Joe Boccardi’s Ristorante

Went there after my kids game since it was close by. When we went in it was about 3:30 pm on a Saturday and the place was empty. We were greeted by the waitress who seemed to be very friendly. We ordered our food after the recommendation from the waitress since we never been here. After it arrived it was not what we expected. The salad was just bag lettuce and cheese. The «homemade» Alfredo sauce was very bland. My daughter ordered fried lasagna. When she cut into it the center it was very cold, like out the refrigerator cold. We sent it back to get reheated. I would of thought they should of offered to compensate the bill for the ice cold «fried lasagna». But no they didn’t. I guess when you are the only people in there eating they can’t afford to do that. Nevertheless, I will never be going there to eat again. There are much better Italian restaurants to eat at. The place is way overpriced for bland Italian food.

Love this place. Everything on the menu is very good. And the beer is the coldest in town.

We have talking about going here for a while… very glad we did! My husband had the Italian sausage sandwich and I had the scallops with artichoke hearts… excellent! The sauce was obviously made in house, not thick and yuk… very light and flavored well!
My husbands sandwich was very good… yes, the atmosphere may be lacking a bit, but the food and excellent service makes up for it. Oh and the cannoli rocked!

Boccardi’s has great pizza and pasta — they just do. Which is why I, mostly, order it to go from their Fenton location, closer to my home. However, I sometimes meet my mom at the Webster location with my 2 sons, who absolutely love their pizza and pasta. So, that is still good. However, the inside feels very dated, with just OK service. It’s probably fine for the location at the intersection of Webster and Crestwood, but there are so many really cute places in different neighborhoods, so it’s difficult to give t his place 4 stars compared to some of those, that also have good food, but better ambiances. Still, a great, dependable south/​southwest county family meal.

Joe Boccardi’s was recommended by a former St Louis Local as the place to get St Louis style pizza. There seems to be a massive divide on the merits of St Louis pizza. Thankfully we were fans of this interesting Midwest concoction. Thin crispy crust, lots of toppings, and Provel! Provel comes in somewhere between cheese wiz and velveeta but with a creamy White American flavor. It is really a unique flavor when combined with the tomato sauce. It also kept remarkably well over 2 days without refrigeration! (Hat tip to J Kenji Alt Lopez on that one). Also the Fried Ravioli are a nice treat, they are probably frozen but once they are fried it is hard to care.
The restaurant itself looks like a low budget set from a mob movie remake. It was a little in dis-​repair but nothing that affect the flavor of the pizza.
Our poor server was hungover (5^th of July) but he was friendly and managed to take care of us without a hitch.
Come for the Pizza, you really should try it if you are in town! You need to know which side of the debate you are on!

Really disappointing, I’m sad to say. I wish I’d read more of the reviews before we went there. We were hopeful since it is right in our neighborhood, and I always want to support local over big chains, but we won’t be back.
First, the good– the staff was very courteous, and we received our drinks and bread right away, though since there weren’t many customers at that time, that’s not too surprising.
From there on out, a different story.
We were served:
1) Four very thin slices of old, very dry bread.
2) Forgettable bag-​o-​salad salad.
3) Thickly breaded and gummy calamari, also obviously out of a bag. (I actually blame myself on that. We had asked if the toasted ravioli were made in house or frozen, and were told frozen, so I should have assumed the same for the other appetizers.
4) My husband got what was touted as «St. Louis’ Favorite Pizza», and said Imo’s was better, and my husband is not picky in the least.
5) Fettuccine a Mare Monte– it sounded so good. Noodles, some soft, some chewy, with a thick, gluey Alfredo sauce, served with about a dozen of those precooked miniature shrimp, and what appeared to be canned mushrooms, though I could be mistaken. I had to pry a lump of gummy noodles apart to be able to get a reasonable bite, instead of half the plate at once.
We didn’t stay around for dessert. Also, twice, instead of bringing the food to our table, they passed it to us over the room divider. It would have been an additional eight steps or so.

Joe Boccardis Pizza is one of the best representations of St Louis style pizza around. If you are in the area traveling and want what St Louis is famous for Joe Boccardi’s represents St Louis well. Big thumbs up!!! PS gotta get some toasted Ravioli while you are there.

Ordered take out. Manicotti and tortellini were dry, chicken alla vodka was very bland. Salad was just lettuce and cheese, worse than Imo’s. I really wanted to have a good Italian restaurant near by, but after several tries, I won’t make this mistake again.

This place is terrible. With so many great italian restaurants in STL, you should NEVER go here. They use CANNED mushrooms! Even on their pizzas as toppings. House salad dressing is very bad, stale bread, dirty, etc. Save your money go elsewhere, trust me.

Probably the best pizza around! The waitstaff is excellent!

Hands down one of the best places to get St. Louis style pizza!
Our first experience here was a good one. We got there early on a Friday evening, to find hardly any parking in their small lot but were seated promptly upon entering. Its a small place but they accommodate pretty well. My only complaint was that the AC was not working, or not on, and it was very hot with the fans not working up to speed. But it eventually cooled off somehow.
We got seated by a tv to enjoy the Cardinals game. We shared an order of their cheese bread, ravioli, salad and pizza. Everything was perfect share size and we even took pizza home.
The service was great — the staff didn’t mind if it was them waiting on you, they made sure your drinks were always full. They had actual conversations with you to make you feel like a part of the family.

