PepeNero

The food here is incredibly fresh. The vegetable soup is clearly made that day, and they use a lot of local ingredients. The husband and wife who own the restaurant are there at all times and are incredibly welcoming. The kids they hire to work there aren’t the brightest, but it looks like they have to keep hiring new staff every season. Highly recommended! The inside of the restaurant is a bit dark but it is romantic.

First and last visit! The food was fine; however, be aware that they flat-​out refuse to omit any ingredient from a dish — EVEN IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY. «The chef won’t do it,» is what we were told. Unacceptable. Had it just been my husband and me we’d have finished our drinks and walked over to Trattoria Stella, but we were with friends who had suggested the place (and they were pretty embarrassed about it). It put a damper on the whole experience for all of us.

Wow, the place is very nice, the people are nicer, and the food and wine are evengreater. We started with the antipasti «Insalata di burrata con bresaola». The burrata was new to us… so smooth, creamy & tasty. The bresaola was also new to us. It was so tasty. Just google them and you’ll learn about them, although tasting them is also important. All the ingredients went well together.
My wife chose the recommended white wine, Arneis Langhe Blange, by Ceretto Vineyards. I chose a Nero d’Avola, the recommended brand by Sicilia Regeali 2013 by Tasca d’Almerita. Both were excellent and paired well with our foods.
My wife enjoyed the special of the day, Chilean Sea Bass for her main course. She thought it was great. I had the «Spaghettini nero di seppia» I thought mine was really special… the first time I’ve ever eaten a totally black dish. The mussels, calamari & pasta were cooked to perfection and the cuttlefish sauce was great.
All this was wonderful but it was also special to be able to interact with the owners, our server and even the dishwasher. I kidded around a lot with the Chef (owner) and he kidded back just as hard. It was really fun.
In June, 2016, they are moving across the parking lot to a much larger place. I hope they are able to retain the personal touch there. They seemed committed to doing so.
Bottom line, if you like Italian food, you gotta go there!!!

Stopped by here for tiramisu to go. We asked for plastic ware and they had none… What? How can a restaurant have take out service but not plastic ware? Wouldn’t be a big deal if I lived in the city or carried my own. Any ways, tiramisu was very good.

One of the best restaurants I have ever been to. Staff was very nice and friendly. Food was amazing. Go here and you will like it.

My fiancée and I enjoyed an absolutely wonderful dinner here. Our waiter advised me to try the Spiedini Di Manzo Al Forno over a more conventional dish, and I am glad I took his advice. If you’re looking for incredible food, excellent service and a relaxed atmosphere, it doesn’t get any better than PepeNero.

Had dinner with friends this weekend. LOVED it! We will definitely be back. Great food, service, and ambiance!

Worth finding!
I live in Miami and am very up on diverse and interesting food. Imagine my surprise to find such an amazing and authentic restaurant in Traverse City. I started with the capese. Just wonderful! The freshest mozzarella I’ve ever had. The second course was as perfectly cooked veal scaloppini. They combined subtle flavors of mushrooms with the sweet of raisins. Mmmmm so good. Can’t say enough. Just go. You will enjoy

Had an amazing dinner last night at this quaint little restaurant. We ordered the cap rede and baby eggplant appetizers. The buffalo mozzarella was one of the best I’ve had. The eggplant was light and paired well with the tomato sauce it’s served with. For entrees we all ordered different things… pappardelle ragu, pappardelle w/​mushrooms, spaghetti with seafood, spiedini, and the sea bass in parchment. Everything was delicious but my personal favorites were the ragu and spaghetti. The ragu was rich and meaty and paired well with the pasta. The spaghetti with light yet flavorful and the octopus and mussels were cooked just right. We finished with tiramisu and panna cotta. The tiramisu is not overly sweet which was okay with me since most I’ve had err on the side of being too sweet. The panna cotta was creamy goodness. My one complaint was that you couldn’t really taste the grand marnier on top. I recommend pairing it with the moscato like they recommend.
One tip I have would be to order the imported olive oil for $ 2 for the table. It was totally worth it for dipping the fresh made bread in.

I stand by everything I’d mentioned before. Severely disappointed, and DEFINITELY won’t be back anytime soon. Service (albeit friendly) was EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW. Had an 8p res, wasn’t seated til 8:30p. Order taken at about 9:15p. They kept saying the food will be out «in a few minutes», after we began asking at about 9:45. Food didn’t arrive until…10p (just checked texts for reference). This may have been fine if they were up front about all this from the beginning, which they were not.
It even took about 30 – 45 min to get our WINE. We literally sat there for that long, with nothing. My company was absolutely wonderful, so this saved my sanity.
(Also, FYI: the $ 24 «stew» was not «stew»: it was a few pieces of seafood and a tiny bit of broth surrounded by old toasts. But this was the least of my issues with this sad sad experience. Nothing is worth this looooooong wait, even with a smile.)

Everything about my meal was amazing. The Panna cotta was the best I’ve ever had. The wait staff was courteous and attentive, best Italian I’ve had.

Very good, fresh food! My dinner came out hot. My family had Pasta, it was fabulous and I had the Sea Bass special. Amazing! Not very good for kids because they do not have a kids menu. So they need to order off the main menu.

We ran into this little Gem last night while touring the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. We had a fine, and true Italian Meal. Both dishes we had were delicious and perfectly presented and prepared. The service was great and the Italian wine selections interesting with a few unique selections of some unexpected varietals. I had an Italian Cabernet… For the first time… very nice…
A good Italian restaurant.

