Went to Cafe Amici because of coupon from FST. It was a pleasant surprise. So much nicer than usual venues. Restaurant's ambiance was delightful, Italy right here, and service quite good. The food was tasty, although house salad not very imaginative. read more

Cafe Amici is an amazing restaurant, with exceptionally delicious, authentic Italian cuisine. I had Chicken Milanese and my husband had the Osso Buco. Both were perfect as were our appetizers and deserts. The wine list is excellent with expert, patient and knowledgable suggestions from waitstaff. The service is exemplary and beyond comparison. The owners and gentlemen waitstaff are consummate professionals committed to providing the ultimate culinary dining experience. They provide the best, and aim to please. The atmosphere is warm, cozy and inviting. It is lively; filled with happiness and satisfied customers. You won't find better food in Italy or kinder, more generous bunch of people than the owners and staff at wonderful Cafe Amici. read more

march 16th...i am larry j, from dayton ohio, now a resident of lovely sarasota...after watching the orioles get plastered by the phillies, 3 of us back to my place for a drink....i suggested we go to a chinese rest for crispy duck, id found 2 weeks ago! but coulnt recall the name, but i thought id remember the place, so, we walked up 1 side of main, 3 blocks and down the other...no success, we looked at menus along the way , 3 or 4 looked interesting!!even stopped to ask, if they had duck or whole fresh fish.....no luck, last look, amici! always a crowd, walked in, saw achille, asked ,could he seat 3 asap, no res~~~being the agressive owner that he is, boom, we were seated in 2 mins~~relieved after walking for 40 mins~~~ahhh success.....our server "jason" made our day...no duck. no whole fish, but fab littleneck clams n great pasta, great glass of wine" achilles pick" bravo!,and we had a great dinner thx to jason, we had veal osso buco (sunday special) again jasons pick w risotto! yummmm, had room for dessert, jason said, "get the amaretto cake, killer light suggestion, not a bite left, 1 grappa and here i am! the evening turned out much better tha expected, achille & jason saw to that,,,ill(we) will be back soon!......best larry j, now a sarasota resident full time! read more

I stopped in to grab a quick bite and found myself enjoying a nice dinner with excellent wine. The staff and bartenders were great. I didn't catch their names but would highly recommend this restaurant for excellent Italian food. read more

Tonight is our second time in two weeks. I don't know how to appropriately express how delicious the food is. We started with grilled octopus, the best we've ever had! Then the wonderful Kale and Gorgonzola salad. The bread is to die for! For main courses we had salmon with artichoke and vegetables. I ordered eggplant Parmesan. I like to compare this dish when I go to Italian restaurants. Theirs is very good. It was really hard to order with so many tempting choices. For dessert we had chocolate truffle . Very delicious with a medicinal dose of amazing dark chocolate. Our waiter, Brian, was perfect. He offered selections and seemed to intuit what selections of food we'd enjoy. He also knows wine and recommended "Migration"--am excellent Chardonnay. We highly recommend Cafe Amici. read more

Cafe Amici Downtown - Italian Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Watch your bill I was charged more for appetizers than the menu stated. I unfortunately noticed when I reviewed closer when at home because I thought the cost was more than expected and I was correct. Over paid by about $8.00. My bill was $88, I had 2 appetizers one main entree and one drink. Shared bill with a friend. $88 is a lot for one person especially when the prices were different on the menu. I will stop by there and speak with them directly. read more

Overrated. The food is mediocre. I've had Italian food in many places in the world, including Italy. No impressed. Also the place was very loud and tables very close to one another. read more

Excellent Italian food and service. The staff was very professional and attentive to our needs. The food was well prepared and very delicious. We will return soon. read more

We enjoyed a terrific appetizer of octopus and burrata salad while in downtown Sarasota the second weekend of October 2020. We felt very safe dining outside on Main Street with Steve as our server. Enjoying great Italian wines and two appetizers that were very tasty was a great way to start our evening. The kitchen does a nice job of putting out authentic Italian fare and the service from Steve was very special. read more

This restaurant is absolutely terrible. The waiter and the manager were incredibly rude to our group and treated us like crap while we waited for a table. I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone until they can improve on their customer service skills. Go to other restaurants because you'll be treated better and have better food. read more

