Out of business, sad to see the place go! Charlie and I both being from Buffalo, NY, his meals have that home town flavor! They had the best Italian food! Will miss this place! read more

My most favorite food has been Italian, generously genuinely " home cooked". And rare perfectly cooked slowly crispy super fresh eggplant thinly sliced with not too much mozzarella and subtle smooth gentle long simmering thick sauce.... Tonight, our last night in Sarasota before we move back to Minnesota, we had the perfect perfect old world, family restaurant home cooked supper - - three generations. Wonderful ambiance, perfect loving photos of family, important mementos, prized autographs from famous folk, jute box, original cash register. Everything in its carefully long ago selected space. Bread from scratch baked super hot with butter- - the BEST. Garlic bread even more incredible. Beautiful deserts from scratch and perfect long ago music . Laura the warm genuine fun twinkling waitress long ago from Eastchester made the night even better. Her suggestions were spot on. ( also had the veal parmigiana slowly perfectly cooked - -huge, super delicious). We both grew up in NYC suburbs, worked there many years, adored Angelos mini clams.... Places like these are ALMOST completely gone..... don't wait. read more

See all

The place was empty when we walked in. There was one couple that was leaving but I thought they were part of the staff/owners. There was one other couple that arrived and a couple of people at the bar. We did get there at 8:00 p.m. and they close at 9:00 so that may have had something to do with it. It's a very small place. There are nine tables and can accommodate about 35 diners. They only offer beer and wine. I ordered the seafood special with fra' diablo sauce (spicy). It was very good and the linguine was cooked perfectly. I was (pleasantly) surprised the spicy had a bit of kick to it. The Caesars salad was a bit salty but the bread was quite good and hot. Only one bread basket was served and we went through it quickly as we waited 30 minutes for our meals. The dishes were nice sized portions so that was a plus. Although I finished my meal, many would probably opt for a doggie bag. For dessert I had the spumoni bomb which is simply encased in a chocolate shell. It looked quite enticing and it was tasty but it wasn't spumoni but Neapolitan ice cream. Our server paid more attention to the second table of diners (a couple) than us. I noticed their wine glasses had a more generous pour than my glass and neglected us in deference to the other table (there were only two tables dining). My friend had the chicken linguine in Alfredo sauce and he liked his meal. The ambiance is almost like eating in someone's house because it is so small. The service could have been better as it was obvious she paid more attention to the other diners than us (never brought a bowl and fork for the mussels/clams and kept us waiting to collect the tab. I finally just put cash in the folder and left. Food gets 4.5/5. Ambiance gets 3/5 and service gets 2.5/5. It gets an extra hit because how obvious the service/attention between the two tables. I was also surprised by the bill. It was much higher than I anticipated. I could see coming for a date night but I probably wouldn't return otherwise. I would give it a 3.75/5 stars. read more

See all

Visited with our good friends who were on vacation in Florida. All of us have Italian heritage. So we know good Italian food. We enjoyed the restaurant atmosphere inside Briandis. We ordered the garlic bread, salads, Lasagna, meatballs with macaroni,eggplant parm along with bottle of wine The service was good and attentive. Easy parking was a pleasure. Would recommend to our friends and neighbors. Thanks. read more

Horrible rude service. We were seated and ignored for 1/2 hour. No water, no drinks, no bread! Embarrassing as I was hosting friends who I told about this quaint nice restaurant! Never again. read more

Food is really enjoyable, it really brings you Back, to enjoy the Taste! That's what I was After!

Everything is made to order and it is absolutely wonderful. I usually get the eggplant when I go there, but I did try the lasagna last time and it was not disappointing. It was great. read more

Briandis is a true hidden gem! Visited Briandi's for the first time Saturday night and the food was phenomenal! The ambiance is incredibly inviting and comforting, with a charming, old-time vibe that's hard to find these days. We got the New York strip steak and it was amazing! By far the best steak I've ever had! I also had the Spumoni for dessert which was yummy! Great and fast service. Highly recommend stopping by Briandis !!! It's worth it read more

Such a small restaurant and very loud at that! I ordered off the early bird menu so the food portion was decent. I had the linguini with clam sauce. It had four clams on the shell with clam sauce. It was tasteless. Our waitress seemed to be in a hurry which seemed strange considering the small building size. She had one of us pass the glasses of water around as well as the wine carafe. She handed me my soup half spilled but at least it was tasty. With so many restaurants from which to choose I'd suggest passing up this one. read more

Food was good. Don't take reservations-might make the experience more enjoyable. My first visit, need more waiting area out of the business of patrons coming and going. read more

Burned the hell out of my pizza. It was take out so I didn't know it until I got home. I scrapped the toppings off and put it on a toasted bagel and it was actually very tasty. read more

went to Briandi's's Wednesday night and the food and service was excellent. we ordered the chicken Parm the steak and the lasagna and it's the best food in all of Florida. Everyone should try this place. read more

