Pezzella’s Villa Napoli

When you are ready for good Italian food, this is the place to come. It’s a neighborhood spot for us that we enjoy supporting. The food and service are superb! They offer a variety of wonderful salads – Cesar is my favorite! The bread is warm and yummy. The seeded is my preference! I love the Chicken Piccata and the Veal Piccata or Marsala would be another favorite of my family for sure!
We prefer to be served by Diane or Ellen, but you really can’t go wrong with any of their servers. Valerie is the hostess and she is always there to greet you with a smile! I have referred friends here and nobody has ever been disappointed!
Keep up the good work. See you soon!

What a great family-​style Italian restaurant! The Caesar salad, spaghetti with clams, veal parmigiano, and tartufo were all excellent. We’ll be back!

Very good meal and doggy friendly patio with a separate dog menu. Good Service I always try the calamari as a taste test at new places. Calamari was excellent. I had the OsoBucco,
Dad had the pizza, my son had chicken marsala and my puppy had the italian kibble and bits.

Very disappointed with the cleanliness and service. I do not recommend this restaurant for business clients. The tablecloth had red sauce stains from a previous guest. I had asked for water three times with acknowledgments each time, the water came to the table on the third request. I had the same experience with asking for pepper. They would ask you a question then walk away get distracted and have to be reminded. The restaurant was about 30% full. We had three different people helping us at the table which just added to a disjointed confused and frustrating service experience. They are missing the easy stuff. Was really hoping for better.

We came here with a group of people and we’re seated outside on the patio. It was cool outside and there was only one heat lamp. one star going away. The food was good well seasoned and tasty. They were out of different things on the menu. I ordered the clams and the waitress came back and told me you can only get a half order because we don’t have enough to make a full order. The half order tasted great. I also ordered a dessert which they did not have after I had already ordered it. Another star goes away… I would however give this place a second chance if I was in the area.

Outdated interior that smells stale. I ordered the chicken marsala, which was one small piece of chicken in a soggy batter drenched in VERY SALTY marsala sauce. The mushrooms were plentiful and tasty. The sauce would have been good if it wasn’t so salty. But I don’t understand their pairings. The chicken came with a side of veggies OR pasta. And for the pasta, I could have marinara or meat sauce. I am used to marsala being served over noodles or along side mashed potatoes. Why would I want pasta covered in red sauce with my marsala? For $ 12.75, it was NOT worth it. Table ordered garlic knots. I liked the tomato/​garlic topping, but the knots were fried and tasteless. Overall, a fail. I won’t be back.
As a caveat, the group I dined with love this place, and go often. They ordered margarita pizza, which looked good, salad, and minestrone. It may be that I ordered the wrong thing, but with so many other options (and given their drab décor), I don’t see a reason for a second chance.

Décor outdated. Waiter was a bore! Quality of the food was poor but the prices were expensive. Pure disappointment!

