Davide Italian Cafe & Deli (Marco Island)
***** Davide Italian Cafe & Deli, 688 Bald Eagle Drive, Marco Island, Florida 34145, (239) 393-2233.
Jeff Eats & Mrs. Jeff Eats recently “did” dinner in Marco Island. We tried a neighborhood “red sauce” Italian joint…Davide Italian Cafe & Deli and I gotta tell you, we really enjoyed the food. To put your mind at ease, it’s in the requisite strip-center, it has indoor/outdoor patio seating, your shorts/tee shirt ensemble will work well here. From what Jeff Eats understands, every so often the owner’s father entertains–singing Italian stuff, but on the night we were there–he wasn’t, so he didn’t.
Just a quick thought… What’s a Mariachi Band? A Mariachi Band is a group of musicians who if they come over to your table…you give a buck to, to make them go away.
Anyway…back to Davide…
You can check www.davideitaliancafe.com for menu/prices/photos.
The dishes “sampled”—lasagna bolognese, chicken parmigiana panini, margherita pizza. Now nothing for nothing, the food was real good…Can’t really put the items in a pecking order-because they were “equally” good. I will tell you, the pizza- had a nice thin crust with a really good sweet sauce.
Just so there is no misunderstanding between us, Davide isn’t your typical joint…by that, I mean having a menu loaded with all kinds of appetizers, salads, soups, subs, calzones, pastas, pizzas meat/chicken/seafood entrees. When you check Davide’s menu, you’ll find a handful of appetizers–pizzas-pastas-paninis/subs…so forget about those big- entrees that you envisioned stuffing your face with—because, Davide ain’t got them. Jeff Eats survived the “small” menu, so you probably will to, but between you, me and the bedpost—I like bigger menus when I’m doing “red sauce.”
In closing, Jeff Eats really enjoyed Davide. The food was high-quality, tasty, reasonably priced—definitely a step or two above most of the red sauce joints that dot South Florida’s strip center landscape (and yes, Jeff Eats does know that Marco Island isn’t part of SOUTH Florida, so there!).
Davide’s is open for lunch Monday-Friday 11:30am-2:30pm and for dinner Monday-Sunday 4:30pm-9:30pm.
Davide has been a notable restaurant in Boston for a few decades and methinks they poached this name same as the numerous Umberto’s down here that come and go with the snowbird seasons. In other news a local (Coral Springs) frozen yogurt place opened and closed within four months so Jeff got that market saturation right
Interesting.
I heard that the Umberto’s down here are related to the original on LI.
As for yogurt self serve. Jeff called it. Just the beginning of the end for this type of business. From the get go it made no sense having one of these stores every 10 blocks or so from each other. Just a short lived fad.
My husband and I have eaten in Davide several times. The pizza is excellent. You are right that the menu is limited. We have been there when the father sang. Caruso he isn’t but he is fun and the crowd really get into it. .
Davide Italian has great pasta, chicken and salads. The menu was extensive and the service was great. I give them 5 stars. By Gregg L. Friedman MD, Psychiatrist, Hallandale Beach, FL