The Italian Cousin - Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sebastian

We have been looking for a good Italian Restaurant for years. Coming from the Northeast, I know we are spoiled because there are hundreds of great Italian restaurants up there. Friends were down from NJ and my cousin, seriously, my cousin, told me that her cousin was a chef at The Italian Cousin. I kid you not. So, we gave it a shot.

And man... are we glad we did! Hands down, the best Italian restaurant we have been to since coming down here 17 years ago.

Located in a Sebastian, about a few blocks south of Riverside Park on the east side of Highway 1. In a strip mall like area so there was plenty of parking.

When we went inside, the waiting area was small but we had a reservation and were immediately seated once all 4 of us were there. The atmosphere felt like a local restaurant we immediately felt like we "belonged." Welcoming. Laughs and kidding. Not quiet but not crazy loud. Like a buzzing, Italian dinner table!

We had the calamari for an appetizer. Sliced very thin with a tangy marinara on the side, and big enough to share. Delicious.

The dinners come with a salad and we all opted for Caesar salads. Good choice as the salads were fresh, chilled, and had ample parmesan cheese.

Our entrees included eggplant parm, chicken parm, and the lasagna. Our friends' son-in-law is a celebrity chef (from Italy) on the west coast so they are discerning diners. They have raved about his lasagna for years. One of them got the lasagna and said "it was just as good, maybe even better, than Simone's!" High praise indeed. Marinara and bechamel sauce, being a more true and traditional lasagna. I am getting it the next time we go, which will be very soon, indeed!

The eggplant parm is layered with cheese and was tender - and also delicious. It came with a side of angel hair pasta which was perfect.

And the chicken parm was also very good: tender, breaded to perfection, and was a nice sized portion as well. Came with regular spaghetti But I would recommend the angel hair.

For desert, we got the brownie with ice cream, the limoncello cake, and a cannoli, all to share. To be honest, the cannoli and limoncelle cake were so good, I cannot recommend the brownie. It came in a distant third by comparison to the other two!

Our server, Alexis, was extremely knowledgeable, polite, attentive, and was willing to offer suggestions. Thank you, Alexis!

I was able to speak to my cousin's, cousin, Vincent, who I assume is Italian by the way, which is funny, because he is literally an Italian Cousin, but not THE Italian cousin, who was working pretty hard back in the kitchen with the other chefs. Great job to Vincent and the rest of the crew. Outstanding meal!

They have an early bird menu which is really reasonable. We are going to partake of that on our next visit. The wine list was limited but we got a bottle of Bocelli Sangiovese which went well together with everything we ordered.

I would highly recommend you giving The Italian...

I write this review with a grain of salt. The food was great mostly, the snapper was 10/10 would absolutely order the exact same thing again but the kids chicken was a little chewy. Our waitress, Savannah, was outstanding 10/10 and very polite, prompt and professional. I didn’t want to bring up my main gripe to her because honestly it’s not her responsibility to have to listen to me harp about something she’s been instructed to do, so I must ask and acknowledge- what is up with the fees?!?! If there is any reason I wouldn’t return, it’s the fees and rules and just extra. It comes off a little greedy and we would have spent more $$$ had we not been told of the “split plate fee of $8”. We were ready to order 2 entrees, 3 apps, a bottle of wine and regular soft drinks (would have been 2 adults splitting a special and the kid with their own entree, 3 apps for the table to share, 3 soft drinks and a bottle of wine). After being made aware of the fee for sharing a dish - instead we ordered 2 entrees and 1 kid meal, 3 soft drinks. No apps, no wine and I really wanted the appetizers, but not if I had to pay extra for the entree. My husband and I go out often, we usually get 2 entrees and switch halfway through or we get 1 entree and 2-3 apps. Almost always with wine/drinks. So you can see why I was quite literally talked out purchasing more food, it was 100% because of the fees. Sometimes in small business you need to get creative in how to make up for those extra expenses that may add up, like plate splitting. Or credit card fees. I understand if it were a table of 2 for instance, only ordering a single entree then a split plate fee would be valid but it wasn’t. A split plate fee is right up there with the 3% CC fees, not well received. I really enjoyed the food and the service was decent. I’d consider making minor price adjustments to cover the split plate losses or allow your servers to use their discretion on when it’s appropriate. Or as Gordon Ramsey would say - “just take the money!!” which means take what people are ready and willing to spend, or they...

Stopped by tonight for the first time and was pleasantly welcomed by Tanya at the bar. My wife and I were asked if we would be having dinner and would we like drinks,which was followed by two drinks made to perfection. We were told of the specials for the evening,we ordered the Mussels app along with our meals. The food was delish and followed by a Taramisu that was obviously homemade and was to die for! It was an absolute pleasure having dinner at your establishment as the other places in town prey on the vacation crowd. I wish you many more years of success!

This is an edit to our previous review.

We recently stopped with a party of eight and asked for a 6:00pm, We were told we could only get a 5:30 pm and said we would take that timeframe. Our complete party arrived at 5:20 , But we were not seated until well after. 6:00 pm. We get it, Pllenty of times restaurants get booked up, and tables don't turn as fast as the owners plan for. We were all seated , and had a nice young man as our waiter and did a great job of getting our orders, We had our meals, and then all of a sudden, the woman who said she is the order had the waiter cleaning off our table and putting the bill down before a couple of our party was finished eating, Never asking if anyone would like dessert or coffee. The whole ending with this employee felt quite rude and unacceptable. I have never had this problem when Gus, the owner, is there. Hopefully, this is addressed, Overall, it is a nice place, But sadly, we haven't...