Bistro Figliulo

Very classy Italian eaterie on Siesta Drive near the Trail. Hard to find by its real namae since the sign over to door is «Cucina Italiana.» Somewhat limited meny of apps and entrees, but very extensive pizza options on excellent thin-​crust pies. Caprese and salads were fine starters with eggplant parmigiana and chicken cacciatore excellently-​flavored entrees. No separate lunch menu but all dinner items are 20% off, making prices more reasonable. Elegant décor and fine service, but not much lunch business.

Had dinner Friday night 4÷15÷12. Our server AnneMarie was delightful and professional.
Started out with calamari and it was very crisp and the sauce was tasty.
Salad, yes the house salad is iceberg lettuce, very good quality (not that school cafeteria type).
I had chicken florentine and my wife had veal parmesan, both with spagetti and red sauce. I would rate both of these at 3.75 stars for taste and 4.5 for presentation.
As far as the ambience, love black table cloths, but that TV over the bar needs to go.
Will I go back, yes.

The food, atmosphere, and prices were all phenomenal. I highly recommend this place!

Bistro Figliulo is our «cheers»! Everyone is friendly. My husband loves the chicken parm. If you ever went to Sal’s in Red Bank, NJ it’s the same preparation and it’s delish! The sauces are homemade and the marinara has chunks of yummy garlic. The lasagna is nice and cheesy. Shrimp parm, veggie pizza… the list goes on! Make sure you say hi to Nick!

I ate there Tuesday night with a party of nine. Everyone ordered something different. The server was excellent, as was the cleanliness and ambiance. I ordered a moist, delicious salmon with dill sauce and grilled veggies. The pizza looked delicious and everyone enjoyed there own orders. My friend next to me had eggplant lasagne and it was a very generous portion and looked wonderful. My salad was much better than expected. Good and crunchy and fresh. I will be returning.

Truly awful restaurants are hard to find in Sarasota. We managed to find one tonight.
We should have left when they brought a basket of soft mushy supermarket bread, but we didn’t.
The calamari were passable.
The salads were school cafeteria iceberg lettuce.
The entries sucked balls. My shrimp were overcooked. One of the few small shrimp had a big fat visible vein of shrimp poo that they didn’t bother to remove The sauce was tasteless and watery. If not for the parsley, there would have been no taste at all. The pasta was a white flour American brand. It was overcooked and sat in lukewarm water before they slopped it onto my plate.
My companions’ entrees were defrosted Sysco products – the veal picatta was gummy and the chicken parm was dry and tasteless. Both came with that awful pasta with vague tasteless sauces.
This place seems to be run by actual old-​school Italians, but the only chef there tonight was apparently Chef Boy-​ar-​dee.

Great reviews. High expectations, for food at LEAST. Reality… not so good. Ambience is slightly above fluorescent, (the lights are NOT florescent, but not well designed for bright/​soft) (TV included) Service nice, not abrasive, sweet, pretty ineffective; management present (sometimes glued to the TV) but clueless, (think (everything OK? Oh, good, they’re fixing it – no follow up) and food a C. Caesar was good. Truffle ‘packet” had flavor but pasta was chewy and too thick Here, underdone crust on pizza AND on calzone. They took it back – rebaked — so toppings and fillings totally dry and chewy. Crust? Still not done. Follow up? No. Adjustment of bill? No. Of course, we asked, and an adjustment was made for one item, Any follow-​up by management to see if we were OK? No. Just a cheery «goodbye» as we departed. Goodbye. They were right.