Restaurants in Sandalfoot Cove

Pies slathered in homemade sauce bake to a crisp, golden finish over hot embers inside ovens at Giovanni's Coal Fire Pizza. 15 homemade Italian dinners, authentic pastas, chicken dishes, sandwiches, and salads top tables inside both locations, which each sport exposed-brick walls and a bevy of flat-screen televisions.

Chef Yozo Natsui's training in his native Japan, combined with more than 15 years of experience behind the stove, helped earn Bluefin Sushi & Thai Grill the distinction of Best Sushi, 2010 in the Sun Sentinel's Best of South Florida series. Inside a sleek dining room, servers transport fresh slices of fatty tuna and hand rolls from the sushi bar, where Yozo and his cadre of chefs carefully assemble edible cylinders lined with fresh seafood and cool vegetables. They accompany their platters of seared-steak teriyaki with soup or salad, and envelop medleys of vegetables in tempura batter before exposing them to a deep fryer—which is hotter and more philosophically profound than a bourgeois fryer. Servers pour an extensive selection of cold, hot, and flavored sake alongside various wines, imported Asian beers, and Thai iced tea.

Mirrors and ornate paintings surround diners at Lily Garden with a serene atmosphere as they sample a menu filled with Hunan, Cantonese, and Sichuan dishes. Each white-clothed table in the dining room supports a crescent vase of flowers, and red paper lanterns dangle above the booths along each wall. Delivery and catering services are also available.

Tender pieces of chicken, beef, shrimp, and pork simmer in a variety of aromatic sauces, including curry, savory black bean, and fiery sichuan. The Triple Crown In Bird's Nest specialty holds chicken, pork, shrimp, and vegetables in a crispy potato basket, and the seafood straw mushroom combines succulent lobster, scallions, and scarecrows used to frighten away hungry pelicans. Lily Garden also serves beer and wine and curates a gluten-free menu for patrons who swear off the wheat-based protein.

A blue awning and fragrant wall of tropical flowers transform Taso’s Greek Taverna’s patio into a private enclave, illuminated by a string of twinkling lights. Inside, the ambiance is no less welcoming: sunlight streams through windows and illuminates pale-yellow walls and paintings of Mediterranean vistas. At the restaurant’s sister location, Taso’s Greek Taverna 2, the atmosphere is just as charming, with glistening wooden tables and a serpentine ceiling outlined with fluorescent light.

The ambiance is the first sign of Chef Taso Katechis’s commitment to celebrating Mediterranean culture. In the kitchen, chefs roast lamb and beef, stuff fresh fish and flaky filo dough with spinach and feta, and garnish their edible masterpieces with traditional accoutrements of Greek potatoes and warm, homemade pita. Additionally, they serve up a kid’s menu of Greek specialties to help create an experience that’s pleasing to both children and parents, much like a sock-puppet rendition of Law and Order.

The pizza experts at Steve’s Wood Fired Pizza knead fresh dough into thin disks, slather them with house-made sauce, and toss them into an Italian-imported wood-fired oven, where they acquire a smoky aroma and crackling crust. The flame-licked pizzas have earned a slew of accolades, not only for their dark and well-done crusts, but for their more than 55 toppings such as applewood-smoked bacon, grilled vegetables, marinated shrimp, and caramelized onions. Rather than fold their menus into paper sailboats, guests can showcase their creativity by personalizing their own pizzas down to its cheeses and blend of herbs.