Reviews Serafina Italian Restaurant & Waterfront Bistro

This was the first time we had dinner at Serafina. It was a wonderful choice. The food was absolutely delicious. Great menu. Ambiance was perefect, waiter was so friendly and best cappuccino. We will definitely return.

We had a very positive experience! The staff was wonderful and the food far exceeded our expectations! If you want a romantic getaway and excellent food, I highly recommend this locale!

The staff was great, very professional. The food was absolutely amazing. Fresh gnocchi, buffalo mozzarella, homemade tiramisu and pineapple sorbet... Fantastic.

Our waitress was outstanding (Mary Jane) the appetizers were delicious and the main courses just as excellent. The view isnt great but the intracoastal air was refreshing. Portions are hearty so it won't leave you feeling unsatisfied. We will return

My boyfriend took me there for our first date. And we went back last night to celebrate my birthday one of my favorite places in Fort Lauderdale. The food and the view are spectacular!!! I definitely recommend Serphina's!!!

Mary Jane is an excellent server!! Service and food were both amazing!!

Food was fantastic. Great flavor great presentation. Definitely will go back

Serafina was good, not excellent, but decent. With what they're charging, I think you're partially paying for the atmosphere, especially the outdoor seating, but if you're looking for an Italian restaurant, it's acceptable. The lasagna at $23 was decent, albeit served in an excess of thin tomato sauce. My dining companion got the Chicken Parmesan which was a notch better, but I'm not sure that it was $42 good. A small basket of bread (again, not excellent) was included with our dinner. Service was okay, although we were never checked on after our food was delivered until I flagged our server down to get a beverage refill. We were also made to feel that it was a hassle for her to split our party-of-four's tab into the two couples that we were, even though it was literally a few clicks on the computer screen and we had requested that our bill be split when we ordered. Would we return? Maybe, but probably not before checking out some other options in the area.

In town for an evening and picked this place as it was a close walk from our hotel. Loved everything about it. Looks like a dive from the front, but is far from it once you walk in. We had the pleasure of dining outside. We had a couple of seafood dishes and they were delicious. Started with an arugula salad, delicious again. Great wine list. Service was attentive, but not obtrusive, which was perfect. Highly recommend.

This was a quaint hideaway on the inter-coastal! Celebrated my birthday… and Alessandra our waitress was engaging- and made our night amazing. The food was outstanding! The snapper best ever… can’t wait to come back. The weather was beautiful as well! Yum!

Bread is delicious. Staff friendly. Tables on the water at the back of the building. Feels like a secret spot for locals. Food was top top. Servers are friendly. My mom said her linguine x plate tasted like what she had in Italy. Forgot the name of her plate. I think it was with clams. They have bottomless Bellini and Mimosas. Definitely would return for another occasion.

The outside does not look like much, but don’t judge a book by its cover. As we made our way inside down a narrow, long hallway, we started hearing soft music playing and conversations going on around us. We were immediately greeted and seated to our designated table overlooking the water, that was a plus. Our waiter, Joe was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu options, and the specials for the night. Once seated we were able to take in the ambiance of this restaurant which I really recommend. Service began with a perfectly chilled bottle of Italian Chardonnay while our party of 4 took some time reading the menu. We also ordered 2 negronis. I believe they were heavy on the Campari giving them a strong cough syrup after taste that was not enjoyable. Per usual, I am one to like to share several dishes. Therefore, we opted to create our own tasting menu from 4 entrée courses for the table to share. After Joe, our server, finished going over the specials for the night, we were greatly inclined to try the slow roasted veal osso buco with papardelle pasta. We then added funghi di bosco risotto, capellini fra diavolo con gambieri, and sacchetoni pesto. Let me take you through our “tasting menu” in order. We opted to dive straight into our dishes. We began with the mushroom risotto presented beautifully with big shavings of Parmesan cheese. The rice was cooked perfectly, creamy enough, the variety of mushroom gave this dish great umami, and the finishing of truffle oil made this a very fragrant dish. 10/10 I would return to this restaurant purely on their risotto. Then came the little bags of pasta filled with ricotta and pear coated in a rustic perfectly seasoned pesto. This was a new flavor to me, upon taking the first bite I was take back by the high notes of sweetness from the pear. As I continued to chew and savor the bite, I was pleasantly surprised how the flavors intensified and mixed together very harmoniously. Excellent and innovative dish. Another 10/10, I would strongly recommend that dish. Third came the angel hair pasta with shrimp in spicy “fra diavolo” san mariano sauce. The shrimp were cooked to perfection and the presentation was very pretty. The sauce was around the dish leaving a lot of the pasta without a sauce needing a drizzle of olive oil from the table to tie the dish together. It also had full size peperonchinos which look aesthetically pleasing but made the dish extreme spicy, and I eat very spicy. This dish had me unpleasantly seating and I feel it could use a bit of restraint with the heat to allow us to taste the beautiful San Marzano tomatoes. I would rate this dish 7/10. Lastly the night’s special arrived. Lovely presentation, sprig of rosemary standing up on the meat included. The vela osso buco was very tender and seasoned properly. The sauce lacked flavor. And the pappardelle noodles were clumped together into a mushy dough which we could not eat and had to send back to the kitchen, I rate this dish 4/10. For dessert Joe brought us a made-in-house fantastic tiramisu, which checked all the boxes of a traditional well executed Italian dessert, paired with 4 shots of limoncello to wrap up this meal. I must say the service Joe provided our table was nothing short of exceptional, he was very attentive to our table yet never intrusive. Overall a good experience, but a little disappointed in an Italian restaurant failing to properly cook one of our pasta dishes. I still recommend this dish for the overall experience for their location, service, and for the most part, their food.

We were a party of 9. We ordered different dishes and they all were very delicious. Our server was great. Very respectful and very nice. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because after we paid and we were almost getting ready to leave, the manager came and asked us to leave because she had other guests that were waiting to be seated. I found this a little rude and a little dissapointing after having a great dinner with my family. I recommend this place, but be prepared to leave immediately after you are fishished eating. I think this situation could be avoided if when making the reservation, you are warned that you are expected to be in the restaurant no more than 1.5 hours. Other than that, great restaurant.

This place was great. Good food and attentive service. Fresh bread. U should make a reservation so you can get better tables than we did bc it’s deceptively big!

Great spot for Italian cuisine, a cute little spot by the water. The food was very good, I loved my fish entree and my friend enjoyed her lasagna. Great atmosphere, service was good and valet was spot on. Definitely check it out for some nice Italian food.