Alex Italian Restaurant

So sad this place closed. The property has been sold & is under going a renovation. Hope they include a high end restaurant — like Alex — in the future plans.

food was average– good, but unlike other reviewers, our customer service was mediocre. the owner and one of his servers appeared annoyed when we had questions about the menu.
with many other restaurants in the Napa valley area, i will not return to Alex Italian
Restaurant

It’s was good. Too bad it was not delicious… a let down. Waited for ever for our food and just one other table of two were dinning at 6:30pm and to top it off one of the dishes was incorrectly prepared. Not a place that I would come back to.

Great food. Great wine. Superb service. The owner Alex is the perfect host, with great wine recommendations. Don’t miss the special custard based dessert. Any dessert that takes 25 mins to prepare is worth the wait!
Perfect place for a quiet romantic evening in the Napa area.

OK, now I really felt sorry for this guy who owns this restaurant. Its was almost empty. Yes, its expensive but I would say its one of the best meals we had in Napa. Just amazing. We just happened to pop in but I would say… give him a try. We both thought our meals were out of this world. Super good to say the least. They were very attentive as well. You will not be disappointed. He is a little out of the way but well worth the drive.

Excellent Italian cuisine w/​attentive, but not over bearing, service. We ate here on Valentine’s Day, so we were forced to select from a limited pre-​set menu. I’m not a fan of pre-​set menus, but in this case there was enough variety on the menu to find something to your liking. A little expensive in that we spent about $ 520 for, four people w/​just one bottle of wine. Overall great experience, the only reason I didn’t give 5-​stars is because they only have a license to sell beer and wine.

Delicious! Bread, chef’s sample, main course, pasta & desert. Excellent service. One of the best Italian meals in along time.

One of the best Italians in Napa. Great wine selection. Menu changes with season but everything is great

Very nice atmosphere, we loved it! The food was excellent. Everything was beyond wonderful. This was our first time here.

The menu was small, the meals were good though the portions are more European than american. (Read: small). The service was not anything spectacular, I think one of the waitresses was drunk from the number of times she tried to serve me the wrong drink and the way she was swaying. It wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t come here again.

I have eaten at all the top rated restaurants in napa including Redd, French Laundry, Bottega and Auberge de Soleil and Alex’s is hands down the most authentic, fresh, raw and exquisite cuisine and experience of the valley. From the ridiculously experienced wine list to the cleanest food menu to the endless desert wine list and imaginative deserts — I can’t praise Alex’s enough. The staff are friendly, professional and knowledgable and if you are lucky enough to engage in conversation with Alex alone you will learn more about the wine and cuisine history than any napa winery tour.
I left tonight’s 3 hour 5 course 3 bottle dinner wanting more, high on life and booking my next reservation for the following night.
My favorite dinner in napa and one I won’t be forgetting… And definitely comparing to all in the future.
Thank you Alex.

Awesome experience… new chef is killing it! The tartare and Italian steak I had were both awesome, as was the amuse bouche.
My favorite place in Napa Valley for a romantic night with fabulous hosts.

This is the absolute perfect date night restaurant. The ambiance is romantic, cozy, intimate and the hospitality is absolutely incredible. Inside the restaurant there is a lovely fireplace, which makes dining indoors during the fall/​winter a real treat. There’s also an outdoor patio for sunny afternoons or warm nights.
Alex does a great job making you feel like you’re part of the family — you feel like you’re truly getting away and do not get the «Napa tourist» vibe at all.
As for the food and wine — I’ve loved every meal I’ve had… from the steak to pasta to variety of fresh salads on the menu. My favorite is the arugala salad with fresh parmesan cheese (yum!). The wine list is absolutely remarkable and Alex can help you select something that pairs perfectly with your meal.
I look forward to dining at Alex anytime I’m in the area! It’s a lovely way to spend an evening with a date or a group of great friends.

Nice cozy, but classy restaurant that’s a little off the beaten path! The entrance to this place is not accessible from the main road so you have to make sure you watch the signs/​roads to find it.
AMBIENCE
Romantic~ The dim lighting makes makes you sleepy if you drink alcohol (or maybe even if you don’t). It’s very formal/​upscale feeling. I really enjoyed their plush, couchy seats :)
FOOD
Gnocchi $ 17 — Not flavorful, nothing special, definitely not worth the price for how much you get (very little), but the bacon was yummy
Rabbit $ 36 — Very flavorful. The tangerine made it slightly bitter. Not as salty as it seems
Chestnut Pasta — Initially very yummy! The consistency is a little more sticky/​thick than regular flour pasta. Felt too heavy after a couple of bites
Stuffed Pork — Meaty. The potato gratin was pretty good, but the zucchini was very tiny and tiny in quantity. The pork was pretty heavy
Sea Bass — Light, flakey, not too flavorful
Roasted Duck Breast $ 32 — Nice flavor, not overpowering. The texture was soft but not melty. Slightly medium rare
Prosciutto — Very yummy! The bread was a little tough, but the burrata was super yummy and layered well with the bread and prosciutto
Crustini $ 10 — The bread was nice and crispy, but I don’t really like liver. The dish was made well
Green Minestrone — Pretty good, flavorful
SERVICE
The servers were very friendly, and even took our coats. They were super patient when my family of 7 took forever deciding what to order. The food took wayyy too long to come out, though — 45 minutes! They kept giving us bread and it was a different type of bread almost every time.
OVERALL
This restaurant is located next to a smal hotel, surprisingly, and share a courtyard. It makes for a super romantic dinner or even a nice place to bring out-​of-​town relatives. I’d come here again, but only for a special occasion because of the price point.

