Pompei - West Hempstead

This place is 90% catering hall, but the small restaurant section provided a very enjoyable meal at a surprisingly low price point. The ambiance of the dining room is pretty unique. It 's like an atrium: one wall and a bit of ceiling is all glass, looking onto a hedgerow beyond which lies the parking lot. Decor sends you back in time to the 70s and beyond. Waiters are well dressed and well trained. Dining room felt a bit cramped as it filled to capacity while we were there. There is a very small bar which looked kind of chintzy. Not at all conducive to staying for an after dinner drink. The meal was delicious! Clams arreganata consisted of six pretty plump little necks with a thick lemony broth made for sopping up with the lovely Tuscan bread. For entrees we both chose Francese prep: mine Shrimp, Richard 's Filet of Sole. Both were very good, generous but not huge, and they really nailed the sauce. You get a salad and pasta or vegetable with the entree. We opted for the vegetable which was a well seasoned green bean onion mix plus a potato croquette. Richard didn 't want potato and they kindly provided double green beans. We passed on dessert but our waiter rattled off some mighty tempting selections and these appear to vary. He even said they have Limoncello cake sometimes. Service was excellent and the food was great. This is a very good choice for fine dining at a lower price point. The decor is pretty tacky (and this is coming from one who 's definitely old school) and I wish the dining room were a bit different in design, but the delicious meal and fine service are sufficient to make me a fan.

Hurry! Run! Mount Vesuvius is erupting! Luckily, any red liquid you spot in this Pompei is probably pasta sauce. Last Saturday there was plenty of gravy to go around as I dined with ten other guests for my buddy 's birthday. Pompei (one i because we 're Italian in these parts is totally for taking the family out for a dinner of Italian eats, though a large portion of the place is made up of their catering hall. When you approach the neon lighted building you 'll spot the separate doorways. Enter accordingly. For this group of 11 total, it was dinner all the way. Due to the size of our party, we ended up with our own little alcove near the old school bar area. Two other rooms might be where a family of four would spend the evening with each room giving off a semi outdated, but still warm, Italian vibe. Beautiful bread baskets (triple alliteration! donned the table at both ends. I mean when there 's garlic knots in there you can 't go wrong. The menu is filled with plenty of your Italian favorites and a few originals mixed in. Orders ranged across the board with tender chicken parmesan, spaghetti bolgonese, chicken Pompei, and a prix fix dinner for a reasonable deal. I was craving the ocean in my pasta and went for the linguini with white clam sauce. Before diving into the main dish, most meals included salad to start, with choice of dressing (creamy garlic sounded like a winner . It was a simple tossed beginning, but a tasty way to get things rolling (after the bread baskets, naturally . On to my clammy course. The portion size was close to massive and had me with a doggy bag on my way out. It was filled with plenty of chopped pieces of the bivalve with large cloves of garlic throughout. Between that and the dressing you would hope I didn 't reek of the stinking rose! (No complaints were made the rest of the night, thankfully . The dish was heavy on the sauce with it being a bit oily, but it made way for great dipping (the bread basket strikes again! . By the time the meal was wrapping up I was as happy as a clam (I had to . The service was spot on from start to just about finish. Our final delivery of the check was a bit lengthy as the waiter may have gone to Pompeii, Italy to fetch it. Overall, you don 't need two eyes (or i 's, get it? Sorry to see that Pompei can deliver in giving you a quality Italian meal. This island runs rampant with great restaurants serving the boot-shaped country 's cuisine and this is just another one worthy of a visit. And just remember, you won 't be combatting an active volcano when you arrive!

Ambiance and wait staff there are many different rooms available to have a party in, or even just to eat dinner in. The rooms are clean. They are a little outdated. The wait staff that I have encountered are very nice and helpful. They also have a coat check and valet parking! Food I have been to two parties that have had passed appetizers. They are delicious! Mini rice balls, potato pancakes, mozzarella sticks, pizza, meatballs and mini hot dogs are some of the appetizers they've had. The garlic knots they put on the table are delish. There is also a hot antipasto that each individual received (baked clams, eggplant rollatini stuffed mushroom) which I didn't love. The whole plate tasted like bacon (which was in the baked clams). For an entree I got the chicken Francese and I also tried the prime rib. The chicken was okay, the steak was great (medium rare, like we asked, too). They veggies were great and the potato croquette was crispy and very tasty too! I'm not sure of the prices. Since I was a guest at these parties! Happy Eating!! Nicole

Went for a wedding recently. Honestly, I was not blown away. The cocktail hour was in an enclosed room with a lil bar. Food and drinks were not good. The appetizers ranged from pizza-more like thick dough with cheese, a lot of cheese stuff actually ie: cheese sticks, cheese balls, cheesy bread etc. chicken with some marinara sauce spilled over it, lil mini tacos that tasted frozen. Again, food for the cocktail hour left a lot to be desired! By the time the reception started, the service was much better, the food was better and portions were pretty begins

Went to a communion party here last night OMG the food was so delicious! The eggplant rollatini was so amazing ! Their sauce is so good! Calmarie pasta it was just so delicious! The bread the drinks the people the workers all very good and nice!!