Sosta Caffe

I could go for Italian food all day err’day, from a much joked about national franchise to (preferably) mom and pop places. After another very busy (or should I say regular day :) at the office I decided that best way to relax was meeting up w ith a friend at Sosta. A quick drive from I-​75, it was also funny enough located close to the aforementioned chain place. Still and all, I think we picked the better place to eat.
The restaurant is in a strip mall right on Pines Boulevard, but the cozy interior and jazzy beat take you to the Mediterranean.
Besides the friendly waitress, the first thing that greets you through the door at Sosta is the smell of fresh Italian seasoning. My nose picked up marinara sauce and some oregano. That freshness only happens at local restaurants.
There was a slight miscommunication with our appetizer order, but our waitress made up for it in the sweetest way with a powdery soft and creamy tiramisu. You hardly see that level of owning up and correcting a misunderstanding at chain places. Besides, given my Unilocal title, I believe this was most appropriate and tastier. I also ordered a strawberry Panna cotta, nicely presented with whipped cream on the plate as well as a full mason jar of cream and strawberries.
Going back a second, my main course was their Chicken Lasagna. Served in a fresh, not aldente pasta, it had plenty of juicy chicken breast, zucchini, greens and marinara sauce. I also sampled my friends beef ravioli and would have enjoyed that as well.

This place is a 5 minute walk from my apartment and I just discovered it a few days ago–
Great appetizers, good fresh and authentic Italian food. Rare for this area as the closest thing to Italian around here seems like Olive Garden and well… that says a lot.
Prices are good, wine servings are generous, food portions are just right.
The food was good, but what really stole my heart was the dessert menu. Phenomenal Nutella cheesecake and tiramisu-​I was super impressed.
Worth 4 stars because of the food itself but–
One star knocked off for comfortability– this place is crazy small and the tables are even smaller/​uncomfortable. Not to mention wobbly.
Then again it’s a café, not meant for a super intimate elongated dine in, so maybe that’s not totally fair.
Tip– the bar looked far more comfortable.
Another star knocked for service– mediocre over all. Not horrible enough to scare me away but still, could use some improvements. Especially for such a small place, service should be much more detailed.
But I will certainly be stopping back in for dessert and cappuccinos !

Atencion/​Limpieza (⁵⁄₅)
Mushroom and Prosciutto Cotto Ham Lasagna (OMG ⁵⁄₅)
Nutella Cheesecake (ok ⁴⁄₅)

One word — Perfect! Great ambiance. Great service and the food is amazing! I would come here again any day. The food is authentic Italian and taste fresh.

We decided to try Sosta based on the Unilocal reviews. I will not disagree about the food. It was very good. The lentil soup was delicious, probably the best I have had.
I had a ravioli special. Very good. My husband had the mixed seafood with parpadelle. He enjoyed it.
Problem was service. Our waitress completely disappeared from us after our food was delivered. She literally never returned. Someone different cleaned off our dishes. No one offered coffee or dessert. After 10 minutes of waiting, I flagged down a person who appeared to be the manager and asked for our check. Our original waitress have us our check and then again disappeared. Someone else collected our payment (after a long wait) and then brought it back to us. I really can’t say that I would be back.

This is my second time here and I absolutely love this place. Ordered the split-​pea soup which had an amazing home cooked taste, it was puréed and for me it was perfect not over salted. I’m used to the Cuban chícharo and it was very similar to my delight, it was very delicious. We had the burrata with prosciutto which is one of my favorite things to eat. The tomatoes were fresh, the arugula as well and the cheese is amazing, the prosciutto added a great salty touch along with the balsamic vinegar. For the main dish we had the manicotti and the pink sauce was deliciously rich, not over powering the pasta and cheese were fresh, it was perfect. The food was absolutely delicious! This place is never a disappointment, and the service is great everyone is so sweet and they make sure that you’re ok, very hospitable! I enjoy this place very much and I’m sure anyone will too.

