The Heights
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2.6 miHouston
2.7 miQuitman/Near Northside (Northbound)
2.7 miQuitman/Near Northside (Southbound)
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Valet, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
No
Coat Check
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Houston) 01:57 Tuesday, 10 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Your destination for authentic Italian food and products. Get true Italian food in our full-​service restaurant, featuring dishes from many regions in Italy. Or take a stroll through our shop, and purchase the very products used to make your delicious meal.

Nestled in an unassuming warehouse in the Heights, the Chef’s Table transports you to the streets of Italy. Offering a vast selection of wine from every region in Italy, the choice is yours as to what part of Italy you wish to visit today. Indulge in the rich flavors of our Homemade Gelato and Sorbetto. Come to the Chef’s Table, where every day is like a trip to Italy with all your friends and family.

History

Established in 2010.

1960 was the year Giampaolo Nundini started his first restaurant in Tuscany, Italy. After conquering the Italian restaurant scene to become a chef, Giampaolo made the decision to bring his style of cooking and quality of Italy to America.

Houston, Texas was Giampaolo destination of choice where the Nundini family resides today. By 1985, he had opened several highly successful Italian restaurants in the city. It was at this point that Giampaolo began importing and distributing authentic food and wine products from his native country of Italy.

Because of Giampaolo understanding of the quality of Italian products and the absence of the level of high quality products typically served in other Italian restaurants, this decision proved to be the basis for his import and export business — a business that today still enjoys the highest level of respect among restaurateurs.

The next innovative concept of Giampaolo was to create a «Chef’s Table», modeled after those originally established i

Meet the Business Owner

Giampaolo N.

Business Owner

Giampaolo Nundini was born in Livorno (Tuscany) Italy from the early age of 6 (due to the lost of his father) was accepted as student to the original «Boys Town» in Rome.

In the morning was given three choice :

1) Going to the Church

2) Going to the Library

3)Going to the kitchen

Giampaolo choose the Kitchen, so from that early age to his eighteen birtday lern from different Chefs all different skill, secrets and specialty.

By age 21 open his first restaurant in Tirrenia (Pisa) «La Bettola –The Cave»

Move on and work in different Restaurant all over the Italian peninsula and then landed in Houston where opened very successful restaurants as «Tre’s“Cgiampaolo@nundini.comafe’Bianco etc. Work for ‘Antones Imports» and establish a corridor of Italian specialty for Texas.

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29 reviews of Nundini Chef’s Table

