Angelina’s Ristorante is a restaurant in Bonita Springs, FL featuring Italian cuisine.
The restaurant is very pleasing aesthetically with it’s beautiful lounge and dining areas.
Angelina’s is known for their formal atmosphere and extensive Wine List, curated by sommeliers with a rating of level one to three (introductory to advanced) after examination with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Nothing illustrates the establishment’s extensive wine selection more than their iconic wine tower that is visible upon entry to the restaurant and houses many of their wines.
I was there that evening to participate in the monthly SWFL Foodies meetup, where members gather for a meal. SWFL Foodies is a Facebook group started almost four years ago by organizer, Wanda Lopez, and since then has grown to almost 13,000 members.
There were about 16 of us that night, and we had a private dining room for the event. Before our orders were taken, one of the waitstaff was kind enough to explain the menu and restaurant specials for the evening. My dining companion and I ordered off the restaurant’s prix fixe menu that evening, which was $99 for two.
The choices looked very good. We decided on the fried grouper and calamari starter, with fried pickled vegetables, chili aioli, marinara sauce and lemon. This was a great start to our meal and a hit with the other two members of our table.
We then moved onto our second course. I ordered an Angelina’s salad, which was assorted greens, prosciutto, blueberries, pickled onion goat cheese, pecans and a wine vinaigrette. It was very good. My dining companion had the pasta e fagiola, This is a classic Italian soup with prosciutto, cannellini beans, tomatoes and pasta. Added chianti and pecorino cheese sealed the deal. I have always eschewed this soup as I found it not to my liking. This was my fault, as I seemed to have ordered pasta e fagiola from very commercial restaurants that did not take care or pride in it’s preparation. At Angelina’s this was an excellent cup of soup and most highly recommended.
The entrees ordered were the Swordfish Mediterranea and the Pork Osso Bucco. My dining companion loved the fish, which came with cannellini beans, zucchini, artichoke, olives, roasted tomatoes with a roasted tomato sauce with fennel. It was good, but I thought the Mediterranean treatment much too heavy handed with the olive and tomato notes very overbearing.
I ordered the pork osso bucco. It came with potato puree, au jus and pickled fennel. It was very good also, but unfortunately this has been a trend of restaurants that want to cut costs serving pork shank instead of lamb used in a more traditional osso bucco. Though well put together, I dreamed of lamb throughout this whole dish.
We finished up with a couple of desserts, the strawberry panna cotta and the leche sorbetto. The panna cotta was ok, a sweetened cream thickened with gelatin as one would expect. The leche sorbetto was terra incognita and very good. Sorbettos are frozen desserts with sweetened water and flavorings, in this case leche, Fun and most remarkable.
We finished off out dinners with a complementary serving of a herbal- and botanical-derived Amaro,or Limoncello, both digestifs, or after dinner cordials. A very nice gesture of the restaurant.
The food at Angelina’s was good but was made even better by the social outlet and camaraderie provided by SWFL Foodies. Should they have another meetup and it’s convenient for you, I encourage you to participate in this group activity. You will not be disappointed.
SWFL Foodies Facebook Page Anyone can join
Angelina’s Ristorante
24041 S. Tamiami Tr.
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239)390-3187
Summer hours June-September: Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 4-9 PM, Friday-Saturday, 4-10 PM; Complementary valet parking; All major credit cards accepted; Kid’s meals available
More food reviews on Southwest Florida Forks [/vc_message]
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
