Mimmo's Destin Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Destin

On Saturday June 7th we took my daughter there to celebrate her 25th birthday. We are not local and flew in from different parts of the country. When the reservations were made it was noted about my daughters birthday. I will start with the food was excellent, however the rest of our experience was a complete disaster. Our waiter was good to start with the drinks and appetizers but after placing our entree orders everything went downhill. We were a small party of five. Two of the entrees came out and were correct. We waited about 10 more minutes and two more entrees came out, both of which were incorrect, and taken back. The same two entrees came out again and still one of them were incorrect. Our fifth entree still had not come out at all. Finally when a manager came over we were informed that our waiter had incorrectly put in the orders and the fifth got put in later in the Que so that it could never come out with the others. By the time the third version of my wife's came out and the one that had been put in late, two of us were already finished with our meals. By this time the female manager, (I did not get her name) informed us that this was the waiters first night on his own. He apologized many times but I do not blame him it falls on management to properly train the staff, and with all that had gone on one of the two managers that evening should have been making up for his mistakes and getting things squared away, however it was not until later that they even got involved. Their answer was we will give you a couple free deserts. At that point we could care less about desert and just wanted to leave. When they did bring the two deserts there was no birthday celebration like there was for the table two down that had a candle and the staff sing happy birthday, and that group of ladies were much older than my daughter but they got the red carpet treatment. Management completely mishandled the entire event. We spent just over two hours at this establishment, and during all of this at no time did any of the staff ask us for drink refills even with five empty bar glasses on the table. Even when I wanted a simple iced tea it was never served. Overall the food was very good and my compliments to the chef, however after dealing with management that simply had a chip on their shoulder and really did not take any responsibility for such a stressful evening I would never return. My sister in law who was with us had been there before and had a good meal but she will no longer go as this was just poorly handled by the...

This was an initial visit to Mimmo's.

The restaurant is in a shopping center and those driving down Highway 98 are likely to miss it. It is not a chain restaurant. It has the look and feel of a family owned restaurant.

Upon entering, we were taken aback by the noise level. There was a large group of women dining near the front of the restaurant and the noise level reverberated through the restaurant. They were obviously enjoying an event and the food and wine. There were tables available. We thought of leaving and coming back at a different time but decided to stay and enjoy the lunch. The table noise did dissipate after their food was brought out.

The atmosphere is pleasant in other respects. We sat near a large pizza oven. We ordered garlic bread which consisted of 6 pieces of bread with olive oil, cheese and garlic. It was cooked in the pizza oven.

The bread was delicious. I could easily make a meal, and probably will in the future, of just the garlic bread, a salad and a glass of wine. There was a great deal of cheese on the bread. Some ordering it may prefer to ask for only a small topping of the parmesan on top.

The caprese salad was also excellent. The tomatoes were fresh and had good flavor. The lettuce was crisp. The mozzarella cheese on top of the sliced tomatoes had excellent flavor.

Two of us split the bread, salad and spaghetti bolognese. The spaghetti was a fairly large serving, even though it was on the lunch menu. It was more than enough for two of us and had a delicious flavor. It was not burned, an experience I have had with this dish in other venues, and the pasta was perfect. It had a strong tomato and garlic flavor. I should have ordered a bottle of chianti to accompany it and stick around for another hour or so enjoying the wine and the delightful feeling of enjoying a delicious Italian dining experience.

There is a good wine list with a limited selection of wine by the glass. Prices seem quite reasonable and—no surprise—several Italian wines available.

The decor is interesting. A wall in the mens room has rocks encased in plaster and the hall leading to the restrooms has a medieval appearance one would expect to see in an old building in Italy.

The menu was attractive, the food was excellent, I loved the decor and the service was good--even with a busy lunchtime crowd. Anyone who enjoys good Italian food will...

Bottom Line: I would recommend this restaurant, but MAKE A RESERVATION. It gets very busy in the evening. It was about a half hour wait for a table when we went around 8:30PM.

Atmosphere: High-light ambience. Tables are reasonable spaced apart. Mid-level noise. Very fancy Italian vibe.

Food: We got one appetizer and one entree. The $15 Calamari Fritti was decent. It wasn't the best I've had, it wasn't the worst I've had. Very crispy, marinara sauce could have had a better flavor.

Our main entree was the $25 Piccata. This is the first time I have ever had chicken piccata and it was delicious. The chicken was the slightest bit overcooked, but it still had great flavor. The bed of angel hair underneath was cooked well. The lemon-caper butter sauce just tied everything together.

Service: We didn't order any drinks, but we watched the bartender serving other people and he seemed very skilled. Our food came out in a reasonable time. The only small issue I had was with the male host. Our female host tried to find seating away from the bar for us but he interjected saying the only other available seating was reserved for guests that he was tending to. Understandable. My issue lied with when I asked if he could move us from the bar to an actual table if one opened up before we got our food as the 30 minute wait we were given when we put our names down (before we opted for immediate seating at the bar) was nearly over. While his tone/attitude was not rude, it did come off as a lack of care for our request to be accommodated. It made me feel less like we were guests to be pleased and more like his convenience was a priority. While I understand that busy hours make for difficult management, I believe that one thing you should always be in control of as a business is making the guest feel as though they are a priority with a tone that expresses either a sincere apology in not being able to accommodate you at the time, or a true effort in accommodating your request even if it is not practical. This is what kept the restaurant from five stars.

Overall: Food was great, price was great, atmosphere was satisfactory. I would recommend...