Category: Restaurants

Mozart Cafe is an excellent restaurant that happens to be kosher. By that I mean the food is great whether or not you care that it’s kosher. But be careful – some items are pricey.
It’s in a plaza off Powerline Road south of Palmetto, not far past Olive Garden, at the light where El Camino Real meets Powerline. There are a few other restaurants in the plaza including Butcher Block Grill and an Asian place appropriately named Asia.
Mozart Cafe has both indoor and outdoor seating. There’s a lot of space and pleasant decor.

The menu is diverse to an extent. There are appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches, entrees and even sushi. Look closely and you realize there’s no beef or chicken, just fish and vegetables.
This is a kosher thing, because they have dairy products there’s no “meat.” But fish doesn’t count as meat. Don’t ask me to explain that. I’m Jewish and I’ve never understood it.
We started with a hummus appetizer, served Israeli style with mushrooms. It was outstanding, the best hummus I’ve ever had and I eat it a lot. The pita bread it came with was thick, almost doughy, with dabs of either oil or butter in spots.

I was going to order a bruschetta appetizer too, but the waiter suggested the mushroom bruschetta instead. It was a good call – another delicious dish.

My companion ordered a sushi roll with salmon and avocado. It’s not on the menu but that was no problem. Having lived in Japan I’m pretty picky about sushi. This was excellent. The salmon was fresh with a buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture. It was also one of the most reasonably priced items.

We were full, but for the sake of our readers we felt we should try a dessert. There were a few choices mostly involving chocolate. When the waiter described an unnamed “dome” with dark chocolate, chocolate mousse, milk chocolate and more, we were sold. It was not a sacrifice.

And here’s what it looks like inside:

Our tab was about $40 before tip, which is more than we usually spend for lunch. But it was a lot of food, very good, plus a dessert.
We think the lunch and dinner menu are the same so prices might seem more reasonable at dinner time.
We should also mention the staff and atmosphere. Our server (Nick?) was bright, happy, helpful and interesting. The place as a whole has character. If you’re not open to it I could see that rubbing you the wrong way. But we loved it.

Puccini’s is in the plaza on the southeast corner of 441 and Yamato. It’s small with three booths, a few more tables inside and a few more outside.

We just stopped in tonight for a couple slices. My child companion insisted that I report the pizza is delicious!
By the slice there are three choices – regular, Sicilian (thick) and grandma (thin with basil). At $2.50 a slice it’s very reasonable.
Some of the menu items seem pricey, including $8 for a bowl of soup or $10 for a sub. The salads and entrees aren’t cheap either.
At the the same time, the atmosphere is pleasant and is good food. Brooklyn Boys is cheaper and good pizza but there are fewer choices and not much atmosphere. Rotelli’s is cheaper but the food is not on the same level.
If you just want a slice Puccini’s is great. If you want more be prepared to pay for it. But it’s worth it.
Sicilian on the right, Grandma’s in the middle and regular on the left.

Last evening we had dinner at the Sal’s Ristorante at 7036 Palmetto Park Road (near Powerline). Despite the fact that there were hardly any patrons in the restaurant, it took a few minutes for anyone to seat us and give us menus. Although the food came quickly, it was bland.
But most aggravating was that when we presented our Enjoy the City coupon, Buy one entree with two beverages and get a second entree of equal or lesser value free, they refused to honor it. We had ordered a dish for $10.99, a kids pasta and 2 drinks. They seemed to think that in order to use the coupon, we needed to order two regular menu items not a kids meal. This made no sense and we will not be returning to their restaurant. This is why I became so frustrated with Sal’s Ristorante for not honoring my coupon.

We just got coupons for Fresh Element in Mission Bay. So today we went and found them closed. There is a notice indicating its a two week thing but doesn’t say when that period starts or ends.