Provel lovers unite! This is some darn good St. Louis style pizza!
I never gave a thought to Joe Baccardi’s until I tried their pizza at some event on The Hill (where they had a booth). It was so delicious that I made it my mission to visit the actual restaurant so I could relive the deliciousness. I finally made it and I can tell you it’s just about what I expected to be.
The restaurant really feels like a South City transplant. It’s doing its thing with Rat Pack pictures and ‘ol Frank on the sound system. Pretty cute but, if you look closely, it’s showing its age. They must be doing something right because they had a sign outside saying they were celebrating 17 years.
We went on a Monday night and, much to my surprise, Monday is half-​price pizza night. Just what I came for! I couldn’t have been more pleased because I think pizza in general is overpriced.
The service was great — very comfortable and conversational — you could tell the waitress has been doing this forever. We started with the fried spinach and artichoke cannelloni appetizer. It was delicious and so was the red sauce that came with it. I’m going to recommend skipping the house salad. It was just a bunch of iceberg with very little shredded provel, one tomato wedge and a very boring Italian vinaigrette. We ordered the tortellini in white sauce with peas and mushrooms and it was just ok.
Now on to the pizza — the very item that bumps this from a 3-​star to a 4-​star review! It comes to you oval-​shaped on a large square pizza tray. The crust is obviously homemade and just slightly thicker than your traditional thin crust. Something is also pleasantly different in the taste of the provel on the pizza. It’s almost like they use slices instead of shreds. Whatever it is, it’s GOOD and I’ll be back for that!

The vegetables were frozen and the sauce was watery. Never again.

Best Pizza in St. Louis!!! Hand tossed crust & great favor.
I always have really good meals! I walk away Full & Happy!
Thanks to an Original St. Louis Family…

My favorite place for St. Louis pizza. I go there at lease once whenever I’m in town.

Good St. Louis pizza in a great atmosphere. Went here recently with a group and we all had the pizza and salads. The pizza was really good St. Louis-​style served on cookie trays, a lot of cheese but hey that is part ot the style. It was as good as any of the St. Louis pizza chains (Imo’s) and the salads were better.
What really sets this place apart is the atmosphere and service. The service was outstanding – our server was friendly and very attentive and there were plenty of servers to attend to the busy crowd. The atmosphere was clean and festive (maybe because of the holiday décor) and way above average for local establishments.

This review is based on one visit, but that will have to do since we probably won’t be back. They have pretty reasonable lunch specials — mostly $ 7.99 and they include a salad. Service was good and friendly. Amience was okay. It’s a dressed up Pizza Hut and they’ve definitely improved on the original.
We tried the pizza and Chicken Florentine and Eggplant Parmesan. The pizza was a decent, very thin version of St. Louis style. Nothing to go out of your way for, but not bad if you live in the area. The chicken reminded me very much of something Denny’s would serve. The eggplant was dry and needed seasoning. The salads were made of iceberg, provel and one wedge of tomato. I don’t think Denny’s serves provel, but if they did, I think I know what their salad would taste like. Don’t let the «Ristorante» in the name fool you —
I’m pretty sure no one from Italy has ever been here.
Bring Grandma here for lunch if you live really really close.

JB’s makes great saint louis style pizza, regardless of if you are into provel cheese or not, you have to admit this pizza is good. The crust doesn’t taste frozen at all, and the cheese is a little more tart than your traditional provel style cheese, so I’m not sure what they are doing with it but it is really good. Plus, there’s something to be said about biting into a piece from the middle of a large zaa and the crust is still crunchy!
As far as family owned and family loved pizza places go, JB’s has it made, hand’s down. From the Columbia Illinois location to this one near Crestwood to the one in Eureka, family is what JB’s is all about and you can tell by just watching who walks in the door. While I was there tonight, the waitstaff knew exactly what their tables wanted as soon as they sat down because obviously they attract long time customers, always a bonus to any place I visit!

A few co-​workers and I were treated to lunch here — by one of our customers. I’d never been, so I was looking forward to it.
I’d already looked online and it kindof looked like a typical Italian menu, so I can’t really say I was jumping out of my seat with excitement– but I sure was hungry.
It was lunchtime– it was practically vacant in the restaurant. We had attentive and friendly service.
We had complimentary bread. It didn’t seem homemade… but the salad with house dressing was great. It was actually a little plain compared to most italian salads, but I was actually in the mood for that. I ordered the cheese tortellini with marinara. It was good. Honestly, it wasn’t anything special. Someone ordered a huge meaty pizza (of which I sampled). It was a pretty darn good pizza! I can’t say I’ll ever go there just for the pizza, but I did like it– and I enjoyed the herbs I could taste underneath the meat.

THE BEST PIZZA IN ST. LOUIS!!!
My Fiancée took me to the Eureka location, my first time i was like how good is the pizza gonna be? OMG!!! the BEST PIZZA I ever had, the inside is nice and spacy with a little patio in the back a very homie feeling. The staff are fast and attentive and have that homie feel to them as well! Btw the Caesar salad is to die for as well so much better than imo’s and cecil whitakers, the prices are great one topping large pizza like 11 bucks so worth it the ingredients are the best ive had doesnt taste processed or fake and gummy like most pizza places. We cant wait to come back!