Granadino's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Clearwater

I stopped in here with a friend for a late lunch (2pm) on a weekday. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was that the place smells bad. We probably should have turned around right then, but we were hungry. We were greeted by a very bored-looking gentleman who informed us that we could sit anywhere we liked. We were the only customers in the place.

Our drink orders were taken immediately and we were given menus. The menus confused us because "Pizza" is plastered across their windows in large letters & there was no pizza on the menu. When we inquired we were told that they don't serve pizza for lunch. Only dinner. Whatever. Our beers arrived with frosty mugs and we were willing to try something else. Unfortunately, by the time we'd looked at the menu for a while we were getting pretty tired of listening to the local news from 3 or 4 TVs with a background of some other, more appropriate, restaurant music and we were ready to call it quits.

A basket of bread arrived with some oil for dipping and we figured we'd stick it out a while longer and order an appetizer. The menu says that pasta dishes come with fresh-baked bread. That must be different bread because what we got was fresh out of an oven, but crumbly & definitely not freshly-baked. Our fried mozzarella arrived and was perfectly cooked. They were hot & gooey, however, I'm reasonably certain they were from the freezer. Not hand-cut and tossed in bread crumbs & herbs, as advertised. We were ready to go at that point as we'd had bread and fried cheese and never been offered flatware or even napkins. Our server was friendly enough, just not much on the service side.

Nothing would make me...

Last night we ordered on Uber Eats from here for the 1st time. We got the mussels, side of Fettuccine with Alfredo sauce and a 12" pizza. When Uber Eats arrived, the pizza was missing. We called the restaurant who said the driver left so fast they did not get to give her the pizza they would get the pizza to us. In the meantime we ate the mussels and pasta and they were fresh and delicious. The Alfredo was not too heavy and the chopped fresh tomatoes added a brightness as well. The mussels were in a garlic sauce and were surprised to get a mini loaf of bread with cheese and buttery goodness. I assumed I would see another Uber driver, but much to my surprise, a very apologetic lady and what appeared to be her son, from the restaurant hand delivered the pizza. The pizza was very good, good sauce and crust and plenty of toppings, no skimping. This restaurant showed the true meaning of customer service in my opinion along with having great and reasonably priced food. We will def be eating here again and again.

Update: In the middle of a kitchen remodel and have ordered 2 more times. Grilled pork chops, sausage and peppers, shrimp scampi and Cesar salad. ...

Tonight was pizza night and we decided to try an new place. And so happy that we did! Thank you Granadino's Italian Restaurant! When my husband called the order in he asked for chopped garlic which apparently they don't have. Guess what, the owner took the time to roast garlic in his oven and then chopped it as a topping. I have never had anyone go above and beyond like that before, really such a nice thing to do and let me tell you it was wonderful. We used to love going to a place located on 49th Street but their customer service has gotten so terrible we decided they obviously didn't want food customers just beer drinkers. Unfortunately we really liked their pizza. Well, luckily we have a new favorite in town. When my husband went in he said they didn't really have many customers, I'd like to see this place do well and support local business, we are huge fans of "mom & pop" restaurants. So, if you are looking for a new place to try, definitely give them a chance maybe you'll like it as much as we did :) I'm looking forward to going in and trying entrees next time, and I'll let you know...