Dolce Italia - Authentic Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Siesta Key

THIS IS REAL, AUTHENTIC ITALIAN FOOD. Family owned restaurant, homemade dishes. Quaint atmosphere with fitting music. Small menu, but it works. Vegetarian friendly if you look for the right dishes and know how to order it; not so much vegan friendly, but you can make it work. I'm vegan, and had the penne pasta with marinara. I had to send it back once since I got red alfredo sauce with cheese on top due to a miscommunication (not sure what happened, tbh), but I was able to get it fixed. The owner/cook seemed a bit peeved and said that we should be more careful next time, even though I specifically ordered marinara, no cheese. You can tell she's passionate about her food, even a bit defensive, so I'm honestly afraid to critique any of it. My meal was good! Could have tuned it down on the basil in the sauce. A bit too sweet and not enough spice for my taste, but every family has their own recipe. It reminded me of my late great-grandmother's sauce and how much I miss it and her. My partner and I were disappointed in the tea selection, as it was all Lipton. Please stock up on real tea! Lipton is really bad for you, with unnecessary additives. The only ingredient in tea should be the tea leaves themselves. This is an otherwise lovely family who takes care of their patrons, and I appreciate that. It feels like home. Remember that these people are native Italians, so they have thick accents. If can't understand Italian English, I suggest you brush up on it before coming here so you can understand each other better. To the owner: Thank you so much for sitting down with that woman on her birthday. My partner and I heard her story and were heartbroken about how alone she is with no family. You really made her birthday special. Bless you.

What a gem. We went out for a date night and it was my turn to choose. I wanted Italian so I hit up the Google and found Dolce Italia. Wow were we surprised. Dolce is one of those little places that you would look over if you didn't get a recommendation from somewhere. Dolce is small and in an area with a dozen other restaurants. Inside is tasteful and quiet enough to talk to each other. The food was so good. I had the trenne dolce italia ( get it with sausage ) the tomatoes tasted like they were home grown, my wife had the ravioli with potatoes and short rib. We ate in silence, it was that good. The food tastes so fresh and has so much flavor, just the way Italian food should be. We had a glass of Chianti classico that was perfect with dinner. We usually get a cannoli but this time we were tempted by the lemoncello cake. Wow! If you like lemon you need to try that. The service was good, the staff know the menu and are helpful, my water glass was never less than half empty when someone came by and filled it. We've come a long way since Covid killed the service industry. The place was packed on a Thursday night, it seemed like every customer was a regular which says so much about the place. We walked around Gulf Gate afterwards and there wasn't another restaurant with that many people in it, Most were empty. If you are looking for a nice Italian meal hit up Dolce. You should consider a reservation, it's a small place and filled up pretty fast.

We...

next day update: My husband had left his credit card at the register when he picked up. When he went there today to pick it up the owner greeted him and knew it was us that were unhappy with one of our meals (portion only, taste was very good)). He was sincerely sorry and apologized that the to-go container must have gotten closed by accident before finalizing the dish. He gave us our money back for the dish (even though I told him it was not necessary). Very honest, sincere and well done Dolce Italia. I only wish we had time to visit again this trip. Hopefully next time. Original post: We are on vacation and we were looking for take out. This restaurant looked good so we ordered and my husband picked up.the order. Upon returning, we opened the containers and all looked ok except one. The chicken piccata my husband ordered was good however, the portion of pasta was so small that I shared my pasta with him. Just about every pasta order was acceptable, not a lot but acceptable. My husbands portion was less than half the amount we all got. For the price we paid, not sure we would order there again. Very disappointed. If you’re looking for a good portion, that wasn’t it. I’m Italian and that wouldn’t fly...