Here’s the brass tacks:
Our order — Fried Calamari appetizer; My Entrée: Cup of Boston Clam Chowder, Chicken Parmigiana with tomato sauce & mozzarella cheese (Al Forno), Hubs Entrée: Side salad with bleu cheese dressing, Scampi — Large prawns sautéed in white wine butter sauce
Dessert: Cannoli and Spumoni.
Our bill arrived and as it was our Anniversary celebration, this was not only a pleasant surprise but we’d certainly paid much more for MUCH less experience at other places. The total was just under $ 79 for everything — AND the spumoni came gratis as it was our Anniversary, totally not expecting that! Was a very sweet gesture on their part (we tipped to include the spumoni, btw, as it would have been part of the bill).
Here’s how it broke down…
as we hadn’t been to Pezzella’s Villa Napoli before, I like to try a little bit of everything, so I have an idea of the grand scale, instead of a myopic visualization of just my one entrée.
We noticed all the staff seemed a bit more mature, which was nice as they all seemed very good at what they do. Hubs and I just ordered water as we weren’t in the mood for drinks.
We settled on the fried calamari app, and when it arrived, I have to tell you it was the lightest, perfectly crispy coating on the tubes and tentacles that you’ll find. It was nicely presented and came with a side of a fabulous fully flavored marinara sauce that was to die for. And they didn’t go ruining it by adding a bunch of red pepper flakes to «jazz» it up (especially without putting it on the menu as so many do places do now). I get that a ton of people out there love, love, love this «heating everything up» trend that we’re seeing but guess what? Not everyone likes the feeling of their face peeling off due to the heat that you’ve ingested. That being said… kudos to Pezzella’s for NOT doing that.
Bread — who can NOT eat beautiful Italian bread with butter at an Italian restaurant? Um yes, PLEASE sign me the hell up! AND it was fresh and warm and super tasty.
Cup of Boston Clam Chowder — this was my «soup or salad» and I was stoked. When it arrived, it had a really nice depth of flavor that seemed to be assisted by bell pepper — and guess what? I loathe bell pepper, but in this instance, they definitely gave the soup a nice rounded depth of flavor. It was probably one of the silkiest I’ve experienced with a clam chowder. Flavors were beautifully combined and not a single overpowering note.
Chicken Parm — This was a full-​sized chicken breast, rather on the large plump side and they didn’t pound it out, which was amazing to me… as it makes for easier and more even cooking that way. AND it was perfectly cooked — not dried out by trying to cook it all the way through and not undercooked due to the thickness of the breast. It was beautifully breaded and the amount of sauce wasn’t overwhelming, with a nice layer of cheese over it. The sides served with it were a delicious buttery garlic pasta alongside seasoned green beans, not overly cooked with really decent bite. Both sides were fantastic and I could have eaten an entire entrée of each of those, that’s how yummy they were.
Hubs salad showed up and he dove right into it. He said the dressing was out of this world and the combination of greens was nice. Nothing too «frou frou» was nice as he had scampi coming, which was going to be on the rich side, so a salad was a perfect choice to go with that entrée.
Scampi — Hubs entrée hit the table and they looked like small lobsters, they were so big. He had the sames sides I had; I had a bite of one of his Mega Shrimp and it was juicy and enveloped in a butter light wine sauce that was amazing and he even wiped his plate clean with a piece of buttered bread (what am I saying — I’d have done the same damn thing!!).
As I couldn’t eat all my chicken, Hubs sacrificed himself for the sake of the team by finishing my Chicken Parm so that my Cannoli and Spumoni compartments could remain empty! See… even after 11 years, still thinking of me like that. Awh. Such sacrifice. But I digress.
When that cannoli and spumoni hit the table… there was an audible gasp. They brought it with burning candles for our Anniversary — how sweet!!! Once those were blown out, they removed the candles and we were able to completely indulge our senses into pure deliciously Italian delicacy oblivion! There really aren’t words for the flavor indulgence here. The Spumoni was notable; they do have it made specifically for them.

I have never had such a good time at a restaurant! I must say that Diane was the star of the show! She was so bubbly and excited about her job, the restaurant, and the foods and wines they serve!
This is a family owned restaurant that has been here since 1957 and no wonder why!!! My boyfriend and I both went for off menu specials. I’ll spare the details about the dishes as I’m am sure they’ll change but they were both superb. The wine by the glass list is short but if you have your own bottle they do complimentary corking on Wednesdays! And it’s half off bottles on Tuesdays. The atmosphere is quaint but appropriate for this style of old-​world Italian cuisine and the bar area looks to be a lot of fun with occasional live entertainment. I say go here if you want fun friendly service accompanied by great food! We also met the owners who were both delightful individuals who love their business as well as their guest!

I love coming to this restaurant because the service is so amazing. I have tried a lot of items on their menu and they have some great items! I eventually started using them for catering too and Vince and his team have been so amazing!
Garlic knots are a must, they make so happy :)

The 1980’s called, they want the Golden Girls back. I dont think this restaurant has updated its décor or menu since the 80’s. The place was just weird, staff were horribly inattentive, a glass of water took asking 5 times before it was finally delivered. The portion sizes were horribly uneven around the table of guests. Some meal portion sizes were large, some very small, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason. Keep on looking for another place, this one is sure to disappoint.

I saw the double pasta and bread on the menu and knew we were in for a heavy lunch!
Eats:
Salad — The croutons definitely tasted homemade, like they were made from old bread as they were very crunchy. The salad also had tomatoes and romaine.
Garlic knots — I thought garlic knots are supposed to be like garlic bread, but they reminded me more of a mix of a doughnut and the outside of a mozzarella cheese stick. In fact, they were fried, and I still have a greasy fingerprint on my keyboard. Tiny little balls… not feeling them.
Bruschetta topping — I guess this was intended to top the knots? Little bits of fresh basil and definitely strong tasting with tiny bits of garlic. Guess I won’t be breathing on anyone this afternoon.
Rigatoni meat and veg — Holy moly huge layer of cheese on top. Even though the cheese was melted, you can tell they use high quality product as this wasn’t overly greasy and the only grease really seemed to be from the cheese. Also, the parm to top the pasta was absolutely amazing, tasting like it was shaved fresh off the wheel. I could spoon it by the mouthful.
Tortellini — The inside filling was super meh for me. The alfredo sauce, however, was super creamy and pasta again tasted high quality and well cooked — not too mushy and not too hard.
Bread — These were big, olé rolls. They didn’t look like sourdough, but tasted like sourdough. Also, betwixt and between, they didn’t taste entirely fresh, nor entirely stale. More fresh, than stale though.
Catered at work. I got to sample a bit of everything.
So, skip the knots (without your stomach being in a knot worrying your missing deliciousness, you’re not), skip the bread, and go for the rigatoni!

