Unsophisticated slop that tries to pass as good Italian cuisine. Â I am completely perplexed by others' great reviews.An overabundance of canned tomatoes poured over cooked noodles does not a beautiful pasta/red sauce make. Â Pretty disappointing food all around. Â
It's probably time for a new chef in the kitchen. The one who has been here for over 20 years needs to retire.
I did give this two stars for the ambiance at the outside table. Â The restaurant has made a little trellised loggia. We sat next to a little fountain which was nice.
I've been here twice--both on vacation in Fort Lauderdale. Â Unfortunately the food is one of the most bland, derivative offerings I have experienced in the Italian category.
The only reason I gave this restaurant two stars was because our server was really nice and offered a couple of solutions to the bad food. Â The food is definitely deserving of one star. Â Let me be clear--I generally am pretty understanding and tend to give mostly four star ratings and a few five star ratings when it's across-the-board excellent. Â This is the first restaurant that failed in most arenas.
The worst part is that the meal was ridiculously overpriced for the really low quality of food. Â We ended up paying $50 including two entrees (pizza and a past dish), a dessert, and water). Â We could have gotten a much better quality meal at Chipotle Mexican Grill (chain restaurant) for less than $20.
Save your money and your taste buds. Â Go someplace else.
I've always enjoyed a good lunch or dinner at Bravo. It's Italian but a more authentic  Italian, not just another Sicilian only as with most of the restaurants holding themselves out to be Italian, smothering everything with massive amounts of tomato sauce.
One of my favorites is their duck, which is a duck breast (you may have ask you're the wait staff about it since it may not be on the menu but available) that has been roasted, sliced and served upon a delicious bed of capellini sautéed in a chardonnay-garlic sauce with carrots, broccoli and wild mushrooms (real ones...fresh) on a bed of pomodoro sauce and garnished with a few dollops of goat cheese. If you want something more Sicilian, you can try the clams and shrimp or mussels Siciliano which is baked with diced tomatoes, red onions, various herbs, and garlic glazed with cheese, served with a costini.
I also enjoy the complete listing of specialty hand crafted cocktails, the roominess and the upbeat, clean, bright trendiness of the décor. Other pluses are plenty of handy parking and reasonable good bang for the buck prices.
I concur with the other reviewers who equated this restaurant with Carrabba's, and with the sentiment that there are not a lot of options down here for good Italian food.
We went here because friends were staying at a hotel on 17th Street. It is not a place I would likely return to because if I wanted this type of food, I would go to Carrabba's and save a lot of money.
Bravo is okay but over-priced for the quality of food. Don't bother trying the pizza, it's not pizza. The trend lately has been for restaurants to offer "Artisan" pizza. While I get that, some restaurants do a great job with this trend. Bravo does not. It's like a quesadilla with too much cheese and they use dried spices, not fresh. It's not a pizza place or an Italian restaurant for that matter. It's a tourist trap that serves pasta and other dishes with Italian names.
As for service, they're attentive for sure and we all know that servers are supposed to up-sell customers. This place is overly pushy about the up-sell to the point that it is a distraction. We were waiting for them to offer us a set of steak knives if we were willing to hear a pitch about buying a timeshare. Okay, that an exageration but you get the point.
Can't really say anything too bad about Bravo other than it's not worth the trip and it's not exciting. If you would like to overpay for average food and want to try it, go ahead (Just don't order the "Pizza").
Based on other reviewers' comments, we decided not to try any of the desserts.
I haven't been to Bravo since they redid the whole restaurant from a typical Italian restaurant with red and white plastic tablecloths to a very upscale looking, dark wood tables and surroundings but their prices haven't increased that much.
We came in for a late lunch about 2 PM and there were 2 other parties inside. They have a very inviting outside dining area but no way will you get me to eat outside in South Florida.
Marie immediately greeted us, took us to a table with plenty of room and asked what we wanted to drink and served them promptly. From beginning to end Marie was a professional and friendly server.
We started off with a fresh salad Allen having ranch dressing while I had the Balsamic vinegar and virgin oil cruets on the table. We had light garlic rolls served with the salad and Marie asked whether we wanted them with garlic or without. We had them with garlic which was lightly brushed over the top and not overbearing.
He had the Chicken Francese($9.95) with a side of whole wheat linguini with marinara sauce and I had Chicken Scarpariello ($9.95) with whole wheat linguini with oil and garlic sauce.
