Pasta aplenty

A newly opened eatery, the restaurant is located at 800 S. Air Depot Blvd. in Midwest City. Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, the chefs prepare a wide array of Italian delicacies.

Recently during the lunch hour, I ventured to Napoli’s with a couple of local businesswomen, one of whom had exclaimed great compliments about the restaurant.

On her first visit, she ate the chicken Diana and loved the alla panna sauce, which our friendly and efficient server later told us was a combination of the marinara and Alfredo sauces. This time, however, the return customer wanted to try something new. She decided on the tortellini Siciliano (well, she actually pointed to it on the menu, since it is not that easy to say), which included sauteed tortellini pasta, ham, olives and the alla panna sauce.

Because the other businesswoman had heard such wonderful things about the chicken Diana, that was her menu selection. Whereas the tortellini Siciliano is featured on the dinner menu, the chicken Diana is on the lunch menu. The dish included sautéed chicken and mushrooms in the alla panna sauce, and typically includes ham, but she requested the deletion. The server never blinked an eye at the customization.

MESMERIZING MENU
After getting rather perplexed at all the available options on the lunch menu — ziti, ravioli, spaghetti, eggplant, lasagna, stromboli, calzone, various chicken dishes and pasta samplers — I decided on the manicotti, which was a tubular pasta filled with a ricotta cheese blend and topped with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

Our entrees were preceded by salads. My dining companions chose the Caesar, while I opted for the house Italian side salad. The dressing was tangy and tomato-based and nicely provided some zip to the greens, which included a smattering of spinach that would have made Popeye proud. The server also brought out a basket of buttery rolls, which had been rolled and spiral-sliced before baking.

Before we could over-indulge on the bread, our entrees arrived. With hearty portions, soon our server was bringing boxes as she refilled our drinks (water, tea and Dr Pepper).

Napoli’s clientele included military uniforms aplenty, as well as firefighters and police officers taking advantage of the weekday $7.50 lunch specials.