By Thomas Miller, The Treasure Coast Foodie
With Italian food being one of my all-time favorite cuisines, I was looking forward to rediscovering Nino’s Cafe since it’s been a few years since my last visit. As I entered the restaurant, it felt like a totally new experience since the last time I was there. Back in September 2017, they did a complete interior renovation of the dining room, and it feels much lighter & brighter than I remembered. I took a seat and browsed through the menu. It still had the same layout and dishes that I remembered from my previous visit. A few of my foodie friends suggested that I try their cannelloni. It’s been quite a while since I’ve ordered that dish, so I definitely had to try it.
The restaurant is located a little bit east of Ocean Drive on Easter Lily Lane, which seems more like a driveway into Humiston Park’s parking lot than an actual road. There are parking spaces directly in front of the restaurant or you can utilize Humiston’ s lot there too. During peak times, you may need to find street parking and walk a short distance to the restaurant.
Now let’s dive right in and see what this place has to offer and what I had to eat!
Bruschetta – It’s made with grilled Tuscan bread, fresh tomato, basil, garlic, olive oil & balsamic vinegar, and fresh mozzarella on top. Unlike bruschetta I’ve tried before, this one is served on a larger piece of grilled bread, has big chunks of tomato, and a lot of fresh mozzarella on top. The bread had a nice crunch, the tomatoes were really sweet, and the mozzarella was so fresh, I actually thought it was burrata at first.
Cannelloni – Housemade crepes are filled with ground veal, sausage and spinach on a layer of light tomato sauce, and topped with a cream bascimella parmesan sauce. The two crepes had a generous portion of filling in them and had a wonderful meaty flavor! The combination of the red and white sauces gave the dish a rich, yet satisfying flavor!
Margherita Pizza – A thin crust is topped with fresh mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. The crust was perfect, soft and chewy, yet had a nice crunch on the bottom. The sauce was sweet & tangy which gave it a nice contrast in flavors, and the sliced Roma tomatoes were super fresh! For those of you who are gluten sensitive, they do also offer a cauliflower crust that is gluten-free.
Nino’s Café is located at 1006 Easter Lily Lane in Vero Beach, just steps from the ocean, and is open Sunday to Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Check out their full menu at ninosrestaurants.com/ninos-café.
Thomas Miller, aka “The Treasure Coast Foodie” and “The Foodie Guy” is big on organic everything and very particular about his butter. He has reviewed over 250+ local restaurants in the last 6 years! His food photos are devoured by 10’s of thousands each month on his website treasurecoastfoodie.com. As a Google Maps Local Guide, he has submitted over 2,500 photos that have been viewed over 38 million times. His foodie tribe is over 25,000 on the Treasure Coast and his Foodie Meetups & Chef’s Table Dining Experience events are some of the Top Culinary experiences in the area! Learn more about The Treasure Coast Foodie here!