Cafe Americano

1 star is a generous GIFT! I have never been treated so poorly in a restaurant. Quite appalling behavior actually. The terrible male server, Goran, was very upset that we told him the scrambled eggs received were cold (waited over 45 minutes for the food). It was as if he raised the chicken himself. He was threatening, insulting and caused an embarrassing scene. A second dish was served on toast instead of a baguette (we saw a tray of baguettes get dropped on the floor coming out of the oven). He told me it was «suppose to be on toast.» Total lie, he knew it and I knew it. I didn’t mind, but don’t try and pull one over on me. It was the first time in my life I did not leave a tip. His attitude towards customers and probably women in general needs to be adjusted. He ran out after us as if we skipped out on the bill. Thank goodness we were already in our car. I can only imagine what would he would have done.

We were in the restaurant for over an hour and a half total. We made SOLID EYE CONTACT with my waitress multiple times and she still wouldn’t come over! We made a fun game of it… Service is terrible. This place used to be awesome (although expensive) but now lack of management has led to incompetent servers? Or perhaps chefs? Who knows, the service sucks and it takes an eternity to get your food which is overpriced (even for breakfast)
Dusty air return above our table.
I had the eggs Benedict, the eggs weren’t poached long enough and the english muffin wasn’t toasted. My girlfriend got the Eggs Benedict Gulf Coast and it was served cold. The manager came over and explained that it wasn’t a dish that was served hot. Ok fine, but why not serve it hot? They replaced my order with a traditional eggs Benedict but was undercooked and muffin wasn’t toasted.
We were sensing a lot of hostility among the staff throughout our visit. Afterwards, the manager came over and comped our meals and apologized for what was wrong in the kitchen/​the management and promised that they will get it together. That helped the situation. We might even give it another try.

We used to come to Café Americano quite a bit. No longer. Service has gone downhill, and this morning was the worst yet. I’ve worked in food service before, so I always try to give a restaurant the benefit of the doubt and always try to leave a good tip. Perhaps they are just very busy, and sometimes sh*t just happens even though the staff is trying their best. OK, no problem. I’ll still try to leave a decent tip, understanding that some things are beyond their control.
This morning, the place was not even half-​full, and they had plenty of people working. I was the only one who took a seat at the bar. I ordered a latte, a glass of water, and bacon and eggs. The latte and water came fairly promptly, but after that, it all went downhill fast. My food took over 35 minutes to arrive. Again, I ordered BACON AND EGGS. This is not a complex order, nor one that takes a while to prepare. While I was waiting, the only time the server ever checked on me was when I waved her down. My coffee and water sat empty for 10 minutes as she ignored me. I finally got a refill, and 10 minutes later my food finally came, just as I was standing up and getting ready to leave. I heard several other people complaining about their food taking too long as well.
So like I said, I try to give restaurants the benefit of the doubt when leaving a tip. That boils down to 3 things. A) Are they extremely busy? In which case I’ll still leave a good tip as, hey, they can only work so fast. B) is it the kitchen’s fault? in which case, I’m not going to punish the server if they are trying hard, and C) Is the server doing their best? Checking on me, keeping drinks refilled, etc.
This morning:
A) The place was NOT busy.
B) The kitchen staff was extremely, extremely slow.
C) The server was incompetent.
So, you can probably guess that they did not receive my typical 20% tip. AND that it is the last time they will see me there.

For my sister’s birthday we went to this fabulous fine dining restaurant and we had a blast. I reserved a table for dinner and when we got there our table was nicely set up with birthday balloons. I ordered a bottle of red wine recommend by our server Mariam and the manager (Joel) had the detail of finding a bottle from the year my sister was born. The food was delicious and the service was splendid. We were all very happy and pleased specially my sister. I highly recommend Café Americano if you want to have a great experience when dining. Best place ever!!!

Don’t go here for breakfast. Oily potatoes, cold eggs, awful coffee… and very very bad service. I got my iced water as we were leaving! Nada.

My first time in Sarasota and have eaten here twice. The food reminds me of the Italian food in the north end of Boston. The owners come to your table and introduce themselves. I highly recommend this place and would eat here again on my next visit to Sarasota!

«Italian food just like New York?»
Boy, I’ve only heard that a thousand times since I moved here, always to be disappointed, but the sauce they have here is just as good as anything on Arthur Ave. (Bronx), Spumoni Gardens (Brooklyn), S.P.Q.R (Little Italy, Manhattan), or Nino’s (Staten Island).
Just had my first meal here with wife, and what a pleasant surprise! All dishes first rate, as well as the service, Nice décor, and very, very clean. Can’t wait to go back, & next time I’ll bring friends.
Get in the game, you transplanted New Yorkers, and pay this place a visit– you’ll feel right at home.
Great place to bring your wife or girlfriend… but never at the same time! ;-P)

With a vibrant patio at the heart of downtown’s five point, café americano has grown into itself this past year. Looks like the new owner really cares, breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are all new with house specialties still there but so much more fresh organic salads, organic free range roast chicken, bouillabaisse, and yes, finally, pizzas. Red pepper and sausage is best. Would like to see some roasted garlic on a white pizza make the menu. The paella is new as well, only available on Thursdays and Fridays and ask for a pitcher of their sangria sooooo good. I asked for the recipe but apparently it is a secret. The creamy mashed cauliflower with the organic roast chicken is really good. Service can use a little more care, but friendly. Eat outside and watch everyone stroll by. Great cappuccino.

