New Caffe Italia - new name and search at web and maps Ricky&Mela Real Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Florida

12/31/23 Dinner. It's a restaurant with a small dining room that has a 3/4 partition separating you from the kitchen. More partition than a wall. Consequently, you can hear what the chef says to the servers.

We had the Funghi Trifolati (sautéed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and peppers), which was just ok. Wouldn't order it again. Loved the Italian bread they served. We wound up with a 2nd basket of bread! And the bruschetta was fine (nothing special, tbh).

When I ordered the Linguini Malafemmina (various seafood in red sauce served on linguini pasta), the server said they were out of scallops but that the chef would add extra of the other ingredients to make up for it. Ok, fine.

Then I heard the waiter tell another table they were out of bow tie pasta. My wife ordered the ravioli dinner. The ravioli were mushy, like they had been thawed out and refrozen. Pasty. The sauce was good, but it chewed like the ravioli were old or had been left out too long.

Reluctantly, we sent it back, and the server kindly asked if there was something else they could make, so my wife asked for the fettuccine alfredo, which was a better choice. Then we overheard the chef say "no more ravioli" as if he realized the rest of the product shouldn't be served.

I wondered if the freezer with the scallops and ravioli in it had broken down. The food was probably better than we first thought since our dinner was tainted a bit by the foul language we heard coming from the kitchen. I didn't mind overhearing Michael Jackson's Thriller album that was playing in the kitchen. But it didn't help the dinner atmosphere.

Our server was great. He did everything he could to make it right. Anyway, that's how our New Year's Eve dinner went. It was an average to a below par dinner for us.

Reason to come back: To try it again on a better night.

Reason not to come back: There are so many other places to try.

Excellent: Uniquely satisfying. A special place. Very Good: Better than expected. Average: An everyday experience. Just OK. Fair: Below par. Dirty smells....

What a strange place. Dining in offers a tiny dining room close to other tables. It's hard to have any intimate, private conversations dining here. To-go might have been an option but they charge 15% gratuity for to-go. This is a non starter for me. This is a cheap way out, sneaky and doesn't work for what is already a very expensive meal. Perhaps just pay an employee or two a living wage to handle the phones and to go orders. Dine in or take out comes with too many exceptions, rather than just delivering exceptional food.

This place is hit or miss, mostly a miss. The food tends to be REALLY bland. The to-go boxes are cheap styrofoam and your food winds up cooking in styrofoam chemicals, leaking everywhere etc. It's another cheap/shortcut the owner thinks we will pay top dollar to tolerate.

It's very much the same redundant basic cream/tomato sauces mixed with the protein/garnish you opt for. The food isnt bad, but the menu is lazy.

Edit/reply to owner. Your dining room is small, cramped, and makes guests uncomfortable. You probably get tons of to-go orders because of that. I do the driving and pay minimum $80 for food for two, and you want me to kick $15-20 to a server to hand me a bag? No one wants to do that. Tips are for table service when dining in, not handing me a bag. You want to stop to-go? Go for it. I'm not paying $20 to be handed a bag. You hide your menu prices, charge ludicrous prices and fees such as a split plate charge while not having a kids menu. Rather than listen to honest feedback, you make excuses. You're not nearly as good as think you are, and have two better options on the same block (east coast and Mandola's). Let's not even discuss that off menu chicken francaise order I tested you with. Let me know if you want me to show you how to make it right.

Hard pass from...

I've long been a loyal customer of Caffe Italia. In fact, I've been patronizing them since their Laughing Cat days in Ybor, way before the partners went their separate ways and one of the chefs relocated to southern Hillsborough and opened what is now Caffe Italia. However, my experience last night while ordering take-out was absolutely disappointing.

Upon arriving to pick up my order, I had noticed that all restaurant staff were not wearing masks, which was worrying. We're smack dab in the middle of a pandemic and COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country, especially here in Florida.

To be honest, I felt uneasy walking into such a small, tightly packed environment before I had even arrived, but it was my wife's birthday, and Caffe Italia is one of her favorite places to dine. I got there and called into the restaurant to ask if they'd be able to bring out our order, and the server agreed. He came right up to my window, unmasked, with no regard for his customer's safety.

Food was outstanding as always. But I prefer my Pollo Yolanda, without the risk of a COVID-19 transmission. And to witness this type of behavior from an establishment I once loved so dearly is disheartening (and dangerous).

Sadly, my family and extended family members have decided we will no longer return to Caffe Italia. If you're into patronizing a business that does not heed the CDC's mask-wearing guidance, then this is the place for you. If not, definitely...