15 Best Italian Restaurants near Tavares

“Stay away from this place. On 11/23/22 ordered wings and fries. The wings were undercooked and blonde hair was in my fries. I discreetly told the waitress who then told the manager. The manager Got upset not because hair was in my food more so because he had to throw away 6 wings! I asked for a refund and will never return. Cooks cook with no hair net and no gloves STAY AWAY!“

“I have been to many Hungry Howie's locations, but this one beats them all. Amazing, kind, friendly staff, SUPER fresh food (The Greek Salad was perfect), and the gluten-free crust is surprisingly excellent, especially with the butter garlic flavoring!“

“Went in a Friday night over the Arts Festival weekend. They were busy, but staff seated us fairly quickly. We ordered a veggie pizza - it came out huge, hot & delicious. The veggies were very fresh, the crust was not too thick or thin & it had the right amount of cheese. Our waitress was friendly & attentive. We feel like we picked a great place & wish we had more time to go back & choose one of their Italian dishes!“

“we love the food.Service was wonderful.They didn't rush us out.Pure perfection.The red spagetti sauce on the raviolli.Cooked perfectly.The food was so good we went two nights in a row.“

“The location and food are excellent, especially for Lake County.

I would give them 5 stats, but the service, while polite, is painfully slow.

It's a minimum of 2 hours each time i go to get in and out. Not because I'm taking my time, but because I'm waiting between being seated... ordering drinks... ordering food... waiting for food... waiting for check.

This is even when there are only a few people in the restaurant! So it's not about being busy.“

“Went there for my husband's birthday. He LOVES spaghetti with meat sauce. Originally I was going to cook it but then he said heck...don't spend the day in the kitchen...let's go out and there is no place better to go then The Olive Garden for pasta and I LOVE their eggplant parmesan.
Our server was wonderful keeping the timing of our meal at our pace so we could enjoy our pre dinner cocktails (not rushing us through), the manager came by to check on us and they gave him a piece if their Black Tie Mouse cake which was UNBELIEVABLY delicious and I'm not a fan of dessert.
The staff made his birthday feel special and the food....something to dream about.“

“We ate at the restaurant on 10/25/25 and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. The homemade pastas and veal were fabulous. The services and atmosphere was also wonderful and I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone. We will definitely visit it again next year. They even took a reservation during the art & craft show which most restaurants won't do at that time. Delicious!“

“We stopped by for lunch today and I chose one of the several Daily Specials of Lasagna & Garlic knot and OMG 😳 that was honestly the best I’ve ever had with just the right amount of spice. My husband had 10ct wings “Garlic Parmesan” and also Loved them. We shared a Greek salad with yummy dressing. We will most definitely be back! Sam was a great server and we never had to ask for drink refills because she saw we had half or less and filled them up. Great Food, Great Prices & Awesome Server “Sam”“

“Ordered a Sicilian Pizza and it was FANTASTIC! Definitely coming here again!“

“This place is one of the best places to eat out in downtown MountDora. Me and my family stopped here to grab some pizza’s, we ended up trying subs, wings, salads, good thing we did because this was the best food ever, jayden was such a nice young man taking are orders because they were so busy he also came back multiple times checking in on us and making sure we were ok. i give this place a 10/10 and definitely recommend you to try.“

“New to the area. Beat pizza we’ve tried so far. Can’t wait to come back for some of those amazing Italian dishes on the menu and their dessert cabinet is exploding with amazing choices!“

“I've lived here for 12 years and had never gone in because the building from the outside looks like a fine dining restaurant, meaning you would get dressed up to go there. My friend took me there because she wanted to get a gyro and said that they had good food and good service. When I walked in I couldn't believe it!!! It was so casual in the setting was like a pizzeria. The service was excellent, the food was excellent! They do sell pizza, specialty sandwiches, spaghetti and other items. I had the lasagna, because that is my ultimate favorite dish. It was awesome! Prices are very reasonable. I can't believe that I've overlooked this little gem of a restaurant. This is my new favorite place to go to!“

“This is the type of place you only see in movies. A gem...The pizza is delicious, especially if you love the New York style of pizza and the owner Sandy is amazing. She started this pizza co. and was the only thin crust in Lake county at the time. She greets you and even serves you at the table. We just moved to town and couldn't be more excited to have this in our backyard.“

“I recommend their salads 100% but surely don't call them when you get home & your pizza dough is RAW. They will not replace or refund.. they want you to bring them the pizza so they can "look at it". Thank you Maddie for telling me I was wrong over the phone.. I'll eat my RAW pizza. 5 star salad, 1 star customer service.“

“We are over the moon on the service we received. Everything was fresh and delicious! � The black lady running the dining room buffet today was on top of everything, she's a gem � We'll be back!“