Paul Mineo’s Trattoria

Appetizer was excellent (breaded, fried artichoke hearts topped with prosciutto and mozzarella). If we ever go back, its for those artichokes and the restaurant’s convenient proximity from our home. Otherwise, the experience was marginal. Attention from the staff was fine, however, the servers knowledge of the menu was not great and he didn’t know anything about the wine they offer. Cesar was good & the presentation of our entrees was very nice, especially my wife’s shrimp and scallops. I was underwhelmed by the quality of the food in the main course. I had the veal which was decent but my sides (potatoes and mixed veggies) were quite bad… and if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear the were cooked from frozen. My wife’s shrimp and scallops were huge, but really not very flavorful. The shrimp and scallops were also mushy and the shrimp was oddly grainy. Mineo’s is probably worth another shot, but I’m sure it will be a while before we give another go.
Oh yea… they had live music last night, which was a nice touch.

Very good food and the staff was very friendly and accommodating to our rather large group. I would definitely go back for the food and the reasonable prices

Very nice for a romantic date night. The portions were big which was nice for the price you pay. A lot of different options for an Italian place too.

Amazing! The bruschetta is super tasty. It has just the write amount of garlic. My boss and I ordered specials. She had the flash fried sea bass with capers and tomatoes and a side of green beans in red sauce and garlic potatoes. I had the shrimp and scallops over risotto. Both were awesome! The best part of each dish had to be the sea bass on hers and the risotto on mine. The risotto had a delicious, slightly spicy cream sauce on it.
Our server John was super nice and gave excellent service. The owner Bridget is a great person. She comes from a large Italian family and clearly knows how to prepare delectable Italian meals. Bridget takes the time to talk to you and get to know you. She makes sure your experience is awesome!
I definitely recommend this place!!!

Happy we came here. Thanks to the recommendation of a mentor we tracked down Paul’s and we will be coming back.

An underwhelming experience. The house salad was dreadfully brown, the food was average and the ‘music’ was kitsch.
This may have been good 40 years ago but is lacking even my Macaroni Grill standards. 3 people $ 150 before tips for a one & done experience.

Paul Mineo’s is the kind of Italian restaurant that you’d take your grandma to. It’s «classy» in a dated kind of way, the service is super-​attentive and the food is exactly what a 70’s ish woman would find delicious. I’m not saying this place is bad, it’s just… boring.
I had lunch with a client here (their pick) and ordered a salad. Now when I order a salad, I don’t expect a «flavor explosion» but this one still managed to disappoint — the chicken looked like the precooked stuff you get in the grocery case. It was that, some spring mix salad and a dusting of the kind of cheap mozzarella cheese that goes on frozen pizzas. Yech.
That said, our server was incredibly nice, really on top of drink refills and very conscious of not rushing or interrupting us. I appreciate that.
Good service, so/​so food and a lot of framed photos of Gary Sinise for some reason. That’s what you need to know, folks.

Amazing food and service. Off menu bass was vey fresh, served hot. Flakey outside with nice moist, tender inside. Best ever! House salad was very good and refreshing. First time there. Nice quiet dining for evening out, or in my case corporate dinner. Highly recommend!

Really enjoyed it. Sat at the bar for dinner, friendly attentive bar tender. Asked for an item not on the menu and they gladly
Made it.
House salad was excellent and really enjoyed the veal.

As a visitor from Edward Jones we asked all the people here where to eat. They all shared the same place so we dinned there! Our managing partner eats there and now I see why. The owner is such a great host, she makes you feel like you are in her home and we had a great waiter Gary. I really enjoyed the Pollo parmigiano and the side of pasta. My friend got the scallops and shrimp which I tried and it was perfection, and my other friend got the stuffed steak with crab. All were top notch, and we all enough every bite, which speaks volumes as I am quite the California food snob! If you want a legit, home cooked Italian meal, this is your place!