The new menu is great! Best meatballs I have in a while, sausage and roasted red peppers pizza is fantastic! Joel is a great server! He can make special Cuban coffees

Stopped by for a late lunch reluctantly after reading the reviews. Was pleasantly surprised at both the quality and presentation of the food. Very fresh sandwiches and salads and cooked perfectly. Sat outside and had very good service. Attentive, but not overly so.

I came here for breakfast while visiting Sarasota, so I can only speak to the quality of the breakfast and not the lunch or dinner experience.
Really, I think this place might merit 3.5 stars, but I’m a little undecided whether it’s three or four stars.
I was here during high season on a Sunday morning. One thing I was pleased with was the quality of the service. I see some negative comments about service in other reviews, but I did not experience that myself. I was able to be seated immediately, and the server was attentive but not overly intrusive. I was with friends and we perhaps overstayed our visit a little at the table on this busy day, but had no pressure from the staff to leave.
The breakfast was good, but nothing particularly stood out. On the other hand, I just ordered something pretty standard, so it’s a little hard to mess up on scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon. The eggs were cooked just about right. The Italian bacon (pancetta) did not seem different from American bacon except it was round. The potatoes were OK, but I have had better. One problem was that the food was not quite warm enough, it arrived as though it might have been sitting for a little.
The price was really good; they charge about the right price in comparison to other breakfast places, and if anything I would have expected a little higher price since this is a tourist area.
The location of the restaurant is great, right on the main street in Sarasota with a really nice patio area. This is definitely a nice place to stop by for a decent breakfast.

One of the most mediocre breakfast places I’ve found so far in town in one of the best locations.

An Italian place that seems more promising from the outside than it actually can deliver.
They obviously serve breakfast as well as lunch and dinner, and breakfast appears to be fairly standard American stuff. As for Italian, the execution was lacking. The pasta with olive oil, garlic and peppers lacked punch and was dripping in olive oil. The lentil soup was bland. Despite the large menu, in fact the pasta choices were fairly limited. The bread was squishy (like large grocery chain Italian bread), and the butter was refrigerated to the point where it wouldn’t spread.
This restaurant just doesn’t come through on execution — it could be good, but it’s merely OK. They get by on their location with lots of foot traffic walking by.

What happened to this place? Went there the other night and we were the ONLY people there for dinner– a bad sign but we had eaten there before and liked it so we went ahead and sat down. VERY disappointed with the wild mushroom appetizer with smoked mozarella as it tasted NOTHING like it did last time we were here. We were given some cockamaney story about the chef being out. The rest of the food, prosciutto and a veal milanese were okay but the whole meal was WAY WAY WAY OVERPRICED!!! THEN, we got home and my husband started throwing up. We will NEVER go again. NEVER.

Went here for dinner a few months ago. I ordered some kind if fish, no flavor, no eye appeal and a weird «off smell» that hindered me from trying to get past all of the other comments.
My soda was the best thing I had.

I first started going to Café Americano because First Watch nearby is always just crazy busy.
I’ve only eaten breakfast here, but I come away more and more pleased each time. The dishes are by no means fancy, but the portion sizes are just perfect to me, and the dish I order (two eggs with pancetta — Italian bacon) is done perfectly to order each time. The preferred seating is definitely outside, where there always curiously seems to be a slight breeze, and is perfect for people watching.
The only weakness for me has been the coffee, I’ve definitely had better, but I’ll admit I’ve only gotten american style filter coffee. Nevertheless, definitely worth a breakfast stop; I’ll update if I ever make it there for dinner or lunch.

I had dinner at Café Americano with two friends. One had a mixed seafood pasta and the other had pasta with mushrooms. Both were happy with their meals. I had the lobster ravioli. The sauce on my pasta was nondescript and the lobster tasted «off» so I only ate a small portion. The waitress asked the only guy at the table how he liked his food and quickly turned to serve another table. She didn’t ask either of the women about our experience, even though it was obvious that I left most of my pasta on my plate.
I won’t go back.

I strongly believe that classic breakfast food can be done in the elegance of fine dining but still hold true to what it is… diner food. Café Americano I think blended those concepts into a casual Florida style bistro. This wonderful café has excellent outdoor seating, and come to think of it I did not venture inside. not even for a restroom stop.
I was really impressed with the food presentation and quality. We had slow service, attentive but slow… if that makes any service at all, she brought us what we wanted when we asked for it, but getting her attention was sometimes difficult. There is always a bad apple in the bunch, I say that from years of experience in the industry.
Other than that. I would gladly go back and experiment with other items on the menu.

Three times… not a charm.
Wow I really wanted to like this place. My close friends love it but I have experienced bad food here on every visit. Honestly I’ve had better breakfasts at McDonalds, albeit equally unappetizing.
The blueberry pancakes were so yeasty they were bitter and gummy. The Eggs Benedict: eggs cooked fine. The muffin was chewy and impossible to cut. The ham was dry like jerky. The Hollandaise sauce had a nice consistency but had way too much vinegar (or whatever acid that was not lemon.) I couldn’t finish it even though I was super hungry. (Went to Il Panifico for lunch a few hours later bc I was so hungry. It was delicious.) My niece had the French toast and it was soggy and flavorless.
Really really disappointing. Will do my best to convince my friends to go elsewhere when I visit.
PS: service was fine since my friends are local and knew their waitress well. The service saved it from a one star.

Great omelette and service!