Caruso's & Courtyard Cafe — Restaurant in Wilton Manors

I never write reviews & will probably eventually remove this review

I went twice.

1st time, was the week they opened. I got chicken and broccoli rabe. The noodles were just covered in butter and garlic. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good. Bland and basic. I wouldn’t order it again. I asked for the check, the server Russel brought it to me. I waited 15 minutes before I asked the wife of the owner if she knew where my waiter went. She herself, just sat down to eat at the table next to me and offered to cash me out. She asked if I wanted to leave a tip and I said yes, I said 20%. She accidentally put 25% and she apologized after I already tapped my card without looking at the receipt (my fault for that, I trusted that she knew what she was doing). I usually tip 30%-100% sometimes based on my experience but I felt it was only worth 20%.

So I was like let me come back a month later when they become more organized and get a routine and rhythm going. I understood they just opened up. Give it a second try.

2nd experience: came in for dinner a month later. I ordered a grey goose dirty martini and the salmon and broccoli rabe this time. The same waiter Russel said they don’t have a button for “grey goose” so they will need to charge me something similar. I said no worries, you guys are still new. Food: was still bland. Just butter and garlic. I had to throw some chilli flakes and salt and pepper on it. The salmon was good and seasoned well.

(Side note before I finish my second experience: as I was eating, I had this weird feeling people kept staring at me as I ate. Everytime I looked over, it was Russell and other serves just staring at me. Laughing. He noticed I kept catching them and he came over and said he was just looking to see if I needed a refill on my beverages. It was just weird because he passed by quite a few times and looked at my table without mentioning anything. Weird.

Anyway, I got the check. My salmon came up to 26$ and my “grey goose” dirty martini was 18$. They had to over charge me for one of their special drinks called “ the rosemary martini” since they didn’t have the grey goose button yet. I was like okay cool. I will definitely not come back here.

Atmosphere : cheap. Brown paper disposable table covers with cheap disposable plastic dressing container . But they want to charge Morton steak house and j Alexander’s prices. J Alexander’s charges 15$ for a Belvedere dirty martini with hand stuffed blue cheese olives and you get whatever is left over in a shaker ( basically a whole 2nd drink) for just 15$. This is Wilton manors. Not Miami, las olas or a Michelin star restaurant to be charging prices like that. Instead of undercharging me for a drink they over charged me and I still gave a decent tip. If they would have undercharged me a few bucks for the drink, I would have tipped more. I’m a generous tipper and do not mind dropping some cash on some good food.

Well when I called the restaurant to just give them some feedback. Russel answered and he said “ this is a mom and pop place and that’s why the prices are higher and I worked at another place on the drive and they charged the same price” and I’m like where ? I go to all the places on the drive and order Belvedere and grey goose and I’ve never been charged 18$. The range is always 15-16$ (not during happy hour) because happy hour it’s cheaper. I’m not tripping over a few bucks because I enjoy going out and eating and drinking, but when I finally spoke to Dom, he kinda had that rough tough Italian New Yorker mentality, lack of hospitality and just said “come back and we will make it better”. He kept comparing it to the previous restaurant and kept throwing their “cheap alcohol” under the bus without addressing that his own prices were higher than most places around him. I didn’t even bring up Bona and he kept in a weird way comparing the previous restaurant and his.

Anyway, I won’t be going back. I wish them the best. I’ll continue to go to North Italia and also my other favorite mom...

What a night! All started with a smiling “WELCOME!” At the door. Front end redone looks so nice. Can still see the kitchen, just not in your face. Looks great.

Dom right up front! Taking the delicious hot (soon to be garlic) rolls out of the oven, THEN Sheryl!! She has been with this location for 25 years! I always said she’d be there long after the owner left, and she’s been through 3 others!

Same regulars nodding as they were seated.

New full liquor license and ‘party room’ can be reserved. Lovely art on the walls which they switch out every month or so with local artists work.

I knew I’d love the food, which is different from the prior Bona recipes, as I frequented Dom’s old place.

I loved the food! . Started with Calamari which was a lightly dredged and fried mix of whole/tenacle rings with marinara. Delicious. It was upstaged by the bruchetta!! So special and different fresh tomatoes and red onion and shaved freshly Parmesan. And the glaze was amazing.

The Shrimp Scampi has a hint of pepper flake so be warned of a little kick (can request no pepper) the sauce was a bit creamy and I loved it!!

Remember to ASK about your favorite foods as the servers are more than willing to explain your choices, as Doms recipes differ a bit. Delicious but if you want the white bean pasta fagioli you’re in for a surprise. In its own it was delish beef broth and kidney beans but not what I was anticipating. It was QUICKLY remedied with a perfectly fresh Caesar salad with fresh shaved parm and crunchy homemade croutons.

No Italian meal with friends is complete without dessert! The cannolis were crunchy and yummy!!

This is a great new place on the drive in Wilton Manors. Welcome...

We were really looking forward to trying Dom Caruso’s Cucina, but unfortunately, the experience left us pretty disappointed. Right off the bat, there was a lot of confusion—there was a short man running around, and to be honest, we couldn’t quite figure out what his role was. It gave the impression of disorganized management from the start.

Russell was kind at first, but the service quickly started to slip. He brought out Tom’s food, which was supposed to be salmon with no pasta and double broccolini, but instead, it came out with the pasta anyway—and the salmon was incredibly dry. Tom had to scrape the pasta off himself, which was frustrating given the clear instructions.

On top of that, the salad came out before the appetizers, and the final straw was the check being incorrectly split across three cards instead of four—which caused even more confusion at the end of the meal.

Overall, it felt chaotic and mismanaged, which took away from what should’ve been a nice night out. The food had potential, but the experience didn’t live up to expectations. Hoping they can get the service and organization under control, because the location and concept do...