Caffe' da Michele Osteria Italiana — Restaurant in Florida

Stopped to charge the Tesla and walked over to the mall for lunch. Stumbled on to Caffe Da Michele, and figured “what the hell” “let’s try it” We walked in at Noon and greeted quickly and seated. I walked in expecting a taste of Italy, and what I got was a taste of "meh." The decor was cute, like a Pinterest board come to life, but the food? Not so much.

It’s a cute little corner Resturant checker table cloth with a bottle of red on every table. Now for the culinary experience. “Yes I know” it’s a strip mall what would you expect” Went with the house Cabernet $11 got what I paid for a warm glass with little flavor. For the good news The warm bread was the real MVP – it was like a flavor bomb just waiting to blow my taste buds away (in a good way) they brought out warm roasted bread in an excellent olive oil and herb with added slices of garlic. This was the best part of the meal.

One of the most used words is either “world famous, or Grandma’s” so I went with Grandma’s angus beef meatballs served over fresh pasta….. But then came the "Grandma's" angus beef meatballs, and I was like, "Grandma, honey, these need some spice in their life." No way this can be grandma’s recipe…. The meatballs had no spice and little flavor. Soft and nearly browned. The tomato sauce was also flavorless and felt as if they opens a can and not made fresh at all. Sorry to say this but I’ve had better sauce out of a jar bought at Publix. The pasta was cooked perfectly but also needs flavoring… maybe for salt and oil when cooking.

My wife ordered a Margherita Pizza, they need to improve the baking of the crust. To soft should be more crisp and slightly burnt edges. Unfortunately the food was not at the same level as the service

Service was friendly, but the food was a strip mall-sized...

I visited this restaurant expecting a pleasant experience, but unfortunately, it fell short in several ways. The atmosphere was quiet, which I initially appreciated. However, from the moment I walked in, the service was unwelcoming. The server was not friendly, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t truly welcome there. While I don’t want to assume, it felt as though the color of my skin played a role in that discomfort.

I ordered a glass of Prosecco, and to his credit, the server opened a fresh bottle. However, when the drink was served, I noticed more than ten sugar ants floating in the glass. It was clear that the glasses were not stored in a clean environment. When I pointed this out and requested a new glass, the situation escalated.

While I was explaining what happened to someone over WhatsApp in my home language, the server suddenly shouted, insisting that this was the cleanest restaurant around. I remained calm and politely asked him to cancel my food order. His response was not just unprofessional but outright offensive—he told me to "go eat at McDonald’s," implying that’s where I belonged.

This was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve ever had. No one should ever feel unwelcome in a place of business, let alone be treated with disrespect. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for good service, cleanliness, or basic...

We went bc of all the reviews and quite frankly the gentleman that answered the phone. We had a conversation in half Italian half English. I fell in love with him 🥰 Eating here is a different story though.. we were 1 of 2 tables when we got there and it remained that way. The food was not a pleasant experience. We ordered two appetizers calamari and octopus carpaccio. I have never in my life seen calamari come out in the shape it was presented to us today(see picture) It was good but MAYBE had 10 pieces on the plate and a very large portion of arugula. The octopus was a huge mistake. I don't even know what we were served honestly. It looked like octopus bologna SERIOUSLY (see picture) with, again, a gigantic pile of arugula... There was SOOO much lemon on it that we were unable to eat it (lemon to hide something?) $50 for two appetizers (that we only ate one btw 😳...couldn't get the server to understand we didn't want to take it home and we didn't want to eat it, so we left it and paid for it ) Sure, I'll gladly pay that price for good food, any day, all day, but this stuff was pretty much inedible. I really wanted to like this place, but it's a hard...