Cafe Amici Downtown — Restaurant in Sarasota

What a disappointment. I was here last night with a party of 8 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They served me the wrong meal, although I didn’t realize it because I didn’t know what my correct meal was supposed to look like, except that I substituted vegetables instead of pasta. The meal they gave me had pasta and I assumed they didn’t make the substitution, as that has happened before at other restaurants. I began to eat it and then they brought out my correct meal. Turns out they’d served me my friend’s dinner by mistake. My date told the waiter he would pay for the second meal (the more expensive one which they’d brought late) and to please box it up for me to take home. The waiter said ok and boxed it up. My date had leftover food which he’d had boxed up. My friend received her meal, the same dish (bracciole) they gave me and we both agreed it was fairly tasteless. The meat was very tender but tiny and the sauce tasted like bland tomato paste. Nothing special and certainly not worth $33. The birthday boy’s girlfriend arrived early with a cake. She wanted them to bring the cake out whole so we could sing happy birthday and see the cake. Instead, they cut the cake into pieces and served us the slices of cake. At the end, they brought my date the check. They’d charged for both meals, the bracciole I didn’t want or like, and the osso bucco which had been boxed up. My date told the waiter he wasn’t paying for the meal served me in error. The waiter said, “But she ate it.” We said I ate it because I didn’t know something different was coming and it’s not my fault you served me the wrong meal. It took conversations with three people to fix the check. They took the osso bucco off the bill and he paid for the bracciole. They wanted me to return the osso bucco. I grabbed the plastic bag of food in front of me and handed it to him. The waiter came out later and accused me of trying to steal the osso bucco because I’d handed him my date’s leftover eggplant by mistake. I realized I’d put the osso bucco under the table because the table was packed full and there was no room for it. I handed him the osso bucco and said it was an accident. The waiter kept insisting I did it intentionally. My date said, “You made a mistake. We made a mistake.” Let me tell you, that server was a few cards short of a full deck. The only good thing was the location-atmosphere because we sat outside and had a front row seat for the holiday parade — no thanks to the restaurant itself. We agreed we would not come back to Cafe Amici, and the bill for our table alone must have been well over $400. In a world full of competition and choices, clearly Cafe Amici couldn’t care less about...

Decided to buy a Groupon despite reading many of their reviews and hearing that they were having several problems with inattentive service Personnel rude service personnel overpriced food small quantities noisy atmosphere at cetera. We arrived at approximately 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night and were promptly seated by Steve who turned out to be our waiter and an excellent one at that. There appeared to be only one other waiter and one bus personnel who appeared to be very attentive and accommodating. My wife ordered Half & Half Tea but was told that all they had was unsweetened tea so she opted for water. I requested a Diet Coke without ice which turned out to be a Diet Pepsi. We ordered the calamari for an appetizer which turned out very good except a few of the squid were somewhat rubbery and the batter was not something to write home about. For entrees my wife ordered the carbonara pasta while I opted for the shrimp and crab pasta. Both portions were adequate although my wife indicated that she has had better carbonara. I thought my entree was excellent except I would have preferred not to have the tails on the shrimp which ended up being somewhat of a messy Adventure. The noise level was someone high especially since there were only three or four tables in the dining area occupied and approximately three or four patrons at the bar. I attributed the acoustic issue to the fact that all of the walls were of hard surface and the bar was not separated from the dining area where all the tables were very closely placed. Although we did not order any wine they had a very extensive wine list. All in all the food and the service was very good but I would not choose this restaurant if I wanted to have a quiet conversation...

We absolutely loved our dining experience at Cafe Amici. We came to celebrate my kid's birthday and it lived up to our expectations for a wonderful meal. It is very cozy, charming, and elegant all at the same time. Our server/hostess, Selena (hope that's the right spelling) welcomed us with a very pleasant demeanor. She was very nice and asked the chef to accommodate my kid's love for plain pasta with butter, with delicious meatballs on the side. The presentation of the meals were was rustic and appealing. My other kid loved the carbonara which had the right amount of cheese and was cooked to perfection. Hubby and I had the lasagna, which is homemade and cooked with a scintillating blend of flavors. We dined at 5 pm on a weeknight, so it was very nice and peaceful, Selena was very attentive. At the end of the meal, she brought out Tiramisu, which was absolutely scrumptious with a candle and happy birthday lettering, which was a very nice touch. We felt special as we shared dessert. You see the attention to all the details from the beautiful front window filled with pretty wine bottles to the beautiful food presentation to the wonderful warm hospitality. The 3 most important things in a restaurant are: 1) food, 2)service, and 3)ambience. Cafe Amici hits all of the above. Service is prompt and impeccable, Selena is very nice and friendly, food is cooked with the perfect blend of flavor, the ambiance is celebratory and intimate. The place is perfect for celebrations, a romantic date, hanging with friends or family. Highly recommend this restaurant if you want a fine Italian meal with a wonderful atmosphere that makes you feel...