Never have I enjoyed appetizer, entrée and dessert in one place. Most restaurants fall short somewhere, but everything was amazing, the presentation lovely, although a bit dark so my pictures didn’t come out, and the pannacotta was to die for!
Appetizers: Salmon Tartar (delicious!)
Asparagus Soup (Just the right amount of flavor and texture)

Entrees: Everything I tried was delicious except my pork cheek, which was a bit dry, but my husband’s Squid Ink Pasta delicious, and friends’ Duck Pansotti amazing and pappardelle bursting with flavor.
Dessert: Pannacotta in a small glass jar, but melt in your mouth good!
Chocolate cake (so flavorful but not too sweet)
Thanks to Alex and his wife for creating such a fantastic place that is a bit off the main road but a pleasure to find. I’ll be back to try all the other dishes next time I’m visiting the Yountville/​Rutherford area.

Came here for my birthday with my best friend. I am so glad we did!
The portions are sort of smallish (must be why the italians are skinny) but packed with flavor. I would say that it was smart to order from each section to get the full effect of what this place can do. I heard that their chef came from Auberge Resort and the owner is a master sommelier. Ask for recommendations! I assure you any foodie or wino will pleased with this place.
I hate to hear people complain about waiting so… This is Not good for people in a hurry. Plan on being there a while because they do not rush around like Ruth grill. Its more relaxed and calm.
Squid ink pasta!!! Everything we had was divine! Ask for the wine with the coin on it!

Alex fell woefully short of the mark for me, though the host was delightful, and the ambiance is warm and inviting.
A series of mishaps in the food, from bad timing, to badly prepared, to ‘some silverware would be nice’… I think they have a way to go before being a Napa premier restaurant.

We had the most wonderful experience at Alex this evening, thanks to my parents bringing my DH & me here for a special meal. From the moment the owner Alessandro opened the door and greeted my parents like old friends, I knew immediately Alex was a special place.
We sat outside on the stone patio and thanks to Alessandro also being the sommelier, sipped delicious wines. The Relais & Chateaux chef had an incredible menu of antipasti, pasta and secondi. I had the warm & raw veg with ricotta and a bean pesto and my DH had salmon tartare. The food was presented so beautifully – from the artful & unique arrangement of my vegetables («planted» in the ricotta like a garden) to my DH’s perfect tartare rectangle to the tiny purple flowers perfectly positioned on our plates– that each plate told its own story.
Being newly gluten-​free, I thought I was just going to sit & drool while everyone else savored their pasta. Nope – Alex has risotto, which they made sans quail for me and they even have gluten-​free pasta, although not house made, can be served with any of the pasta sauces. Oh and the risotto was The.Best. I.Have.Ever.Had.
For the secondi, I was hoping for caccuccio, but our saavy server informed me it was not GF, so the chef made me my own meal of scallops, spinach & potatoes. My DH & parents all had a pork special and said it was just divine.
Did I mention we had the sommelier pick out perfect wines for each course & item? Lovely, amazing Italian wines that wowed us with every sniff & sip. Not only was he deeply passionate about wine without a hint pretension or pretext, but one could tell he truly loved seeing patrons, like us, be thrilled with the food, experience & interactions.
Major props on having gluten-​free foods, communication between server, chef & kitchen re: GF and their flexibility on accommodating my GF and pescatarian needs.
Tonight was a meal my DH and I will remember for a long time. The food, the service, the atmosphere: all amazing!

We loved this charming little place so much we came back two days in a row! Alfresco lunch in their patio is lovely if the weather permits. We discovered it on our last trip, thanks to the folks at Caymus Vineyards and it’s now our favorite restaurant in Napa Valley!
Although it’s Italian, they do EVERYTHING right, especially their Fish of the Day, which was the Fluke when we dined. Perfectly crisp on the outside and flaky inside. The only other place I’ve had fish so fresh was at Mama’s Fish House in Maui. Our waiter, Jacob was a delight. In fact, it’s hard to fine fault with anything at all. The highlights of our meal besides the Pan Roasted Fluke were the Grilled Octopus, Beef Croquette, Braised Pork Cheeks, and an authentic Tiramisu. Their Cappucino is delicious and even the hot water is served with Meyer Lemons. They are still undiscovered but not for long. I would go there any day over big names like Bottega or the hectic Rutherford Grill next door. Highly recommend!

St. Helena Vacay 2012*
We visited Alex for a light lunch in between tastings, and what a good choice it was. My mother, my boyfriend and I had done a tasting at Frog’s Leap and Round Pond and were headed to a few more. We needed a bite to eat, but wanted to keep it fairly light so as not to induce a nap and decided to stop in here. The hostess, waiter and other staff were all polite and easygoing, which I love to see in a place that could just as easily have been snobby. We looked a bit ragtag after tromping around in the garden at Frog’s Leap, so if we were treated this well I assume others would be as well. I’m not sure what is up with the one star reviews. It is not uncommon for a restaurant of this caliber to look ‘empty’ because they are setting up for a night of back to back reservations. Pretty standard, really.
We started with the little piadina (flat bread, burrata, prosciutto, and arugula) and the tempura veggies, which were really light and delicious. For our meal we had the ravioli with shrimp and the pear, gorgonzola and walnut salad. Every bite was wonderful, and while the portions are definitely more on the ‘gourmet’ side, but they were not 90’s LA small or laughably small. Especially for what we were going for, it was perfect.
Every bite was delicious! So I could make sure I had enough room in my liver for the tastings, we opted for sparkling water and an Arnold Palmer, which was large and served in a carafe so it really was plenty to enjoy throughout the meal. They have a very extensive wine list, as well as a decent selection by the glass. Prices were reasonable for a meal of this type.
A beautiful patio is available if the weather is right, and don’t miss the cool little courtyard when you visit.