Elite VIP Dinner @ Filomena’s Italian Kitchen

This was such a fun event! It’s wonderful being able to get together with a small group of Unilocal Elites to chat and enjoy delicious food and wine. I think it’s fair to say everyone at that dinner was pleased with their meal.
Genuine Italian food can be incredibly hard to come by. Commercialized Italian is just so blah. The food at Filomena’s was definitely NOT commercialized or blah. It was SO good!!! The secret red sauce was incredible, and I really enjoyed the lasagna. Meeting the owners and chef of the restaurant made the evening even more special. They talked about where these recipes came from and how they cook their food.
Filomena’s is located quite close to where I live, and it’s nice to know this little spot exists! On a night when I don’t feel like cooking, Filomena’s will be a great option. Who knew this place was even there tucked away on Manchester?!

I really enjoyed this Elite event, it was the perfect size of people to get to know for the first time and they all were a great group of elite’rs! This was my first elite dinner and i thought it was awesome! The restaurant staff here were simply amazing and took care of us very well. There was plenty of food, and they explained all the dishes prepared for us as they brought them out, answering all the questions except what the ingredients in the sauce was of course, so you’ll just have to visit and give it a try for yourself because i cannot tell, even if i wanted to.
They served us four dishes and they were all tasty in their own special way, the first dish out was Arancini, it was super good!, a definite appetizer to always get, then we got a salad that was pretty good, dressing is always everything and the balsamic vinaigrette dressing was yummy. Then they brought out the seafood risotto, this was my least fav of all the dishes and i enjoyed it much! I love seafood so i liked the seafood taste that was not too strong but just right.
The last plate was their special homemade sauced lasagna! This was my overall Favorite dish served. I wanted more and the piece we got was fairly big, but then we were told that was just half an order! so if you get an order of lasagna you «could» split it with someone, but after your first bite you might be sending them back to get there own!
The food here was to me most excellent, presentation and all played a role and I was highly impressed with Filomena’s overall performance! I will be returning if i am in the area and need some Fantastic Italian To-​Go food.

guys, being an elite Unilocaler in st. louis is the shiz.
what a great event! a relaxed, intimate dinner in an italian restaurant that i NEVER would have found on my own. great company and recommendations from some long-​time st. louisians. oh, and did i mention it included four courses and wine? you know, #casual.
so here’s the dish on filomena — her family is from Italy, and she makes and serves the food to you with greetings from the old country. this restaurant uses authentic ingredients and processes for every aspect of the menu. for example, the marinara sauce is made in house every single day! made with san marzano tomatoes, which prosper due to the ash from the base of mt. vesuvius, the marinara sauce simmers for 8 hours a day. EIGHT HOURS. EVERY DAY.
in terms of the food, i was a huge fan of the arancini and the lasagna. i’ve never seen a more perfectly fried morsel of deliciousness. and by morsel, i’m talking a huge ball of battered risotto filled with sausage and cheese. seriously, the arancini was moist and crunchy and just so flavorful. these are definitely something that i can see myself driving across the city for. the lasagna was delicious as well — not as saucy, but filled with meat and cheese. savory, and just perfect when topped with some crushed red pepper. we received a hefty portion, but apparently the dinner sizes are twice as big. guys, an order of pasta here will definitely do ya for at least a couple of meals.
all in all, a fantastic local business. i recommend filomena’s for 1) takeout on a busy weeknight evening and/​or 2) CATERING. though the ambiance may be a bit lacking, the food is definitely not.

What I love about being Unilocal Elite is being able to attend Unilocal Elite VIP dinners!!! They are always so fabulous because you get to meet the owner and hear about their story!
The four-​course Italian meal was oh-​so-​DELICIOUS! To be honest, I don’t think I would have found this gem if it wasn’t for Unilocal.I’m really picky when it comes to my pasta. That means, it better be al dente or it will be al-​no-​no. The lasagna was cooked to perfection! The sauce was so amazing. You can’t get red sauce like this any where else. They cook their sauce for 8 hours every day!
I can’t wait to take my fiancé here and share with him great pasta and the amazing arancini. Deep fried risotto balls on a bed of their delicious red sauce? Yum! I’ll definitely be back!

This was one of our smaller events. I really enjoyed it. I got to meet new elites, Courtney and Jeffrey. As usual, Aimee is the consummate host. Its great to know I can always count on our events being well thought out. That’ s Aimee!, she sets a great table.
Do check out Filomena’s! Gourmet carry out, great idea. I liked all the food, but I really loved the Lasagna. It was yummy. They cook the sauce for over 8 hours. You can tell. I want more Lasagna, right now. I ‘ve been thinking about that Lasagna!
Filomena’s is a small restaurant. It has maybe 10 tables. You can eat in or carry out. Very cute and nice to be able to talk and meet with the owners. Next time you drive down Manchester and need lunch or dinner or maybe you need to take food to work, stop by Filomena’s Italian Kitchen.

