When I told friends that I would be dining at Zuckerello’s, I was answered with rhapsodic raves about the best garlic rolls ever and to-die-for tiramisu. I called up my dining companion and told him that from what I heard, we were in for some fantastic food.
Zuckerello’s is a local mainstay. Around since 1989, it specializes in Italian and seafood dishes. It has a very warm atmosphere and is definitely a place where regulars have been coming for many, many years. They recently opened a second location in Aventura.
We ate at the Fort Lauderdale location. The décor is very colorful and handsome, and the lighting is dark and romantic. The establishment is large, spacious and immaculate.
For those who are watching their money, Zuckerello’s offers an early bird dinner, which is served from 4 to 6 pm and includes soup or salad, bread, coffee and key lime pie with a special menu of dinner dishes.
We arrived at Zuckerellos at 8 pm on a Thursday evening and there was already a good amount of people there. As soon as we walked in, we were tantalized by a table of the evening’s specials. We were seated in a cozy booth and were informed that our menus had lights them so that we could read all of our choices better. After playing with the lights for a few minutes- maturity is not my strong suit- we started planning our eating adventure.
While we were discussing options, our friendly server, Michael, brought us the infamous garlic rolls, which were warm, soft, but crusty rolls, served with a bowl of warm garlic, parmesan and oil. It was hard for us not to stuff ourselves with those rolls and although we tore through the first basket of them, we turned down a refill. We needed space to try out the actual dishes.
We started off with the Eggplant Tower Appetizer ($8.50), which was presented in a dramatic tower, as the name implies. The dish included layers of eggplant, mozzarella, roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, basil, truffle oil and balsamic reduction. The eggplant was breaded and had a good crunch, which was fantastic with the other flavors. The balsamic reduction added that amazing acidic bite that is so great with tomatoes and mozzarella.
When it came time to choose our main dishes, we asked Michael, who was very attentive, what the specialty of Zuckerello’s was. He proceeded to list around four dishes that all sounded amazing, but two really stood out to us. I chose the Yellowtail Snapper Lionello ($19), which was a large portion of pan seared snapper with cherry tomatoes, capers, sliced garlic, lemon-butter white wine sauce and angel hair pasta. The fish was cooked perfectly. It was flaky and melted in my mouth. The lemon-butter white wine sauce was light and the flavors all came together perfectly.
My dinner guest ordered the Chicken Scarpiello ($16), which was pan-seared chicken breast, Portobello mushroom, sweet Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives and pepperoncini in a balsamic jus over penne pasta. This dish is something that mushroom lovers would especially enjoy. My guest loved the earthy flavor of the mushrooms and sauce. I loved the sausage in the dish and the olives and the chicken was cooked to perfection.
We decided to share dessert and, of course, chose the Tiramisu, which was a large square portion of the light traditional Italian treat. It was the lightest, creamiest Tiramisu we ever had. When you go to Zuckerello’s- and you really should – make sure you try it. You will thank me!
Zuckerellos
3017 E. Commercial Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale
954-776-4282