I can’t believe I forgot to review this place. I grew up in Staten Island, Brooklyn where Italian food is just food. It’s not ethnic and it’s everywhere. And I mean good Italian and I didn’t even know how good I had it. So when I moved to FL, it was hard to find a decent Italian restaurant so I just stopped eating Italian. This restaurant is in a strip mall but when you walk in, the décor is super cute and the service is fantastic. We ordered the Three layer lasagne and ravioli. The sauce was really good. I ate every bite of my meal and even asked for more bread. Simple dishes done well.

Heaven! I didn’t have to die to find you! What can I say about this amazing, intimate little Italian café? Its romantic modern décor and beyond scrumptious home made cuisine is everything one could ever ask for. Items of note fresh mozz and prosciutto and the Ravioli DUO also for dessert forget everything and just do yourself the favor of experiencing the Amaretto Tiramisu. Sosta I love you!

Love this place. They have just expanded, and the new section is beautiful and homie; modern Italian charm.
Not on the regular menu (but wish it was)… when they have the Fiocchetti on special, I do not need to see the menu. Amazing pear pouches! I went back the next day for seconds.

Excelente Rest. Italiano, el personal y el dueño super amables, la comida y los precios muy buenos.
La Burrata y el Tiramisu, lo mejor de lo mejor.
Lo recomiendo 100%.

From the outside you’d never guess this place is «that good.» As soon as you walk in you’re hit with a wall of Italian goodness. Imagine being slapped with a sock full of seasoning… Ok, bad choice of words.
Let me premise you by saying that I’ve never been a fan of pasta, or Italian food in general. With the girlfriend being Italian it’s kind of been forced on me, and I’ve grown to enjoy it.
We were seated right away and given a few slices of warm, seasoned Italian bread.
For an appetizer we started off with the caprese, opted to add prosciutto. First off they don’t fall short in the cheese department like some other places I know. A very large chunk of burrata served on a cutting board, a bed of arugula, tomatoes, and four small «piles» of prosciutto. Some of the best prosciutto I’ve had in a long time. It was truly delectable.
For the main: she ordered the three layered lasagna with meat, spinach, and ricotta. It was enough for 2 or 3 people. She had a lot of pleasure in devouring close to half of it. The rest came home with us.
I had the ravioli DUO, cheese ravioli Alfredo and braised beef bolognese. Half cheesy excellence and half meaty righteousness. All of it hit the right spot… But, I love cheese and the Alfredo definitely could’ve been slurped through a straw (as weird as that sounds). Not too sharp, not to creamy, it was perfect. Pretty sure I’ve yet to try a better Alfredo than I had at Sosta Café.
To summarize, even my Italian girlfriend even gave this place 5 stars.

Based on the perfect 5 star review on Unilocal and my friends’ recommendation, I came in with relatively high expectations for this place. To be fair, Sosta did meet most of my expectations.
The menu is one page separated into different sections. Both lunch and dinner menus are the same. Only difference is that lunch is $ 2 cheaper. So I recommend going for lunch!
The San Francesco sandwich is quite nice if you’re looking for something not too heavy but filling. The gnocchi is good if you want something carby and chewy to munch on.
For dessert, the ricotta cheesecake and tiramisu were not bad. The slices are huge, so you probably want to share the slice with someone.
I want to give this place a 5 star, but I definitely need to come back on another visit to try more of their food!

