Italian Restaurants in North Miami Beach

Since 1969, Mario the Baker has regaled customers with the rich tastes of vodka sauce, baked eggplant, capicola subs, and cheesy pizzas. Since its inception, the restaurant has grown from a single storefront to a 14-location local fiefdom, built upon a foundation of crafting consistently delicious casual Italian cuisine, thin-crust New York–style pizzas, and traditional pasta dishes. Piping-hot garlic rolls accompany plates of shrimp scampi or chicken francese, and margherita pizzas and pineapple-topped hawaiian pies enliven celebrations of majestic T-ball-league triumphs and inconsequential T-ball-league defeats.

Jump to: Reviews | Important Moments in Nuclear Fusion1905: Einstein's famous equation, E = mc2, hypothesizes a fusion-style reaction, while Einstein himself hypothesizes a romance between Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins. 1946: Designer bombs tested at Bikini Atoll create a variety of decorative cloud shapes, including beach ball, dolphin, and silhouette of the United States.1978: Attempts to use nuclear fusion to prevent illusionist David Copperfield from appearing on TV are largely successful. 2010: Simultaneous, worldwide experiments with nuclear fusion result in the renewed popularity of player pianos and the transformation of friendly cats into gigantic-instrument-of-mayhem cats.

Live music plays a few nights a week at Azzurro Italian Restaurant & Bar, but diners don't need to plan ahead to hear the gentle music of the Atlantic Ocean just beyond the patio. Decked out in palm trees, grass-thatched awnings, and white curtains that flutter in the breeze, the atmosphere is pure coastal Florida. But the menu draws from a different aquatic inspiration: the Mediterranean Sea, which inspires maritime Italian and Sicilian cuisine such as fish soup topped with pizza dough, lobster ravioli, and spaghetti tossed with clams. It's not all seafood, however—there are also terrestrial delights such as beef carpaccio, grilled filet mignon, and rack of lamb. Servers pair these plates with bottles of international wines that drifted up onshore and the restaurant’s signature cocktails.

Yes Pasta! owner Flaminia Morin migrated from Rome to Miami with her prized collection of family recipes in tow. Stateside, she teamed up with chef Paolo del Papa to continue her family’s culinary traditions with the aid of fresh local and imported Italian ingredients. Seven kinds of pasta team up with 15 sauces and add-ons that seduce palates with flavors of wild mushrooms, fresh-crushed chili, and tart green capers. The menu’s aura of authenticity extends to the dining room, where cerulean-blue and white hues recall the airy Italian trattorias and olive-oil-gorged rain clouds of Rome.

A selection of toothsome tapas offers solid sustenance at Caffe Da Vinci’s bustling bar, complemented by an ample wine list and a bounty of liquor-infused refreshments. Coronate your visit with a crown of mozzarella cheese sticks ($6.50) and a scepter forged from the thinly sliced swordfish and Wagyu Kobe beef of the duetto di carpaccio (market price), or pad palates with doughy bruschetta al formaggio, crostini bread topped with melted parmesan cheese ($4.50). Skirt steak flanked by chimichurri sauce ($7) faces off against mozzarella caprese with cherry tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and balsamic glaze ($7) in a miniature match of bite-size comestibles.