7 Best Restaurants in The Lower Gulf Coast, Florida

Here it's all about enjoying one of the most indulgent, pampered meals you'll ever eat—and it's best not to show up in flip-flops, jeans, or shorts (you probably won't be turned away for dressing casually, but you will feel uncomfortable). Formally trained waitstaff attend to your every need in this temple of traditional Italian cuisine. A dramatic wine tower hovers over the main room; the plush private booths surrounding it are the best tables (call early to snag one). The taste circus begins with an amuse-bouche. Pick between antipasti, crispy flatbreads, and wholesome soups before moving on to homemade pastas and grilled meats. Absolutely try the butternut squash ravioli, an inventive version with citrus-tomato butter and truffled almonds. The evening ends with a complimentary nightcap. There is also a great prix-fixe menu.

The setting at this intimate but lively restaurant is refined but rustic, with wood repurposed from a dilapidated Florida barn and 1940s-era bricks reclaimed from a Chicago firehouse. The Sicilian-born chef (and part-owner) eschews an ornate menu and instead offers simple, finely produced Italian dishes. The signature fennel sausage is made using a family recipe, and the kitchen cures its own pancetta, makes its own mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, and extrudes its own pasta. Seasonal dishes like rabbit and wild boar shine; the tortelloni with braised short ribs pleases nightly.

The city's hottest upscale restaurant draws a crowd of connoisseurs to a modern, coral-stone dining room that spills out onto the sidewalk. The menu changes nightly, and the Venetian-born chef puts a New World spin on traditional Italian favorites, which are seasoned with different types of sea salt from around the globe. The finest quality meats and seafood, much of it sourced from local farmers and fisherman, are used in all the dishes.

The wine bar at this popular trattoria has a communal table, crystal chandeliers hung inside birdcages, and a wine dispenser that lets you sample 30 of its more than 100 Italian (of course) wines by the 1-, 3-, or 6-ounce glass. The brick dining room, with 150-year-old recycled flooring, is more casual and open to the kitchen; the central patio is shaded and relaxed. Straight-up and expertly done classic Italian dishes include bruschetta, fried calamari, lasagna, and wood-fired pizza. Save room for the gelato, though.

Its flavor-bursting food and its propensity for using fresh, quality ingredients keep Cibo (pronounced chee-bo) at the head of the class for local Italian restaurants. In contrast to the sophisticated black-and-white setting, the menu is colorful, from the classic Caesar salad with shaved Grana Padano to the spaghetti and meatballs, salmon piccata, and veal porterhouse with porcini risotto. The lasagna Napoletana is typical of the standards set here—a generous square of pasta layered with fluffy ricotta, meat ragu, mozzarella, and the totally fresh-tasting, garlicky pomodoro sauce.

We may say tomato or tomahtoe, but in Italy, they say pomodoro. Start with hot, crusty, garlic-glazed rolls, and Caesar salad with a flavorful Romano dressing; from there you have your pick from combinations of classic Italian subs, pastas and sauces, pizzas, and proteins. The same menu applies for both lunch and dinner, but with different pricing. It ranges from standard veal parmigiana and lasagna to gnocchi pomodoro (smothered in fresh tomatoes and basil) and chicken Sinatra (battered and layered with prosciutto, eggplant, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella in lemon wine sauce).

The name means "salt and pepper," an indication that this palatial restaurant with terrace seating overlooking the beach adheres to the basics of Southern Italian cuisine. Everything—including the pasta, sausage, and ice cream—is made on-site, and the simple, artfully presented dishes explode with home-cooked, long-simmered flavor. With the exception of a handful of pizzas, lunch is more eclectic than Italian.