Who doesn’t love an Elite event! This would be my third one ever and I am still impressed by the way local businesses treat us with confidence and poise. I would have to say after this place. It is one of my favorites, i have been looking for good italian food not on «The Hill» and this place impressed me.
When I drove up to this little place I was definitely unsure of what to expect. The sign that says «most underrated italian restaurant» doesn’t lie. I would have to say I would easily drive by this place if I wasn’t planning on going here.
Filomena came to our table and was the nicest owner ever! She seems to take pride in her restaurant and food, she seems to enjoy entertaining and making her guests ultimately happy and wanting to come back for more.
I am into divey type places and this place fits my expectations. The prices are fantastic and the portion sizes are more than enough. So on to my review on the food :)
Arancini…OH MY GOD AMAZING! As I took a bite all I could think about is, i would come back here just for this. It is a Homemade risotto croquette filled with meat and cheese topped with marinara sauce… if you only came here for something small you have to get this… it would be a MUST on every trip… i have never tasted anything like this little ball of heaven and I will stop by here for this if I am ever in the area. They are making my mouth water just thinking about them!
House salad… they have a house made balsamic vinaigrette that is sure to please… the croutons they added special were pretty good… overall a decent house salad, better than most places. The dressing is what makes it.
Lasagna…I’m not a huge lasagna fan, but I found this dish to be pleasurable. I think the house made marinara sauce is what I liked the most. This is a very hearty dish so make sure you have an empty stomach. I’m not sure if this had ricotta in it, if it did im impressed because i hate ricotta and this is one of the reasons i stay away from lasagna… however, i did finish my whole piece! I’m sure if your a lasagna fan then you should give it a try, i’m not one to really compare to anywhere else.
Seafood Risotto. firstly im not a huge seafood fan either but this was pretty good. At first the sauce just tasted like a marinara but as i let it linger in my mouth I found the seafood flavor of the lobster broth. The shrimp was delicious and the scallops tender.
I would come back here if craving italian in this area, but mostly for their arancini… this is not to be missed!

I was very excited to attend my very first Elite VIP Dinner, and it did not disappoint! I am familiar with the Glendale/​Rock Hill area, but I almost passed Filomena’s by on first glance, it is a small but charming restaurant right off of Manchester Rd. The seating inside is limited, but there was still plenty of room for multiple tables in the dining area. It seems to be a popular spot to pick up and take home a delicious homemade meal without the hassle of dining in.
The first dish that was brought out (by Filomena herself, how awesome?!) was the arancini, which was so good. It had the perfect balance of crisp baked goodness on the outside and gooey deliciousness inside. The salad that was served had a great homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing and croutons (great addition made by the Chef that night we were told!). The seafood risotto was very good, there were bits of scallops included in the lobster based sauce that were a nice addition to the dish. Now the best for last, the lasagna. Filomena explained that the lasagna is made completely from scratch with no added preservatives or sugar, which is awesome. They slow cook the sauce all day, no shortcuts here!
Let’s just say I left here with a fully belly and had a great time meeting new people. If you are ever in the area and craving some authentic Italian, definitely check out Filomenas!

So glad that I came here for a Unilocal dinner! This isn’t my neck of the woods but I can assure you that when I need an Italian fix, I’m heading to Filomena’s! The highlights of the meal were for sure the arancini and the lasagna. Both were so good! The portions were ample and the sauce… Oh The Sauce!!! You can tell they make this with love and simmer it the whole day.
Don’t come here thinking you’re going to find an old school dimly light romantic Italian place (think The Hill). This is upscale Italian fast food that they make in house. Small place with a counter and a few tables. They even have a drive thru! Don’t let that throw you though. They aim (I think) to be a resource for on the go folks looking for a hearty homecooked meal that comes with a really reasonable pricetag.
Check them out. They’re nice folks and they make some seriously tasty food.
Thanks for another amazing Unilocal dinner!

Damn, it’s pretty sweet to be Elite.
Thanks to Aimee for putting together this fantastic dinner. I don’t eat a lot of Italian food but that might change after that AMAZING lasagna I got to try. So delicious and comforting, and nicely constructed. It wasn’t a sloppy mess like other lasagnas I’ve had This was just right. We were told that the chef uses San Marzano tomatoes which are imported from Italy and are widely regarded as the best for sauces.
The arancini and house salad were fantastic. I enjoyed the seafood risotto but felt it was lacking the depth of the other dishes. Some black pepper might have helped had I been able to find some.
Aimee was kind enough to bring a bunch of bottles of red & white wine and the time flew by. It was also nice to meet the chef behind all those delicious creations, as well as the lovely staff who made us feel at home.
I’ll definitely be calling in a take-​out order for this place very soon.

