Best Italian Restaurants in East Lake

Highly recommend this restaurant! The food is always excellent as well as the service and ambiance. Rivals any Italian Restaurant in the Tampa Bay area.

We had a nice dinner with an attentive waitress. Pleasant atmosphere. The Burrata was delicious and the bisque had nice texture and good lobster meat. We had the Parpadelle with crab and Alfredo - the lump crab meat was plentiful in a flavorful sauce. Highly recommend as well as the Veal Massimo which was very rich and came with veggies. The sauce was delicious. Finally we had the lemoncello cake with raspberry sauce - simply divine. The whipped cream is worth it alone on the side. Chef came by to check on us as well. We had a lovely time thank you.

For tonight's dinner I started with the Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower (fresh-fried cauliflower bites topped with Sriracha aioli and served with cool-herbed ranch dressing, house-made pickled cucumbers) and it was fantastic. For my dinner I had the Pan Seared Grouper Picatta with capers, lemon butter, warm house-made orzo pasta, grilled asparagus and it was delicious/flavorful and one of my favorites. My regular server "Adam" was exceptional, as always, and he is consistently friendly, attentive, patient, accommodating, efficient, and he has made so many wonderful recommendations to me that have all awakened my taste buds. Sacred Pepper is an excellent choice for the ambiance, awesome wine/drink selections, amazing and delicious food selections, soothing after dinner drinks, and mouthwatering desserts. And the service staff are all so friendly and welcoming. it's a "WIN" for me every single time I eat there!

Valentino’s was the nicest dining experience we’ve had in a while. The attention to detail from the finely dressed doorman, to the beautifully dressed and friendly hostesses dared to outshine the immaculate interior design. Our waiter was attentive and this Italian accent and pride in the chef’s creations momentarily whisked us back to Tuscany. Without paying much attention to the prices, I expected the check to be at least double what it was. We will definitely be returning soon.

My wife had a very good Rigatoni alla Bolognese (fresh red sauce with meat). I had Lasagna Napoletana which had a very fresh red tomato sauce. Nice ambiance. There was a piano player playing softly. My wife also enjoyed her Rum cake. Only improvement I would suggest would be to serve the food more timely. We were with a couple we had not seen in awhile, so it did not bother us much.