fiore's cafe

pleasantly surprised. on a recent trip to ocala (first time), i had a hankering for italian food and a business associate who had visited ocala before recommended fiore's cafe. i left my hotel with not too high hopes, as this is a beautiful place, but not a place you would expect to have great italian food.

all i can say is wow! this little unassuming place cranks out dishes that would make any true new york'er do a double take! like, did they really make this, am i in the twilight zone?

service was classy, friendly and what you would expect from a good place. the food will leave a lasting impression and harken you back here any time you come to ocala. i played it safe and had a chicken marsala which came over pasta and it was on par with eating at domenic's on arthur ave in the bronx. food came with a generous house salad and a monster house madegarlicknot.

needless to say i have eaten there just about every night of my stay and have made it about a quarter of the way through the menu. definitely try this place....i promise....you will not be disappointed!

unassuming place from the outside but cozy ambiance inside.  absolutely outstanding food.  compares favorably to places we've been to in little italy nyc (but less expensive).  the veal parm is the best we've ever eaten.  mussels fra diavlo are great (save some bread for dipping in the luscious sauce).  seafood is fresh... heck, everything is fresh!   pasta, sauces andgarlicknots are prepared in house and prepared perfectly.  great tiramisu.  generous glasses of good chianti.  excellent service.  our new favorite restaurant!  haven't tried the pizza yet but it looks like tasty true ny style pie.  "thanks lester" (our server).

excellent service, generous wine pours, large portions of good food. calamari was just ok. marsala is more of a roux than a marsala sauce but was excellent. eggplant was delicious as was the veal parm.garlicknots are huge. ceaser salad was ok, american ceaser not authentic but great if you don't like the stronger anchovy taste in the ceaser. i would go here again if i lived anywhere near here.

yum-o a ten!. stopped for "linner" at about 3- had pizza, salads, andgarlicknots (to die for!) service was awesome, food was fresh, salads were great...no complaints at all! took home half a pizza, re-heated superbly-and i would come here again any time, a true gem in ocala.
did a large pepperoni pizza, crust chewy crisp and delicious.garlicknots huge, fresh and tasty. salads, spring greens romaine and artichoke tomato, delicious house dressing. cesar salad crisp fresh romaine, croutons and plenty of dressing. also tried pizza (forget name classic i think??) with fresh tomato,garlicbasil mozzarella, soooo yummy. ate it all. girlfriends lunch all had drinks, salads & pizza &garlicknots, took home half pizza, for less than $60. pizza compares to epcot's villa napoli, it was that good. drove from deland. would honestly do a date night, and drive out here again it was that good.

three visit review. we usually visit three times before reviewing. fiore's is trying hard, but the food is inconsistent. the first visit, the frutti di mare dish has clams and shrimp that were past their prime. the spaghetti marinara, however, was wonderful.

the second visit, the spaghetti marinara was different and not nearly as good as the first time. different cook. the veal marsala was not a particularly authentic marsala sauce . . . it was a classic brown sauce, but without marsala wine. thegarlicknots are good. salads are a bit wilted and unremarkable. the house wines, however, are decent and a good pour by the glass.

the third visit was pretty good, if you stay with pasta. the meat sauce was okay. we still like the restaurant and applaud them for trying, but they are going to have to find some good recipes and prepare them consistently to become a good choice in italian food.

they have begun to clean up the outside and the inside and are making progress. we will continue to try them now and then until we see the consistency needed to become "regulars."

kelley. made reservations 3 weeks in advance for a nice valentine's day dinner. of course, had to wait. tried to seat us at a tiny table they had just set up with the chair actually halfway in the kitchen. finally gave us a decent table but it wasn't even set, silverware and glasses just laid on the table "helter-skelter". waiter must have been in training - poor etiquette - looked at me kind of crazy when i asked for a wine list. brought the wrong salad dressing and never did get what i asked for. had the worst sangria ever (but they did give us a second pitcher for free which wasn't any better than the first). their usually deliciousgarlicrolls were stale. the red snapper special was awful. i have been to fiore's several times before with exemplary service and food, hopefully they were just overwhelmed on this busy night but it will be a long time before i try them again.

