We went here while visiting Bardstown. Caught got a child's size cheese with bacon pizza. She crushed it. I tried a piece and it was excellent. Wife and I had entrees off the menu and they both were killer. Will go back to bardstown just for this restaurant!! read more

This is my second visit The menu keeps me coming back , I advise to try something different. The salad is delicious and has a slight spin, with pasta noodles The pizza will easily feed four or more I had the pasta dish and made three meals out of the leftovers. read more

Cafe Primo - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

See all

Good Pizza the bottom was a little over cooked, service was fair , it's a small building so larger parties of people seem to make the place quite noisy. Next time I plan on sitting outside. read more

Terrible service, never sat us and choose to seat guest behind us. Service staff was rude and used foul language when speaking to us. Never ate because we couldn't get past our initial encounter. I'd give a zero of if I could. read more

The Margarita Pizza is hands down the best pizza in town! You can't ask for more friendly and attentive staff! They have become our people and one of our local spots. read more

Cafe Primo - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

If you like Pie, then you'll love this place. The cheese is where you'll notice the taste difference for their pizzas. The Primo and Margherita are amazing! It's brick style oven. Don't miss this place! read more

We have lunch today at this restaurant! The food was exceptional! The service was great! All this at a very reasonable price. We both had pasta that was homemade. Then for dessert we shared a cannoli. We loved the decor. We admired how they had kept the original woodworking beauty. We will definitely be back! read more

Limited menu but good food and service. I've only had the pizza and pasta but both are really good. I recommend making reservations on weekends. read more

Good food, quick efficient service, pizza very good, Atmosphere can be loud when busy.

Food is good, Pizza is really good, best tiramisu ever...service is mediocre at best, unprofessional food service habits that are dirty and cringe worthy, brings down all the other good things. Great location though. read more

Love Cafe Primo. Pizza and cheese sticks were amazing. They were short staffed so service was a little slow but we weren't in a hurry and they were so nice and helpful. Highly recommend!!! read more

This is one our favorite places in Bardstown to go for lunch. We found the restaurant with just another couple in another table. We have been here before during lunch hour and its pretty much empty. Of course this is not the case during dinner service or weekends. Service was good and Staff was very friendly. We are always pleased with the food. Good portion of salad.($6.00) Our favorite dish is: their Romano Pasta dish. (it comes with shrimp and its spicy!) thought to take a pic but forgot because we jumped right to it!! it was delicious! read more

Cafe Primo - Lunch time... - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

Fantastic pizza and tasty cannoli. Clean premises, good service, a must stop in Bardstown

Three friends and I visited Cafe Primo for dinner last Saturday, having been recommended to us. Unfortunately, our experience was not a positive one. After being seated we realized there was an issue with the service as we had to wait a long time for the waitress. So, we ordered our drinks and meal at the same time. After being served our drinks, we waited. At the one hour and fifteen-minute point our meals had not been delivered. Fifteen minutes later, having finally gotten the attention of a waitress we asked about our meal. Three dishes would be another ten minutes but the pizza is ready. We could not stay another ten minutes as we had tickets to a show, so we paid for our drinks, and ate the pizza on the street. In total we were there for an hour and a half. We understand restaurants are busy. However, when we entered the restaurant, they did not mention any delay in service. While waiting the waitress never checked our drinks for a refill. Additionally, the waitress was dismissive and at no point apologized for our wait. Very disappointed in the complete lack of customer service. read more

This was some of the best pizza I have had in a long while. My husband and I got the primo pizza. Fresh ingredients and amazing flavor. Our waitress was very sweet and mad ensure we were happy with everything and had all we needed. read more

Move over Mimi and Rickhouse, Cafe Primo now holds the award for the best meal that I've had in Bardstown. It's located in the heart of downtown Bardstown and surrounded by other restaurants, CP was the only one open shortly after 11 am. The actually take a siesta of sorts after the lunch hours and then open again at 5 pm. The very first time that I visited this location it was late in the evening and only certain items from the kitchen were available, so we had a drink and left. We really only came here today by default.... soooo glad we did! We started with two bread sticks and marinara, both were excellent and worth the small charge. We both ordered pasta dishes from the lunch menu, both were under priced and phenomenal. I wish I had have taken a picture of the menu, because I forgot what the names of the dishes were. Mine was an angel hair pasta, with a white cream sauce, shrimp, spinach, and mushrooms. Oh my, I'm sure to think about that meal for days to come! Service was great. The waitress was very tentative and friendly. The owner turned out to be the one who made our meals. He was also friendly and later came out and chatted for a bit. He explained that it's been open for three years and that they close after lunch and reopen for dinner. Too bad they aren't open on Sundays or else that would be our Bardstown drive thru meal. What's that you ask? Whenever we travel through the area, we always swing in and drive through downtown Bardstown usually, if we're hungry, we're stuck with Old Talbert's Tavern, which currently seems to be the only restaurant open in Bardstown on Sundays. read more