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
I wanted to like it. We walked in and nobody was there to seat us. Although when they did finally come they were friendly. We ordered a pizza as an appetizer, waited a while, and then the server came back shocked that it hadn’t arrived yet. It was a good pizza and hadn’t actually taken that long. She forgot to bring the condiments for it but another guy picked up the slack and brought them. Then we ordered two entrees. While we ate our pizza, the server returned to tell us that they were out of the pasta entrée we ordered. So we switched it, no big deal. Then she returned a little while later to tell us that they were also out of the fish entrée that we ordered. Ok then. We just decided to go with the one entrée. It was an ok spaghetti and meatballs thing. We paid and they hasn’t given us any discount even though they had been out of two of the things we ordered. We laid and we’re ready to go. We needed a to go box, so they took our food and didn’t return with it for several minutes. I thought it would never come, and while we were waiting, we overheard that the people behind us still hasn’t gotten their food (they had ordered before we even arrived) and they had to reorder because of some mixup, their order had been lost the first time. I don’t know how a place with so much friendly staff can have service like this. Sorry. I wanted to like it but it was just a very odd experience.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Houston does not have a lot of good or authentic Italian food options. What started off as a simple Italian grocery import store turned into a lovely restaurant. Don’t let the outside fool you or snobs turn you off. You come here for the food and it doesn’t disappoint.
Place rating: 4
Houston, TX
Locations convenient beautiful setting friendly staff food excellent had the shrimp and calamari appetizer was served on to big of a plate next the seafood pasta wonderful except that two of my clams Did not open tomato basil soup luscious served in a wonderful soup ramekin had the three mousse dessert great
The only problems the ladies room had no toilet paper thank God for hand towels The busboy staff was not supportive of the waiters Busboys we’re not refilling water and we’re not clearing away plates when done it took forever to get a menu to order dessert
Place rating: 5
Conroe, TX
Great, great experience! My wife and I went for our anniversary and we couldn’t have had a better time. The Caprese salad to start was absolutely delicious, and each of our main courses was terrific. After learning that it was our anniversary, Chef Nundini took extra care of us and even sent us a drink on the house! We can’t wait to go back, and next time need to save room for gelato, I hear it’s some of the very best in Houston.
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
We have eaten at Nundini’s many times. The food is usually good and we appreciate the wine list. We’ve had a few unfortunate experiences as well and most of them have to do with the service. Most recently we enjoyed a delicious meal based on our waiter’s recommendations. When he came to clear the dishes he exclaimed very loudly; «Jesus Christ that was a lot of food. Where did it all go?». It was NOT a lot of food. In fact both dishes were among the smallest entrees offered and we did not eat it all, but we felt thoroughly embarrassed. It was not the only problematic statement from this waiter, but we’ll leave the posting at just the one. We have had other fairly appalling behaviors inflicted on us by other Nundini’s waiters (and one waitress) and we are left wondering where the management finds it’s waitstaff.
Place rating: 5
Sugar Land, TX
Amazing Italian food and the largest Italy wine list I have ever seen. Also the homemade gelato is yummy
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
This has very quickly become «our place.» Always the best service, (especially George), the most delicious menu items, including perfectly cooked fish, authentic Caesar salad with anchovies, fresh homemade pasta, an incredible selection of wine, and a dessert menu that is out of this world, including in-​house made gelato. Perfect place for a date night or a quiet mid week dinner. HIGHLY recommended!
Place rating: 4
Houston, TX
So I will start by saying that our waiter, David, was phenomenal!
He made some really exceptional recommendations, especially in regard to the wine selections.
He took his time to understand what kind of food we were looking for, and then made some food recommendations based on that.
His thoughts were spot on as far as what we should eat, and the both of us were very excited to try out what we had ordered. As the food came out, our mouths were already watering, I had ordered the Lamb Chops, and my girlfriend, the breaded lamb dish. Upon first smell, we were excited, then after biting in to it, we were only satisfied, not blown away.
The food was good, not great, which is why this gets a 4 star and not a five.
They do have some pretty good gelato though, made in house as well, which is pretty cool.
All in all, I’d recommend checking it out, David was an excellent waiter, the food is pretty good, and it has a nice relaxing vibe to the environment.
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
This is one of those places where food is ok but the service/​atmosphere is terrible. We walked in for a Friday night dinner for two at 8 pm and I could instantly tell we were not going to have a good time. The host was very meh and barely even looked at us when we approached him. We were seated immediately and there were 6 to 7 waiters just walking around us organizing forks and napkins and plates and just wrapping up for the day. We wanted to have a nice quiet Italian dinner but it was interrupted by constant putting away of things, clanking sounds and at one point someone even tried to fit a cart full of wine bottle crates and boxes between our table and the one next to us to get to his very important wine bottle organizing!