good italian food & atmosphere in ocala. traveling in fl and stopped here for dinner. warm welcome and fabulousgarlicrolls. malbec wine mellow. ordered lasagna split for 2 and it was delicious. also the house salad. there were obviously many regulars talking to the owner. whipped cream covered teramisu for dessert with chocolate garnish. altogether very satisfying.

reputable place. my husband took me there for our anniversary, and let me tell you what....i've been craving it ever since!
my mom and dad told us that sometimes for lunch when they don't want to spend to much money they go up there and get the soup and some rolls (thegarlicknots are to die for) so my husband and his crew from work went there (they like to try new places) and ordered about one of everything. they said everything was perfect so he was really excited to take me. we went there about a week ago and i got the eggplant parm sub, well the waiter or the cook must of not read it right because they sent out a chicken parm sub and i proceed to take a huge bite and i panic after it hit my mouth because i haven't eaten meat in about 9 years. well we told the older woman walking around and she apologized and put in for me to get another sub and about 15 mins later it came out and it was phenomenal, best italian food around, my husband got some black pasta eel something, not sure, but he ate every last piece. when our bill came they told us that the sub had been taken off, totally surprised me, was very awesome of them. i will go back and probably laugh at what happen and continue to tell everyone how good it was.

so delicious!. hands down, the best italian in ocala. i've tried other "italian" fare around town and have been served frozen ravioli covered in commercial spaghetti sauce. fiore's is so fresh and homemade -- how real italian food should be. with their bruschetta, warmgarlicknots, divine salads, flavorful pastas, and amazing pizzas, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. love it! great for sit down dinner or take out.

simply delicious!. after reading many of the reviews regarding this restaurant, most of which were good, we decided to try it that past friday evening. we are so happy we did! while it doesn't look like much from the outside, the inside is adorable - very "italian feeling." we were seated quickly near a window and waited on in a very timely manner. our waiter, cilo, was a pleasure, and very attentive to our needs throughout our meal. we started with a small order ofgarlicknots - what a great choice - came with marinara sauce - yum! i ordered the chicken parmesan, which came with a beautiful, mixed greens salad with their house vinegarette - all was wonderful! my fiance ordered a meat lovers 10" pizza which was also excellent. this pizza was more than enough for him, and he has a huge appetite!!! if you haven't tried this gem in the heart of ocala, i strongly recommend you do! our two meals, along with the appetizer, came to right around $30. terrific value, great place, fabulous service.

myles. small,very causal dining.more of a pizza place than anything else.meatballs are heavy,a lot of bread in them and tasteless.pasta sauce was very very bland zero depth to it almost out of a jar.
dinner comes with pizzagarlicrolls very good! we went to fiore's based on the ocala magazine article and we were very disappointed and won't be going back.
it is a shame because they do try to please but fail to deliver the sauce ( gravy) is real bad so although the pizza dough may be fine but...it's not always the dough.
signed,
very disapointed

i went to fiore's tonight with high hopes! my friend and i had heard great things, but were both extremely disappointed. once we were seated, our inept waiter, josh, took our order. an hour later, we were yet to receive our rolls! finally, the waiter came and asked if we still wanted them because "someone else took them." when we said yes, we still didn't see the waiter or the rolls for 15 more minutes! finally, we asked the hostess, and she got them for us. she was the only redeemable thing about this place! in the time we were there, which granted was a long time due to poor service, we watched two tables wait for over ten minutes to be greeted, before finally leaving. i don't even think the frazzled, confused wait staff even realized they walked out! in the end, we didn't receive an apology, and our waiter even tried to charge us for thegarlicrolls that came after we were halfway finished with our meals! in contrast, we watched as "regulars" were ushered in well after us, served and catered to like it was a five star restaurant, and out the door before we even had the rolls! i guess have to be a local attorney to get decent service! the food was decent, but overpriced. i'd suggest labellas or danzano's for good food, fast and friendly service, and a great experience. fiore's will never have my business again, and i plan to spread the word to as many people as possible!!