Sal’s Italian Ristorante, Ft Lauderdale FL

If you follow our blog or Instagram you already know that we were in Ft Lauderdale last week for our Dream Vacations training. We had the pleasure of trying Sal’s Italian Ristorante in Ft Lauderdale for the first time, and we were really impressed with the food and the atmosphere.

Last week was enjoyable and rewarding, though a bit rough. We had training all day Monday through Friday, and to be honest the hotel we were saying at left a lot to be desired. The food in the restaurant was, well how do I put this, just not good. The staff was really nice for the most part, but in addition to food that did not match the pricing, the service was really slow.

We are foodies at heart, so we decided to use our time in Florida to try some local places. For the most part we tried seafood, and we ate a lot of seafood! On the last night after returning from our ship inspection we wanted to find something close the hotel because we were pretty tired. Someone in our training group had mentioned Sal’s, and since it was right across the street we decided to give it a try.

At the time we had no idea that Sal’s Italian Ristorante was a local chain. It is a small chain with only 16 locations sprinkled throughout south Florida. We were told the owner is old school Italian, and each location hand makes their dough every morning. The location we visited was inside of a strip mall and easily located from the street. Sal’s has an extensive menu that offers everything from pizza and calzones to seafood to panini’s.

Sal’s Italian Ristorante Kitchen — The kitchen and takeout counter

The minute we walked in it felt nice. The decor is very modern and has a cozy feel. The bar area is to the left as you enter, with an exposed brick back bar. To the right is a small dining area. It is not a huge space, less than 20 tables overall. Past the bar is a sleek counter where you can place and pickup to go orders, finished with some nice tile work.

We decided to sit at the bar, and were greeted very warmly by Hunter. Right off we noticed that they had a decent wine list, included some proprietary labeled Reds from Italy. We sample a couple of wines and decided on the Malbec to start. Both of us really needed to decompress.

Since we both were pretty hungry, we decided to start with the fried ravioli. While we were waiting we had a nice chat with Hunter. He was really knowledgeable about both the wine they serve and the food. When the ravioli came they looked amazing, and was cooked perfectly. The bread crumb coating was an evenly cooked golden brown. They tasted even better than they looked. The sausage was really good, with great flavor and just a hint of heat.

Now that we weren’t famished, we had to decide on dinner. As soon as we noticed there was veal parmesan on the menu I said “sold!”. I’ve been burned before on not so good veal, so I really wanted to try it. After a bit of debate, Taunya decided on a calzone.

When Hunter came around to take our order, we asked if the veal was thin or thick. He replied that it isn’t veal parmesan if it isn’t thin. At that point I knew that they knew what they were doing, so I was confident in my decision. They offer a choice of side pastas, so I chose the penne. When he heard Taunya wanted the calzone, he said that the owner himself made the dough fresh that morning.

While we were waiting for dinner we chatted a bit more off and on with Hunter. He is really likeable and personable, which are important traits for a bartender. He had some great stories and we told a few of our own. By this point, we were pretty relaxed having had a couple of glasses of wine and some good old fashioned conversation. So far Operation “wind down” was a success!

When our entrees came I was impressed. The calzone had a nice flaky brown crust. The crust was pretty thin, so it had a really nice bread to filling ratio. It came with a saucière filled with their red sauce. The combination was pretty delicious.

The veal was indeed thin, and nicely presented. The cheese topping was perfect, nicely covering the veal and just on the verge of sliding off. The veal itself was out of this world. The breading was not too thick, just like it should be. They gave me a steak knife, but I didn’t really need it. The veal was so tender I could cut it with my fork. Honestly, this was one of the best veal parmesan dishes I’ve ever had. Nicely done Sal!

So there you have it, Sal’s Italian Ristorante is definitely worth a stop in if you are ever in south Florida. Our visit was the perfect cap to our week. If you have been here, or if you do stop in, make sure you let us know how your experience was. If you haven’t already, you can read more about our training week in our previous article.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek