Roberto's Restorante
 

It is going to be great to have another fine restaurant in The Villages. Enjoy Giovanni's now Roberto's!

When does it open?

I wouldn’t call Giovanni’s fine dining. It’s a pizza place with passable Italian food. And since they are brothers I wonder how much better Roberto’s will be.

July 25

The Bay Child did NOT call it fine dining.

So, a restaurant can be fine, but not have fine dining?

Absolutely.

Giovanni's is a very fine restaurant! May not be the finest of interior to make it fine dining. If Roberto's is as fine as Giovanni's, the folks in the southern climes of The Villages will have a fine choice!

That's fine with me.

Everybody bragged to me about them so we finally tried it for lunch. I wouldn't say bad but I certainly never returned. I didn't care for it and either did my husband and friends. Knowing they're brothers, I doubt if I will try Roberto's.

Haven't been there.


Any additional review info???..........what did you both have and was there something missing to the taste??




Thanks

Know your audience, if you come from an environment with zero ethnic restaurants, what you think is fine is mediocre to people with different experiences-

This is so true.


At Giovanni's I'm not crazy about most of the menu items however the fried calamari is excellent, it is hand-cut and breaded at the restaurant and it is far superior to that which we had at Sammy's. Yet the tomato/marinara sauce which is served on the side is inconsistent. Some days it is very good and other days it almost tastes burnt. The salad is always fresh and crispy, and they make their own dinner garlic rolls fresh daily which are served with every meal.

I commented to a waitress that our experiences at Giovanni's are inconsistent and she told us that it all depends upon who is in the kitchen. (She even said to avoid the pizza on Mondays - honestly LOL) .

After 3 years here, our standards are lowering, little by little. If not we would never eat out. One of the side effects of my recent medical treatments is extreme fatigue and quite frankly, I just don't always want to cook).

You said a mouthful there. We are snowbirds who live in an area where there are a large number of Italians, there’s also the Johnson and Wales Culinary school. We have 3 excellent Italian restaurants each about a half mile from where we live. Head out a few miles in any direction and there quite a few more. WE have not found anything in the Villages/Ocala area that come close to what we are used to. We like Giovanni’s it is what it is but cannot compare to what we have where we live most of the year. At home we would never go to Olive Garden but when we’re in TV we go at least a couple of times during our 5 month stay.

All of this on a pizza place that hasn't even opened yet!

Spot on. Having traveled extensively in Italy, we cannot find any pizza place that compares to pizza in Amalfi or pasta in Firenzi or Venizia. A simple house made spaghetti with shrimp and cherry tomatoes or true Carbonara - not the cream and cheese laden stiff they make at Olive Garden but a dish where the pasta is the star. Oh, crud, now I'm hungry.

Drove past about 1:30 and the restaurant appeared to be very busy. Hopefully, reviews will start later this evening or tomorrow.

And I'll bet you can go back to Italy and not find any Gator Tail or Maine Lobster as you can here. Location matters.

First day I knew to cut them some slack. I've been eating at Giovanni's at least once a month for the 8 years we've been here, we're not big eaters and stick to the basics. I like spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna and pizza. So Giovanni's and their other place Gio's has been great. They're prices are from 25 years ago. Spaghetti with meat sauce, with salad and bread for $6.95. I would pay $10, but don't tell them. Roberto's the prices are little higher, about like Olive Garden.

We figured we would just slip in and order a pizza to go. At least they have decent waiting area, unlike the Giovanni's. We order a large with with green peppers at 12:10. We sat down in waiting area and two other couples we knew from MVP were there waiting for take-out as well. So time went fast and even though we waited until almost 1:00 I didn't mind since it was their first day.

Unfortunately when he brought the pizza it had banana peppers and not green peppers. I don't think the guy taking the order knew the difference. He kept asking when I placed the order if I wanted sausage or anything else besides peppers, I said no, just green peppers. When I saw him later, I mentioned were waiting on the pizza with just green peppers. So when it finally came with banana peppers, I said I'll take it. It was OK, not great, not bad, I think the banana peppers made it too sweet.

