Esposito’s Park Cafe

I love the food at this restaurant and the service at the bar… However the hostess leaves much to be desired. She is not inviting or does she make you feel welcome … She is downright rude!
We come here every week or so and she never acknowledges us or tries to be friendly rather she makes us feel as if we should go away. If it wasn’t for Lana or the bartender in Saturday’s we wouldn’t come back! There is good food at other restaurants in the area.

good meal, great price. weird ambiance

I had no intention of visiting this establishment ever again but had a mothers day early dinner. I understand Mothers day has a busy day written all over it, but our waiter had our table, 7 people and one other table with 4. A rundown of the drinks, if you have someone assist you in bringing drinks over, and you are still two drinks short, you aren’t getting off to a good start. Ill skip over the lack of bread or noshing zucchini that doesnt show up. We order, everything seemed fine. Here is my advice for possible patrons of this place and also for the kitchen. When you do a dish of mushroom, mozzarella, basil, you should season it, salt and pepper, or how about one or the other. Also, dress it, yep dress it. We expected a long wait as anyone would with 7 dishes to come out but after 20 minutes i asked for bread and was told «i was just bringing it!» The food came out except for two dishes and the waiter asked my brother what type of potato, he wanted again, he told him baked. I waited for my dish which came out next and he informed my brother it would be 40mins for a potato. WOW, i heard him order it when we all ordered but clearly it wasn’t done, and neither was his chicken dish which came out in another 15 minutes and no potato obviously as he said forget it. Food wise, underwhelming, i made the mistake of getting the shrimp lettuce wrap which featured overcooked frozen shrimp and carrots and cucumbers which were raw in the sauce so i discarded them and basically ate shrimp with crunchy noodles in lettuce. But good sauce flavor, too bad the food wasn’t comparable to the sauce. The basic stuffed shells were fine, not great, not good, not bad, but fine, and the chicken was terrible, overcooked. So overall, i finally got the rest of the family on board with me, this is not a place for anything other than a quick meal when you don’t care how anything tastes. NEVER AGAIN.

Was there for Brunch on Sunday and it was delicious — they still start you off with fried zucchini, which are irresistible. Have also been there for late lunch and everything is super. Food, service, clean and nice atmosphere inside. Adorable outside, looks like a regular house! Can’t wait to have brunch on the terraza! Katie is a great waitress.

Great all around. Food, drinks and service! Brunch was delicious. Excellent Bloody Mary and sangria was also a hit! We’ll be repeat customers.

Had brunch here with my fiancé and it was like night and day from my last review. At this point I’m not sure if it’s hit or miss or if it’s a good spot that had a bad day (or the other way around).
The food was good, complimentary mimosa and zeppoli as we sat on the porch enjoying the sunny day.
It was a good day with good food and good service.

Esposito’s Looks like a basic diner or café from the outside, but on the inside it is much nicer and fancier. Theres a decent sized bar upstairs thats surrounded by tables. You can enjoy watching someone make fresh pizza on the fly in the brick oven, or you can take a seat outside.
You’ll be greeted with a basket of friend zucchini sticks, which was a nice surprise since Italian places like this throw in the usual bread and butter. for about $ 7 i got the stuffed spicy cherry peppers. Theres about 6 decent sized peppers that are actually spicy. The filling needs more cheese, its basically bread crumbs but it was a cute, fresh appetizer. I ordered a side of linguini with marinara sauce, which had nothing special about it but it was a nice portion for the price $ 5. My friend got this HUGE pesto chicken panini. He was in love. He could barely finish it, but he said the chicken was on spot.
Overall, this place was alright. Nothing too special about it but its cute. There isnt much for vegetarians here so beware — the seafood selection looks absolutely to die for!
*Parking in the back*

$ 26 for pitchers of white or red sangria. Great bartender (Lana) at the bar. My kind of bartender! She’s attentive, friendly, and has no problem telling it like it is when you’re all watching the Rangers get trounced by the Kings in overtime.
The food is amazing — it’s not your everyday Italian place. You can get bread and fried zucchini when you order. Both are fantastic. I’ve had the chicken parm, penne with vodka, and the pizza. Pizza is brick oven and heavenly. The portions are «just right» — you don’t get too little, but you don’t get too much.
This place is a wonderful, unassuming spot where you can just go, hang out, and have a decent Italian meal.

Great food! Sit at the bar when Lana’s working, she’s the best!

We were there yesterday for our goddaughters communion brunch. I absolutely loved everything we ate. The setting was family style for this particular event. I will be going back for date night with my love. You will not regret a visit. Excellent service and lovely food.