Allen liked his Francese but didn't care for the marinara sauce on his linguini. Scarpariello is one of my favorite Italian dishes and though it wasn't the best I ever had it was good and the side of pasta was hot and delicious.
It being Allen's birthday we had 3 desserts--like we needed an excuse--having the coconut cake ($8.50), brownie bash (($9.95) and lemoncello ($8.50) with all 3 not that good and overpriced which is why I didn't give Bravo 5 stars.
I had coffee ($2.75) and he had a diet coke ($2.85) with the check including tax and tip coming to $65.60 I had a discount coupon paying $20 for $40 worth of food so the total net cost was $45.60 instead of the $65.60 The dinner prices for the entrees are about $6 higher
I would go back for the Scarpariello and other main courses but would skip the desserts and instead go down the block to the Cold Stone Creamery!
Dined here on 6/12/2012. Overall, I agree with one of the earlier reviews that compared this place with something along the lines of Carrabba's. Actually, I think Carrabba's is a little better since you know when walking in that it is a chain restaurant and your expectations are set accordingly. Based on the Yelp reviews we expected better.
The garlic rolls are very good. The baked shrimp and scallops appetizer was pretty good too. Unfortunately, this was the highlight of our meal and the rest was so-so at best. The salad was terrible; wilted and brown-edged greens. My GF had the chicken siciliano, which was dry and basically flavorless. I had the veal parm and the veal was tough and also flavorless. The sauce on the veal and the spaghetti tasted like it came from a can.
Would we go back? Maybe in a pinch if everywhere else was full but otherwise, no.
Great Osso Bucco served with linguini here! Â The location is walking distance to all the hotels on 17th Street and there are many tourists and cruisers eating here. I enjoyed the nice booths along the windows and a friend and I were able to eat a leisurely meal with great service! Â She had the chicken parmesan and also enjoyed her meal. There was a nice wine selection and the place was very crowded with many early bird diners!
Review Source:This place is amazing!! Our waitress was probably the best waitress I've ever had and the food was beyond delicious. This was the best meal I've had all week in Florida, hands down. I had the eggplant rollotini with pasta. Amazing. All meal come with complimentary garlic bread that that is beyond wonderful. My entire family loved this place. I spoke with the owner on the way out and he explained that everything... Down to the salad dressing and spaghetti sauce and garlic bread is made fresh there everyday. Nothing comes in through the door made. Freshest meal in Ft Lauderdale. 5 stars! Amazing!!
Review Source:We didn't have anything bad, but nothing was really amazing. On a Friday night a couple of weeks ago, craving some Italian and having never tried this place, we stopped in. Since we didn't have reservations, we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. Seriously, is this place this popular?
The garlic rolls were excellent, the wife's soup was pretty good, for salad they brought us a big bowl to share family style, but I thought the iceberg lettuce in it seemed like out of a bag and was flavorless. On to the entrees, they do give you large portions here: wife had linguine with shrimp, stepdaughter had fettuccine alfredo and I had the lasagna. The lasagna was loaded with meat and cheese and very rich, but I did not think it was that great. All the entrees we had were in the $16-$22 range. Service was decent although a little slow at first. I will say they were packed and the server was handling a lot of tables.
Overall I would compare this place to a Carrabba's or something like that. Decent, and since I live around the corner I might visit again - probably for lunch, though - but I would not go out of the way to eat here. There are just too many better options for Italian in Fort Lauderdale.
I came here and ordered the spaghetti and meatballs take out. First of all it was weird that I had to walk over the bar to sit there an wait for the bartender to take my order. It took about 45 minutes to get my food, the pasta was mediocre the sauce was way to sour and the meatballs didn't taste fresh or was way over salted. My meal did come with soup and garlic rolls. The soup was not good and I would say the only decent part was the garlic rolls. For the price I paid, I could have gotten a way better meal elsewhere.
Review Source:I go to Bravo's every time I fly into Ft Lauderdale, I have yet to have a bad meal here... living in the Northeast I'm spoiled with great Italian food in NYC, Federal Hill and the Northend of Boston but I must say Bravo's is delicious at much reasonable prices. Â The food is always consistence, I typically eat at the bar because the bartenders are very socialble and fun to dine with. Â Their eggplant parm is the best I have eaten. I choose to have them sprinkle grated cheese instead of melted mozzarella it's a much lighter dish. Their garlic rolls once you start you can't stop eating them. Â My only recommendation is to update their restrooms and keep them cleaner. Other than that this place is a gem!
