Italian food Clearwater St. Pete area

[jean larosa]

As a former "Jeerzeeygirl", I an terribly frustrated by the lack of good/great Italian food in Clearwater/St.Pete area.

Anyone with good ideas?

[sstinso01]

I highly recommend Bella Brava in St. Pete. We were there this last weekend and the food was phenomenal.

[laurie]

Our local favorite is Umberto's, on Patricia Ave in Dunedin. They make the BEST lasagna EVER. The owners are brothers from Long Island, and their pizza has won "Best in Tampa Bay" awards. I personally prefer Chicago-style pizza (per my origins), but their pasta--especially their baked pasta dishes--are fabulous. Olinis on Main St in Dunedin also does a good job, if you prefer a lighter tomato sauce.

[BeaN]

Cafe Cibo in St Pete is very good http://www.cafecibo.net/.

We like the pizzas, and the marsala, piccatta and bolognese dishes we've had have been very good, too.

JoJos in Tierra Verde is about as "no frills" as you're going to find anywhere, but the food is very good. Don't miss the Sicilian tomato salad - good, ripe tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and a bit of vinegar. You'll want to mop up the garlicy dressing with the garlic rolls that you'll also want to order. I had the veal piccata most recently, but the calzones, pizza and pasta dishes are good too.

The similarly named JoJo's in Citta in downtown St. Pete has a menu that is almost identical, but the food is forgettable.

[rhnault]

Have you been to Joseph's Little Italy in Dunedin? I just read this review and it sure sounds good.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/25/Foo...

[rhnault]

I just wanted to update the thread and say we tried Joseph's Little Italy on Friday night and it was great. Everything was home made and it showed. Service was nice and all of the staff was friendly. Prices were great. The most expensive thing on the menu was I think 16.00. Their homemade cannoli is to die for. My husband and I had a great time analyzing the secret ingredients in the filling.

[laurie]

Thanks, R. I'll need to try it. That makes three good Italian restos in about a 6-block area (including Umbertos and Olinis). Dunedin seems to have a corner on homey Italian goodness. There's a place further east on Main that I've been wanting to try, as well. I can remember the name of it, but it's in the same strip center as Ivory Bistro.

[rhnault]

I saw ivory Bistro on the way back to Tampa. It looked interesting. Seems we need to do a bit of Dunedin exploring. It's only about 20 mins from our side of Tampa.