Was there last night, Feb 14^th. Food was excellent. Had French Onion soup. It ranks with the best I’ve ever had. I ordered the 14 ounce strip steak, cooked perfectly, no fat no grizzle. Rated with the best. Potato had the slightly sweet taste of an Idaho or a Russet. My wife had the Salmon which was excellent, We finished with a decak cappuccino and I had a double espresso. Both excellent. service was very good and the ambience was also good. This is my third trip there and It seems to get better each time

I went here for a late lunch today with a co-​worker. I was surprised to see how homie it was. As soon as we walked in, we were graciously greeted and seated. There were only 2 other tables present and one waiter working all 3. The service was really slow, even after the other 2 tables left. We had to wait a while for the waiter to come by our table to request the check.
Aside from the service, the food was okay. The lobster bisque, which was the soup of the day was delicious– made with real lobster and not too strong. I also got the crab cakes with baked mac and cheese which were good. LARGE portions and very heavy – it kind of seemed like they try to compensate the quality and taste of their food with the portion size. I would not order the crab cakes again but I would surely go back for seconds of the lobster bisque!
Overall, I was a little turned off by the service but it was a laid back lunch a day after the holidays so maybe that was the reasoning for the slow service? As for the food, I would definitely come back for the soup, I also got a wiff of some dishes the tables around me had and it smelled delicious. Would definitely go back to see what else is on the menu — when I am not in a hurry of course.

We came here for a birthday luncheon. The salmon and zeppoles were really good. the portions were on the small side though. They were able to cater a big party, all 60 of us.

This is one of my favorite places in my neighborhood. I think the food is pretty good, though not great. What I really like about this place are the people. Even though I may only go in every couple of months, I am always greeted warmly, from the owner to the bartender to the waitstaff. It’s a very comfortable, inviting environment.
My menu favorites are:
* Chicken Caesar Salad
* Eggplant rollatini with spaghetti
* Herb crusted tilapia
When you arrive, you are greeted with a warm basket of bread and fried zucchini. These are a couple of the things I love best, though they are a bit on the salty side. Perhaps tha tis why I like them, but they are definitely a bit salty.
On a warm spring evening, it’s a pleasure to dine on the patio. I avoid the patio in the summer, due to mosquitos from the neighboring apartment building.
This is a delightful little gem in the neighborhood. I heartily recommend it if or a yummy, satisfying meal.

I love the Park Café. I live in the neighborhood so have been going since they opened. I always get excited when new restaurants open in the area — especially walking distance from my house. Esposito’s Park Café does not disappoint.
The food is very good. It’s not gourmet but you’re sure to enjoy it. They also bring complimentary friend zucchini sticks to the table — 100% of the time. They are so tasty! They’ll also bring grilled flatbread, although this isn’t consistent. If you really wanted bread and asked for it, I’m sure they’d bring it without question & no charge.
The service is why I really go. The owner is there on site, and she is super friendly and recognizes us every time we go in and acknowledges us as regulars. The waitstaff is also very friendly. The bartender Svetlana also makes great Appletinis!
Tip: On busy nights try to arrive early or call for a reservation. The restaurant is located in what seems to be a renovated & converted old house (with a very open floor plan). There is seating both upstairs and downstairs. I prefer downstairs for two reasons 1) the service is usually faster downstairs — it’s not that they neglect you upstairs, but sometimes the busy waitstaff has to work both areas and you may need to wait a bit longer 2) the upstairs has a huge table that probably seats 16 — great for parties, but it’s in the same area as the normal seating, just off to one corner — so the noise from the parties can tend to be disruptive if you prefer a quieter night out.

After stopping in one Friday because we wanted to stay local, we can now say we come at least once a month! Everything is homemade. I have not been disappointed yet. Besides the food being fantastic I love how friendly the staff is. On multiple occasions, John the owner/​chef, has come out to the table to make sure everything was to expectations. Def. recommend!
–James

Good local spot

I was literally thrown out of this restaurant for studying too long there. Mind you, I came here for brunch AFTER calling the restaurant and making sure they would be okay if I stayed to study here after eating. They confirmed that they would be more than happy for me to study there and then proceeded to throw me out???
When I was thrown out (literally escorted by the chef, John, out of the restaurant), there were 6 out of 8 tables empty. Absolutely incredible.

The service was very friendly and the food was excellent. For Sat. Brunch, I had:
freshly squeezed orange juice (the only kind I will drink, spoiled as I am)
complementary grilled and salted flat-​bread, enjoyable grilled taste from their brick-​oven.
complementary fried zucchini, very good and plentiful
spaghetti Carbonara, excellent sharp peppery taste with eggs, cheese, pepper, bacon, garlic, and other essential vitamins.
Overall, a very nice dining experience. Based on their grilled flat-​bread, I am looking forward to trying their pizza.

This place is wonderful! I had the soup and salad lunch combo and it was great. The fried zucchini sticks that come out before your meal are heavenly! The salad was fresh and the lobster bisque was delicious (especially with the homemade bread) I also had a mimosa with pineapple juice, which is now my favorite kind of mimosa!
The restaurant was pretty empty while I was there, hopefully it gets busy later on because this is a place that I will definitely come back. The service was great, our waiter couldn’t have been any nicer :)