The best Italian food I have ever had. The food is reasonably priced. Perfect portions. décor makes you feel like your in Italy. The waitress was above and beyond nice and friendly. Ask for Diane. Super sweet. My family loved it here tonight and the kids asked to make it a every Thursday dinner.

This place is great! Not only is the food good, but the staff are very friendly. My wife and I have been coming here for 4 years and we have always ordered pasta since our last visit. Last visit we ordered the Tuscan pizza and we will order this pizza every time going forward! Our favorite Italian restaurant in the valley!

Somewhat controversial impressions overall…
On a bright side:
+ friendly and polite stuff (although we had to wait pretty long before the waiter came to accept the order)
+ the cuisines are really yummy and they have big menu with a lot of options
+ nice decorations inside
But…
— portions are pretty small for their price (or just overpriced?)
— salad for $ 7 appeared to be a tiny poor mix of a few leaves with a few rusks. You can’t be serious, that couldn’t cost seven dollars!
To sum up, I doubt I’ll go there again.

I’ve passed by this place a million times in el Camino… I finally came here with my family for my dad’s birthday. It was a blast. It was slow and a little quiet but we had a ton of fun.
The manicotti was so delicious, but the Caesar salad was over dressed. The bread = AMAZING!
The staff was overly attentive and we really appreciated it. Their dessert was pretty good as well. If you’re in sunnyvale stop in!

Always wondered about this restaurant and finally got the chance to check it out!
Our party of two ordered their daily specials — Blackened snapper with Swiss chard and sole with capers and side of spaghetti and and meat sauce. For dessert we shared a lemon cheesecake.
Everything was prepared like what a grandma would — good ‘ol homemade comfort food.
The staff here were friendly and people all seemed to know each other. The hostess and the waitresses were so sweet and they treat the people like family. It makes you want to go back simply for such good hospitality.

I took my daughter for lunch on her last day of school. We got good vegetarian options. Ambience was decent, not extra ordinary. Place was clean and inviting. As it was a weekday,
Our hostess Diana was nice, she even adjusted timing for food preparation as my wife joined us little late. Half extra star is for her.

It was an underwhelming experience to say the least.
Although when it comes to Italian food, I am picky. I guess having Italian /​Sicilian grandparents on BOTH sides of the family and being raised with real Italian cuisine from different regions, you end up having certain preferences to certain flavors.
The garlic bread had seeds on the crust, poppy seeds too, which overwhelmed the garlic flavor.
The cioppino was bland. I had to shake in some parmesan, salt and red pepper flakes, but what I really wanted in it was a touch garlic. Although I really enjoyed the generous large crab legs they put in .
I have to say so far the Fish Market has better flavor in their cioppino even .
My boyfriend had the chicken parmesean, which was mediocre.
Lastly, it was way over priced and was left feeling unsatisfied.
Unfortunately, I have no interest in going back.

It’s not often that I’m absolutely split on what rating to give a place. I would give Pezzella’s exactly 3.5 stars if I could.
Alas, Unilocal does not allow partial ratings. So in the end, I decided on 3 stars due to mainly two things: price and portions.
I ordered the chicken marsala, sauteed with marsala wine and mushrooms. For the price point of nearly $ 17, I expected more food. At Frankie Johnnie and Luigi, a similarly-​priced chicken toscana is huge (
).
Sadly, the portion size at Pezzella’s was a bit small and left me hungry. But there was no denying that that chicken was delicious! Every bite was moist and tender, something that’s hard to get right for chicken breast. The mushrooms were sauteed just right, and the gravy was worth smothering over every bite of the chicken.
For dessert I had a piece of tiramisu, made with ladyfingers drenched in rum and espresso and layered with mascarpone. Priced at $ 6, it was again a bit small but very satisfying. Nothing says tiramisu like a flavorful cake that almost melts on your tongue!
Service was friendly and mostly on point. The inside of the restaurant has a rustic, Old World ambiance. Definitely a charming place to take a date, but expect to spend a bit of money if you want something filling.