I am staying at the nearby hotel, and, wanting a nice (and early) dinner, chose Paul Mineo’s on the basis of its very attractive street presence. One of my treats when I’m traveling is a solo dinner — just me and my Kindle. How I am treated as a solo woman diner «of a certain age» says a lot about the restaurant. In this case, it cost them a star.
«Table for one, please.» «Oh, umm, yes, please wait a minute.» (the restaurant was ²⁄₃ empty). Hurried conversation between two suits. «Put her at table x» (sotto voce). So we turned around from where I’d been invited to wait, and seated me at a table that essentially faced the entrance and the doors to the restrooms. Every Other Table in the restaurant was tucked away in one location or another. Not this one. I went to say something but decided to wait and see.
Service was. .. slow. .. I’m talking about that first service where you order a drink, not the length of time you expect a fine restaurant to prepare your meal. By the time the wine came, I was ready to order. Salad and one of their flatbread pizzas. I should add that the waiters’ attitude was — there is no other word for it– patronizing, with observable difference from how they treated the mixed groups at tables nearby. This attitude, combined with the table selection, cost them one star.
The salad was the best part of the meal (see picture) — though the mozzarella was sliced much too thick. You can see from the picture, though, that it had many yummy additions to please the hungry palat. Thankfully I had ordered dressing on the side, because the dressing itself seemed to have no taste beyond oil.
The 10″ pizza was actually 12″ (yes, I did measure — you know those fussy women diners) and should have been listed as sufficient for two average appetites. The flatbread crust was crunch at the edges and soggy from the mid-​point of each slide to the center. Yum? I managed to snag a waiter for a second glass of wine.
By the way, another reviewer mentioned that during happy hour the price for house wines was $ 5/​glass. Either they’ve changed this or they now only offer beer at Happy Hour prices — my wine was $ 7 (and to damn with faint praise) «worth every penny.»
I’m not likely to be back here again, so my opinion counts only insofar as it contributes to the Unilocal conversation. So — have at it, friends and fellow Unilocalers! What is your current experience with Paul Mineo’s Trattoria?

Went last night. Food was delicious but horrible service. Never will go again nor tell friends about this place!

The staff at Paul Mineo’s all do their jobs well, but the food leaves a lot to be desired. Most items on the menu are in the $ 20-​$ 30 range, but there are a decent amount of items in the $ 40-​$ 60 price range. When you see prices like that on a menu, then you would usually expect someplace a little more upscale, but that is not what you get at Paul Mineo’s. After receiving the dishes my girlfriend and I ordered, we realized how ridiculously overpriced this place is.
I ordered the Cannelloni, and my girlfriend ordered the Risotto Milanese and both were well below average. Whenever I’m at a restaurant that offers risotto, I usually expect a 20 – 30 minute wait for the food to be served, but both of our dishes arrived in about 5 or 6 minutes. This was the first indication that the food was going to be poor. The risotto was dry and very bland, which is usually a symptom of reheating risotto in a microwave. My cannelloni was almost as disappointing and bland as my girlfriend’s risotto. It was obvious that neither of our dishes were made fresh because of the fact that they both came out in about 5 minutes. Also, I’m led to believe that they were most likely reheated in a microwave because they both came out piping hot! I expect my food to be hot, or warm, but not so much that it burns your mouth when take a bite. We had to let our dishes cool for a couple minutes before we could even begin to eat.
Paul Mineo’s either needs to lower the prices on their menu to match the quality of food that they serve, or they need to improve the quality of their product. I will not be going back either way.

I was in town for the weekend to visit a friend and his wife and we had dinner here Saturday night over the Memorial Day weekend. We had been here before and it was terrific. But it had been nearly a year so we decided to check and see if it was still up to the high level we had previously enjoyed. It was.
We started with an appetizer of shrimp with marinara sauce. Three HUGE shrimp arrived covered in the extremely flavorful sauce. Very spicy and full of garlic. If you like a more mild sauce, well this might not be for you but we loved it.
Entrée’s were Chicken Spedinni, Veal Saltemboca, and Pasta Di Mare. (did I spell all that right?) All were excellent and we ate every last bite. Skipped dessert because we were all so full.
Service was great throughout, the owner was there and came by and chatted briefly, and a wonderful time was had by all.
On the downside, we wondered if they will make it. The restaurant was nearly empty even when we left at around 7:30 PM. It’s a fairly large space and there were a only few tables filled out on the patio and 3 – 4 inside. They are located in the Westport Plaza which has been around forever and I wonder if they are suffering because of a drop off in the traffic in the Plaza in general. Hope not. Maybe it was just quiet because of the holiday.
Also, they are a little pricey which might be hurting with all the cheap dinner deals being advertised today. But I feel the quality is well worth it. I mean how can two dinners for $ 20 be any good? (Olive Garden, etc.)
Next time I’m in town, I’ll want to visit again. You should try it too.

If you are looking for a date night, THIS IS THE PLACE!
I literally LOVE coming here! The atmosphere is romantic and warm. The food is incredible and the waiters are very knowledgeable about the menu. My favorite entrée was a recommendation by the server and I have been hooked ever since!
The owner would come over to check up on us to make sure were were satisfied throughout the meal. You could tell she took pride in her effort to keep customer service a top priority. Just lovely!
…only thing that brings down the «class» of the restaurant is the people (not the waiters but the other staff) who refill glasses. Last time I went the guy asked me «What you sippin’ on?» instead of the more appropriate «What are you drinking?» At least it made me laugh.
Still… Five starts all the way!

