The Tiny Italian Restaurant Beside Molto + Naples' New Sandwich Shop + Poll

Friends and neighbors,

The best meals I've had lately all seem to have one thing in common. Someone in the kitchen had an opinion.

Not every restaurant needs to reinvent the wheel, but I do appreciate it when a chef has a clear vision and sticks to it. Whether it's refusing to pile a sandwich with unnecessary substitutions or serving regional Italian dishes you don't see all over town, there's something refreshing about restaurants that know exactly what they want to be.

This week, I'm highlighting two of them. One is a cozy Italian restaurant hiding in plain sight on Fifth Avenue South. The other is Naples' newest sandwich shop, where the bread is chosen to suit the fillings and not the other way around.

Hope you discover something new this week! 

Warmly,

It's easy to assume Casa Neri is simply an overflow room for Molto Trattoria. After all, they are run by the same family, spend a few minutes there and you'll realize it isn't.

The intimate dining room, tucked beside its much larger sister restaurant on Fifth Avenue South, has built its own following by doing something surprisingly uncommon in Naples: serving regional Italian cooking that doesn't feel designed for tourists.

Owners Francesca and Andrea Neri are also behind Molto and co-own La Pescheria, but Casa Neri follows a different path. They originally planned to open an Italian deli in the space before changing course after meeting chef Marco Nitride in Naples, Italy. They were so taken with his cooking that they convinced him to come to Naples, Florida and build the menu around his vision. The menu draws heavily from recipes and ingredients you'd expect to encounter while traveling through Naples, Italy itself.

That starts with the appetizers. The Wagyu Beef Carpaccio arrives sliced nearly translucent beneath peppery extra-virgin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and arugula. The Salmon Tartare layers diced salmon with creamy avocado, Calabrian chile and citrus for something simultaneously rich and bright.

Then come the pastas.

Everything is made in-house, and that's immediately apparent in dishes like the Tagliatella Genovese, where ribbons of fresh pasta disappear beneath an onion-and-beef ragù that simmers for hours before being finished with buffalo mozzarella cream. The Lasagna Napoletana follows the Neapolitan tradition with meatballs, ricotta and slow-cooked tomato sauce rather than the heavier Italian-American version many of us grew up with. 

Save room for dessert. The tiramisù comes in a Moka pot and is one of the best in Naples and the Torta Caprese (a flourless chocolate and almond cake from Capri) is exactly the sort of classic you'd hope to find in a restaurant like this.

The attentive service is almost as beloved as the food, and that's fitting. With only a handful of tables, dinner feels less like eating on Fifth Avenue and more like stumbling into a neighborhood restaurant somewhere in Italy.

Casa Neri
382 5th Ave S, Naples
M-F 5–10 p.m.
Sat-Sun 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
casanerinaples.com

The first thing to know about All Too Well is that the bread comes first.

Chef Mitchell AbouJamra grew up in a family of butchers and has a clear idea of what a good sandwich can be. He built the menu around schiacciata (pronounced ski-ah-kee-AH-ta), the Tuscan cousin of focaccia.It is generally thinner, crispier and less pillowy, which makes it especially well suited to stacks of cured meat, cheese and dressed vegetables. The bread can absorb oil and sauces without immediately surrendering its structure. 

Every sandwich begins there. The menu itself is intentionally small and highly specific. You'll find sandwiches named after family members, childhood memories and inside jokes like CK1, named after the first cologne his mother let him wear and the Boatwich for a day on the water. 

One detail has gotten almost as much attention as the sandwiches themselves: the kitchen discourages modifications. Unless you have an allergy or dietary restriction, the answer is politely no.

That isn't stubbornness as much as philosophy. Every sandwich was designed to balance salty meats, creamy cheeses, acidic vegetables and crunchy bread in a particular way. Change one ingredient and you've changed the entire sandwich. Early regulars seem perfectly happy trusting the chef.

If you're wondering where to start, the Bombay Chulet has quickly become a favorite, layering prosciutto, turkey, burrata, spicy fig jam and Bombay chili crunch on Tuscan ciabatta. The CK1 takes shaved ribeye in a different direction with tabbouleh and au jus for dipping, while Ppl's Italian swaps the expected provolone for creamy stracciatella and finishes it with oregano dressing and beet aioli.

Sometimes confidence is part of the recipe.

All Too Well
795 5th S, Naples
Daily 11 a.m.–2 p.m.; Closed Tuesdays
alltoowellsandwiches.com

Last week we asked: Which ice cream shop best fits your style?

Here’s where you landed: 

Fernweh edged out Royal Scoop, earning 28.5% of the vote to Royal Scoop's 22.4%. But the biggest surprise? Nearly as many readers (27.6%) skipped both options and selected "Where's the gelato?" Message received. It sounds like a Naples gelato roundup may need to be next on the list. Thank you for the responses! 

The restaurants that stay with us usually know exactly what they are trying to do.

At Casa Neri, that means regional Italian cooking with a strong sense of place. At All Too Well, it means building every sandwich with enough care that substitutions can change the whole idea.

There is something reassuring about a restaurant with a point of view. This week, try the dish the kitchen is proudest of, leave the modifications aside, and see where the chef wants to take you.

Elizabeth Bellotti
Editor-In-Chief
Naples, Florida
The Naples Florida Review

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