But first dessert factory manager, Farrell Antecol invites us to a seat at the table at his family's favorite spot.

Serving chef-driven Italian classics, he says, "This place is where you wanna be."

It's located in Coconut Creek, and it's called Sette Mezzo Ristorante.

Hi, I'm Chef Franco, chef and owner of Sette Mezzo.

Hi, I'm Rita Filippone, co-owner of Sette Mezzo.

[Franco] We live in the neighborhood.

Rita, my wife, thought it would be a great idea to open up a restaurant close to home, and Coconut Creek definitely needed an Italian restaurant.

That was seven and a half years ago.

[Rita] My role here in Setto Mezzo is manager.

I oversee the front of the restaurant, the bar, [Franco] You know, everyone says it, authentic Italian.

Well, I'm from Sicily.

My dad was a chef from Sicily, came here when I was a little boy.

My dad was always in the business, so we really grew up around food.

That's what it was all about, right?

Being Italian, it's all about food.

Our menu is our classic Italian American menu.

Our specials is where we shine, you know, through my travels in Italy and other places, things that that I've really liked and really wanted to emphasize brought back, and I wanted to make it my own.

Support from community has been huge here in Coconut Creek.

Coconut Creek's not that big, but it's a great place to live and work.

Very diverse culture here.

Sette Mezzo is a very friendly family atmosphere where you can come and enjoy a great meal with whoever you bring.

So Farrell, you have been going to this place a really, really long time, right?

Franco, the chef and his family, well, they owned Sette Bello and Sette Mazzo, and then during COVID, he had the close Sette Bello.

So he left Sette Mezzo open, we'd been going there since Franco opened.

I think he opened in 2017.

Wow.

Shari, first thoughts?

When we walked in, it was very nice.

The lighting, I enjoyed that.

We got seated right away.

I had four other people with us, and everybody came over right away.

We didn't have any problem with waiting, so it was very pleasant.

Nice, Zudina?

I really like that place, especially because they had gluten-free options available.

I mean, I usually never go for Italian, because I don't, yeah.

It's hard.

If you don't eat gluten, and you're a pasta lover, Yeah.

It's really hard.

exactly.

Good, okay, Farrell, so what did you have this last time you went?

[Farrell] So my wife had what she always gets, the arancini with tomato sauce, it's homemade tomato sauce.

We shared Caesar salads, and both my boys wanted the Fritto Misto, or calamari, but Franco does a Fritto Misto, very light.

Main course?

I had the veal chop, I always get his veal chop.

He serves it pounded out, I just get it grilled.

Gorgonzola and mushroom, Madeira sauce on top.

That sounds delicious.

It's phenomenal, it's phenomenal.

Oh, you made me hungry.

Okay, Shari, what did you have?

Oh, we started with the Margherita pizza, which was done very nicely, crispy, the sauce was really tasty.

We also had the Fritto Miso, which I thought was very nice.

Once again, the sauce has really impressed me, the flavor.

And I had the pasta fra diavolo with the lobster, and it was very flavorful.

So was it spicy?

Not too spicy.

I like spicy, so I didn't find it to be that spicy, but it was very good.

Okay, and did you find a gluten-free dish for yourself?

Yes, they actually had a special, so the waitress was explaining it to us with a lot of details.

She made me feel very welcome in how to order and everything.

So I had the lobster pasta, which had white truffle sauce.

It had porcini mushrooms, and it had pistachio.

It was so delicious, yeah.

Wow.

Was the pasta gluten-free?

Yes, yeah, it was gluten-free.

So they do have gluten-free pasta for those people that Yeah, they do.

Yeah.

That's great.

He makes his own pasta inhouse, so.

Wow, does he make gluten-free pasta as well?

I'm not sure he makes the gluten-free, but he makes his own pasta.

Okay, but still, as long as he has it, that's awesome.

Yeah, yeah.

That's good to know.

And he makes his own mozzarella cheese and everything, so it's very impressive.

Wow, sounds delicious.

Yes.

Did you have anything else?

Yes, as an appetizer, I had the grilled calamari steak.

That was very nice, too.

It came with white beans and spinach, and in a garlic sauce, salt and pepper, very nice, and I really liked the service as well.

She was very nice, and made me feel very welcome, because sometimes when you order something gluten-free, people can get a little, you know, but she was very open and so welcoming, I really liked it.

That's great, anybody have dessert?

I try desserts everywhere, so.

So that's a silly question for you?

[Farrell] He does a really nice homemade tiramisu.

It was like a giant cube.

It's not like a slice, it's just this giant cube.

Very soft, moist.

It's really a traditional tiramisu.

[Michelle] And I think your wife and Shari had the same dessert.

Shari, why don't you tell me That apple fold, About it?

Oh my gosh.

And I'm not a sweet-eater, but I, you know, I wanted to try everything just [Michelle] Is an apple fold a traditional pastry?

I've never heard of that name before.

Is that a thing?

He just puts baked apples in puff pastry, and then puts it in his woodfire oven, and serves it with And then they have it with a gelato, oh gosh.

Cinnamon caramel swirl gelato.

It was so good.

It was very nice.

And you?

I had the orange sorbet which came in a rind.

It had a very cute presentation, so it was a nice way to end the meal.

I really liked it, too.

That's lovely.

So how did you find the service, Shari?

I found the service to be very nice.

The person that took care of us, Reza, was wonderful, and it was very bustling that night, it was very busy.

We went on a Saturday, so he was a little apologetic, 'cause it was leisurely, but that was okay.

You know, when you're with friends, you enjoy talking Sure.

And catching up, so.

Enjoy each other.

Yeah, it was very nice, and it looked like a lot of locals going there that I noticed, so.

Yeah.

Okay, how about the neighborhood and parking?

So he's in, like, the dead center of a strip plaza, so parking there's never a problem, it's right there.

He has outdoor parking that you can pretty much park near, right next to it.

Yeah, I didn't find a problem.

Yeah, it's easy park there.

Did you find value in the food?

Yes, absolutely.

I mean, what I had had lobster in it, so the prices were a little bit more upscale, but it was totally worth it That makes sense.

For that pasta, absolutely.

Okay, well, Farrell, Sette Mezzo was your pick, sum it up for us, please.

Traditional Italian restaurant, family-friendly, date nights, business meetings, it's just a really great place to go.

Shari?

A great pick, nice people, good service, and delicious food.

Zudina?

Wholesome Italian restaurant, excellent service, delicious food.

A family-friendly atmosphere and Italian comfort food are waiting at Setto Mezzo Ristorante located at 6370 North State Road 7 in Coconut Creek.

Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday, reservations are accepted, where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $65.