Papa’s Place

This is very solid food for off-​of-​the-​interstate Alabama Italian.
The food is fresh. That says it all to me. The dishes are Italian-​American (I am now a snob after several weeks in Italy) and more meat than vegetable-​based. I adore the eggplant parm and just have them leave the sauce to the side so I can appreciate the flavors sans sou rossa.
The dining area is standard as is the service. The food is fresh and that is key with me.

I’ve eaten here several times and it’s okay but not great. The service is very slow. I had the shrimp pasta special tonight. For less than $ 15.00 it was not bad. The pasta needed a little salt and pepper because it was bland but all in all it was decent. I did not get any bread that is normally served before you get your food and my drink was not refilled until I was done eating so my waitress was not totally on top of things but she was very polite. I think they need to offer a small salad with the meal. The time before I had the meatballs and it was so so. Overall it’s decent food but nothing to write home about.

This is a quiet simple solid Italian place with friendly down home service no frills but food that is superior in all respects. It comes to the table piping hot with dishes that will burn on contact. i ordered the lasagna which was more than ample size and vanished from my plate in nobtime flat. I was delicious. The waiter was older, professional and I really felt welcomed. Highly recommend this place for solid food and an atmosphere of hospitality that has gone from most of out franchised choices. l

I don’t get how other people actually like this place. It’s pretty awful in terms on Italian food. I’m guessing people like it because it’s BYOB, but if that’s why you’re eating here, you could just get take out and get blasted at home instead.
The food here is just bland and run of the mill. I couldn’t imagine coming back after going there twice. The first time, I got a sampler platter and the only thing decent on it was the chicken parm. Everything else was awful. The lasagna isn’t anything I’d ever want to eat again and the alfredo sauce is disgusting. It was like cutting into paste. The mozzarella sticks are ok, but grossly overpriced. We got five for seven bucks. Insane.
This last night, I just got chicken parm. It was ok, but the pasta was watery and the whoever made the sauce was heavy handed on the celery seed and it made it a little weird. Also, for the price, I’d expect to get a small side salad or something before the entrée, but you don’t get anything like that here.
I won’t be returning.

We have now been here twice. As others have said, it’s a very quiet place. Not too busy in regards to people and décor. Bring your own alcohol.
On our first visit we had the mozzarella sticks for an appetizer. They were very good. Their bread seems to be freshly prepared for each table. Our entrees were the sampler. Everything was decent with exception of the pasta. The standard is angel hair with Alfredo sauce, which they have a hard time putting in words. (They always say «pasta», leaving you to wonder what will arrive on your plate.) The angel hair Alfredo is like rubber cement with noodles. It comes pre mixed and is basically a giant glob. Harder to eat than it should be.
The second time we both got chicken Parmesan which comes with pasta (of course, angel hair) and marinara sauce. Our only complaint would be that there isn’t enough cheese on the dish; something that can be requested next time.
My sweet tea, with no lemon, came complete with a lemon seed in it.

I dined here for the first time with my husband a few nights ago and had a wonderful dining experience.
I called ahead to confirm their hours, and the person who answered the phone was friendly and courteous. She enthusiastically confirmed the location’s hours.
First of all, I was thoroughly impressed with the cleanliness of the facility. I could «feel» how clean it was as soon as I walked in. It’s not a large place, so on a Sunday night the server was acting as the hostess, too. She informed us that we could sit anywhere we liked and followed us to our table with the menus.
There are plenty of choices on the menu, and there is a good variety of food, too. It is definitely a place for a party of diners with different tastes. We chose from pasta, pizza, steak, and burger choices. Their appetizer menu is great, too!
It did not take long for us to receive our food. I ordered the chicken and eggplant parm combo and couldn’t believe the portion sizes. It was great to get a large amount of really good food for under $ 13.00. My husband ordered the large shrimp scampi appetizer because he was not very hungry, and it was a perfect amount for him.
The food was great, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere was somewhere we could relax at and have a nice meal. We will be back!

The menu is standard Italian fare, the décor is pretty bland, and service can – as others point out – be slow even though friendly. So why do I give it a 4? I can tell a HUGE difference when pasta, veggies, meat and other ingredients are homemade. It’s not the frozen crud they pass off at Olive Garden. If you want fairly simple Italian that’s not overly spicy, pricy, or prefabricated, this a great choice. The menu items aren’t as diverse as Guido’s, but there is a homemade flavor to Papa’s Place that more than makes up for it.

Unfortunatley Papa’s Place has gone down in recent months. I used to love this place and they had what was considered the best steak in Baldwin County but that is no longer the case. Service is VERY SLOW, food was cold, and the Ribeye is not on their menu any longer. Just recently had our office Christmas party and I was totally embarrassed because Papa’s Place was my selection for the party. I hope they improve but I want be back !

