Cafe L’Europe

Café Europa is an old school place with and old school vibe serving a menu that is old school– steak Dianne, oysters Rockefeller, Caesar salads. Nothing on the menu is new and inventive but all executed well.
My husband and I both had the gruper de mer. It was quite good. Service was on par with what you would expect from a nice place but nothing exceptional.
Advice when eating here: it’s Florida and people wear whatever they want so don’t be surprised if the table next to you is in shorts. It’s also a little overpriced (at least for upstate New York vacationers). Still, it’s a lovely time and they have a menu for your pupster. Dog friendly means lots of adorable puppies to admire during dinner!

Totally awesome experience! The entire staff made you feel welcome. The atmosphere was very relaxing and the brick arches make you feel like your in a wine cellar! Marianna has selected an exceptional wine list and when you ask questions, her passion for selecting the perfect wine is obvious and contagious! We were waited on by Cassi and she made the evening extremely fun and you waited or wanted for nothing. Two of us had the Rack of Venison and OMG it was fantastic. I had mine on the rare side and you could cut it with a fork. It didn’t have any of that gamey taste you sometimes get with Venison. I’m only in town for a couple days but I will make a special effort to go back before I leave. Hope this helps!

Café L’Europe is our favorite place for special occasions. We always have a great time and the other night was no exception. The staff is always very pleasant, efficient and accommodating, and every dining experience always seems to be even better than the last.
Four of us shared a nice table on the Veranda where we could enjoy the cool evening air as we began our meal with the Escargot Bourguignon and Crab Stuffed Piquillo Peppers which are two of our favorite Café L’Europe Appetizers.
Two of us had Meunière Dover Sole and Steak Diane which were prepared tableside — the Steak Diane actually prepared by the Chef, and our friends had the Colorado Rack Of Lamb and the Potato Crusted Grouper. I had the best Steak Diane I have ever tasted — and everyone else said their meals were just as fantastic.
Café L’Europe has a phenomenal wine list to accompany all this gastronomic goodness, and what meal would be complete without delicious Crêpes Suzette made table side. Café L’Europe is truly an outstanding restaurant and if you have not eaten there you are missing something very special.

Dined here as part of a conference, and ordered from a fixed price menu which allowed for an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. My first course was called the lobster bisque but it was mostly bisque, and not a lot of lobster. The bisque was tasty but I wouldn’t have ordered the soup had I known there would be little to no actual seafood. My entrée was I think a fish (I can’t remember the protein for the life of me) with a lemon mushroom sauce. It was SO lemony that I didn’t have more than one bite of my entrée. The side of potatoes au gratin was absolutely delicious though and everyone at the table agreed as there were no potatoes left on anyone’s plate at the end of the night. Aside from the potatoes, the other highlight of the meal for me were the chocolate profiteroles. Possibly because I was hungry from not eating my entrée, but I devoured every single bite.
Not a bad restaurant, but will look to other options in the circle next time I’m in Sarasota.

This is one of my most favorite places ever!!! But we did not have a super great experience Tuesday night. We had the wedge said and the French onion soup. It was AHH-​mazing! We also had a really nice bottle of wine to go with dinner. Filet and osso buco that was also super yummy. And followed it up with an espresso martini and tiramisu. The food is absolutely amazing! BUT our server Carlos was not so great. He was not very attentive, we needed pepper for our salad and we never saw him. Also the food was dropped and he did not check on us. I’m sure we will be back but just wished our service was better.

Very nice to sit outside in the energetic St. Armand’s Circle.
Café L’Europe has very good service. That’s why we like it. Good staff can make all of the difference.
The food is good. It’s not amazing, but it is good.
Their escargot has such potential. It’s good, but I feel like if they would just add some more seasoning, it could be amazing.
That’s how I feel about all the dishes. If they can just add a little bit more flavor, everything would be better. It’s on the edge of being excellent.
I could write more about different dishes that we tried, but I would pretty much be saying the same thing over and over. So as not to ramble, you get the idea… Just add some more flavor.
Oh, I do need to say though, we ordered a side of mushrooms and they were fabulous.

Very disappointing. Recommended by a friend who hadn’t been there in years. Showed up with a reservation and dressed very nicely for an anniversary dinner. Hostess was distant and acted confused why we were there. Server was pleasant, but was there to take the order and then disappeared and left it to others to do the actual serving, only to reappear at check time. Other servers were more concerned with their piece work and chatting than with the patrons. Food was very mediocre and VERY overpriced. Clearly a restaurant living on its reputation with an established, unsuspecting, older clientele. Steer clear!

Excellent! Great food, great service, great atmosphere! Highly recommend this restaurant! Really, really good!

We ate before 5:30 PM and were able to order off the 3 course special menu — delicious! Wife had a shrimp and scallop dish and I had prosciutto wrapped salmon. Ended our meal with the included desert — key lime pie for the wife and an ice cream and chocolate syrup dessert — both excellent. Wine was also excellent. Our waiter and the rest of the staff were very professional and attentive. We hope the rest of our meals are as good during our stay in Longboat Key. The five stars are for the food, the service, and the value.

