Gusto Cucina Italiana — Restaurant in Cape Coral

I know I am late to the Gusto Cucina Italiana party, however I went with the highest of expectations and was BLOWN away! Everything from start to finish was AMAZING. Rewind about 4-5 days ago, after making a last minute Valentines/Birthday reservation for my wonderful girlfriend and I for a local seafood chain I immediately regretted the decision as I always favor local mom & pop style restaurants. I reluctantly emailed Gusto Cucina Italiana on a wing and a prayer. Literally hours later I received a response from Raquel letting me know she had one reservation for 2 at 8:30. Knowing that I could not pass up the chance to try Chef Vincenzo Cangialosi's masterful creations, I accepted. OH BOY, was I glad I did. The night started off perfectly. We arrived 20 minutes early to a packed house. Greeted by one of the waitresses and then later by Raquel herself, we were told it would be a momentary wait while they finished up clearing the booth etc. Within minutes we were seated with our Valentines day menus. Moments later Nichole our server greeted us and we ordered our Peroni Bier and one Coke with extra ice. When she returned with the drinks we ordered the Mozzarella Frita. Not two minutes later fresh warm bread with butter arrived. The appetizer arrived shortly after and I cannot tell you the last time I got this anywhere that the cheese was perfectly melted and gooey. It arrived exactly how I pictured it being a long time New Yorker and LOVER of Italian food I was prepared for the triangles of cheese. This was by far the best I've had in at least 5 years if ever. Perfectly golden brown, fried to perfection. The cheese had not one single spot that was un-melted. The marinara was a perfect compliment. The Chiffonade of fresh basil on top paired with the Parmesan was not only fresh but tasty to boot! We ordered our main meals off of the Valentines menu and as recommended by Nichole my lady had the Lobster Ravioli which was smothered in lump crab meat and the "To Die For" Tomato Cream sauce. Perfectly cooked Ravioli not mushy or too hard just perfect. I ordered the Veal Michelangelo. More of that amazing tomato sauce right here! So much meat too! The veal was tender not tough or rubbery like most places. Clams a plenty and the scallops....oooooooh the scallops. They were perfect. My knife and teeth cut through them like they were butter. I cant even describe it other than Divine. Being that it was a combination birthday and valentines dinner, I convinced (did not take much) my love to have the Crème brûlée for desert. Once again AMAZING! Light airy and full of that smokey torched sugar goodness. All in all, a great dinner. I have ZERO complaints. I try very hard to find something, anything wrong when I go out but there was NOTHING. Staff was A+++, Food OFF THE CHART! Price as more than fair, was easily worth 50% more than what it was. You get world class service and food for the price of a mediocre chain restaurant. I cannot begin to thank Raquel and her husband for this amazing opportunity and the memory I have now and I will continue to support this family owned business as long as I can. I even remembered to take PICTURES! I had to force myself because, as you can see it looks almost as good...

This was our first time visiting after hearing so many good things about the restaurant. We did as suggested, arrived 15 minutes before they opened, and got right in (they don't take reservations for parties under 6). Our server was experienced, checking in with us the right amount of times to see how we were doing. We were told upfront that they can substitute on all of the entrees on the menu, which is unheard of, but a nice touch. My husband ordered Penne Borgetto and I had the Salmon Gusto. Both were delicious and done to perfection. The salmon had a wonderful lemon butter sauce that was light and very flavorful, and the roasted potatoes just melted in your mouth. We also had the Crostini as an appetizer and the balsamic glaze that was drizzled over it was the best I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, our dining experience was marred by a party that was seated in the booth behind us. A woman at that table had on so much perfume that it was nauseating. I switched sides with my husband to get him further away from that group, but it was still too much for us and we lost our appetites shortly after they were seated. I suppose we could have asked our server to reseat us but we had already started on our entree and the restaurant was small enough that we did not want to draw attention to ourselves by getting up and moving. And that is assuming we could have moved to another table. We grabbed a couple of to-go boxes, not wanting to wait for our server to bring them, and quickly asked for the check and got out of there as fast as we could. Our fabulous meal was ruined as was our first dining experience. We do not blame the restaurant, but we were both so disappointed that this patron had so much perfume on that it lingered in the air and overwhelmed us to the point we had to leave. I hope this serves as a reminder to all you women out there that a little perfume goes a long way and to be considerate of the people that will be sitting near you in restaurants. Will we go there again? YES! The food was so good and what are the chances of that happening twice in a row. BTW, we did order the Cannoli Cake to go and it was the saving grace later that evening....

Gusto Cucina Italiana, Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral, Fl., Here is my 2 cents on the food and chatter.

Lets start with chatter. I have had this booked mark for 7-8 years, I went here twice at 4pm when they were supposed to be open...they were not....Finally another Saturday arrived and a big green light saying open.

I was seated quickly and attended to. I order a coke.This was a small but nice place with Italian things .I was brought a small, hot fresh loaf of bread. very good. Then I realize two things...paper napkin and three bucks for one can of Coke. I had dress up and thought it being Saturday evening there would be more sophistication here. Nope I was wrong

My meal: I always order thing that I do not know or have the regular skills of making my self.

I splurged on a $12.00 shrimp cocktail. It was not as fancy as I had thought. No glass dish just a plain white saucer plate... cocktail not very spicy but acceptable.

My meal today was Veal Michelangelo. $27.00...it was tender veal, sauteed shrimp, sea scallops, spiced tomatoe creamed sauce, jump lump crab meat, Brandy Sauce, served over angel hair pasta.

The entree was quickly designed and brought to me. The sauce was wonderful,the items were farm or ocean fresh delicious , Properly cooked.. But the angel hair pasta was not prepared as al dente. The proper method for Italian food. It was over cooked.

I brought this item attention to my server. She apologized but stated this is how they must cook it for the patrons. I would have to request al dente next time.

So basically they have to dumb it down from proper sophistication to bad taste buds in SWFL folks. Well chefs have to change their style to make a go of it.

So over all my meal was excellent... You must give Gusto a try.

Note: No easy access parking for people with mobility...