Il Pescatore

I’ve been here multiple times in the past 6 years and I’ve never had a bad experience. Everyone is extremely friendly, the food, especially the lasagna and calzone, is amazing. The pizza is the best, it’s just all in all my favorite place in Orlando.

My favorite Italian restaurant in Orlando FL. Not very fancy, but you can go in there dressed up and not feel weird. Always feel comfortable! I don’t think i’ve ever been disappointed. Great togo also. It seems to travel pretty well.

Best little Italian place in Orlando. The tortellini de Stephano is incredible, and my husband says the veal is the best he’s ever had. We live in SE Orlando and drive 20 miles past other places to come here. Been a regular customer for over 8 years and we’ve never had a bad experience. The food is divine, the wait staff treats you like family, and the atmosphere will take you back to the day when people cared about a good meal. In fact we are on our way now to try the pizza. Maybe this time we’ll actually order it instead of being tempted by all the amazing Italian dishes.

Tonight was my first night, while the food was pretty good I found a hair in my salad.

I was referred to come here by my friends boyfriend. I’ve passed this place several times, but never thought of going in. I am so glad we did. Took my mom for her birthday and she’s a pretty picky person. She enjoyed everything… and so did I! She ordered the Chicken Bolognese and I ordered the Tortellini Di Stefano. Both were AMAZING! Love the casual atmosphere as well. You need to definitely try it!

5 stars for the awesome people and great food. I previously rated it a four. But, each time we’ve been back (several now) the servers and management have been super accommodating (we have a 5 month old) and friendly. We just took our friend there for his birthday dinner, and I had them sing «happy birthday» to him, as they brought out tiramasu.

My friend told me about this place and prefaced it with «it’s the only place Donnie goes when he’s feeling homesick.» Donnie is her husband, and he’s also from Italy and all I’ve ever heard is Il Pescatore is the most incredible Italian fare you can get in Orlando.
So I finally gave this place a shot and the food was fantastic. The place itself is a bit low key and not your typical white table cloth, 8 forks and 4 knifes type digs. They let the food shine from the start of the meal. Good prices for what you get, the servers are totally authentic, and everything comes out quickly.
We started with the Pomodori Caprera. Simple, fresh and lovely. You can taste the quality in just the olive oil alone. Our meals came with a salad and the house garlic bread. Both tasty and perfectly balanced. The chopped garlic on the bread was soft and buttery, roasted to perfection. For the main corse I ordered the Pollo Di Stefano and it came with a side of spaghetti and red sauce. My girlfriend got the Gnocchi Piamontese and she thought it was great; finished the whole thing.
Can’t wait to go back and try some of the other stuff they had. 5 stars for food and 5 stars for authenticity.

We (again) randomly stumbled upon this gem. We walked in and waited in a line before we could be sat. The inside is small, at most 20 small tables. When we were sat we started with a half carafe of house red wine, and it was delicious. For an appetizer we tried the Pomodori Caprera, aka a caprese salad. It was okay, def not the highlight of the night, but «decent» in my book. The tomatoes were of grocery store quality, and not what I expect from an Italian restaurant. On to the entrée– The Pollo Di Stefano was out of this world! Chicken, sausage, mushrooms mm mmmm!
We ended the date with espresso and tiramisu. This place is going to be our new favorite date spot.
Did we mention all gays?! This is apparently a huge gay hangout.

This restaurant is one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Orlando, not our most favorite. We went there again and if you can make it through the weed infested landscaping and cracked concrete sidewalks, you find some good food. Not my favorite red sauce in the city, but the veal is to die for. The veal marsala sauce is really more like a gravy than a sauce, thick, brown, and flavorless, but the rest of the veal dishes are very good. We both love the pea soup even though it would be nice to have some crackers. This is a BYOB restaurant, bring your own biscottis. Oh yeah, it could use a major dusting as well. Tuesday night at 6 o’clock it was packed.

I still can’t get over the size of my veggie calzone! Gosh Danny damn! It was delishious and delectable. Great service, great food, great bread!!! God the bread was so good we had a few baskets. We had the calamari and also muscles for appz and also great! We haven’t been out to a good itslianoa restaurante in a long time. Will go again! For sure! Thanks.

I’ve always gone to Phở Hoa right next door but I’m glad I tried this little place out! I’ve heard from friends that it’s super authentic and one of the best Italian restaurants in town so I definitely had to try!
I went for dinner and with each entrée you get a side salad, garlic bread, as well as your meal. The garlic bread was very good! I love when you can actually see the minced/​roasted garlic on it and it’s not just a butter. I ordered the gnocchi with pink sauce and it was amazing. I almost licked the plate clean and the vodka sauce wasn’t too overwhelming like most are. It had the perfect balance of flavor with the soft gnocchi (also a plus in my book).
My boyfriend had one of their specialty dishes, which included spaghetti w/​red sauce and a huge selection of meat (shrimp, sausage, chicken). He loved it and could barely finish any of it.
We’ll be back for more :)

Must I say more, the food here is delicious, the portion is ginormous, and great service even though it gets jam-​packed every time. I luv this place, 3 of my fav restaurants are side by side to each other, phở next door whenever I feel for it, and for spaghetti right here as well… so convenient

Authentic Italian with good value ! This is the kind of locals restaurant that never advertises but is always packed and easily forgotten about when thinking of a great meal but I’m always regretful when I forget oh yes one of my favorite Italian spots. Pescatore is cozy unassuming good quality Italian food ! I love their fresh baked garlic bread and amazing cheesy ziti ! The service is always friendly and the owner is very hands on ! You will never be disappointed unless you show up on Sunday when they are closed !

