Leonardo’s Kitchen & Wine Bar

Charming in an understated way. The man working the register was welcoming and attentive. I thought the food was pretty good, although on the pricey side. It didn’t leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth though, so I was pretty happy with the experience. Here’s what I got to try:
— Toasted ravioli — Solid. I could eat an order of these for dinner.
— Marinated heart of palm salad — I forget what the actual name of this item is on the menu, but it was really good. I liked the white vinaigrette dressing, and the marinated hearts of palm were really good. Did not care for the bread/​croutons it came with.
— Puttanesca pizza — This was INTENSE! It had a lot of flavor and is definitely for anchovy lovers. The bf demolished it. I had a slice and couldn’t handle a second. It was good though.
I normally don’t like red wine but got a glass of the lambrusco and enjoyed it a lot – probably because it was sweet. I tried a sip of the chianti too and enjoyed it enough. It struck me as odd that the wine glasses were plastic, but I’m not a fancy person and don’t really care.
This seems more like a place I would like to go when it’s nice out and can enjoy a glass of wine on the patio. I’ll probably return at some point.

First off, before I unload on this place, let me say the food is excellent and I’m a South City resident…
My family first visited Leonardo’s a few weeks ago. The place was pretty cool, an old school service station converted into a pizza pubby place. From what I understand, it was opened by the owner of LoRusso’s Cucina, which, in my humble opinion, is the best Italian restaurant in the city.
Anyway on to Leonardo’s…
We showed up and the first sign of problems was the hostess/​front counter person. The bedside manner was more than lacking. We made our order and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time, but our pizza order was messed up (we wanted peppers not pepperoni) and we asked to hold the onions on our salads and we got them anyway. We were with our kids so we dealt with it and moved on. Little disappointed, but the food was good (I’m foreshadowing).
We received a $ 10 gift card from a local business and decided to try it again, takeout this time. We were told it would be ready in 15 minutes, I showed up in 20 and «The food isn’t ready yet,» said the hostess as she walked off. When she came back by I asked, «Do you know when it will be done?» She said she said seven minutes. Fifteen minutes later (were up to 30+ now) it was ready. When I went to pay, I gave them my credit card and gift card, this caused mass confusion. After about five minutes of clicking on buttons she said something to the effect of, «How about we take $ 5 off and give you a $ 5 gift card?» I said I would rather not. Eventually they figured it out and I was able to use my full gift card. When I got home (I should have checked) the toppings on the pizza were wrong again and there were onions on the salad again. Another messed up order.
This restaurant’s only chance of survival with this service and borderline rudeness is that they are a block down from the booming Anthonion’s Taverna to take their overflow. Good food potential and name recognition, but could be killed by the human service factor.

Awesome location. Old gas station with The Righteous Brothers channel on pandora radio when you walk in. Great feeling and super nice staff. The owner talked to us throughout our meal from the front counter and was so informative on the history of The Hill. I def recommend the solder combo. Mini pork steak (amazing), meatball sandwich (amazing), and a Italian beef (amazing). Defiantly a great choice if your choosing a low key spot on The Hill with a great «oldies» style!

I’m so glad my great friend and I decided to return. New menu. Much enhanced.
Three specials yesterday: grilled ribeye steak sandwich with smoked cheddar, trio of sliders and a hamburger.
We kinda skipped the menu and each got a special.
He got the trio of sliders: barbequed ham, meatball (with marinara and pesto) and Italian beef. Selected fries as his side.
I got the grilled ribeye steak sandwich ($ 11) with house-​made chips.
We sat at «our» table. And both of our dishes came out at the same time.
I had little dill pickle chips, which were delicious. I ate them first.
The grilled ribeye was perfectly cooked (medium rare). The smoked cheddar was just right for the meat. The toasted bun was shiny, cushy, fresh and delicious.
The house-​made chips had gumption. They weren’t really, really thin — a good thing. Very tasty, but they weren’t salted when they came out of the fryer. That was a mistake.
His trio of sliders was a BIG hit. He ate the barbequed ham and meatball sliders, and took the Italian beef slider home for dinner.
The fries looked fabulous — kinda thick, well-​cooked. I tried one, and it was GOOD.
Interestingly, the enclosed patio is now open air on two sides. Even on a hot day, there was such a lovely breeze wafting through the covered patio. Numerous patrons were eating there.
And I saw a lot of people getting pizza. Next go, that’s what I’m trying.
I took home ²⁄₃ of my sandwich and a few chips.