I’ve got to be honest, this is one of the most bizarre dining experiences I’ve had — and we travel and dine out frequently. Let me start by saying that the food was good. Not superb, but good. However, my reason for giving a «poor» rating is based solely on the experience we had with the wait staff.
To begin, one of our guests requested a cola beverage. The response was not simply that they do not offer cola beverages (nothing wrong with that), but rather that they did not offer them, however, an excellent substitute that they DID have was a blood orange San Pellegrino. Really?
We opted to skip any appetizers and focus on ordering our entrees because when our reservation was taken, we were told that our table needed to be turned over in 90 minutes. We were fine with that, but needed to be cognizant of our time.
Onto dinner … one person ordered an evening special. The Italian name escapes me, but it was essentially a Pork Osso Bucco. His report was that is was good. Not fabulous, but good. Here’s where it got interesting. Two of us each ordered the Linguine Alle Vongole (linguine with white clam sauce). It arrived and the first thing we noticed was that it was a surprisingly small portion. The second thing we discovered, after a few bites, was that we found the dish to be bland. When our server came to check on us, I requested some freshly grated Parmesan. I was then told that «the chef is from Sicily and it would be a big insult to his cooking to request the cheese. It would mean that the dish is no good. For that reason, I can’t bring you any cheese.» WHAT??? ARE YOU SERIOUS???
Where I come from, the mantra of any successful business is that a customer should always be treated well. All reasonable requests should be granted. In this instance, the chef’s feelings should not interfere with, and certainly not supersede, the request of a guest. Feel free to snicker about the boorish guest who requested freshly grated Parmesan when you return to the kitchen or amongst your food service compatriots after work, but I would strongly suggest you not continue to handle it in the manner it was handled during our visit.
The ridiculous and quite frankly, pompous behavior we experienced has simply resulted in our plan to continue to visit the consistently fantastic and welcoming other Italian restaurant located a stone’s throw from this place.

This is an amazing little corner!!! So fresh, so filling! I’m looking forward to trying dinner!
Today I had the minestrone & SfIlatino Della Casa panini. Perfecto!

Lobster Ravioli was the best I have ever eaten. The ravioli had huge lobster chunks and crab in it as well as the sauce that had a great seafood flavor. We also had the eggplant goat cheese starter that came out super hot and had a ton of earthy flavors. The staff is super nice and service is quick. Dessert well lets just say if you enjoy Italian dessert this place is for you. Had the pantone and it was like eating a cloud soft and light with tons of citrus flavors. The food flavors and quality are by far some of the best in TC. The place is small so make a reservation.

Hidden gem inside «the asylum» in Traverse City… my suggestion forego Trattoria Stella with a much higher price point. We had homemade lobster ravioli, homemade buffalo mozzarella caprese salad and the BEST cappuccino to finish. Wait staff are attentive, friendly and helpful. Added bonus if you come on the first Friday of the month all of the mercado shops stay open and often there is live music. Can’t beat this place for Italian Cuisine!

Loved this little spot. We came in for dinner on our first night in Traverse City after a drive from Chicago, and the coziness of the restaurant was a perfect contrast from the frigid cold and wind outside. It’s located in a mall/​shopping complex area with lots of other stores and markets, so we had some trouble finding it at first since it doesn’t look like a restaurant from the outside — just go into the building and follow the signs! Once we reached the restaurant, the tables were mostly occupied or reserved, but there were plenty of seats available at the bar, so we decided to sit there. This turned out to be even better, since it has a view of the open kitchen and we got to chat with some of the employees.
We ordered the caprese and Mediterranean salad as starters, along with the agnolotti and gnocchi as entrees. Food came out quickly and was delicious — everything was fresh and simple, flavors wonderful. The highlights for me were the caprese and the gnocchi, though honestly I enjoyed everything we ordered — the mozzarella in the caprese was beautiful and the gnocchi was just wonderful — perfectly cooked, pillowy, and coupled with porcini mushrooms and some kind of ham (not sure exactly what type but it was similar to pancetta in flavor/​texture). For dessert, we went with the panna cotta (as recommended by other Unilocalers), and it was great as well. Texture smooth and creamy and great flavor.
Service was great — everyone we talked to was friendly and helpful, and the owners (Giorgio and Monica) were both present and talking to guests. Shoutout also to Ashley and Joe, who were a pleasure to chat with throughout the meal. If I’m ever around Traverse City again, I’d love to return to this restaurant — highly recommend it for anyone in the area.

My parents recommended this restaurant when my boyfriend and I visited tc, and we absolutely fell in love. I’m very hesitant to try Italian food because I always compare it to my Italian mother’s cooking, but PepeNero was amazing. Our appetizer was eggplant stuffed with goat cheese, and it was delicious. The bread was fresh, flaky, and wonderful as well.
Our waitress was so sweet and attentive without being too invasive, and I loved the atmosphere.
Both of our entrees were pasta dishes (pasta bolognese and a pasta puttanesca), and they tasted so fresh.
For dessert, we got the tiramisu, which is as close to beating my mom’s as I’ve ever come.
Absolutely recommend this place!

Visiting TC for a couple of days, and this place jumped out at us. We read the Unilocal reviews and decided to check it out. We were far from disappointed!
First, the staff is super friendly. And you can see the kitchen from the dining room, which is very cool. And, of course, the food…
Fresh, fresh, FRESH.
My boyfriend took a bite out of the cream of mushroom soup we both ordered, and he just started laughing. It was SO GOOD, that it warranted laughter in the place of words. No joke, it was the best soup I’ve ever had. For our main course, I ordered the mushroom agnolotti, and he got the four cheese ravioli. We had tiramisu for dessert and a tiny macchiato. Everything was out of this world. I would highly recommend this place, over and over.