I am not even going to waste time writing about the food because the pasta and things we ordered were ok tasting but just looked like something I would have made in my kitchen.
To summarize, if you want Mediocre food and don’t care about ambiance at all, this is your place.
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
The pizza is good but the service is horrible. Maybe it’s the old world Italian style that makes it okay to lie to customers, don’t try to order from the Unilocal app they won’t put it in till you get their. Then they will tell you they forgot to put it in then they will say they just got the order. Also any time estimates they give you on when food will be just triple it for what it will really take.
Place rating: 5
Spring, TX
Delicatessen and Gelatotaria in the front, wine boutique and restaurant in the back. Quaint little Italian restaurant with a very good selection of wood fired pizzas, panini and classic Italian dishes. I have tried from each of the three areas and never been disappointed. Vast selection of Italian wines separated out by region/​varietal. Only been during the week for lunch and never had to fight a crowd. Will be back to try dinner.
Place rating: 3
Pearland, TX
When you look at the place it’s quite unassuming. The ambiance inside was good as long as you are sitting in the back room by the kitchen. They tried to sit us in the front but I asked to be put in the back as the front is where the deli is and the ambiance was that of a deli!
Now to the food I’ll give the food 3.5 stars. I’d
Give it 4 stars but we had a bit of an issue. The appetizers took forever to come out. We ordered the mussels and calamari fritti. The mussels flavor was there good garlic tomatoes herby taste but we had two mussels that were not open so we knew they were bad. The should not have served them or at least checked them out before send them out. Seemed the kitchen was overwhelmed as the owner /​chef was working both the front of the house and the back. The calamari was calamari fried with a few other things like artichoke hearts shrimp and zucchini. It was tender and good.
I got the lamb chops which were seasoned well but we’re not cooked to the temp I liked so I had to send them back. My wife’s pasta was flavorful but we expected pasta of the sea to have calamari mussels shrimp etc. But it only had a a few mussels and shrimp no calamari! My buddies Wife got the same and it was done the right way. My buddy got the veal Milanese which was fried and very greasy don’t think the oil was hot enough when they fried it. It definitely could have been better. He got the truffle Parmesan fries well they were cold and we had to send them back.
I’ll give the wine selections and prices 5 stars! They had real good wines at reasonable pricing…
The wait staff was slow and the owner had to jump
In and help… A two hour dinner took almost four hours.
Think the waiting staff needs to be more
Proactive versus reactive. They need to be trained correctly and not be pushy when people are ordering.
Thus the 3 star rating. Would we go back yes but def not in a rush.
Place rating: 4
Havertown, PA
A wonderful dinner in houston where I wasn’t sure I would find good italian food. I’m from philadelphia where it’s easy to find and was I surprised when in talking to my waiter and former chef Carlo that he used to run 3 restaurants in Philadelphia as well as the restaurant at the old Strawbridge and Clothier department store, known for its gourmet food and food court.
My coworker and I split the mussels, they were really done well with a good tomato sauce with capers and garlic. I had a seafood pasta and my coworker had veal oscar. We each had salads which were huge and very well done. Oh… and the gellatto for dessert was and nice touch.
Place rating: 3
Houston, TX
Interesting place — we walked in on a class and I wasn’t sure if the restaurant was even open. But the dining area was actually in the back, with an impressive selection of wines from all over Italy. We must have been sitting in the most popular wine region because servers kept coming over to take out wines from behind my seat.
We ordered:
calamari etc. Antipasto
Beef and al dente noodles
Gorgonzola risotto with a hint of asparagus
Some sort of dessert that I thought was going to be a meringue (but mostly tasted like freeze dried ice cream)
Atmosphere was made slightly uncomfortable due to the waitstaff master — a man who kept a stern eye over the waiters and mostly appeared to be taking notes and skulking about. Another man, while getting a wine from our area asked if the food was good. When I replied yes, he said «it better be» which kind of added to the whole menacing, Italian mafia feel I got from the place.
If I don’t get offed for this review, I’d go back and try different dishes as, overall, the dinner was nice and hearty.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Very nice quality quiet place perfect for a date. They also have great desserts always clean if your in to Italian food this is the place for you.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Overall my experience at Nundini’s is great. I have been going to this restaurant since I discovered it in high school almost ten years ago. The exterior is rather unassuming and therefore many people just pass it up without thinking twice about it. However, the inside is awesome. The décor is fancy and fitting, a great place to take a date.
One side of the place is a deli and import food store. I shop here occasionally to get items I cannot find in other stores like a Kroger. On the other side is the restaurant. The two sides blend together nicely and they are working on making the grocery side better aesthetically.
