DeFina`s Italian Restaurant in Venice

The BEST bruschetta in 3 counties. The angel hair with boloanaise sauce was perfection.

Excellent food and service! Thank you Pam for a most delicious dinning experience!

Being a born in the Bronx New Yorker all l can say is that the Veal Picatta l had was excellent. Wife had Sea Bass which was just as good. Our waitress was the best. She was fun and had a great attitude. Owner came and checked on us. Once we can live full time here this will be our go to Italian place,

Great place. Food and service are great.

Excellent food, nice atmosphere and great service also!

Definitely delicious food but the real star here is the stellar service and lovely atmosphere. Seriously one of the best dining experiences I've had in Venice.

Well worth the cost, the food was fanominal, and you won't get any better service!

Love the atmosphere and wonderful wait staff! Easy to visit during dining. Definitely need to make reservation. Only wish there was more garlic in their pasta primavera... Will be returning, for sure!

This was our 3rd year making Lucarelli's a priority during our FL stay. We brought friends, and are treated like friends. The service is incomparable and the food is extraordinary. Be sure to make a reservation!

That was the VERY BEST MEAL I have had in Florida. The veal parmesan was delicious, fillet mignon was tender and cooked exactly as we like it, service was wonderful. We totally enjoyed it!

Excellent food. We had seafood on angel hair (big portion) and chicken marsala. Service was great!

Excellent food. Our first time. We will become a regular.

Awesome little hole in the wall type of place. Food was outstanding and staff was excellent.

A little hard to find but worth looking for. Prices are $$$ but they provide large portions. Hunter was our waitress and was very attentive to our dining experience. Excellent food!

Everything was delicious and staff excellent. Visited Venice over Labor day weekend and the special priced dinner for 2 was a great option. .

Best Steak and restaurant in Venice. I have finally narrowed it down and Lucarellis has the best Ribeye and service in town!!! Service is incredible, owners are amazing too.

Great food and service! Friendly staff. Loved house wine as well. Nice ambiance. Can't wait to go back and try other dishes!

Clean and cozy atmosphere paired with awesome entrees.

This is a lovely Italian restaurant . We had 8 for dinner and everyone loved their meal. Beautifully decorated for Christmas. Wonderful food, and Service.

What a pleasant surprise. The ambiance is very warm and welcoming & the service was very good. The appetisers and my entre' were delicious. The gelato was the best that I have ever had. Very glad that we made reservations and looking forward to going back.

Wow! This is the place to eat something for everyone .The food is the best.Staff is the greatest, very friendly. Would have given 5 stars if it had more than wine and beer.

Very good food. Owners are very hospitable and service was excellent

Sorry to say I was disappointed. The atmosphere was very nice and so were the staff so I am giving it two stars otherwise it would only get one star. The main problem, the food was average at best and the prices were way too high. If you pay $35 per person not counting any alcohol, you need to get an excellent meal not an average meal at best. So I won't be back.

First time here and can't wait to go back! Food, service and ambiance were excellent.

A Local GEM!The staff is excellent, the food is traditional and moderately proportioned, you will not leave hungry.Our last visit, my wife and I enjoyed the mussels appetizer, plenty for two to share without ruining your appetite for dinner.I had a delicious lightly blackened steak cooked exactly as ordered along with a side of spaghetti (mandatory). My wife ordered the salmon and loved everything about it!Consistency is key to any restaurant and Lucarelli's truly holds that "key" close.Consistently .... excellent all around!

The ambiance and the service were phenomenal. The food, just so-so. We got the combo platter so we had a bite of everything. The lasagna was delicious. The stuffed shells and manicotti were not good. The pasta was not cooked enough. It should not have a crunch. The sausage was not flavorful and was dry. The meatball was tender but had an odd flavor. The birthday canoli and card were a nice touch.

Excellent, enjoyable evening. Will definitely be back with more friends. Very flavorable with large portions. Bread basket with great variety of bread and house balsamic vinaigrette was delicious. Nice selection of desserts with coffee to end the evening.