We drove 30 minutes from our hotel to try this place because the reviews were genuinely good everywhere we searched.. The place was likely built in the 70’s and looks as if it has not been worked on since. Never the less, there must be a little old Sicilian lady cooking in the back! The food was authentic and served with kindness. Great flavor on several entrees ordered. The red sauce is better than that at most Italian restaurants… Very flavorful and zesty! The fettuccine Alfredo was very good Manicotti, cannelloni and stuffed shells did not disappoint. This place is where the locals in Orlando go to eat Italian food… And I can see why!
Ask for Richie, he is the manager and goes out of his way to make sure everything is perfect!

Truly some of the best, most delicious, and created by skilled chefs for real Italian foods. Their extensive menu selections offer anyone’s palette a truly enjoyable lunch or dinner treat. The food is superb, portion sizes large (leftovers for next day!!!) and their prices are very reasonable. Without a doubt, the best food and value of any other authentic Italian restaurant.
Always a pleasure to dine at, be greeted by Tony (Owner), Richie (long term server) or any of the other staff. Thank You to everyone at Il Piscatore for your efforts.

God bless their garlic bread.
Right when we walked in we were greeted warmly. We had cheesy garlic bread with Alfredo dipping sauce as an app and holy mother of pearl, it was delicious. My entrée, baked ziti, came with a side salad. Nothing special, just a regular Caesar. The pasta was very flavorful and came in a large portion, I’ll have leftovers for 2 days at least. The décor could use updating, but hey — the food is great and the service was awesome, so whatever.
Loved it and will be back!

I’ve found my favorite Italian dish. And its here. And I can’t get enough. (which is unfortunate for my waist line)
We had a great server recommend her favorite dish and from that point on I cannot order anything else– Penne alla romana add chicken and spinach. SO SO GOOD. Prosciutto, peas, chicken, spinach, garlic cream sauce?! Sorry pants, you better get stretchy cause I’m gonna polish off probably 4,000 cals in a sitting and give ZERO F*&^s about it!

I haven’t been here in awhile because of some issues I have with garlic. But I’ve been missing this place. So I decided to give it a chance.
It was still as good as ever. I had the manicotti it is still the best!
Plus there did not seem to be much garlic so my stomach was also happy

Okay, so I have mixed feelings about this review because four weeks ago I was in Venice, Italy and so in writing this review I have the experience of that food in the back of my mind, which is _​such_​an unfair bias. I think if I didn’t live in Europe or have the «real» Italian food experience of Venice, I wouldn’t know any better and think this place is decent for Italian food. But, I have experienced eating pasta in Italy, and those memories and tastes are unforgettable. So with that caveat in mind, on with my review and experience.
I challenged my local friends to take me to the best local Italian (in their opinion) and they picked this restaurant. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 and since we only left work at 6:20, my brother called up the restaurant and asked them to let our friends know we’d be 20 mins late (we didn’t have their cell ph nos). Got to the restaurant and found that our msg had not been delivered, and our friends had been wondering if we had forgotten or blown them off. So not a great start, but sitting down in the lovely back room, with beautiful murals of Italy that reminded us of Venice, and In the company of good friends, I was happy.
We experienced lovely and cheerful if slightly forgetful service, in that both the wine and salad main that I had ordered did not come till my dining companions were well into their options. My salad when it did finally come had great vinaigrette and fresh leaves, but the mozzarella was super tasteless and in contrast to the salads in Italy which served me baby tomatoes, I had big fat spongy big red ones, that tasted pretty blah. I also tasted a bit of my brother’s pasta and the sauce didn’t taste as if it was made with olive oil or butter — it congealed similar to margarine and it was so thick and goopy, I was glad I hadn’t ordered any pasta.
Also the absolute worst tiramisu I have ever had in my life. The mascarpone tasted like sawdust whipped in lard and they must have used a cheap Marsala wine substitute which frankly tasted very chemically to me. So meal definitely did not end on a high note and I don’t plan on coming back.

4 Stars because the food was fabulous, but there was a snag at the end of the night…
First off, I love the location! Right by Phở Hoa and the amazing Walls of Phở Hoa (permission walls where incredible graffiti artists and muralists can apply to paint). Il Pescatore is the real deal. It definitely feels like a legit family-​run Italian restaurant.
I read a few reviews and ordered the Linguini con Vongole — clams with white sauce (you can also choose the red sauce). The dish could have easily fed two people! I ate as much as I could and used the divine garlic bread they provided the table to soak up some of the sauce. The sauce was tart and refreshing and must be made with a heavy dose of wine– MMMMmmm! The dish came with a salad which was very enjoyable and included olives (yay!), tomatoes, and onions.
We had a lovely time until it seemed we were the last people in the restaurant and the server started vacuuming… It was 9:10, so I thought maybe they close at 9 and we were holding them up. We all kind of paused mid sentence and started packing up. It was a bit awkward. When I left I checked the hours on the door and they actually are open until 9:30pm. This rubbed us all the wrong way because the vacuum was loud enough that it interrupted the end of our dinner and made us feel like we’d overstayed our welcome…
Other than that though, the food and ambiance was great!