Paul Manno’s Cafe is among the best of fine dining in the Chesterfield and St. Louis region.
Chesterfield, MO (StLouisRestaurantReview) November 28, 2015 – Our review is about Paul Manno’s Cafe, located at 75 Forum Shopping Center, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Phone (314) 878-1274.
Manno’s is a family-owned fine dining restaurant that specializes in Italian cuisines. Its location is in a commercial shopping center. It is not easily visible from the main road, which is Olive Blvd. Does it matter? Certainly not in this case!
Manno’s Cafe is proof that while the world has changed a lot in the past 10-15 years, some things haven’t; the basics still work. In other words, if you offer good food paired with good service, not only will you survive, but you will continue to prosper. If you want to visit Paul Manno’s Cafe a reservation is necessary.
The foyer is filled with pictures of people, some famous, some not, that frequent the restaurant. Manno’s does not have a website, and their Facebook page is not customized, nor do they post regularly. They do not advertise from what we can see. Everything considered they maintain a very low profile.
I always review online reviews before writing our reviews. It is easy to understand why they do not advertise or run specials. They don’t need to due to the demand for their food. Their reviews are excellent. Facebook has 83 Reviews awarding Manno’s a 4.8 Star. Google has 13 Reviews awarding Manno’s a 4.3 Star. Yelp awards Manno’s with 4.5 Star. TripAdvisor rewards Manno’s a 4.5 Star with 128 Reviews, which 102 rates it as Excellent, 15 Very Good, 8 Average, 2 Poor, and 1 Terrible. TripAdvisor also rates it #1 of 192 restaurants in Chesterfield, MO, and gives it a Certificate of Excellence. It’s an average rating of 4.525 Star. Spectacular.
The menu offers many options including First Course ranging in price from $9 to $19, Pasta’s range from $16 to $22, Veal ranging from $24 to $38, Chicken ranging from $18 to $24, Beef ranging from $34 to $38 and fish ranging from $25 to 29.
They use only the finest ingredients available, and most of the products used are imported from Italy. Manno’s only use Poma Rossa San Marzano tomatoes for their tomato sauce. They are imported from Italy and are grown in volcanic soil, left on the vine to ripen, then handpicked. They are only tomatoes imported that have the Italian seal of approval of authenticity. The result is very low acidity and natural sweetness.
Extra Virgin olive oil is one of the most important elements in Italian cooking. Manno’s only use Olio Verde di Castevetrano. This oil is made from olives handpicked near Paul Manno Senior’s father’s hometown, Palermo, Sicily. Ricotta, fresh Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano from the Italian mainland. Pecorino and Ricotta Salata are both from the island of Sicily.
Manno’s fish and meats are ordered each day to ensure that they are at their highest quality of freshness. Their filets are all wet-aged, and their Veal is milk feed Provimi from Wisconsin. Paul Manno believes that pasta is the most important plate on the table and that it is the most flavorful and the most beautiful.
I could go on and on, but I am trying to make here that every detail, including salt, is carefully chosen for the maximum flavor to complement the gourmet cuisines. The atmosphere is quiet, romantic, but casual. It is not snobby like many fine dining establishments in West St Louis County. The staff is humble and appreciates the presence of every customer. The staff is well trained, and the place operates like a well-oiled machine. Two critical considerations are cleanliness and maintenance. This place is spotless and meticulously maintained. Everything down to the last detail is given a lot of thought.
Paul Manno Senior is retired, and the restaurant’s management lies in the hands of his son, Paul Manno Junior. It appears to have been another right choice made by Paul Manno Senior.
Our visit was unannounced, which means that there was no opportunity for them to stage. Water glasses remained filled, the table was cleaned frequently, bread was quickly replenished, and considering the quality of food they serve, our dinner was promptly delivered. My company had the Linguini Mar e Monti, which is filled with various sumptuous seafood, and I had the Chilean Sea Bass with pasta. The sea bass was large, crusted on the outside, but perfectly baked on the inside. We want to thank Avery for the fine quality service.
St Louis Restaurant Review is proud to award Paul Manno’s Cafe with a 5 Star Rating making it our highest-rated restaurant. We normally end up with a rating similar to the online ratings, but in this case, we upped it due to the insane 1 Star rating that somebody left on Google, which damaged their overall online rating. We are attempting to make up for the low rating, which was unfair in our opinion. Some people can’t be pleased.
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