EMI Ristorante

What a fun night with EMI! Wonderful food and the BREAD was SO delicious! Worth the money, we had it the next morning too! The staff is mostly family and just incredibly done pasta! Its a must do in St Joe!

Great local Italian that is made from scratch and nice environment! Service was also great! Reservations required

Ok, this is gonna be a long one. First off, it's only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are a must and should be made well before the actual day. I'd say it's probably sold out a week prior. It is a weekly menu that is typically announced a few weeks in advance. The food is authentic Italian and everything is made from scratch. There is only one entree available, no substitutions. You pay for the entire meal, drinks and tip with the reservations. This makes the actual meal itself quite different, but so efficient. When you arrive your table is already preset with the salad, water, warm bread and the paired wine. The staff is extremely attentive, almost graceful as they sweep in and remove the dirty plates and replace them with the next course. There is absolutely no waiting. It was amazing! We were done with the meal in maybe 30-40 minutes. It was a unique experience to just finish up and leave. No waiting on the check! Now onto the food. Presentation, quality, and food temperate were all perfect. I mean it doesn't take much to make pasta look good, but you know what I mean. The restaurant itself is in a old fire house. They did a great job with decorating and getting quite a bit of seating in it, but still not feel too crowded. The lighting was good, not super dark like some of these ritzy wannabe places are now. The owner/chef stopped by to visit most tables. This is a must try. Price was 40ish a person and extra with the wine. Unbelievable we now actually have a restaurant comparable to one of the best in Kansas City.