Terrible service from our waiter "Massimo". He mentioned to us that he couldn't serve us food bc the kitchen was closed. Yet, the table next to us (which happened to be our friends that we came with) JUST placed an order with him. But, he STILL said no. I then complained and he came back stating that he would take care of the issue and make sure we get some food. Half an hour later he came out with three appetizers. Take to mind that we NEVER got to even see the menu or order, he just simply assumed we wanted appetizers and chose what we got to eat. We then ate and went to leave because remember he said he would take care of it but then he sent another waitress to hand us our $60+ bill for food. I didn't want to pay BECAUSE HE SAID IT WAS ON HIM AND WE DIDNT ORDER THAT FOOD but obviously we had to. I asked for the owner, he stated it was him. So I took a picture of him, next he grabbed my phone from my hands and started throwing it all around the air.... What a joke! WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. VERY RUDE. TERRIBLE! GOT RIPPED OFF!!!! read more

Cafe Amici Downtown - MASSIMO THE RUDE SERVER - Italian Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Surprisingly amazing - my husband even called it the best Italian dinner he's ever had. And we are old. Haha. Grilled octopus was out of this world. Prices reasonable read more

Restaurant was freezing cold. Immediately after I placed my order I asked for our waiter to change my appetizer, he returned, and said it was too late he had already placed the order (it was only an arugula salad). Lastly, I ordered Pollo Milanese Milanese-style paper thin chicken topped with arugula, tomato, parmigiano oil and lemon dressing (reason I tried to change arugula appetizer). The paper thin chicken was more like the size of a chicken breast. Needless to say we won't be returning anytime soon. Thank you Alex. read more

The eggplant rollitini was fantastic as an appetizers, next time I will order 2 and and a side of meatball or sausage for my entree. My entree was the tortilini which was the biggest tortilini I ever had. Bigger than the ravioli. read more

Yes, I gave 5 STARS! So, we are Italian and are always in search of authentic Italian food... we will look no further! Excellent wines, and if you at not sure what to pick, ask Maria But the FOOD was, plate lick worthy enjoyed the pastas and fish, the burrata and the lovely shots of homemade limoncello! Maria was a wonderful and fun server, we enjoyed hearing of her heritage and we felt like family instantly! Will return SOON! read more

Cafe Amici Downtown - Giant Prawn over angel hair pasta - Italian Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

We were unfortunately late for our reservation but they still were able to seat us which was great. Andre, our server was beyond amazing. Sooo loved all the food. Great meatball appetizer, fabulous caprese salad. And the truffle rigatoni special was soooo good! Will definitely be back! Thanks, Cafe Amici! read more

Food was yummy and the service was good. They messed up our order but it was no big deal. It's a nice place for dinner but one of the loudest places I've ever eaten. Place was half full and couldn't hear a thing. read more

The food and service was outstanding! You have to try the grilled octopus and fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp.

My family (who were visiting from England) and I ate here and it was not a pleasant experience. Within minutes of us being seated, the waitress, Maria proceeded to go on a racist rant about her past visits to London and how she was 'afraid of being blown up by Bangladeshi people'. The food was just ok and overpriced for the type of establishment. The Caesar salad was completely overdressed and way too salty. Needless to say, we won't be going back. There are plenty of other good Italian restaurants in Sarasota. read more

wow!!! just wow!!!! this restaurant served some of the best Italian food i've ever had!!! (and I've been to italy) i would recommend anything on this menu! the waiter (Jason) was great! he had good recommendations and was very good about clearing dishes, refilling drinks, and bringing extras to the table (bread, oil, parmesan cheese, etc.) this restaurant served very very good quality Italian food!! this is a necessity: ORDER THE BREAD WITH OLIVE OIL! AMAZING! it was light and fluffy with the right amount of crunch!!! i ordered the caesar salad (absolutely amazing) which contained thin slices of parmesan cheese, then the alfredo with chicken! it was actually mind blowing!! i would recommend this dish!!!! lastly for dessert we ordered cannoli's which were VERY GOOD! the cream inside of it was a perfect texture and was beautifully decorated! the atmosphere was a little loud, but not intolerable! i would absolutely come here again!!!! read more