My friend and I went back for lunch again today. This says a lot, because we like to go to a different spot every time.
We both had a special this time, she had the grilled rib eye sandwich with cheese, and house made potato chips (I tried one and they were very crunchy & delicious). I had the 3 slider special ($ 9). Each slider was a small version of one of their regular sandwiches. Smart marketing, as I got to try three different sandwiches in one visit.
Oh, wow. Just WOW! The BBQ ham slider had a nice light sauce on it that wasn’t too sweet, and had a nice tang to it at the finish. The meatball had marinara and mozzarella on, and was just as tasty as the naked meatballs I had last time. With those two and my side of fries devoured, I had to take the Italian beef slider home for dinner. It was delicious as well. The beef was well cooked and the slider wasn’t drenched with jus, just enough to keep it nice and moist.
Right outside our window a mother & daughter each had an individual pizza, and they looked really tasty (I need a thesaurus!) too. I’ll have to try one soon.
I’m still a big fan! Oh, and they now have a loyalty punch card, buy 9 and your 10^th is free. That’s incentive for me to eat lots of naked meatballs!

Finally made it here for lunch! My husband ordered the Hot Italian Beef, which was awesome — perfect amount of spice and giardinera. I had the margherita pizza and watched as Rich went outside to harvest the basil for it. Can’t get any fresher than that!

Casual, freshly prepared, good wine & beer selection — a good choice

I wrote a long review and then it got lost when I had to go back to sign in. Not writing all that again.

My favorite is the meatball sandwich. Amazing place and price is nice. Even better is they offer beer and wine.

Decided to give Leonardo’s another try. I am glad.
They definitely upped their french fry quality. They are chunky with the crust like that of an arbys curly fry. Got a meatball sub and a veggie pizza. Both were amazing. The balsamic on the pizza made it. Everything was piping hot. I’m going to be ordering take out from here much more often.

We had several of their pizzas and they were all great. The crust is nice and chewy with just the right amount of crunch. The house-​made meatballs added a great flavor to our pie.
I also tried the hot Italian beef. The beef was sliced a little thicker than I prefer, but it had a very good flavor. The fries were a very unique spiral cut with a dusting parmesan. These were also very good.
I would have given 5 stars, but I was a little disappointed with the seating. We were in the enclosed outdoor area and the sun was beating down on us, making it very hot. Some shades would help this.
I will be going back here to try a few other things from the menu.

This is the place you go when you can’t go anywhere else. Like, say your legs are broken and you need a quick bite before the paramedics get there… actully I’d probably crawl across the street instead.
My family of four came in for lunch. We ordered a pizza for our boys half cheese and half pepperoni. The rude waitress acted upset that we wanted the pizza any way except how it was laid out on the menu. My wife and I split the most meh inducing italian beef I have ever eaten. I get better beef flavor from the frozen section at Wal-​Mart. The sandwich was soggy even at the first bite with no flavor. Back to the pizza, it was burnt on one side and mostly raw on the other. The boys made due the best they could.
The whole thing was capped off with more rude behavior from the wait staff and threats of issues with the owner. Just what I like to have with my meal, a scolding from the staff.
Again, you can do better, easily on any corner in on The Hill. Please save yourself the trouble.

I spent about $ 8.00 for an entrée. It was fine. I asked for water and the server brought me a cup of ice and bottled water. I was expected to pay $ 1.50 for the water. I declined and used the cup of ice to get water from the bathroom.
This was a new experience for me. I didn’t know restaurants refused to give water to people eating there.
Should I bother to say I won’t be going back?

Cafeteria food. Previously frozen french fries served cold. OK meatballs. Decent fried fish special – cod. The owner was there. Makes me think he is aware of the execution and thinks it’s just fine.
Wine is ok. Nothing spectacular. Good price.

Been here twice. Meh. Meatballs are good, chili is good. My husband also loved the fries of all things. Had mushroom pizza, would not recommend. Hubs had beef sandwich which was cold. It’s weird that they give you plastic cups and paper plates. It just is. They say they are a wine bar, no evidence of that in the place. Overall okay if Anthonino’s has an hour wait and you are hungry.