Had dinner on Friday evening 12/12/2025. We have always greatly enjoyed Briandi's but the food there but last evening was very disappointing. Burnt bread, raw pasta and and the food was obviously left overs reheated. read more

Service horrible. Went there with husband and there were 2 large groups 6 at each table. Server paid all the attention to them. Took over 20 minutes to get our drinks. My order was wrong Won't be back. Local's support you Briandis. Not snowbirds read more

We have been coming here for a few years now and will always return! This is a small homemade Italian restaurant. I ordered the chicken parmigiana with a side of Alfredo sauce. The Alfredo is a really good addition to the marinara. The dish is huge! Two pieces of chicken with melted cheese over and a heaping pile of spaghetti. The salad arrived with plenty of dressing and the warm bread was excellent. We ordered the spices and oil mixture (which was an extra cost) but was well worth it! read more

See all

Seafood fettuccini Alfredo was salty and bad. The sauce was thick and bad, in fact we took it home, rinsed it off and put a jar sauce on it to make it edible. I didn't complain as I hate to do that! My partner had a meatball sandwich and he doesn't care for their red sauce. but he loved the spumoni read more

So... We decided to try something new just south of us in Nokomis. We found ourselves at Briandi's Restaurant. It's family owned and operated since 1942 and has been at this location since 1989. The restaurant is fairly small yet charming and accommodates maybe 65 people. Our server, Nora, escorted us to our table and proceeded to take us on a tour through the menu (posted below) with suggestions and recommendations. All entrées come with soup or salad and a healthy portion of freshly baked bread. The bar is strictly soft drinks, beer and wine. We had the eggplant parmesana and a perfectly done New York strip steak. These were preceded by a shrimp cocktail and a French onion soup. The portions are quite large and quite tasty. To-Go containers were needed...just saying. There are mementos from the past and tributes to the legends of boxing all over the walls, a jukebox and an ancient cash register. Like I mentioned...charming. read more

See all

Went with my family for first time. The bread, the minestrone were excellent. Calamari was also very good but could have used slightly larger portion compared to main course. Large portion of rigatoni parm, loved it! Couldn't finish it so no desert this time! I rate it 5 stars BUT let's get a linguine fra diavlo!!! See you soon! read more

I love this little place. A taste of Buffalo NY with great wings. I also like the Veal Parm, and other Italian classics. strait forward Italian menu with a feel of western NY. Keep up the good work. One of our favorite places to visit every trip to Venice. Service is great as well. Thanks gang for a job well done. read more

Our favorite local restaurant. The staff is always welcoming and attentive. Really want to give a shout out to the waitress who is always working so hard. She is friendly and kind. We love the atmosphere, it is so wonderful to have an authentic Italian restaurant located here in Nokomis. This is our favorite spot for birthday celebrations or romantic date nights. Highly recommend! read more

See all

You can't find better Italian food . It's a small place but they do a great take out business too. Homemade bread and pizza . Happy hour menu and delicious house wines . Take out aside , the service is excellent and the servers are really personable . read more

One of our favorites when we visit each summer! Great Italian and great vibes! A little New York nostalgia and Frank Sinatra in the background... the chicken Florentine and the lasagna are our favorites but the pizza and the wings are some of the best around! Small, quiet and great staff! You won't be disappointed! read more

Looks are deceiving, but we were feeling adventurous and in the mood for Italian cuisine. I'm always intrigued by Restaurants that look like this on the outside but at the same time I'm willing to give them a try. After walking in the door it was everything I wanted, food, drinks, decor and more. Let's start with the decor. Memorabilia all over the walls plus an antique jukebox and cash register... What a nice touch. Get there early. The dining room is small with only eight tables. We took the recommendation and arrived early (before 5:00) and it was happy hour so let's talk about the drinks. While the happy hour selection won't put the wine world on edge, it does serve the purpose. I ordered a house Pinot Grigio and my wife had their house Pinot Noir. We were "happy" and found Their wines to be a good value. Happy hour was happening, fresh bread was baking in the oven. It was perfect execution as the server brought out the loaf of hot bread with the seasoned olive oil as a dip. Delicious! As if the bread wasn't enough to keep our appetites in check, we ordered a pizza. Just a 16 inch plain cheese pizza. The crust was perfect, gooey cheese was laid on thick and the red sauce was terrific. The entrée came with a house salad. My salad was average, in fact, that salad would be the only shortfall from my dinner experience. For my main course, fish Piccata over linguine was superb. Lemon, wine, butter, capers - This Pecota preparation will keep me coming back. Next time I'll try it with veal. Ultimately, the salad was the only thing standing in the way of a five-star yelp rating today. This place does Italian right. Salute! read more

