Matteo’s of Orlando

Great service and the Osso Bucco was the best meal I’ve ever had in my life. Good portions, spacious dining area. Went to this place after a recommendation from our resort. That was over a year ago but I’m still dreaming about that Osso Bucco!

I recently visited Matteo’s in Orlando and had a great family dinner. Our server, Steve was also bartending and made the best sangria. We order the penne alla vodka and the chicken parmaigiana… perfecto! I would definitely recommend them if you are in that area.

I have been looking forward to trying this restaurant for quite some time now, and since we had family all together, we wanted to go and enjoy the family style dining here. There were 7 of us in total, and we came at 6:30 on a Friday night. I had reservations, but the restaurant appeared quite empty at the time, so that might not have been needed. Service throughout the meal was good, and drink refills came quickly. The atmosphere struck me as a bit more upscale than other famous Italian family style dining places.
Our main issue was with portion size. When I think family style, I think of more than just what is meant for 2 people. Many dishes were very underwhelming in size, specifically chicken dishes, which were just two chicken breasts. Our family sized salad was honestly quite small, and even though we were told it would feed all six adults, it was really not adequate. It also seemed quite bare bones, with nuts and craisins and lettuce. Overall there were some good dishes, but again, I keep going back to portion size vs. price for the family style dining, and just felt it was not enough food to really share all the dishes with everyone.
Factor all this in with the drive to get out to the tourist area, and we all felt there were better options closer to home that provided similar food.

Saw this listed on Unilocal as being one $ and we were looking for Italian. Service was outstanding from the host to the server. Very engaging and helpful. Food was good, a little overpriced. If you order a pasta dish (I did), it does not come with anything else. We were told only entrée’s came with sides (pasta not an entrée?)
My wife and I split a plate of broccoli ($ 6.95) which was good, but overpriced. I got the Baked Penne with Ricotta which was good, but again felt overpriced for one $ mark. By the way, the house wine is $ 8 per glass. Very classy interior and service, probably a great place to have a working lunch, but we were on vacation and felt under dressed.

Food is not that great. I don’t see how these place gets high ratings. Waiters are pushing drinks, food, appetizers, etc. to get the total cost of the bill up. I think they do this because they are trying to get tourists to spend as much as possible since tourists are most likely to do that when on vacation.
Everyone at my table felt the same way.

Went with a party of six, and decided to go family style to enjoy more offerings. One family style salad, then lobster ravioli, lasagna, shrimp with spinach, and veal with eggplant. Some bread and a few bottles of wine later, we were all full and happy.
The sauces and pasta are all made on site and they were delicious .
Used a gps to find it and crossed International Drive a few times to get there. Had to ask for oil for the bread and some cheese, but they didn’t hang over our shoulders all night.
Would go back in a minute.

My husband and I are visiting from Westchester County, NY, and we recognize great Italian food. This restaurant was on par with our favorites from NY.
Minestrone soup was fresh, filled with beans and firm veggies. The bread was really good. After telling Sam, the waiter, that I liked to eat healthy and loved veggies, the «burnt vegetable thin crust pizza» was delivered with NO crust, but was delicious nevertheless. My husband was very happy with the sausage and meatball over spaghetti. There was enough from both entrees to bring home.
The service was extremely attentive — our water glasses were always filled, Sam and Omar and several others were helpful, courteous and prompt.
BTW, I chose Matteo’s because of the favorable ratings on Unilocal,and, as always, appreciate all the good info I find here.

So good. Huge family style portions. Very affordable. Friendly staff and a little off the beaten tourist path. Love love love love love.
But it is cold, they do love their AC. Also best servers I’ve ever had.

