Ariani Restaurant & Lounge

One of the best Italian restaurants we ever been!
Period.
People are amazing!
Food incredible, delicious!
They love what they do and really care about the food!

The best Italian food in all of Cape Coral hands down. We made a reservation for 6 for my wife’s birthday and the food was fantastic. Our waiter Giovanni went above and beyond to make sure we had a great night. I highly recommend the escargot the sauce was exquisite. The filet Wellington was incredible. Everyone enjoyed their dinner. Kudos Ariani’s keep up the great work. By the way the rum cake. Don’t pass it up!

Ariani is one of our favorites. Great food, one of the best wine selections in the area, and always a visit from chef Dario. When you come back time after time and are greeted by the same great staff, you know the experience will be good. Highly recommended.

We have been there twice in the past 10 days. My husband and I went the first time, then we brought 4 friends the second time. We thought the food was outstanding! This is a real hidden jewel in Cape Coral. The owner, Dario, makes it a point to visit the tables and inquire as to how you like it. We will definitely go back and will continue to tell our friends about it.

I really enjoyed my meal here today. Foods were excellent as well as the services. Price was reasonable and place was clean. Will be back!

Excellent food and a show! Chef Dario is hilarious! He really does make outstanding food– I was here twice in one week because it’s that great.
Scott the bartender is top notch; friendly and knowledgeable. His drinks are «world famous!»
Everyone made us feel like family! Next time I’m visiting the cape, I’ll be there more than once.

We experienced one of the rudest things I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. One of our party, a 92 year old, is close to being blind and needs extra light to see. We asked our waiter for more light and he accommodated us – we were seated in a small alcove with its own lighting control. While we were looking at our menus a woman (seemingly management) curtly turned the lights down to near darkness. And made a comment that the lights were «blaring.» No apology. No softening of her tone. Just BAM! lights out.
Oh and the Veal Marsala was lukewarm.
We won’t be back.

Food was excellent, service was good. Don’t forget the rum cake for dessert!
Friendly staff and nice place

I found this place about 7 months ago when I was still pregnant and craving Italian food.
When I arrived at this place I was greeted by the owner. He was so nice and made me feel very comfortable.
After that day my husband and myself decided to make this place our go to for real Italian food.
We had just recently decided to try the fried calamari and it was AMAZING!!! The marinara sauce was HEAVEN! Even my picky 5 year old loved it.
Everyone here is so nice, they even held my fussy new baby so I could finish eating my food.
Everyone here will treat you like family!!!
This is the whole package, good food, better people and great prices!!!

Old school traditional place — with good traditional food. Bartender was great (lovely dirty martini) and wait staff tried hard (but may have been a little over familiar). Food was really good and what you expect — date had dinner special (steak, chicken & sausage) I had the veal — and it was delish. I enjoyed the spinach and potatoes immensely as well. Lovely evening — good food.

My go to place for special occasions. Great décor and service. Extensive menu, full bar and wine selection. Everything I have had there has been excellent.

Delicious food, amazing desserts and a fantastic waitstaff. My husband had the eggplant parm and he cleaned his plate. I had the zuppa di mare and it had some of the best cooked mussels and shrimp I’ve ever had in that dish.
Thank you for an excellent dinner on our visit from Chicago :)

This place is AWESOME!!! been there at least 5 times and each time has been a great experience. The staff knows how to treat their customers and the food is FRESH!!! and tasty! Really good Italian food.

My husband grew up in Cape Coral. I lived there for 10 years. I can’t believe we never ate here! Perhaps the building and location gave us the impression that it wouldn’t be very good. I don’t know. But now we feel like we really missed out on something incredible!
During a recent visit to Grandma’s, my husband and I were able to snag one of those elusive date nights that parents of 4 children rarely seem to get. We wanted to go somewhere nice so we checked Unilocal and some other websites for reviews. When we saw this place listed with good reviews we decided to give it a try.
I ordered the chicken parmesan, which is my standby if nothing else captures my interest. It was perfect. The BEST chicken parmesan I may have ever eaten. Even better than Moms. Now THAT is hard to beat! I can’t remember now what my husband ordered, but he loved it! I think it was seafood?
Our waitress was very nice. Near the end of our meal she asked if it was our anniversary or a special celebration. When we told her it was just a date she disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a huge dessert to share. She told us that we looked like we were enjoying each others company so much, like we were so in love, so this dessert was on the house. It was our first taste of rum cake and it was incredible!
If we ever get a date night again while visiting Grandma, you’ll know where to find us!