See all

We were trolling around town and walked in on a Saturday night. We were greeted and sat promptly. Our server was Amazing.... The food was outstanding. The portions are HUGE... the prices are even better. read more

On one of our road trips to Kentucky, my wife and I decided to stop in Bardstown for lunch. Since it was Black Friday weekend, we parked and got out to walk a little and wound up going into Cafe Primo to eat. The place had several customers, and the smells were great, so we knew we had likely made a good choice. As we sat at our table waiting for the food, the restaurant filled -- literally every table was full, and people were waiting. This was a good sign since it seemed that the locals wanted to be there. I had tomato soup and a Caesar salad, and my wife ordered a small Margherita pizza. The salad was standard -- there's little wrong that you can do to a Caesar salad unless you make it as something other than a Caesar. I have to say that the tomato soup, which contained acini di pepe pasta, was a little on the acidic side. It was good, but it somewhat burned my throat as I ate it. The pizza was the main thing to be critiqued here. My wife is from New York City and we met in New Haven, CT; my readers know that we are incredibly snobby about New York and New Haven-style pizza -- I'm actually much snobbier about it than she is. Cafe Primo's pizza was ALMOST there. The texture was good, and the thinness of the crust was good. The sauce was not sweet like we usually find in the middle of the country. However, the dry oregano and parmesan cheese on top were just wrong -- that goes in shakers on the table for people to add if they want it, but it does NOT automatically become part of a pizza. Also, the dough, though good, needed to age a little to let the flavors of the ingredients settle and meld together. Also, a good Margherita pizza should have basil worked into the pizza as more than just four whole leaves -- they should be shredded so that every bite gets a bit of basil, and the customer shouldn't have to peel it off the pizza and shred it. It's pretty the way Cafe Primo does it, but the taste is more important. And one other thing: the real Margherita should have just mozzarella di buffalo in globs, not the extra melted mozzarella of a different kind under it -- the two types of mozz really don't go together that well. Other than that, the pizza was excellent, much better than other sorry excuses for pizza that we often find in this part of the country. The fact that we saw a chef actually making the pizza dough in the kitchen was a major plus in our book. Will I be back? Since I'm not in Bardstown that often, who knows. Theoretically, yes. If I were a local, I could see myself here with some frequency. read more

Best pizza I have ever had. Always have to stop by when I come down from Louisville. Great food and great service! read more

Cafe Primo - Primo Primo Dinner Pizza - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

Loved this place! Hubs and I split a house salad and split a pizza - half pepperoni, half prosciutto de parma. Service was great, the food was top notch, and the ambiance was very casual but ever-so-slightly refined. We will make this a must-visit stop on our next trip to the area! read more

This hidden gem was recommended to us by a local. When she said 'he makes everything fresh' we were sold! We walk into a packed restaurant taking two seats at the bar. The wait staff worked as a team and they were busy! We had Caesar salad and homemade breadsticks with marinara. We also split a pizza half & half pepperoni and margarita, and ordered the Penne Calabrian. The pizza crust was like only a few I've had before. Hand stretched 00 flour with the air pockets! So delicious. The breadsticks were airy with delicious marinara. My only request would be to have the sauce warmed. Although we tasted the Penne, it's on the way back to our rental for dinner! We were stuffed. My husband stopped to thank the owner, who is the mastermind cooking all this deliciousness himself!! What an experience! We loved it! read more

Great food Everyone needs to try this place.....Not to expensive and great service.....their pasta ROCKS

This place is amazing. The food is amazing. The staff are so nice. Great place for getting together.

Absolutely amazing pizza! The staff was literally running around taking care of customers. Definitely recommend!!!!!

Love this restaurant! Pizza is awesome and the past is great! The owner goes out of his way to make sure you are pleased with your order! He takes pride in it. Thank read more

Ate there today and it was delish, I had the lunch Primo. I got soup salad and veggie pasta. It did not disappoint at all

We visited Cafe Primo this past Saturday at 7:45pm. When we got there we were the first in line with a group of 6 people. Right after us two other families arrived a group of 4 and a group of 2. We stood there for a couple minutes before a very sweet waitress walked up and said we have this table over here that just left so let me wipe it down and I'll get you seated. As she is working quickly to clean it up and separate the tables from the previous big party, a lady who appeared to be a manager in a red shirt came over to her. She proceeded to yell loud enough at the young waitress in a way to make sure we as guest could hear across the room that we would not get served food for an hour and a half due to a big table that got seated upstairs. It was like she wanted to make sure we could hear here along with all the attitude she shared with it. The young waitress came over to let us know what we all already knew. Every one us at the point walked out the door. Here is my issue...Your business said it was open until 9pm so not sure how serving us at 9:15pm would have even happened. My other issue was with how the manager handled it. She could have kindly come over in a respectful manner and told us like we are actually adults and not children. We were visiting from out of town over the weekend and simply came to tryout it out based on a recommendation from the VRBO we were staying at. Hate that we never got to try the food but most of all hate how we were treated as guest to your establishment. At that point we didn't even feel like waiting that long for food due to the service we received. Had we been treated better we may have actually waited to see what the hype was about. read more