Good food, GREAT staff, but kind of pricey. You’re guaranteed to have a good overall experience but I do believe you can find equally good food for less at other restaurants in the area. I suggest going if you want a nice night out with good service and good food, but I have a hard time finding a lot of reasons to keep going back on any kind of regular basis. Definitely worth a try at least once though to decide for yourself!

Cool old school setting. The ax was dripping on is and it was a little more of a hassle than it should have been to get moved, the place was empty. Make sure you get the pre-​fixe menu if it is available. We had to ask for it.
The cassoulet was pretty good. It is one of my favorite dishes in the world and they did it justice. Profiteroles were blah.
I would go for the pre-​fixe which is a good deal, three courses and a glass of wine for 35, but not for anything else.
Feels like the kind of place you get treated right if you’re a regular.
Mentioned it was a birthday, no special treatment.

Went for a special birthday dinner with the family. Not only was the service excellent and attentive but the food was delicious too. Well, worth a return visit.

Definitely lower your expectations when dining at this restaurant. It seems like it should be a place where the food will be great and the service impeccable but not so much. It took a really long time for the waiter to come over and take our drink order. He was super unfriendly and wouldn’t even look at me, even when I was ordering, rude! It took an extremely long time to even get our dinners. I got the mushroom ravioli and it was just ok. My husband got the sirloin and he enjoyed his meal. I feel this restaurant is very hit or miss. On a positive note besides our waiter most of the staff was friendly.

Went for Savor Sarasota lunch. Enjoyed the place. The décor, the staff, and the meal all struck me as very European! Would go back.

Pretty good but too expensive for what you get. Don’t get me wrong, the food tastes great and the staff does an amazing job but for what you pay, it wasn’t top class. The lobster bisque is amazing not gonna lie and I could eat a bucket of it :)
They do have a menu for dogs but I wouldn’t pay $ 18 for a steak for my dog. They do have cheaper items but that one really made me laugh.

We had dinner at this Resturant last night. We were a party of four and were seated promptly. It went down hill from there. The wait staff was on a foul mood, every request was treated with a frown and sometimes were ignored completely. To be fair the food was very good and served as ordered. The wait staff needs to be retrained.

The food was average and over priced. The service was terrible. I had three different waiters for one meal. It took for ever to be serviced anything after we sat down. The place has a pompous atmosphere but it is not well deserved because the food, service and price do not match the atmosphere. If you want to go to a place that has a reputation «to be seen at» then this is your place. If you want good service and food go else where on the Circle.

We had dinner at Café L’Europe on a Saturday night… early. As it was chilly we ate in the main dining room. In the bar there was a singer which echoed into the dining area. Once diners arrived the noise level was so loud you had to shout across the table. Perhaps eating outside would lessen the noise level.
The restaurant is old world attractive. The menu varied. The service was good.

While it’s been known for its old world style and a mainstay for fine dining on St. Armand’s Circle, Café Europe has been off my radar for several years. They have been up and down the past 10 years but now they seem to have their culinary groove back. While I would not call this restaurant innovative, with piped mashed potatoes on the entrée plates, I would certainly return after our latest visit. Best dishes are the lobster bisque and the onion soup, the pan seared Chilean sea bass over Bamboo rice with coconut milk and crêpe Suzette.
It is old world charm, nice and clean, and a place your parents will understand better than a loud active dining room that I prefer with new menu changes and NO mashed potatoes.

Visited: Saturday — December 28, 2013 — 5pm
A travel friend and I arrived at Café L’ Europe a few hours after leaving the Tampa Airport. Café L’Europe is located in the upscale St. Armand’s circle. Outdoor and indoor seating was available. We chose outside seating adjacent to a low setting wall and street. An attendant asked if we wanted water or sparking water. We chose water. We received a puzzled look but nevertheless, maintained our choice.
We immediately understood why we received the puzzled look when we requested the water. The best adjective to describe the water off-​putting taste was sour. We requested and received the sparkling water. The «sour» water was poured into a nearby plant by the server — a bit unprofessional. Frankly, I thought that the water was intentionally soured to promote the purchase of sparking water. More about my suspicions later.
We ordered the Oysters Rockefeller for $ 19.00 to share. The portions were adequate and delicious. I had the Ravioli entrée with shrimp for $ 22.00; my friend had the snapper for $ 32.00. We enjoyed our entrees. Bread accompanied our meal. We indulged in some libation. Me, two Mojito for $ 10.00 each. My friend had one lemon drop martini for $ 10.00. We did not order tea, coffee, or dessert. We were quite full!
Our seat selection was slowly becoming a regretful decision as dinner patrons arrived. A relentless caravan of cars waiting for valet parking formed along our seating. Rumbling engines, doors shutting, and general distractions soon became a nuisance. The maître d claimed that the valet service was not regulated by Café L’Europe and could not intercede. Perhaps, «would not» intercede is a better description because the check promoted VALET PARKING AVAILABLE.
My suspicion of water tainting was unwarranted because the sparking water was not on the check. The water evidently, is distasteful and the recommendation of sparkling water is standard. Isn’t bottled water an option?
Despite my issues with the water and valet parking, I recommend Café L’Europe.
Remember to order the sparking water and don’t sit in the vicinity of valet parking.