See all

We have been coming here foe the better part of a decade. Charley was a good friend when we visited. He knew us by voice and we sat next to him almost every visit to tell him how great everything was as it was! The pizzas were huge and the staff was awesome to see, even at the grocery store. We knew them all. There was a horrible waitress that everyone complained about including us but she seems to be gone. The wait staff seem nice but new. About the Pizza: WAS thin crust available but was too big, if that could be a problem. IT WAS AWESOME. We ate that, everything and the Steaks often. THEN:::: While Charlie's son cooked for us for years, he flipped out! on us and brandished a spatula at me at one point while demanding we get the fuck out. Back to the pizza today!: Apparently frozen, better sized, but...!!!! WAY TOO THICK crust from hell and toppings are second rate at best. Sucked and we will never give them another chance past this one! 4 of 4 agree here! read more

See all

I ordered a sausage and meatball pizza last night! Brought pizza home to eat. sausage was very sparse and the meatball was just a tiny bit of ground up hamburger! The cheese had a weird texture to it. we were very disappointed! For 23.00 I was expecting much better! We will not be going back very chintz!!! Dan carvill Nokomis, Florida read more

The sirloin steak that I ordered was delicious, superior to what's served in steak houses at twice the price. Great service nice old school atmosphere. I highly recommend it a real gem read more

Love it there. Not your usual Florida place, feels like New York Dark and cool. Great Italian fare! Bern a few times already! read more

Back a second and third time in recent weeks after a long period of not having visited...Love this place. It's like a "dive" (in a good way) little italian below-street-level restaurant somewhere in Manhattan. Quirky, dated, but also warm and inviting. Love the black and white photos loaded on every wall. The pizza is the one of the best in all of Sarasota county in my humble opinion. It's a "hearty" pizza of medium crust thickness. Where it stands out is a crunchy base, good carmelization of the cheese, and a unique sweet sauce. Really a differentiator. This updated review is after a few years from our first visit. What they do that almost all other pizza places in this part of the county do is offer consistency. Most pizza places are not consistent. Second in the county next to Shaner's in Sarasota. My two cents... read more

Such a great place to eat. Only nine tables in the whole room but all of the food is homemade fresh made to order. The seafood is AMAZING. read more

See all

Buffalo bound in SWFL. Original owner was from a bar we frequented in Buffalo, "Mulligans Brick Bar" Best pizza around and great tasting Italian. Early bird menu is the best. We will be back for sure. read more

Love it amazing food excellent service friendly and nice employees Always have gone there since I was a little kid read more

I have been there a few times. Absolutely wonderful! Everything was to perfection. You will definitely not leave hungry. As a matter of fact you will probably be taking a lot home! read more

No masks at all! I can't judge the food because they messed up my order. I called ahead and asked for a "large cheese pizza." The woman on the phone the asked what I wanted on the pizza and I again repeated just cheese. She again questioned me and said a plain pizza and I said yes. After waiting 25 minutes we went to pick it up and she brought out a pepperoni pizza. As a vegetarian family I couldn't just accept a pepperoni pizza. She said they could make another, and I said no thank you. NO ONE in the tiny restaurant had a mask on. No one-- including the waitresses or the people working in the kitchen. Not one patron had a mask on either and the tables were on top of one another. After noticing that no one in the back had a mask on either I wasn't disappointed about the pizza. Seems pretty irresponsible to your customers for no one to have a mask on.p. read more

Schedule shown on website should change -Closed on Sundays

First time visiting and hands down the best wings and eggplant Parmesan we've had since being here in Florida Will be back, service was excellent! Loved everything read more

We had a wonderful meal, my wife had clams in white sauce and I had veal parmigiana...and both were delicious! Lori, our server was very personable! I would definitely return for the steak next time...it was highly recommended. read more

Such a great place!! The owner is carrying on his family's legacy. A wonderful gem. Great food, large portions and reasonably priced. The wings are outstanding! read more

We went tonight. No one greeted us when we walked in. All the tables were dirty. A man came and cleaned a table for us. It took 20 minutes to get anyone to even come to the table to bring menus after that. No greeting, no saying they would be right with us, nothing. Then another 15 minutes until a different lady comes to get our drink order. Took her 12 minutes to bring drinks and she wasn't friendly. So At about 45 minutes in when they hadn't even taken our order (the waitress took another tables order who got there after us ahead of us) so we left. It was an awful experience. Felt uncomfortable and awkward, as if we were bothering them being there. I understand places are short staffed but at least he friendly and show good customer service. read more

I really liked this place and the food was delicious. However the service was horrible. As a fellow server, I couldn't believe what we walked into. There were 3 of us we sat down and it took over 10 minutes to get our drinks which were just waters. More people walked in for to-go orders, but as they left, we noticed the place only had 5 tables total to fulfill orders for. We waited over an hour alone for our food. When we got it we waited for refills on our water. We overheard our server say "it's not my fault, I don't run this business" to the table next to us when they complained. We asked for the check and got attitude in return. Will not be going back. read more

Delicious food. Prompt courteous service. Small restaurant but we have never had to wait. Just like eating in an Italian kitchen. In my opinion. I am a repeat customer. read more