Thankfully this place was open on a Monday, if I ever moved to Bardstown, I'd open a Bourbon place/cafe that was definitely open on a Monday. But back to the pizza... amazing!! Seriously some of the best pizza we've ever had. Great service too! The pizza is a thin crust NY style, delicious sauce, toppings (we got the pepperoni and prosciutto) they let us do half and half, we were blown away by how delicious it was in this little town in Kentucky! The only negative was the owner or maybe the manager, the older guy with glasses, very grumpy and rude. Other than that, we'd go back for the pizza! read more

Very very friendly staff and food was to die for. Best authentic pizza I have ever eaten! Definitely will be back very soon

Food is awesome, and the service is fantastic thanks Sydney for making us feel welcome. The building is old, and the low light is on point.

Rude here. Perhaps it's the young servers. ADAMANT about buying something for restroom use and we did but they also rolled their eyes and were ON you to order things when the place was COMPLETELY empty read more

Great pizza & pasta! We'd come back for the the hot brown pizza! A little loud inside but clean and friendly staff!

Truly a local place, with everyone knowing one another, which is something we look for when we travel. We didn't have reservations, but they found us a table on the condition we'd be finished before the people it was reserved and arrived (2 hours after our arrival). The beer/wine selection was slim; they were out of a lot of things. We had an Insalata Roma and a Pizza Margherita for dinner. The salad was crisp and fresh. The thin-crust pizza was a little soggy in the middle, and seemed short on the basil, but was tasty. Servers were attentive. Would likely stop in here again on our travels. read more

This pizza was so great! You can get pizza from any delivery place and it won't compare to sitting down and enjoying a great pizza at this place! Fresh toppings! Great cheese! My only complaint is that it was a bit greasy and the environment was louder when I visited. They should update the tables and decor!!! Personable staff!!!! I love when a staff works as a team! read more

Cafe Primo - Great pizza. A tad bit greasy but is a hundred times better than delivery pizza! You wont be disappointed! You can get half and half! - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

Really nice place near the circle in Bardstown. They have a very small focused menu. Italian inspired. The service was a little off. I was given someone else's pizza. Our waitress rushed back to the kitchen and came back out with the same pizza and handed to the couple next to us. She assured us that my pizza was in the oven and that the tickets just got crossed. My gf had her penne and it was very good, albeit not piping hot. My pizza arrived and it was really good it was missing a few things that were listed on the menu but it was still good. I know these are things that really bunch peoples panties. It seems like some reviewers just look for reasons to be unhappy. I'm in it for the food. If the food is good, I can tolerate a busy restaurant. If the food sucks or the wait staff are rude, that's something to bitch about. read more

Cafe Primo - Italian Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

I am a big pizza connoisseur of all kinds. This Neapolitan style pizza restaurant hit the spot. Crust is just as it should be, sauce is sweet yet flavorful, and cheese is spot on. We had the Margherita style and the Primo pizza without mushrooms or spinach (meat pie). Both were A +. Haven't tried other pizza places in Bardstown, but I did my research and this one rises to the top. Bested my expectations. Well done, Cafe Primo! read more

Fantastic Italian food! We had house salad, pasta roma for the table and a Primo pizza to share. The pasta had shrimp, prosciutto, mushrooms and a lemon sauce. The pizza was chicken, tomato and a white sauce. It was fantastic! read more

Had reservations for party of 8 and they promptly seated our group. Food was great - everyone enjoyed the salads and the pizza was outstanding. Fun place with excellent service. Carly was a wonderful server. Our group agreed they would go back next time we are in town. read more

Best pizza I've had in a long time. The Hot Brown with white sauce. Fabulous! The pastas looked I, too.

We had dinner here last night while in Bardstown. We began with the house wine which is not bad for 6$. We ordered a Caprese salad which was tasteless. Supermarket tomatoes. Chewy mozzarella and one leaf of basil per tomato slice. We then shared a penne pesto with shrimp that was delicious. Well flavored and good shrimp. Tiramisu for dessert that was pretty good. The service was friendly but unprofessional. Our server couldn't pronounce any of the Italian words. When we asked how the pesto was prepared her answer was. It's green! Indeed it was. Nice outdoor seating area but not a single employee or patron masked. read more