Do not recommend. Service was friendly but slow. Menu had lots of options, but really, it was all spaghetti with mediocre Alfredo sauce with slightly different names. Everything looked and tasted generic and it was the worst spinach cheese dip I’ve ever had. Didn’t know that could even be messed up to that level. We spent $ 80 here for a family of four. We could have lived the high life and enjoyed Olive GArden or Macaroni Grill for equivalent $ OR we could have found a Fazolis, Saved money and had better food and faster service. I rarely ever write a review, especially negative because businesses have enough challenges… but I hope to help others out and share the word… this is a no go, all around.

This is my all time favorite Italian restaurant! So far I have only been here 3x but all 3 visits were great! Service good. … food is delicious. Reasonable prices. Will definitely come here when I am craving tasty Italian meals! I think if you want wine, etc you can being your own in and they will open and serve it (I don’t think they, otherwise, serve alcohol.) Would highly recommend!

I can honestly say, Papa’s Place is one of the best meals we’ve had in a while.
I had a petite filet topped with blue cheese, served with potatoes and spinach. My steak was perfectly cooked. My husband had the sampler platter with Italian sausages, lasagna, ravioli, and chicken parmesan. For an appetizer, we had mozzarella sticks, which were obviously homemade and came with a delicious red gravy (marinara sauce) for dipping. We ordered the cannoli for dessert to split. It came with two, and they were good, but certainly not the best I’ve ever had.
We went on a Saturday night, and there was no wait. The service was exceptional. It’s a dressier casual kind of place.
The prices were reasonable — for an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert, we paid about $ 55. A part of the reason it was so cheap is that they don’t sell alcohol. You are welcome to bring your own though.
We will definitely be back!

After reading the reviews, I really wanted to like this place, when I arrived the restaurant was full, thinking this was a sign of a good restaurant, I was happy. This is where I was wrong…
We were seated in a reasonable amount of time, the waiter took our simple drink order and we then waited over five minuets (water and Iced Tea). I then ordered the fish special off the insert in the menu and my wife, their Papa special plus an appetizer. The appetizer was good, the Papa special was okay, just not anything to brag about, and then there was my «Blackened Fish» it was not blackened, rather burnt, they used some pre-​made salt based seasoning (as per the waiter) and then just put the fish in a pan to cook, the $ 17 piece of fish was overcooked and dried out, then there was their «roasted» vegetables… God that was terrible. It consisted of green squash, butternut squash and canned spinach, you know the soggy flavorless crap, yep, that in Alabama is a roasted vegetable.
Then there was the restaurant itself, overall it looked clean and the staff was helpful, My table was set with the silverware wrapped in a paper napkin and my drinks were served in a stained plastic cup… wile not necessarily a bad thing if I was eating BBQ, BUT this was an $ 80.00 meal, just saying if you are going to charge that kind of money for a meal, step up the game to the same level, Thank you… but I will not return.

This is my favorite Italian, ever. The service is consistently good and I’ve never had a bad meal. The alfredo & black and blue filet is the meal I’d have if I were on death row. Their alfredo is the perfect blend of creamy and savory.
Yes, it is BYOB.
I stop here every time I’m back in town. Give it a shot.

Stopped after work. Everything was fine until a bug crawled up my leg. Lost appetite and charged full price. Won’t be back.

The cannoli’s are real homemade and very good. I had the angel hair spaghetti and sausage and it was bland tasting. The steak is very good.

Since we stopped here at the spur of the moment and I didn’t have a chance to read the previously posted reviews, I didn’t realize it was a BYOB place. So in spite of the fact that I had no Chianti, I went with it and ordered anyhow. I ordered the petit filet mignon with shrimp diablo. The shrimp was unremarkable and there was nothing spicy about it, but I totally didn’t care once I bit into that steak. In fact the entire reason for the five stars was based totally on the steak. It was amazing. there were some sort of vegetables served with it, but really, it was all about the steak! Highly recommend it and I will be going back!

Depends on what type atmosphere you are looking for… but for a nice casual dinner with some excellent food, I can’t think of anywhere better. They have the best steaks in the area… the shrimp diablo is my favorite… and you can bring your own liquor or wine which saves a ton of money. Do yourself a favor and give it a try… I recommend the petite combo.

I absolutely love this place. Some of the best Italian I’ve ever had and the Steaks are the best I’ve had anywhere at any price. It’s a small quiet little place known mostly just by locals.
The restaurant is also BYOB, so bring in your favorite bottle of wine and not have to pay the overinflated prices.