First Unilocal review… My wife and two kids had dinner there mid-​week leading up to a busy holiday weekend, so we were glad to get a last minute Open Table RSVP. I was prepared for slow service after reading all the reviews, but after a rocky start (waited 10 min for our server after being seated), they picked up the pace. The chopped salad and Chicken Sorrentino were very good, and as others have said, the fresh baked bread was phenomenal. Bartender was very friendly and can make a mean sidecar.
So why 2 stars you ask? Well, the hostess sat us right next to the kitchen, when the dining room was about half full. I initially accepted this, assuming that the empty tables between us and the rest of civilization were reserved and would fill up as the night went by. Alas, they did not. I can only conclude that the hostess «sized us up» and assumed our two young children were not fit to be seated in the main area (while in fact, they were incredibly well behaved). This is inexcusable for an establishment with «Family Restaurant» in its name, and left such a bad taste in our mouths that we will not be going back. Families with young children be warned.

I had high hopes since this was not a typical chain restaurant. The hostess was accomodating with getting us a quiet table and we started with a nice martini at the bar (the bartender was funny and nice). It went downhill when our waiter would not let us substitute a small portion of pasta for the potato/​veggie that came with my veal parm. He said it would be around $ 10 more. Then we never got bread and the manager said they bake it fresh and should have some for us in 3 – 4 minutes. Our food came and we still didn’t have bread and I asked the waiter who brought it out if we would get bread. He said he didn’t know and sometimes they run out. So later another waiter brought us bread. I had the veal parm with spinach and it was ok. My boyfriend had the sausage and meatballs with pasta. His was ok but nothing special.
I would never go back but since I only go to Orlando once a year it is not a big deal.

Just had an amazing thanksgiving feast! Great traditional thanksgiving menu along with their Matteo’s family style dishes! I highly recommend calling to get a reservation. They were super busy when we arrived.

Service gets 5 Stars: Fernando the Bartender was incredible. It seemed every member of the staff stopped by to chat. I had my own private (& blind) wine tasting — thanks, Fernando! Host was hysterical. Everyone was super friendly & accommodating. Hat tipped to Leland, Managing Partner, for keeping that vein of enthusiasm alive with the entire group.
4 stars for ambiance: Great wine room & the noise level was spot on — didn’t have to whisper or yell. Beautiful & open with good lighting. In a touristy I-​Drive location, so no real control over the dress code, but we’ve seen the same at Texas de Brazil. Once they build out the patio for cigars, should be a nice place to relax after dinner. I am guessing the buffet area was concealed, but the display seems like dead space. Perhaps they’ll incorporate that into an interactive cooking station or musician stage. They have room for it.
3.95+ Stars for food: Happy to see they have moved away from Family style. They’re tweaking the menu a bit, so it will be interesting to see if they can bring some sexy dishes to life. Mussels were very tender & antipasto platter was abundant, caprese was quite nice. Still large portions so there was zero room for dessert. Would like to see more alternative wines by the glass. And possibly Chef getting braver with spices. lots of promise here so will keep an eye on them.
Hard to see locals frequenting I-​Drive, but the Service with experience was worth the trek. I can see us going again.

This is a small chain of Italian restaurants from NY. It’s a family run restaurant — so it’s nice for Orlando — it’s not a big corporate chain.
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of enjoying a meal at Matteo’s of Orlando.
The restauant is located in the former location of Nelore (which moved to Winter Park). The restaurant looks the same inside — although they turned the beautiful buffet area that they had into just a display which is sad.
The food at Matteo’s was excellent. Italian food at it’s best. Unfortunately, the service was a bit slow. Although the restaurant was quite full, it was a Saturday night, so that should have been expected.
Our meal took over 2 hours — mainly due to waiting for the food from the kitchen. We heard 2 tables complaining about the wait — and the manager explained that they were a bit busier than they expected.
The quality of the food was top notch. It honestly could have gotten 5 stars from me had the service been better.
I’ll likely try the restaurant again in the future and hope for better service next time.

