Antonios review from the Dania Beach Press
Randomly ask any Dania Beach resident where to go for a great home style cooked Italian meal and they will most likely point in the direction of Antonios Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant. A Dania Beach staple for over 3 decades, Antonio’s Restaurant has become a second home to those looking for a laid back and affordable dining experience with food quality that rivals most pricey upscale restaurants. It’s a great place where a person can come straight from the beach in shorts and sneakers and sit comfortably next to a businessman in a suit and tie. The key is in the friendly warm atmosphere that makes the customers feel more like they are returning home to mom’s dinner than to a restaurant.
In the late 1970's, owner Tony Suriani Sr. Began working for a corporate pizza chain that brought him down to South Florida to work in their local Dania Beach restaurant. There he would meet and marry a lovely waitress named Karen and over the next 30 years the two, along with their four sons, would build together a wonderful extension of their family that could invite locals to join them for great food and friendly conversation at reasonable prices.
Tony Suriani Sr. bought his own restaurant in 1978. He wanted to, “create and maintain a place where people can come and just relax and feel like home... to actually be a second home.” One way of creatively connecting the food and the people is shown in some of the dishes’ names which derive from their many loyal patrons over the years. You can simply order the veal, or you can order the “Serpe Special” named after the late Jim Serpe, which will get you a deliciously cooked veal cutlet and eggplant with a stuffed shell and manicotti with sausage and meatball. At $18.50 its likely the scariest price you’ll see. The dishes are extremely affordable averaging from around $12 to $15, and come in proportions big enough for two with leftovers.
Early bird “Light Dinners” are also conveniently offered at half the price between 3pm and
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