We were visiting our children in Fort Lauderdale recently when we
happened on a very nice locale in a shopping plaza on Federal Highway. What initially attracted our attention was a waiting line to get into the establishment. We asked a person in line if the wait was long to get in and they replied they had been told about 20 minute. Deciding that we did not want to wait that long on a untried locale, we prepared to leave when someone else in line said, " It's definately worth it...". Everyone in line quickly agreed with them and we decided that loyalty like that is usually well founded.
Waiting our turn in line we struck up a conversation with the couple
in front of us. We learned that this restaurant had only been up for about 3 weeks. Everyone in line had heard about it in that short time span and word had spread quickly.
The locale itself was small...about 12 tables seating a maximum of
38 people. The owners were a pleasant couple from Italy by way of Argentina. The food was Northern Italian with a bit of Argentinian thrown in for good measure. The pasta was made fresh every day, as was the bread. The service was VERY pleasant ( of course they had only been open a few weeks and were still obviously very exited about their new venture). And best of all the prices were HEAVEN! $3.95 (U.S. .....we are Canadian) for a delicate Carpaccio. $6.95 for a Penne ala Vodka with a sublime cream sauce that was too large to finish off. $4.95 for a basket full of light and soft Calimari that could have been a meal in itself. Needless to say we were impressed with many aspects of this establishments. I guess that the only bad part of the story was that when we went a week later, the line seemed even longer and the weather was not the pleasant South Florida climate we had gotten. Regardless, if your in South Florida, I heartily recommend them. The locale is called Cafe Ritorno and is located on North Federal Highway, about one block north of Sunrise boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. I'm sorry I don't have and address or phone number, but I sure they are in the telephone directory. Cheers!Florida