Pazzo Italiano Santa Rosa Beach — Restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach

So we come into Pazzo for lunch. It was a lunch meeting and there were only 3 of us. I lived in Sicily for 12 years, so I love Italian cuisine. First, we came into an Italian restaurant playing Mariachi music. That's kind of strange, almost made we want a Taco. So I degres, then they put 3 grown men in the smallest booth. I am 6'1 215 and I am the smallest. We get a menu. One guy goes to give his order and ask about the spaghetti sauce, and nothing, told it was good meat sauce. So he orders that and knots. The second guy orders a meatball sub. I am so confused by this point that I decided to go with the easiest Italian food there is calamari. Who cooks their calamari like that in a restaurant? I enjoyed how they packaged it reminded me of being in the market in Sicily, walking around not sitting at a restaurant. We get our food, the guy who ordered spaghetti ate that and some knots and enjoyed his food. He is a stugotz because the "meat sauce" looked horrible. The second guy, Meatball sub, looked like it came out of the microwave. Then, to my Calamari, what stugotz thought that was a good way to cook it and serve it? We paid almost 120 dollars on a lunch that sucked and made me look like an idiot because I picked the place. Back in February of 2023, I do believe I was here and enjoyed it, but who knows. Maybe I am the stugotz to have a meeting at a restaurant I don't frequent often. The prices are too high for lunch, and the way you serve your water is cute but not realistic. The server was nice, and she was trying her best, but I am sure she knew we weren't happy. Good luck, I am sure next time I am in the area, I will check if it...

I was excited to have an Italian restaurant in town on 98 and decided to try this Destin sister Pazzo newly opened in Santa Rosa Beach. We decided to eat at home and ordered Lasagna and an additional salad for dinner for the both of us to share. I was surprised that an entree of lasagna does NOT include a salad! For $20 I expected it to come with a salad and bread. Nope! So we split the small salad I ordered, which was a decent Caesar salad. When I opened the box there was a flat soupy (1 inch almost “tall” at most!) “scoop” of lasagna. For $20 I expected a tall well formed wedge with yummy layers which you could see the layers of marinara and bechamel sauce and meat?? and cheeses...nope! I was deflated with higher expectations as this was $40 dollar meal basically for one person (we got one slice of tiramisu which was delish!) Sadly I will NOT be going again...as anyone in their right mind wouldn’t think $20 scoop of boring lasagna and having to add a la carte bread and salad! I am local and if they think $$$$ spending people here will pay that for mediocre lasagna meal, they better address this ASAP or they’ll never make it! I like to give second chances but why? No salad no bread included is a no brainer cost for them. Photo measures 5-6 inches at most size and 1 inch...

Let's start with the good! We came during an off season time, made a last minute reservation and were sat right away. The restaurant is pretty big with many areas that can offer a bit more privacy for your meal rather than a big open room. The sangria and white wine were delicious, pasta was delectable, the noodles delicate and sauce creamy. Something I wouldn't make at home so was enjoyable to have on a night out! Dessert was great too, the lava cake was the dessert of the day, so not on the menu regularly but I think it should be. Tried the tiramisu and that was tasty too. Now for the areas where I think Pazzo Italiano could improve. After we were sat we got table bread and water but it took about 10 minutes for our server to come over so we could order. Enough time that we were able to select what we wanted for each course of our dinner. The focaccia also seemed to be just pizza dough that they stuck some rosemary on. I was expecting a thick slice but instead got a flat circle pie. It tasted good but did not seem to be focaccia. Overall I would come back and try some other things...