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It might deserve better based on the food, but I have to tell you that a business that does not honor the deals it creates doesn't really deserve your business. Girlfriend and I came on Saturday night. As is usually the case, the place was not busy. My girlfriend and I frequently commented whenever we were downtown how we never seemed to see anyone in here. So what am I talking about in my first sentence? Girlfriend and I both checked in, and when you check in on yelp, you're supposed to get a free glass of chianti. When we showed it to the server, she stumbled over an explanation as to why she couldn't give it to us. She said that the owner didn't know about it, and then implied it wasn't what he agreed to, and the owner was working on changing the deal or canceling it or something as of Tuesday when the business offices of yelp reopened (it was labor day weekend). Can I call bullsh*t? Are we to believe that yelp just fashioned this check in deal out of no where without confirming it with the business? And if that were even true, the second you found out about it, wouldn't you put a notice on your door or something to let people know before they sat down? And if you were changing it or canceling it, shouldn't you honor the deal until then, lest you lose customers? The only reason I think we stayed was because we had a groupon (hey, tell me that you couldn't accept both deals - the groupon and the check-in - together, and I would have believed that). I don't recall what my girlfriend got, but I got Gnocchi Con Gamberi E Granchio (Dumpling potato, sautéed shrimp with crab meat in wine, oil, garlic, and chopped tomatoes). It was good. As I said, I probably would have given this at least 3 stars if not for the BS runaround on the check-in deal. The service was otherwise good, so all in all, this is probably a 3 star restaurant. That yelp thing though really rubbed us the wrong way. read more

One of THE BEST restaurants in Sarasota! Owned and operated by two Italian Brothers that are local residents. Not only do they have some of the freshest and most delicious dishes, but the presentation is always on point. The service is top notch as well, and they always have the happiest employees. Happy employees cannot exist without great management! Don't even get me started on their wine selections and other authentic and amazing touches that they add throughout the restaurant. If you have not been to this restaurant, you are definitely missing out! read more

Cafe Amici Downtown - Italian Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Recommendation to the owner: Placing the lights above the ceiling fan creates the "flickering light" effect. Not sure if anyone complained yet but I felt as if I was at a rave and it gave me a mild headache. Please consider placing the lights elsewhere so the ceiling fans do not interfere with them. I've eaten at Cafe Amici twice. Satisfied with food both times. $9 appetizer is too small for my liking but entrees are great. Also they seem to have the "special" mozzarella every night ;) Don't fall for it and pay extra $. read more

Cafe Amici Downtown - Barely big enough for kids. Too small for adults. - Italian Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Wow, what a great little restaurant. It's a small restaurant with a good amount of tables, and an extra room they would open for large parties or events. The service was fantastic. There are a couple waitresses/waiters on, and our waitress, Chrissy, stopped over several times to see how things were going, or refill a wine glass. She was helpful, and let us take our time making a menu decision, and offered suggestions or input on some of the dishes. The red wine was served slightly chilled which makes it much more enjoyable in the summertime (or near summertime in FLA). One of the owners stopped by our table to ask about whether we enjoyed our meal, and I noticed he stopped by all other tables as well. I had a veal dish which was fantastic. Veal was tender, and the dish was very tasty. Veal is my favorite meal, and am a tough judge of it; I would definitely eat here again. I would reluctantly try another dish as every one at our table was happy with his or her meal - however, it will be difficult to not have that veal dish again. And, I will ask to sit in Chrissy's section if she is working that day. I recommend, if you like and appreciate italian food, you stop in one day or evening. read more

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If you want to visit Italy have dinner at Cafe Amici. Great service lots authentic dishes to choose from. The staff is attentive accommodating and very professional. read more

Great food and awesome service. Greeted in an upbeat and pleasant manner by our host/ server. I had the grilled octopus appetizer. Wow, fantastic. Have yet to have octopus cooked better than this. Tender and tasty! Bronzino for the entree, another great dish. Short ribs, filet and shrimp were enjoyed by the rest of the family. All great dishes. read more

By FAR the best Italian food I have ever had! The truffle/sausage combo was the best meal I have had since returning to America 8 years ago. Amazing! read more

I've been to this restaurant many times and had a decent meal. On December 11, 21. Not the case. Won't be back! Made an Open Table reservation 3 weeks ahead of time due to an event downtown. The 2 of us arrived 10 minutes early for the reservation. We were seated and the restaurant was on reservation only, so very few tables were full at this time. Our very young waitress was very rude. She stood over us while we tried to decide on our meal, got upset when we asked for bread that every other table had, and kept coming back during the meal rushing us. She asked if we wanted appetizers, as we replied no, then ordered a dinner salad which she replied, " I thought you didn't want appetizers." As soon as one person was finished, she took her plate and tried to grab ours while still eating. Same thing when dinner arrived she cleared one plate and stood behind us while the other 2 were finishing. A second glass of wine was ordered and we were drinking our wine when she brought the check and stood behind us. Before my friend put her empty glass on the table she was already reaching for it to clear. The other friend still had a glass of wine when the owner came to the table and said if we wanted to finish our wine, we had to move to the bar because he needed our table for a large party. Her reply was " so I have to guzzle my $15 glass of wine? We had been in the restaurant 50 MINUTES had salad, entree, 2 glasses of wine and spent $200 to be asked to leave. The restaurant was still empty, and no one was waiting for a seat. I told the waitress as we left I would not be back. The owner promptly canceled my reservation off OPEN TABLE so I could not leave a review on the site. As we walked to our car and drove past the restaurant 15 minutes later, the table of ours was still empty. Poor customer service. read more