A solid 5 star Italian place right next to me with 350+ reviews? Impossible! I needed to check out this mysterious restaurant and see for myself.
I don’t know if I had such high expectations or I came on an off day, but I didn’t exactly leave feeling «wow 5 stars for sure!» Don’t get me wrong, the food was delicious! Unfortunately, the service isn’t 5 stars.
I ordered the Ravioli Duo, thanks to advice from my dining partner, Jessica C. The meat half was good, but the alfredo side, WOW. I can confidently say that’s 5 stars. So creamy and cheesy. Our tiramisu for dessert was just as delicious. Good hint of coffee taste, and light.
Now if only the service was just as top notch. I know it’s a very small, family run place, which makes it casual and fun, but perhaps service became too casual. We were seated at the bar immediately, which was good, but later on had to get the attention of someone to order. And again to order dessert and get the check. No one came to refill my water. They were slightly busy, but not busy enough to excuse them. I thought it also weird that when we were given bread in the beginning, plates aren’t handed over to go along with it.
The food is good enough, though, that I’m willing to come back and give the staff another chance.

Let’s talk about impecable service and phenomenal food and I will for sure mention this place! I don’t know what’s not to love about Sosta Caffe! I have been here twice and the service and food has been off the charts each time! It is a small restaurant right off pines. I have had the chance to sit both outside and inside and I can’t decide what I like more. When we sat outside it wasn’t too hot and it was a more intimate atmosphere and when I sat inside I sat at the bar which I loved because i was able to speak to the guys making the food and ask question every one was so friendly and they are all italian which makes this place so much more authentic.
But anyways lets talk food. I have had their special for the night which was the burata as our appetizer. It was so fresh I loved it. Then as my entrée I had the cheese ravioli i loved their sauce it was flavorful and the portion was the perfect size. My friend ordered the pear fiocchi (I don’t think I’m spelling it right) which was their special for the night and it was delicious! Perfect combination of sweet and salty.
For dessert we decided to order the Nutella cheesecake. Since we were sitting at the bar we kept on seeing all these really yummy desserts get prepared and passed out and all of them caught our eye so it was really hard to decide what we wanted to dessert. Fortunately our waiter talked to us about all of them and he told us that this was their first time offering the nutella cheesecake and that he had not personally tried it but he said he had not heard any bad things about it. Boy am I glad we got it! I thought it was going to be too sweet for me… But no it was the perfect ending to our meal.
I love this place because of it’s authenticity, it’s great service, ambiance, and especially because of their delicious food!

It’s a jackpot for me!!! If you are looking for a place to eat some comfy good. This is the place for you.
THREE-​LAYER LASAGNA with Meat, Spinach and Ricotta is my favorite. I never had a place use that much meat in a lasagna. It’s an awesome dish with all these Flavors.
MUSHROOM and PROSCIUTTO COTTO HAM LASAGNA in White Sauce: — that’s my second favorite. I never had this before the way they made this dish. It’s awesome taste
All the Sandwiches: it’s all depending on what you are in the mood for. Every single sandwich is awesome.
Desserts: — TIRAMISU — Homemade… Traditional… only better. It’s the truth, strong espresso taste to it and don’t have the after taste. AMARETTO TIRAMISU: — it’s a good choice also. But my fav is the traditional one.
Hope you all enjoy this place. Cheers

I finally decided to check this place out, so after I finished exemplifying my magnificence at LA Fitness I trekked over to Sosta for lunch.
This is one time I wish I just stuck to my usual lunch routine because I left Sosta totally unimpressed.
I’ve been to Italy twice, so for an Italian restaurant to have 250+ reviews with a 4 ½ star average, I do expect something reminiscent of what I’ve eaten in Rome or Venice.
Entering Sosta I immediately liked the charming traditional interior, It kinda reminded me of a Napoli café.
Service was nothing special, I wasn’t swept off of my feet but I was most certainly not Snooki-​ed or JWOW-​bombed either. I decided to order the soup of the day and a vegetable lasagne.
My order came out quick with fashion and flare, but that’s where the excitement ends.
$ 4.99 Soup of the day (Tomato soup) — Soup wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t doing cartwheels either. Its consistency was to thick for my liking and the taste was a little off. The accompanying bread wasn’t fresh and was somewhat stiff.
3 STARS
$ 10.99 Vegetable Lasagne (spinach, zucchini, red pappers, yellow squash) — Lasagne is one of my ATF Italian dishes, but Sosta left me with a frown on my face. This was one of the oddest lasagne experiences I’ve ever had.
My fork just moved through the lasagne like it was jello, there was no resistance at all. You would think that the fork would hit a piece of yellow squash or zucchini at least once? Each bite was not a bite, there was nothing to chew I felt like I was eating ice-​cream spiced with oregano?
There was also no distinct taste, it was just bland. There wasn’t any distinct imported cheese taste or aroma, the tomato sauce was equally unimpressive.
I suspect the lasagne was not made fresh, but sitting around in the fridge for a few days waiting to be heated.
3 STARS
– for the rest of the evening my stomach was very upset.
Would I recommend this place… no.
Would I come back… no.