I was blown away from this place. everything from the owner’s cordial attitude to our waiters professionalism was top notch. They were really on their game when myself and a friend came here during our yearly convention to west port plaza.
The lobster ravioli was excellent, the lobster was cooked perfectly and so was the pasta the best thing about it is they do not skimp on how much they stuff the ravioli’s!
The crab stuffed filet was their specialty that night and when I cut into it and saw how perfectly cooked my filet was I was a very happy man.
Everyone who delt with us was very professional and courteous and had no problems telling us about the restaurant history and other aspects of the area. I think that the week that we were at west port this was the best meal we had.
Thank you so much for such an amazing experience I look forward to visiting you again next year.
I have posted pictures of our visit, seeing how there is no pictures of their food hopefully this will help those who are on the fence about trying this place out.
I don’t know why a lot of people are bagging on this restaurant, either they were there on a bad night or this place has really turned up the service notch since their arrival. give this place a try and you might be as pleasantly surprised as I was!

In the rating trend, it appears that ratings have been increasing. I struggle to see this below a 4.
Great service! Made reservations via their website. Confirmation was quick. Shame on me, I arrived 15 min late for lunch; but, they still honored the seats and without attitude. In fact, the hostess sat us, engaged in friendly conversation, gave us a choice on where we’d like to sit, and made sure that we received a complementary order of biscotti as first-​time customers. I felt that our business was appreciated.
Waiter also did a nice job of tending to our needs. For example, I had to step out for a ‘call from hell’ kind of call, which led me to step outside to seek some privacy from my group. Not only did the waiter cover up my plate when he saw that I was away from my table for a while (probably 20 min), but he actually came out and walked over to where I was to make sure that I was okay — yeah, that might have been a bit much, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that his intentions were very good and he wanted to ensure that my experience while at his place was good.
Setting is nice. A bit old school, but classy. Maybe a little cramped, but not bad. Food was good. All three in the party enjoyed the respective meals. Lunch pricing seemed reasonable. I am now very comfortable with the prospect of entertaining clients here.

I took a large group of employee’s here for lunch. There were 4 men and 7 women. So the food was varied across they table. There are many options here for lunch and I think we had most of them. We had some appetizers that were memorable. I had calamari which was breaded and flash fired. Great! I also sampled their meatball appetizer. Forget about it it is the best. A little sauce and little melted cheese and mama mia that is a great meatball. Ok the starters are out of the way what did I have for lunch? One big salad with all sorts of cheese and salami and just to be friendly I asked for some anchovies. The salad came with the traditional St. Louis Italian dressing. You all know the name I just am not going to use the name.
We also had dessert. Well I should say they did. From a cannoli to red velvet cake they had it all. I really enjoyed my lunch with the guys and gals and Paul Mineo delivered a knock out.

Alright, I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Usually when I hear I have to go somewhere in Westport Plaza I let out a big, huge «ugghhhh» but I would actually be alright with going here again.
I’ll say this first: don’t go for the ambiance. If you’re thinking, «I really wanna go somewhere with a cool, young crowd who’s ready to party,» don’t go to Paul Mineo’s. If you’re thinking, «I really wanna jam to some good music while boozing with a bunch of fun people,» don’t come here. If those are your intentions before heading to dinner you might actually be kind of a douche, but I’m sure you catch my drift that this place is good for excellent food, not for ambiance.
They have a nice happy hour and you can get a huge (HUGE) glass of house wine for five bucks. I can only attest to the appetizers but what I’ve had was impressive and satisfying for an Italian restaurant. The toasted ravioli are very good and the marinara sauce rivals some of the best I’ve had on the Hill! Huge chunks of tomato makes Aimee K a happy t-​rav eater. The pizza bruschetta was SO good… super thin crust pizza with tons of cheese and fresh tomato and basil. Of course I had to dip it in the marinara, and that my friends, is key.
They had a guy singing and playing guitar and he was great to listen to, and I just enjoyed the whole experience. I won’t come back again unless I’m in Westport and need to eat, but I wouldn’t tell people not to go. Stomach & the wannabe Italian inside of me = very happy.

Went here for a business lunch today. It’s a good spot for this if you’re in the Westport area. The ambience is a bit dated. This is not a trendy hot spot and won’t be until they upgrade the interior to make it less old-​school.
I had the chicken parm and pasta special and it was very good. My dining partner had the roast beef sandwich special, which looked and was reportedly also really good. Not sure about the price, since it was a special and I didn’t pay, but their prices seem in line with most decent restaurants around town.
Service was very friendly and attentive.
With so many Italian alternatives, I’m glad I’m not an investor in this place, but it’s a good choice if you’re in the area, especially for a safe business lunch or dinner.