My date and I both ordered the chicken with pasta in cream sauce with sundried tomatoes and the flavor was good but the chicken was way over cooked for both plates. The bread served tasted low grade. On the plus side the service was great. I didn't complain, just pay the bill and don't return is my policy. read more

We absolutely love Cafe Amici. Its Italian food is remarkable and the service is reliably superb. We have always had a wonderful experience there. The food is beautifully prepared, delicious and sophisticated. The presentation is always lovely. The wait staff invariably treats us with thoughtfulness, promptness and professionalism. Cafe Amici is a wonderful restaurant that we enjoy returning to again and again. read more

We had a wonderful dinner this weekend at Cafe Amici. Our service was great. The food was fabulous! Homemade pasta. Yum!

This restaurant is excellent in all respects. The service is great, as is the food and the wine selection. And the atmosphere is more like a cozy European restaurant than a large US, corporately owned chain pretending to be a local place. There are some very interesting choices for all courses, and it's not outrageously expensive, either. Our server Tatiana was professional, friendly, attentive (but not intrusive) and extremely helpful. She made the evening for us. And it was Xmas Eve, so that was perfect. read more

Probably the best Spaghetti Carbonara you will ever eat. Absolutely delicious. And our server, Katrina is fantastic. Vey attentive and just a nice person. read more

Fantasitc Food. Kristen was an amazing server. Calm and compassionate. Attentive and articulate. A great addition to the night!

It's okay because they use some fresh pasta and some quality ingredients. If you're a decent cook you can probably do better at home, not to mention for much less money. I had linguini with shrimp and crab, I think it was $26. It had 2 medium shrimp and a little bit of finely minced crab (not lump crab). Unfortunate it had barely any flavor. The lasagna was decent as was the wine so I gave 3 stars instead of 1. We won't bother going back. read more

Every time I come in to this place I am greeted with ease and like I am a big spender. The food is amazing, and the service is even better! I would recommend this romantic gem for an evening out and definitely for dates. It is amazing. I am impressed every time. read more

This was not a good experience. Sorry...I was hopeful but a MAJOR disappointment. The waitress was nice but kept telling me it was her second day and she didn't know the menu. That explains her giving me an entree different from what I ordered. The borolo wine was skunked and needed to be returned. The linguini with clams was BLAND. Absolutely no flavor. I asked for extra bread for dipping and didn't bother because it was nothing that light olive oil wit ZERO flavor. The server asked me "how it everything?" I said, "It's OK". She said, "Great! Another glass of wine?" I'm guessing this is a tourist type of place that is busy because of out-of-towners who want some pasta. Either that or it was a just a bad night - a really bad night. Needless to say, I'm upset that I wasted my night in Sarasota on this place. It wasn't worth the 5 minute walk from my hotel. read more

Ate here 2 nights in a row. The wait staff is super friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. The owner stopped by both nights and was equally engaging. The hostess was also super friendly and struck up a conversation with my wife. What a pleasant experience! Between the 2 nights we had several pastas - black ravioli with seafood, rigatoni with truffle and sausage and another dish I forgot. All were excellent. We also had veal osso buco and lamb. Also excellent. Octopus appetizer was super tender. The restaurant has an awesome wine selection and many excellent wines by the glass (unusually good). All around an awesome place and our new standard for Italian in Sarasota. Highly recommended. read more

My husband and I had dinner at Cafe Amici tonight. Really disappointing experience. Ordered the gnocchi with pomodoro sauce. More like gnocchi with tomato soup. My husband and I never return food and rarely complain but owner was on site and we wanted to let him know how disappointing our dinner was. Unfortunately our experience with him was as disappointing. While we were dining we weren't aware he was the owner but entire time we were there he did nothing but sit at the bar, eat and chat up young women sitting at the bar. When we did speak with him he was totally unresponsive. Basically said that was the way they always served it and then walked away. Won't be returning. Much better Italian restaurants in Sarasota than Cafe Amici. Won't be returning. read more

Don't waste your time or money at this place! The food is not the greatest and the portions are tiny, their prices are outrageous and not worth the price. I wouldn't even give it one star! read more