I had high expectations from all the Unilocal reviews. Unfortunately, we were not impressed by this restaurant. We arrived Saturday at 7pm and had to wait 15 minutes for an inside table. They have two seater small round tables. When you are a party of three they push two together so you have a lot of room. There is also a bar with about 8 seats. There are many tables outside too.
Service was not very good. We had to ask for more bread, drink refills, etc. When they did bring the focaccia bread they don’t provide bread plates, butter, or olive oil. I had to ask for olive oil when we requested our second batch of bread. We got bread plates from the server station since no one checked on us. Some of the bread had a light herb salted topping.
I had the meat sauce gnocchi. They said they make the gnocchi in house. It was dense. I prefer mine light and fluffy. My friend had the alfredo gnocchi. it was a rich creamy sauce… very good flavoring.
My other friend had the meat sauce lasagna. It was heavy on the spinach and ricotta cheese. It is a large serving for the price, but not my favorite… and I usually love lasagna.
I took a ricotta cheesecake home $ 6. It was lemony and some of the top was burnt. It was dry. It is a large serving for the price.
Our food took a long time to come. We think they lost our ticket because at one point the staff was pointing at our table like something was wrong.
After we received our check and our credit cards were charged, the waitress apologized for the mishap but never stated what happened. We joked with her that we should get a cannoli for the mishap, but she just laughed and walked away.
There is plenty of parking in the attached parking lot.
Overall, it was not exciting and the service was not good. I will not be returning with so many other Italian places around.

I seen this restaurant pop up on my news feed quite often, and always checked out the pics, and had to bookmark it. I am not CRAZY about Italian food, unless there there is a pasta dish that clearly stands out. I wouldn’t think of eating pasta when I am absolutely starving, but Sosta changed my mindset.
Came in here for lunch the other day and it was so refreshing to change it up a bit. The cappuccino and ginseng espresso was amazing to start! A strong change from my usual Cuban coladas and Americanos. We definitely had one too many coffees than we should. (we were wired the entire lunch lol.)
On to the food… the Gnocchi y Pomordora I had was so great, even for the little ingredients that were in it. Sometimes with Italian food the pasta itself is mediocre, and it is the sauce or the pounds of cheese that distracts you from the taste. Not here. I can’t believe how fluffy the Gnocchi was, and how homemade it tasted. My best friend’s Mushroom and Prosciutto Cotto Ham Lasagna looked like a piece of art. Antonio, our waiter, explained how her pasta alone takes three hours to hand make.
This is one of the rare Italian places I am dying to come back too. The service was satisfying, and I wouldn’t foresee any complaints about this spot in the near future. Prices are extremely decent too, always a bonus!