Great food, generous portions, great service, kid friendly… we will definitely go back! :-)

We stumbled upon Leonardo’s after deciding not to wait an hour for other full menu restaurants. This location was another pizzeria previously, they had their own set of problems.
Since Leonardo’s is owned By Rich LoRusso and LoRusso’s on Watson is fantastic, we decided to give this spot a try. There was one other couple in the restaurant waiting for their dine-​in order. With the small dining area, there is little intimacy and much less privacy. Even whispers are easily heard from across the room. Wife and I quizzed the knowledgeable server about the menu and made our choices for carry out.
All of the pizzas come in 12″ size. There are several red and white sauced specialties to choose from. One pie even offered a pesto sauce. We chose the standard margarita pie and a spinach, chicken type order. Wife opted for a small house salad while I couldn’t resist the salami di testa with house made chips.
Our opinions of the eats were mixed.
Wife thought the salad was great. no complaints.
Pizza #1 had diced tomatoes. While this shouldn’t be a big deal, I have never had diced tomatoes on a pizza, typically I recall slices on the pie. The margarita could use additional cheese as well. Pie #2 was a solid selection overall, but the spinach almost sunk the whole thing. I don’t know if the greens were from a can or what but there was a real…“Tinny” flavor to it. The chicken was tasty.
The salami sandwich was a worthy take. It is difficult to serve a salami sandwich on the Hill and expect to get away with anything but your effort. I think there may be a revolt of diners if a poor salami sandwich is even offered.
With a tea and soft drink while we waited and a 15% tip, our total order was better than $ 50.
SInce the place has only been open 9 weeks, I will give it a second chance soon. Anything by Rich LoRusso will eventually be a winner.

I think this place could easily be 4 stars, but there are just a few things that are holding it back. First, I think this place is misnamed. As far as I can tell, this is not a wine bar. Yes, it does serve wine, but not as many wines as you would expect. When we came here last night, there were six white and six red to choose from. A lot of the wines were not your typical wines (e.g., Chardonnay, Merlot, etc.), which is fine by me… IF your server can make a helpful recommendation. Unfortunately, when I asked him about a particular wine, he said that he didn’t know much about the wines. As a result, I had to google the information. If you’re going to market your business as a wine bar, your staff should be informed about the wines.
After I googled, I ordered the Ca’ De’ Medici Lambrusco Reggiano Dolce. It was a bubbly red wine (somewhat sweet), which I enjoyed very much. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that the portion was that big for $ 6 (which is their cheapest wine). Also, while it was served in a stemless wine glass, the wine glass was plastic. I think if you’re going to serve wine, you should serve it in glass, but hey… that’s just me.
In addition to the wine, my husband and I ordered a pizza. We ordered the BLT. While the tomatoes, cheese, and bacon on the pizza were delicious, we did not enjoy the spinach. I think a better choice would have been basil. Other than the spinach, the pizza was pretty good. It was served relatively quickly and came out hot, which I appreciated. My husband also ordered the Johnny Walker Black Label. We were both pretty impressed that they only charged him $ 6 for the glass, which definitely bumps this place up.
In addition to wine and scotch, they also serve beer, pastas, soups, salads, sandwiches, and burgers. Their menu is quite extensive, but I remember hearing that they’re trying out a lot of items to come up with their final menu. I think this is a great idea and I definitely plan to come back to try some of their other food items.
I’d say another thing holding this place back from 4 stars is their décor. This goes along with the poor naming of the place. The décor is the exact same as it was for Station Pizzeria, which would be fine if they weren’t marketing themselves as a wine bar. The one change they did make was to move the bathroom to the back, instead of in the front, which was a definite mistake. It is located right next to some of the supplies they have for the restaurant, which made for an awkward exit from the restroom when I ran into an employee shuffling around supplies.
I’m worried about this place’s ability to stay in business. We went on a Friday night when all of the other restaurants were packed and this place was almost a ghost town. I think if they want to survive they need to do a better job marketing this place and maybe offer a happy hour (since few places on The Hill do). Overall, not bad for my first time. I will definitely be back to check it out again.

Had their Hot Italian Beef Sandwich And it was great! This is a small quaint little place with a café feel. Great for parties of two or three. My wife loved her meal too

The pizza was excellent; hand tossed NY style with high quality toppings. The house salad was so-​so; the balsamic vinegar in the vinegarette was scarcely detectable. The service was uncertain and harried. They don’t serve water; you must purchase spring water in plastic bottles and if you get thirsty, it’s too bad, so sad if you want a glass to drink it out of. Huh? They offer three Schlafly handles, but their draft lines were serving up a lot of foam, so we had 4Hands canned Divided Sky Rye IPA instead-​yum. They do not offer «build your own pizza», you must order their speciality pizzas or you’ll confuse the hell out of their staff and their iPad. The dining area, though small, was nice enough and I really loved the pizza, but I’ll probably just get take-​out in the future. Based on the pizza alone, I’d have given a 5 star rating.