Cacio e Pepe Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in North Miami Beach

3.7⭐️ After my first visit, I was about to give it a 5 star (4.5 to be exact), but in the meantime, I went again, and then it dropped for me to 3.7. At first, I was pretty positively surprised by how good it was! It was my friend’s recommendation. For starters, they offer a complimentary bread and cheese spread, which is phenomenal! My friend told me that the best octopus he ate in Miami was here, so we tried that. It was nice, soft, and buttery, I must admit, but the price is a little peppery. The price of a bottle of wine, or even just a glass, is reasonable. They have nice glassware. Of course, we all ordered their special — Cacio e Peppe con Tartufo Nero. It was terrific, especially the experience that they mix the pasta in a cheese wheel in front of you on your table, which many Italian restaurants don’t do. I highly recommend ordering it. I must note that the truffles are not fresh or freshly shaved, but that is fairly reflected in the price. For the dessert, we ordered both versions of semifreddo. It was one of the best semifreddos I tried, and I ate amazing ones in Europe. I highly recommend that as well. The interiors are pretty nice, and the overall INDOOR atmosphere is lovely. Now the part why the rating went down after the 2nd visit… Whenever you go, please make an indoor reservation prior. Unfortunately, we didn’t make a reservation, so we were sat outdoor. However, for the entire 80 minutes we were there, and even when we left, half of the tables inside were empty, and we asked multiple times to switch indoors if someone doesn’t show up for reservation, but the staff did not react or cared. The outdoors are dirty (please refer to the photos of the pillows). I don’t understand how a restaurant would seat their guests there. And mosquitoes will bite you. That was very disappointing and bittersweet because I was delighted after my first visit. After all, Italian restaurants in Miami are always a gamble. Also, we ordered Calamari Fritti for the appetizer and Linguine Frutti di Mare, and the calamari was too chewy. In conclusion, I would still recommend you to go and try for yourself. Just make sure to make a reservation for indoor and order the dishes I mentioned. You will be happy...

Really wanted to love this place but I found that it didn’t deliver to expectations. We started with the clams and mussels starter which were a good size and the wine and garlic that it was sautéed in was excellent. Also the fresh bread and cheese spread they provided were really great. Being that the restaurants name is “Cacio e Pepe”, my wife and I thought it would be the best one we have have tried, but unfortunately it really fell flat. My wife had the Tarttuffo version (with Truffles) and we found that the it just wasn’t cheesy enough, the flavor was so so despite a decent amount of truffles and the amount of pasta was light considering it’s $40 price. I had the Veal Oso Buco with risotto that was huge, tender and tasty, only issue was it took extremely long 30+ minutes between our starter and main meal and am not sure that it was worth the $55 price tag (it was a special). The Tiramisu was ordered to go and we eat it at home, really loved it, it wasn’t too sweet and had a nice coffee flavor. We didn’t take pictures because we didn’t feel the plating and presentation was photo worthy even though it was Valentine’s Day. The restaurant was extremely busy and perhaps they have other dishes that would have been a better reflection of the restaurant, but based on our experience not a restaurant we will be visiting again as it was just average for a total meal price for two with 4 glasses of wine, tax and...

Wow what a let down. My husband and I came with our daughter because we love Italian and decided to try this new spot in our area. Our server Jose E, was incredibly rude from the get go. It felt like we were judged from the second we walked in the door. My husband and I were in the business for a LONG time and have both managed restaurants. We sat down and both ordered a peroni and a buratta appetizer to start. He an accidentally placed my beer near the baby which is no biggie, I don't fault him for that. But I went to move the beer further away and didn't realize the tables pushed together were uneven and the entire beer spilled over. I told him about the spill and he just kind of walked away. Didn't offer to help with napkins or to bring another beer. I had to reach over to another table to grab a napkin and place setting to replace the drenched one. I then asked for another beer. He continued to ignore us (mind you we were the ONLY table inside the restaurant) there was one other table outside. While the appetizer was delicious we decided to ask for the bill and cancel our food because we just started to feel uncomfortable. He brings the tab and charges me for the beer that was spilled and I had to ask him to remove it. It's unfortunate because the food was really good quality and yummy but the service was beyond terrible and distasteful. Don't recommend...