What a great way to wrap up a day. We are on vacation and what a treat to find a place with great food, awesome service and a menu that was for everyone. I had the steak. Hubby had the lasagna. The kids had fettuccine. The house salad/dressing is one I would buy. Best meal we have had so far.

Great steaks. Had matt as a server. Amazing service. Great atmosphere. Going back every week

Delicious italian specialties, cozy and comfortable, caring courteous wait staff.

The food was not bad, but for that price it should have been more special. Waiting staff was excellent. We regretted ordering the coffee: it was very weak. The house salad with blue cheese was excellent!

The website said they didn't accept reservations. When we got there, they said they didn't have any tables unless we had a reservation. Not going to waste our time but if you Lucarelli folks come to Maine in the next few years, bring your lunch. You don't have a reservation

Great dinner and dessert. Hunter was awesome.

Food and service were awesome! Not an inexpensive meal type of place, but the quality and taste is fantastic, and we took enough leftovers home to make a good lunch. A few craft beers on tap, too.

Great service and delicious Italian food. Staff very friendly.

Food and service was excellent. Highly recommend.

This is the best Italian food your going to get in Sarasota county. If I had to recommend something I would say close your eyes and get anything on the menu and you will be happy, not to mention when your there you feel like part of the family. Love love love DeFinas. Don't miss out on the great desserts either. :) our favorite place.

Food: very good. Ambiance: hardly. Way overpriced.

Always great food, & a wonderfully friendly environment to eat, w the service, & atmosphere being top notch! It's absolutely my favorite place in the Venice area. Coming back soon, & can't wait to have an excellent meal cooked by Bob, & friendly conversation w Pam!

Best Italian restaurant in the area. Great portions and great food! Not a big place so make a reservation before showing up.

This is our favorite date night go to. The food is always amazing. Their salads are fresh and bright, all entrees are delicious (we adore their pastas and sauce), they have great wines, and even better desserts. The ambiance is really what does it though, making it the whole package. The owners and servers all make you feel welcome and well cared for. We go at least once a month and more often during the off season.

Neither of us had Italian, but we were both pleasantly surprised! I order the filet mignon and my wife had the grouper, both were excellent! Best steak I've had in ages.Latest meals (7/5/18): Frutti di Mare and Filet mignon, both were excellent!

The food was not what I expected for a place that everyone says is good. The calamari is similar to bought-frozen, with a marinara sauce. The shrimp scampi had a few medium shrimp and tasted oily (as opposed to buttery. Tipping is handled quickly and rudely. (You are required to select from a number of options from 20% on up on an iPad while the waiter waits. I generally give that and more, but this is a personal option that should not make a guest feel uncomfortable.) That said, the caesar salad was good and the service was fine.

Wow! Decided to try this place after seeing excellent reviews. We were not sorry. Excellent lasagna and pasta. Hunter provided great service and one of the owners stopped by the table to check on things. A real gem for Italian food in Venice and reasonably priced. Reservations strongly suggested. We will return.

Lovely place with the sweetest hostess, exquisite chef, the friendliest staff and amazing dishes 😋

Great food. Local flavor.

Great good, large portions, very efficient staff.

The only reason I gave this place a 1 was because it is an attractive dining room. That’ where all pretense of being a restaurant ends. Not only was the food atrocious it didn’t even rise to the level of amateur Italian cooking. Mussels in garlic were smashed into pieces with so much garlic it was sickening. Pork Chops came out looking like veal and tougher then pig skin. Companion had a seafood Zuppa. What it tasted like was overcooked rubbery seafood in cheap ketchup. Maybe the chef was mad at owner and sent his evil twin in who had never reheated soup. Doesn’t matter. I could have saved $100 and got a couple of cans of spaghetti o’s and had a better dinner. Won’t be returning.

Excellent service, staff, and most importantly FOOD! Absolutely amazing authentic Italian Food.

Great restaurant. The best spaghetti sauce I have ever had at an Italian restaurant. The ravioli and sausage were excellent too. If you like chocolate get the double chocolate cake...so delicious and enough for four of us to share. I'm so glad we found this restaurant. The staff is great too!!