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Humble pie
This pizzeria
may be modest, but it has plenty of reasons to brag.
by William Fox
On the surface, Orsini’s Grill and Pizza Kitchen
resembles most small pizzerias. Its brown walls, lined
with colorful prints, surround beige-tiled floors.
Bare-wood tables sit amid blue-vinyl-upholstered,
high-backed wooden booths and boast utensils wrapped in
paper napkins. But the resemblance ends there.
Below the surface, Orsini’s is
something else entirely. Restaurants use the word fresh
so often it becomes meaningless after a while. But here,
its meaning has been restored. Greens taste newly
plucked from the soil, sauces bubble in the pot, fish
tastes as if it has just been reeled in, and none of the
preparations comes from a can. Moreover, service is
charming and efficient, and the low prices are almost
archaic.
The menu is relatively compact, offering eight
thin-crust pizzas, four appetizers, eight entrées and
four daily specials. Nevertheless, sufficient choices
are available, and a customer can’t go wrong with any
of them.
Pizzas come in three sizes: personal ($4.95-$7.95),
medium ($7.95-$12.95) and large ($10.95-$16.95). Fresh
tomato sauce, extraordinarily fresh ricotta cheese and
chunks of meatballs top the Serafino, while the Meat
Lover’s pie contains sausage, pepperoni and meatballs.
A barbecue version — which offers chicken, garlic,
pineapple, tomatoes, spinach, provolone and mozzarella
on a bed of barbecue sauce — is quite a mouthful.
Lightly breaded with seasonings and hand-cut into rings,
a fried calamari appetizer ($5.95) proved deliciously
tender, and the accompanying tomato sauce tasted
sublime. Shrimp scampi is prepared as both an appetizer
($5.95) and an entrée ($10.95), with the latter served
over pasta. The shellfish is sautéed with the
traditional garlic, white wine, herbs, lemon and butter.
Another Italian-restaurant standard, snapper Francese
($10.95), was exceptional, lightly breaded and sautéed
with white wine, garlic and lemon. Sushi-grade tuna
($16.95) was a nightly special entrée that we ordered
medium-rare. The large, thick fillet had been nicely
grilled and came with spinach studded with tomatoes.
Each of the eight regular-menu entrées ($10.95)
includes a salad so fresh it had obviously not spent the
day in the cooler and rolls smothered with bits of hot,
sautéed garlic. Eat them with someone you love or you
may spend the remainder of the evening alone.
Lasagna arrived piping hot, and the freshness of the
ingredients could be tasted in every bite. A large,
slightly overcooked sausage and a moist meatball
practically devoid of filler accompanied the pasta.
Eggplant Parmigiana, baked with mozzarella and tomato
sauce, filled the entire plate; chicken Parmigiana is
similarly prepared. A dish called pepe arrostiti, which
means “roasted peppers,” combines the red and green
bell varieties with spaghetti and sausage or chicken. In
pasta Orsini, a tomato sauce with spinach and sun-dried
tomatoes garnishes al dente ziti and chicken or sausage.
Made by a local Italian bakery, Orsini’s four desserts
($3.95 each) include a flavorful tiramisu, a chocolate
cake and a raspberry cheesecake. But save room for the
thick chocolate torte, which was so dense we needed a
strong hand to break off a wedge. Sinfully sweet, it
provided a heavenly conclusion to a fine meal.
There is much more to Orsini’s than meets the eye.
Despite the restaurant’s modest appearance and small,
conservative menu, its extraordinarily fresh food is
beautifully prepared, served in liberal portions by
charming servers and priced for even the most sparing of
budgets.
If you have suggestions or comments, call 954/356-4429or
e-mail citylink@citylinkmagazine.com.
Orsini’s Grill and Pizza Kitchen
4190 N. Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point, 954/785-9499,
www.orsinisgrill.com.
Dinner 5-9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, till 11 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, and 4:30-8 p.m. Sunday. Major
credit cards and reservations accepted. Wheelchair
accessible. Average dinner tab for two: $60
RATING: 3 STARS
How to get there: Exit I-95 at Sample Road. Head east to
Federal Highway, then north.
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