Moderato Ristorante — Restaurant in Doral

Had to meet someone for dinner halfway between Homestead and Fort Lauderdale - based on the reviews and that this has outdoor seating, we looked for a place in Doral and chose this restaurant, and it was the BEST choice we could have made. It was POURING down with rain, thundering, lightening, but the outside cover they have was excellent, we didn't get so much as a splash - so not only is it outdoor dining but COVERED!!!! YAY! The service was outstanding, the food SUPERB. I do have two minor complaints - the menu is incredibly difficult to read - the background is brown, font is black, and I just couldn't read it - even using the reading glasses, I struggled, and so did my husband and my friend. The other is that they automatically added 18% gratuity, and when the bill came, I briefly glanced at the menu items and prices, not even realizing this automatic gratuity because at the bottom of the receipt they still suggest 15%, or 20% and give you the amount it would be - so I added 15% gratuity on top of that. So I basically gave 18% PLUS 15% gratuity and didn't realize it until I got to the car and looked closely at the receipt. Fortunately I was able to go back in and explain that I hadn't realized the 18% was automatically charged, and they could not have been more gracious and understanding - immediately redoing my receipt so that my second 15% was not charged - so that's the only thing to look out for - make sure that you don't do double gratuity by mistake because they add it automatically. The way they handled it was fabulous. Now, the food: our friend had salmon with I think spinach or kale and he said it was excellent. My husband had the mushroom pizza and it was excellent - definitely more of a gourmet, hand crafted pizza, you could tell was home made - and I had the meat lasagna - EXCELLENT. We also had the tiramisu for dessert - very good (enough for the three of us to share) - all in all this is a MUST, if you're looking for good, artisan Italian with great service and outdoor seating. It isn't scenic because you're basically in a parking lot looking at the stream of cars lining up for the local fast food joint, but that didn't matter at all - we were just DELIGHTED to be able to sit outside in a wicked thunderstorm, dry as a bone, dining on SUPERT AUTHENTIC Italian cuisine, with the most delightful server waiting on us. I just wish it wasn't so far away from Fort Lauderdale, but if we meet with my friend again, we will be going right back there! Thank you Moderato, for a wonderful evening. Oh - by the way, prices are VERY reasonable indeed!!! For 3 of us, a large bottle of Pelegrino, entrees of salmon, lasagna, pizza, dessert of tiramisu and a cappuccino, INCLUDING gratuity, was $90. For really excellent Italian cuisine and a great dining experience, well worth every penny and very reasonable...

The only reason this place gets one star is because the pizza is decent. If your waitress is Maricell, ask for another. She doesn't speak or understand much English and didn't seem to understand much of Spanish either. We were a party of 4 and there were place settings for 3. She never brought another place setting. My wife ordered a soda and it was flat. She returned it. They brought her another flat soda. You would think they would check to see if there was carbonation before giving it to her again. Beware, if you have kids, the kids drinks do not have lids. I asked her to bring lids for the kids drinks and she never returned. I had to get up and ask her for a lid for the kids drinks and notify her that the second soda was flat in which she finally offered canned soda. She never checked up on us to see if we needed anything. We told another waitress in passing that we wanted to order more food and neither waitress came back to take the order. Also, pretty much any restaurant you go to offers complimentary bread. Not this one. They don't ask you if you want bread, they just give it to you and surprise you when you receive your bill. It's a minimal charge, but if you're not big on bread, make sure to deny the bread they bring you. The service I received was arguably one of the worst services I have ever received dining out. I have received better service from Cici's pizza than this...

Moderato, just like it’s namesake is a moderate restaurant. It’s your everyday run of the mill overpriced Italian restaurant in the “good” part of town. I started out with the chicken nuggets as an appetizer, which was crunchy and good. However, who in their right mind charges $14 dollars for that? Next, I had the pasta Alfredo. Twenty dollars, while expensive, is I suppose not unreasonable for this dish. However, if you would like to add something as simple as cooked chicken with your pasta, that’s an extra $7, which is Ridiculous. The icing on the cake was the cannoli sampler, which was 5 cannoli shells stuffed with Nutella. When I ordered this dish, I assumed it would be Nutella flavored cannolis, boy was I wrong. This dessert was very lazily executed. I doubt that the cannoli shells were actually made in house apart from that they were just stuffed with Nutella. Then they have the audacity to charge $15 for this dessert. My servers, and everybody else at the restaurant were super nice and provided excellent service. Overall, I give moderato a very generous...