Cute little Italian caffe with a few indoor and outdoor tables as well as bar seating. Service was great, our server was very nice and the owner was very hands on, would come by to take empty plates and refill empty water glasses.
I loved that I was able to order something I was craving even though it wasn’t on the menu, this was chicken parmigiana with fettuccine bolognese. Server let me know that the pasta is made fresh in house which is a big plus for me. For appetizer we ordered the Italian nachos which are their version of bruschetta, I loved it, tomatoes were fresh, chopped just the right size, and the mozzarella bits were an awesome addition together with the balsamic drizzle.
I will say the food took a little too long to reach the table We had been seated at around 5:30 and the appetizer didn’t reach the table 45 minutes later, the entrees took another half hour after that. My husband ordered a beer and was a little disappointed that they had run out (?) of frozen beer glasses.
My chicken parmigiana was delicious, sauce was very good, you could taste that it was authentic homemade tomato sauce and the pasta was the same. My husband had the chicken parmigiana panini and thought it was very good as well.
If we are back in the area I would stop by again.

If you know me you know that Italian food isn’t really my thing. Maybe I ate it too often growing up, maybe it’s because I think I make a decent red sauce, or maybe it’s just because pasta (which I LOVE) isn’t often on my diet plan… but hey my best friend requested Italian, and the stars for Sosta can not be ignored!
We strolled in early at 6:15pm a weekday. First off I was slightly surprised by just how small this place is! Very cute and rustic, modern, but small. A great place for a lunch bite! And the menu seems to confirm the lunch avenue with lots of sandwich options.
I only sneaked a peak at the wine menu since I’m not drinking right now and didn’t want to tempt myself, but it seemed decent.
After some waters and bread we got down to ordering. The place was pretty empty so service was fantastic.
We opted to start with the Italian Nachos — which is basically a giant plate (or rather cutting board) or bruschetta. This could easily feed 4, so sharing between only 2 meant finishing my pasta dish was a little difficult.
For a main I did the special of the evening — a stuffed pasta in a mushroom sauce that was delicious! Really good! My friend went with the highly reviewed ravioli duo. Honestly we both felt as though the meat sauce was only ok, but the white Alfredo side was amazing, and this coming from a girl who claims not to like Alfredo!
Personally I didn’t want dessert, and I certainly didn’t want tiramisu (not a coffee drinker at all and can’t stand the flavor even in desserts) but «someone» just had to get it lol. So I had a bite, not the worst, still not my thing though.
Who I presume to be the owner came over to chat with us and was very pleasant. Overall a great experience and I’d highly recommend to all of my friends looking for Italian in the area!
Oh and PS check their prices! I was pleasantly surprised to see the entrees were mostly in the $ 10-​$ 15 range!

In order to save you from the suspense, I will be back. Yes! The food is really that good. After readying some of the reviews from my fellow Unilocaler friends, we decided to stop by for an early dinner.

Once you walked in the restaurants, you can immediately feel the warmth and the coziness of this place. The interior was decorated well and felt very inviting. There weren’t a lot of tables inside but they got a few on the sidewalk outside.
Our young waiter was extremely polite and helpful to us (who my wife thinks is hot… LOL). We took our time reading the menu while searching for what other people wrote they had in Unilocal!Finally, we decided to go with their Bruschette Salmne for starter. The smoked salmon was pretty tasty. I also like the crunchy baguette French bread and the salad served on the side.
My pirate buddy Allen S. told me to make sure I get the ravioli duo and I was happy to comply. It came with two different kinds of sauces: Alfredo and Bolognese. Both sauces tasted great and the raviolis were very fresh. My wife decided on the Mushroom and Prosciutto Cotta Ham Lasagna and she absolutely loved it (not sure if that young hot waiter had anything to do with it. LOL)! To sum up with the meal, I ordered an expresso and my wife had the cappuccino. Yes, we both had no more rooms for the desert Otherwise I’d have gone with their Tiramisu.
Final score? I’d give this place a 4 star based on this visit. I love the food and the service from our wait staff (my wife had not influence me in this decision…) My only complaint is that it took about 30 minutes for us to get our appetizer. But maybe I’ll revise my score after my wife read this review!

Muy muy recomendado! Excelente atención, comida, ambiente acogedor y precios super solidarios! No le doy las 5 estrellas Solo por que falta que sirvan vinos pero dan servicio de descorche.