When the Napoli Café and Wine Bar opened over the summer in Cameron Park’s old Redbud Café location, it had big culinary shoes to fill.

But with fresh Italian American food, friendly staff and loyal customers, the new restaurant certainly seems determined to create its own legacy.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, my girl friend and I met at the Napoli for lunch, where we were greeted warmly and seated promptly. Although the impressive wine list beckoned, we opted to sip mango iced teas as we admired the ambiance and new interior layout. The restaurant filled quickly around us and customers spilled onto the charming front patio, decorated with colorful potted flowers and a trickling water feature.  

Perusing the menu, we discovered a nice assortment of reasonably priced salads, pizzas and entrees. We split the bruschetta appetizer, which arrived in a unique presentation – allowing us to spoon the fresh tomato filling onto each Parmesan toast ourselves. 

For our entrees, I ordered the Chicken Marsala served with perfectly cooked fresh veggies and rice. The chicken was quite tender and the creamy mushroom sauce, with the surprising addition of bacon, thankfully was much lighter then I had envisioned. My friend chose the Pasta San Remo featuring al dente penne pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes and olives in a light wine and garlic sauce. The flavorful dish was nicely plated and the portion size was generous enough to require a take-home container. For dessert, we splurged on the Tiramisu Bread Pudding, a unique twist on the traditional, with a hearty cake and yummy cocoa cream cheese layer.

Judging from its popularity, the Napoli Café seems destined to become the new neighborhood favorite.

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