Stumbled into this restaurant after a long road trip and seeking something other than fast food. The DQ beckoned as we were extremely hungry and wanting something relatively quickly but we already had our chocolate malts for the day so a fancy looking strip mall Italian restaurant won the dining battle.
We read the full menu on the wall outside to make sure we were game and while the prices seemed a bit on the higher side, we decided it would be worth it to have something fresh and different.
Our host seemed new to the game — not very comfortable with the menu or the computer and it took a rather long time for him to take our order. We watched the video of the owner/​chef cooking delicious looking meals (a DVD you can purchase at the counter), admired the map of a region in Italy that is named by regional dish (nice kitsch touch) and a 3-​D framed review of the restaurant. After running out of things to glance at our host completed our to-​go order and then motioned for us to go to the bar area to wait for our meal. We ordered the penne pasta with fresh mushrooms/​broccoli, an order of fried calamari (one of the house specials) with marinera sauce and a minestrone soup.
The cocktails/​wine/​drink menu was extensive but we were tired/​driving so a ‘near beer’ and cranberry spritzer it was. The bar was certainly lively with the boisterous, snozzled owner introducing himself to everyone, telling stories about how he acquired his big, new tv for the restaurant, and bits and pieces about people in the community etc. We were definitely entertained during the wait while the barkeep (very sweet, quiet) kept things steady and drinks flowing.
Finally our meal arrived and we were off! The calamari was tasty but didn’t seem fresh and the marinera standard fare. The vegetarian pasta was nicely done but a bit on the bland side (perhaps it’s not what they’re known for — seems the lasagna is the popular item in most reviews) and rather standard fare for the price. Sadly they forgot to include the minestrone soup so don’t know if that was the stellar menu item and the bread was a little on the dense/​borderline stale side — not what I’d expect from a more upscale Italian restaurant. Happy to have tried it out. I think the key is to eat in in the cozy dining room area and enjoy the full experience w. wine, digestif afterwards etc.

My favorite restaurant in Lee County. I have never had a bad meal here. My favorite is the filet mignon with escargot on top. Although I consider it more of an upscale restaurant for our area, I’m always surprised to see people walking in with shorts and flip-​flops. Maybe since I am a former New Yorker I expect people to dress a little bit when they’re going to a nice restaurant. I don’t drink so I can’t tell you anything about their wine menu but I’ve come with people who said the wine was very good. It is a little pricey for a lot people (but so worth it) so it’s kind of a special occasion restaurant for our family.

The food was just ok nothing special. We had steak which was dry and chewy. We also had chicken Marsala which was just plain. I think they don’t marinate their meat and just put it on gril and serve it to people. I was expecting much better service and meals from them. Also if you come with 5 people they will include 20% tip in your bill.

Excellent service Maria is the best! Food is out of this world! Order the lasagna with meatballs and the garlic n oil penne pasta was highly recommend!

The service was attentive, but the service was awkward, forgetful, and a little distracted. The service from bus staff for water, and bar for drinks was excellent.
The food was top-​notch: the chef obviously invested time selecting fresh ingredients and invested time in the preparations. Chef also took time to inquire as to our table’s satisfaction with the meals and was very engaging.
There was a good wine selection and a warm atmosphere that leans more toward family-​Italian that formal.
This could easily become a favorite.

Ariani’s is… interesting.
To give a little back-​story, my parents came here last winter, and the first thing the owner said to them was, «Do you speak English?» hah… They don’t look foreign and certainly speak English. I’m not sure whether I would walk out or laugh it off. Their entire dining experience was one disaster after another, from drink to entrees — even dessert — and my dad never wanted to come back. My mom decided to give it another shot this year, and I tagged along.
The food is really nothing special, prices are higher than they should be, but it has a nice atmosphere inside; that’s probably all it has going for it. Our server consistently disappeared for 15 – 20 minute stretches, so this is not a place to have dinner in an hour — count on two, at least. I don’t think any of us will be coming again.