A NY based family style Italian restaurant. So, you would expect some NY accents, you got ‘em here, almost everyone, it was well painted by a comment one of the ladies said… «I feel like I am at The Brownstone from NH Housewives.» FOR Real! It’s a huge very open dining area and a small bar.
We started for HH at the bar and they have white sangria, WIN! It was delicious, actually better than my fav at Ceviche.
We had a large party and our server was NY native, Craig, he was extremely informative and helpful with the menu, ordering and he was attentive. Yes, thick NY accent as well.
Everything is «family» style but the portions were not extremely huge for each dish, they fluctuated. The veggies, chicken and salmon dishes were pretty large but the ravioli and stuffed mushrooms could have had more. The bread to start is delicious, baked fresh and comes out hot. Everything is actually made in house and you can ask for any substitutions, it’s actually encouraged so you have a great experience (awesome).
The stuffed mushrooms were a little heavy on the bread filling but they were delicious. The sauce was great. I ordered the large Salmon (specialty of the day) along with green beans to share with everyone. I asked which sauce I should get and hands down, The Luciano sauce, and it was delicious. I also tasted the lobster ravioli and although I don’t remember tasting lobster, I do remember the fresh pasta and overflowing, delicious ricotta cheese!
Now, at this point you are probably asking if such a great review, why only 3 stars? I hate to do this but I had to take location into consideration and it’s on the strip that local Orlando-​ians =) less frequent, I-​Drive. It’s at the end of the tourist infused strip near the outlets so it’s not terrible for a Tuesday night (the restaurant was only ¼ full) but it’s also in a parking lot all alone. So, not the ideal place but not horrific.

Good atmosphere on the inside with big tables great for large groups. It’s a family-​style service with huge portions meant to feed a couple of people each.
Best part of the meal — linguini with white clam sauce. Maybe the best I’d expect to find in Orlando with lots of hunky garlic and whole clams.
Spaghetti with meatballs and sausage had great marinara but boring besides.
Had a Groupon — otherwise would have never had given Matteo’s on touristy I-​Drive a chance. May be worth coming back for if there are a lot of people with me.

All-​around awesome meal. The food, though family style, was excellent. The service was very attentive and I was floored when I asked for Hot Chocolate after dinner. They did not have it on the menu, but they managed to make a very excellent French style hot chocolate on the fly. Very impressive.

The service and ambiance are 5 star hands down, they really make you feel special for dining with them. The food is served family style a la carte, so you get a lot for your money.
My husband and I ordered the chopped salad which was great plus I loved how the waiter served us. We ordered the cheese ravioli for our 2^nd course, in my opinion the ravioli was good, but the sauce was too «tomatoey». I let my husband pick the final course, the roasted chicken. He loves chicken so I let him be the true judge & he said it was just ok to him which I agreed.
I prefer Maggio’s food but Matteo’s service.

Excellent restaraunt! Service was top notch. Free Valet. Selection on the menu was great from veal, chicken, seafood, fish and pastas.
I live in Orlando and came here with visiting family.
I will come back here any time we are doing Italian.
Well worth thee trip to I-​Drive.

While visiting Orlando, we stumbled across this wonderful restaurant while looking for a place to eat after the places we were planning to go to was closed. We took a chance and went in. We were so glad we did. The restaurant was beautiful. The service was fantastic. The food was delicious. While it is in a touristy area, it appeared to be filled with locals. If I lived in the area, this would be hands down on of my favorite places to eat. Highly recommend!

You know it’s bad when you ask the front desk for a restaurant recommendation for something that is not a chain — and they are stumped. They did come up with the newly opened Matteo’s and I’m so glad they did. This place was excellent.
Atmosphere was dark woods, white table cloths, upscale Italian (but we were in jeans and it was no problem — people were there in shorts too). The owner/​manager made a point to say hi and ask where we were from, server (Arthur) was fabulous.
Everything they make is done to order in small batches, which means it takes a while for the food to come out, but when it does it is DELICIOUS. They prepare things family style so it’s great to get 2 orders and share — we had the shrimp scampi style and another shrimp dish in a red sauce with spinach.
I’m not a huge red sauce fan, but this stuff was so good I was soaking it up with the bread (which was great too).
All in all, excellent food, very good, friendly service, reasonable (but not cheap prices) and one of the best Italian meals I’ve ever had — all on the touristy strip of International Drive…