The wine selection is also impressive. The wines are organized by region and province. You can take a wine tour of Italy by shopping at this store. My friend and I have tried to buy wines from each region to get a flavor of all the varieties of Italian wine. They also have a good selection of wines by the glass. My personal favorite is Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
The food is also enjoyable. I have come here for both lunch and dinner for years. For lunch I typically get a panini, something quick and light. They make their own ciabatta bread for the paninis. In the store you can also buy this bread to make your own paninis. For dinner, they have a variety of dishes and specials every day. I follow them on Facebook and the pictures they post are very tempting. The food itself is also well made. The pictures on Facebook do not deceive. Throughout the years I have tried many dishes. They have revamped their menu a few times so some of my favorites are gone. However, I do love the lamb on their new menu and the steak. They can be pricey so I wouldn’t recommend it unless it is a special occasion.
Overall, this is one of my favorite restaurants in all of Houston. You cannot go wrong at Nundini’s.
Place rating: 4
Sulphur, LA
Very good! The pasta I got was light and tasty. Not heavy with a lot of sauce. The steak my co-​worker ordered was huge!!! He said is was really good and he really liked the side of arugula with some type of lemon dressing. Appetizer of fried shrimp, calamari, artichokes & zucchini was very good but a bit salty. Overall, I would go back to try something new!
Place rating: 3
Houston, TX
Came here for HRW. Our server was a little bit pushy in a hilarious rambling way. His wine recommendations were actually quite good. Pasta (especially the seafood one) was a bit of miss.
We may return to try the pizza.
Place rating: 3
Sugar Land, TX
What an interesting experience. We made reservations for the Houston Restaurant Week menu. We called ahead that we would run late and arrived about 15 minutes after our reservation (6:15p). We waited at least 10 minutes to be seated as they have only 2 servers and no hostess. One waiter saw us waiting, but turned his back.
After seated, we were close to the oven and it was very hot in the room. The server said the A/​C had been down. At the time we were seated we were the only table in the back dining section. The front is more deli style. There were people in the deli area. After ordering about 15 – 20 minutes after seated we slowly started to receive our orders. This is where the evening gets interesting. People began flowing in, one server, Peter, seemed to be handling nearly every table. The other didn’t seem engaged. At one point we saw him sit down at the table to take an order (big no-​no). Then he tried the POS next to our table and when it didn’t work quickly enough he says, loudly enough, F**K.
We watched Peter and the chef get in a little tiff. That was fun. I watched the chef a lot and I think he felt uncomfortable because he served our second dish.
Another gentleman showed up, maybe the father of the chef, and he interrupted Peter, the server, while with a customer, because he had a question. Instead of waiting and making sure the customer was taken care of — just interrupted. Not very nice. I would expect the owner or whatever relationship he has with the restaurant to respect his associates and customers better than that.
Nearly two hours later, watching Peter bust his behind trying to cover too many tables for one person, we got our desert to go and the check. The food was pretty good except the NY strip. Not much to write home about with that dish.
All in all the service took away from the meal, not because Peter wasn’t awesome, but because they didn’t seem to care he was overwhelmed. That said, if you go, make sure you have plenty of time.
Place rating: 5
Birmingham, AL
True Italian Naples pizza and pasta ! Don’t miss this Italian secret in Houston! I will be coming back for more!
This restaurant would be $$$$ in another location!
Homemake gelato made daily!!!
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
I usually love this place but tonight the service was some of the worst I have ever had. My Chilean Sea Bass was the special and supposed to be served with lobster sauce and angel hair pasta. It was a white fish served lukewarm with some sort of reduction sauce. No pasta. A couple side dishes not listed. All we got was excuses about chef’s changing or not showing up, etc. Most important is that it was not worth the $ 35 price tag. Very impressed with themselves apparently. I would not recommend it any more.
Place rating: 2
Houston, TX
I had a hankerin’ for risotto. I searched for restaurants that have risotto on the menu and found that this was quite close to my home.
I call in an order for my risotto and the dish my boyfriend wanted. The guy on the other end of the phone corrects me on my pronunciation of each dish since they’re written in Italian and mostly 3 – 6 words long.
We go to pick it up. It was cold and raining and the car gets scared in the rain, so I had to keep her company while my friend went in for food. After 5 mins, I text and ask if everything is okay.
Once he returns to the car, he’s laughing about chatting with the owner and drinking wine. Apparently, only one dish had been prepared so they had to make the other one on the fly since the guy picking up the phone didn’t write it down.
I’m stoked about my risotto and we think everything is going to be legit after my guy had conversed with the Italian owner in French over wine. No dice.
My risotto was rice. Plain rice, no sauce, nothing. The shrimp were good, definitely quality. But I wanted risotto and getting plain rice was very upsetting. My boyfriend tasted it and said «I thought you ordered risotto?» I thought I did, too.