Anyway, they have outside seating, I was surprised most all the outside tables were taken since it was so muggy with the light rain. One problem, they have one door. So everyone coming into the restaurant and leaving and waitresses with food are all going in and out through that same door. I hear them say there was about a 15 minute wait for those wanting a table, then I heard them say the kitchen is backed up so it may be 30 minutes more to get your food. This is the way it is at every new place, give it a couple of weeks or if you're not in a hurry, you can go now. It's at the end of Pinellas Plaza nearest the Village of Pinellas where Evergreen Buffet use to be located. Very convenient for those who live along Pinellas Place.

https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net...03&oe=5DE80366

Still waiting for an Italian restaurant within a 30 mile radius to offer scungilli fra diaviolo--

Went to Roberto's this afternoon. Thought it was pretty good. First day is always hectic, but we thought they did a good job of handling it. Had a terrific waitress (Laurel). Will try the pizza in a few days. Glad to have a new option in our area.

:bigbow:

Where do you get Maine lobstah?l

Just my 2 cents we never go to a restaurant the first week it’s opened, in fact we wait a couple of months until the newness wears off. Where we live some of the time in New England there was never a Sonic Drive-in. When they opened one in our town you couldn’t get near the place for months, in fact they had a police detail directing traffic. Fast forward to today and you can pull in anytime there are no longer crowds or even many customers.

I lived in Tuscany... After that, all food in the USA is bland! Probably the most flavorless food anywhere.

Some people are never happy. Forget where you came from and embrace where you are now.

:bigbow:

Good point we do embrace the area just not the food. :popcorn: With that said it’s tough to be the BBQ at Oakwood Smoke House. In Ocala is Ipanema Brazilian Steakhouse if you enjoy a real variety of meats all you can eat style in a beautiful atmosphere, it’s one of the better stops around.

Correct, but we're talking real Italian here, not Maine or Florida.

Life is too short to eat crappy food or drink plonk! We pay for it and should expect better.

Wut? LOL! I think that's the motto at Coleman as well!

Just went there. Food is as good as any.

I'd say... come to terms with where you live. People can whine and complain about the restaurants here because they're not "as good" as where they used to live. Look at where you came from. What was the population of that metropolitan area? Or what about the earning power or people that lived in your area? The vast majority of people who live in Sumter/Marian/Lake counties are retirees on a fixed income.
What creative/sought after chef would choose to work here, vs Tampa or Orlando? You can't compare restaurants here to where you came from. It's not the same!
There aren't pockets of ethnic families that want to start a new restaurant. Entrepreneurs don't see this as a viable place to invest.
It's irrelevant to talk about where you came from or what you consider "exceptional." You're here now. talk about what you prefer HERE.

We are looking forward to trying Roberto's Restaurant.

The topic is Roberto's restaurant...please stay on topic.

Moderator

I guess my post came over wrong, like I am a food critic.... Just looking for good food to feed the parents from time to time. They enjoy pizza once a week.

:)Who has delicious gnocchi on the menu...preferably cooked as they do in Italy.....firm !

Dinner at Roberto's review
 

My wife and I arrived at Roberto's at 4:20 for an early dinner tonight. Even at that hour it was crowded and told we had about a 30 minute wait but likely not that long. We did purchase a drink at the area selling drinks near the pizza take out area and took our drinks outside as there is no bar. $4.50 for a glass of wine. A little over an hour later we were seated and our waitress came for our drink and food order about 15 later. We ordered both at the same time as we thought it would be awhile before our food was served. Our side salads came about 20 minutes later and they were satisfactory. Two garlic rolls were delivered about 10 minutes after finishing our salads. They were very good. One hour and 10 minutes from where we ordered our main dishes were ready. My wife had chicken marsala and I had the veal marsala. My wife said her meal was very good. My veal was a bit chewy but the sauce was excellent as were the mushrooms and pasta which came with it.
We ordered a cannoli to take home which was very good.
The bill came quickly. Total bill $52.00. Just thought I'd share our experience .

2 hours and 25 + minutes from entry to food delivery ? Totally unacceptable (to me anyways)

Hopefully that's only because they just opened. If not, good luck...