Review Source:We love this place. 2 Italian food lovers from Philadelphia it quickly became a favorite place to eat, we even spent Valentines dinner here. We have had the pasta dishes and pizza. Calamari too. They have a great wine, beer, and alcohol selection. The salads and garlic rolls are enough to fill you up! Very reasonable prices & Carlitos is the best bartender!
Review Source:My family and I flew into Miami on a recent evening and found this place on the way to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We had never heard of the place. It was really good, so we were all happy to have spotted the Bravo Ristorante sign on 17th St.
The casual restaurant was pretty busy and the wait staff was very courteous. Everything we had was tasty. No entrees disappointed our group. I had the Vodka Penne, which was mixed with prosciutto, mushrooms and peas for a different recipe. Everyone else had a different chicken dish and they all were pleased. Evidently, the place is known for its giant garlic rolls, of which we might have eaten 2 baskets.
Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area and looking for a casual Italian restaurant.
YUM. Â I was staying at the Hilton Marina just down the road, and my family and I decided to walk up to this place and give it a try.
So glad we did! Â I love Italian food and this place was perfect. Â Be careful though because they don't like people wearing tank tops apparently. Â My boyfriend was wearing one when we arrived and no one said anything to us so how strictly they uphold this rule is beyond me. Â
Anyways, our waiter was friendly and attentive to us. Â They started us out with garlic rolls which were delicious. Â I didn't even have to add any butter to them, they were that good. Â However, they do have olive oil and vinegar on the table for those people who wish to dip their rolls in it. Â
The menu is quite large with a great selection of pastas an other entrees. Â I started with the pasta fagioli soup and it was very tasty. Â I usually order this soup at Macaroni Grill and I can definitely tell that this one was better. Â
I ordered cheese tortellini in a creamy fettucine sauce and it was SO good. Â The sauce was buttery and creamy and it melted in my mouth! Â I would definitely order this again.
For dessert, I had a chocolate chip cannoli which wasn't all that impressive, but my previous food made up for it and they still come away with a 5-star rating in my book.
Had dinner with family here and we were all happy with the service and food. The house salad was way too simple and generic but let's be honest, we weren't here for the salad. I ordered the eggplant parmigiana and it was amazing. My mother had the ravioli and again delicious. My father had the seafood salad and it was good (I don't consider this a salad so sue me lol). I'd definitely come back just for the eggplant parm but maybe just take out. It was a close 4 star place but I've been to better Italian restaurants.
Review Source:Surprise, surprise, it's in a strip mall. Â I'm beginning to realize that's just how Florida rolls. Â Food is good, pricing decent, and ambiance is cheesy. Â But service was nice, so it redeems itself. Â Ordered the penne vodka (fantastic! Â can you really mess up vodka sauce?) and capellini and broccoli (eh, just angel hair pasta with broccoli).
The reason this place gets 4 stars? Â Key lime pie. Â Very rich, tart but sweet, topped with REAL whipped cream, and holding it together is a crumbly graham cracker crust. Â Order this dessert.
I found Bravo to be pleasant. The wait staff are always friendly and helpful. The food is good for a quick lunch. You can't beat a bowl of soup, an over-sized garden salad and rolls for $9.50. It's all fresh. Nothing outstanding, but good.
Their pastas are decent.
They don't allow tank-tops for which I am very thankful.
I eat here every time I visit Fort Lauderdale. I agree with the previous reviewer Johnny B, in that the place wont blow you away. BUt the food is always excellent. Garlic bread complimentary and fresh off the oven!! Â Vegetarian options are great. The waitstaff know how to answer vegetarian related questions. One thing i like here is the Spinach ravioli. Cappuccinos are great! never tried the desserts. Service is surprisingly great considering that this place is right next to the convention center. They are very good at making separate checks for large parties.
Review Source:I'm not sure what to write here. Â The place isn't out of this world, but they do have good food. Â It's not the cheapest place. Â Portions are decent. Â Waiters are usually pretty good. Â Never had a problem with my food. Â The place doesn't imprint a permeant spot in my brain, ...but I always come back. Â I don't know. Â It's good, but you won't be blown away or anything. Â I checked off the dressy attire, but it's more of a casual dressy setting. Â Hopefully someone helpful can give you a review. Â But yeah (or yay), I'm a fan (4 stars).
Review Source:
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,607 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,970 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,306 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,905 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,983 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