His dish was okay, nothing worth remembering the name of and we threw away the leftovers instead of putting them in the fridge.
Not a terrible experience, but not good. We won’t be going back.
Place rating: 2
Oak Forest/Garden Oaks, Houston, TX
2nd time I’v tried this place with the same results. Walked in, was ignored.
This time a gentleman asked why we were leaving and when I mentioned how long it took to get any attention, some waiter with gray hair was standing there and in a terse voice said «well you’ve only been here 5 minutes».
We just left again.
Place rating: 3
Houston, TX
Me and the work crew stopped by for a late birthday lunch a couple weeks back. We walked in about 5 minutes before 2 and were quickly informed they were no longer serving lunch. Okay…
As we started walking to the deli area, the server/​waitress corrected herself and said they were serving lunch, just not the full menu. We asked if that meant we could still sit in the restaurant area and she said yes. We were then seated and passed menus. I had to specifically ask what items were not available, she did not offer this to us right away. Basically we could still order sandwiches, pizzas and salads. Fine by me as that was basically everything we wanted anyway. Only problem was they didn’t have a couple of the bread choices for the sandwiches. We improvised.
I shared the veggie pizza with a friend. It was definitely a shareable size. Not something meant to be eaten by just one person. The pizza was loaded with yummy veggies, but it just didn’t blow me away. I liked the thin style crust, but again, nothing too exciting. I did think the meal was reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. The best part was probably the bread you are served before your food comes. I thought that was pretty tasty.
Since it was a birthday and we had dessert plans back at the office, I skipped dessert and gelato at the restaurant, but I do remember eating the gelato from here previously and enjoyed that.
For average pizza, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come back, and there wasn’t really anything else on the menu that caught my eye.
Place rating: 4
Houston, TX
After driving by for years, Unilocal’s Flight Club finally afforded me a chance to check it out! I love that there’s a grocery section with all kinds of goodies, and a gelateria too!
After the event, several of us stayed for dinner and sampled a few things.
Carnivore Pizza — Spicy salami, Italian sausage, Ham, Speck: nice crust, meaty without being overwhelming
Fettuccine all’Uovo Papalina — house made pasta with Italian sausage and green peas: great noodle texture, nice creaminess
Fettuccine Ai Porcini — house made mushroom infused pasta with hearty porcini sauce: noodles were a bit softer than I prefer, but the earthy sauce was delicious
We also saw a giant calzone come out to another table, but didn’t try it. Plenty of other menu options for future visits. Our server was knowledgeable, Italian, and pretty funny. He also gave us a lovely wine recommendation. Even though I’m not in that area much these days, it’s definitely worth a return trip!
Place rating: 3
Energy Corridor, Houston, TX
Lamb chops were delicious, but the plate itself wasn’t filling even with a house salad and I left there still hungry. The Scaloppa Milanese was very greasy. See pics.
On the service side, our waiter took our order and just disappeared and left us begging for more water and the check at the end. Go figure. I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon. Not sure what the hype was all about.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
I love this place! It’s a hidden gem in the heights and can easily be missed when driving by.
Their Italian food is authentic. It’s a small sit down restaurant with a deli when you first walk in. Every time I’ve come, it’s always been packed! Service is friendly and prompt. Food is amazing! I’ve tried their mussels and calamari. Robust flavors and everything tastes so fresh. Hubby gets the pasta or their special which consists of a variety of meats. You can’t go wrong with any of their menu items. One of the best Italian restaurants in Houston!
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Now this is the kind of pizza I don’t mind paying a little bit extra for.
I have passed this place up many time but never had the time to stop in. An Italian neighbor actually recommended the place so I decided it was time to give it a try. When you walk in the front is a deli where you can buy meats, cheeses, coffee and a few nick knacks like pasta and candies. The prices didn’t seem outrageous to me since it was all imported goods. My neighbor had given me some to try and they were all very good and different. I have to mention that when I went there were four other patrons in there, all Italian (well speaking Italian anyway). I always feel good about a place if a place caters to a certain ethnic group and you can find a large group of them there. If they like it, it is usually pretty good.
Towards the back is «restaurant» with a few tables. From what I understand for dinner on the weekends it gets pretty packed, good thing I went for lunch. I decided to try the pizzas since this was the recommendation from the neighbor. This place did not dissapoint. Thin crust, no «pizza» sauce, a little cheese, delicious toppings, especially the meats. YUM!
I will be sure to stop by and try one of the entrees.
Place rating: 4
Houston, TX
I love this place. It’s quaint, romantic, and beaten off the path of hustle and bustle in Houston.
Nice for lunch and dinner.
I had the Parma panini which was pretty good but when the table next to me ordered pasta, I knew I should have gone that route instead. They have a wine dinner which I am very curious about.
Oh ya, FYI, the restaurant is towards the back. The front part is the italian market, gelato, and meat deli.