This event was so much fun! I had an awesome mix of people that I sat next to and one in particular (Jeffery F) was most certainly a riot. I’ll say we had a conversation about a certain fake something that just is not appropriate to bring up here, but it was entertaining.
Back to the restaurant though, I have to say I liked three of the four dishes we were served. I wont go into too much detail about the food, because clearly Steven B and Jeffery F have done such a great job already, but I want to say that the Lasagna was my favorite dish of the evening.
Supposedly Filomena’s uses special tomatoes from Sicily to create their one of a kind sauce for the lasagna, and while I don’t know if that’s true or not, it still was pretty darn good. I’m not a big fan of mixing the pork and the beef to make a ragu sauce, but I tried it anyway, and I wasn’t disappointed. If I remember correctly, they said that it takes about 8 hours to create this special sauce.
While others say that there was not enough lettuce for the dressing on the house salad… I disagree. I liked the overflow of dressing a lot, but was not a fan of the artichokes.
The one dish I didn’t like as much was the Seafood Risotto. I know that some people loved it, but I’m more of a fan of creamy risotto. Unfortunately, this was of the saucy variety. Also, I don’t really enjoy seafood, but if I did, the shrimp showing on the risotto was poor. I think they had one, maybe two pieces of shrimp on my risotto and a few pieces of scallops.
Thanks to Aimee we had an endless supply of wine on the table. I’m pretty sure I poured several glasses for many people around me, so we all were having a good time. I had a few glasses of pinot as well, but just to make sure it wasn’t toxic for everyone else, of course ;).
Parking here was a bit of a challenge because I got to the event right at 7. I guess there were people more eager than myself for this dinner. The parking lot they have is tiny, but for take out, it’s certainly enough.
Overall, had a great time at this event. The food was good and I certainly went home happy and full!

Well lets start by saying, for a first elite event, meeting 15 complete strangers for dinner can be intimidating. But because Unilocal Elites are naturally awesome people; it was a painless experience. Aimee brought lots of wine, so that helps too.
Now the food! First course was Arancini. Described as the house specialty. These were homemade risotto croquettes, filled with meat and cheese, flash fried and served with marinara sauce. Quite yummy. A little bit hot, I may have burned the roof of my mouth a bit while devouring them. Their marinara sauce is incredible. We were given a lesson on the tomatoes used. I managed to catch at least half of it. Tasty though.
House Salad– Romaine lettuce with mozzarella and provolone cheese, artichoke hearts, red onion and tomato with their house made balsamic vinaigrette. My only complaint on the salad was the it had a bit more dressing than I would have used, and seemed that perhaps it was dressed a bit too soon before being served. Some of the lettuce leaves were pretty saturated.
Seafood Risotto. Described as creamy risotto with shrimp and scallops, finished in a lobster broth. It was not so much creamy, I counted two tiny shrimp, about 4 baby scallops. I’ll take their word on being finished in a lobster broth. Only problem was the disparity between the number of scallops on each dinners plate. They were not portioned equally. But it was still pretty tasty.
Lasagna– We know what lasagna is, so I’ll skip the description. Pretty good. Had kind of a strong garlic flavor. I am one who loves garlic, but it might be overpowering for some people.
I will totally think of Filomena’s on those evenings when I want something good, and just can’t be bothered to cook, or wait too long for something. Everything was pretty good overall. Their prices are amazing too!
First Unilocal event, fun new experience. Great meeting some cool new people. I’m looking forward to the next one.

These VIP Dinners are great for discovering new places that you have not experienced. Tonight, Filomena’s proved my theory that some of the best Italian food is not necessarily on The Hill.
I am going to cut to the chase and talk about the last dish that we were served which was the entrée; Lasagna. It was FANTASTIC & Delicious. Layers of thin pasta prepared al dente, to perfection. Combined with seasoned meats, three cheese blend and a slow simmered homemade marinara sauce that is a family secret. That sauce was so yummy, that I’d keep it a family secret too.
Now back to the beginning, we started out with Arancini. It’s a house specialty. It’s homemade risotto croquettes, filled with meat, flash fried with a melted cheese center and served with that family secret marinara sauce. They told it the best way to enjoy it was to cut it in half, then top it with the marinara sauce. Very good advice, it melted in your mouth. I felt as if I were in a small village in Italy.
Secondly, we had their House Salad. No iceberg lettuce, hot damn. They use Romaine lettuce with mozzarella and provolone cheeses, artichoke hearts and red onion tossed with their house balsamic vinaigrette.
The salad was followed up with and incredible Seafood Risotto. I love scallops and this risotto was creamy, had not only scallops and shrimp too. It was then finished in a lobster broth. This was some of the best risotto I have had and I’ve had a lot.
Filomena’s specializes in great Italian food for carry out and I am glad that I live only a short 10 minuet drive away. I can tell you on the nights we do not feel like cooking, I’ll have Filomena’s on speed dial.