A Fabulous Italian Restaurant in Bradenton Has a Festival of Delicious Italian Food
I love really good Italian food. For the past several years, I have been driving by this unassuming restaurant on the corner of a shopping plaza at State Road 70 in Bradenton. I don’t know why I never went in. Several of my friends recommended Cipriano Cucina. Last Sunday, a friend and I decided to give it a try. It was a birthday celebration!
Oh, what a find! The restaurant is very spacious, with lots of room between the tables. There is also a great bar that seats thirty-eight people. It turns out that our server, Heather, is one of the owners with her husband, Stephen. I will talk about Stephen a few paragraphs down in this story. Heather told us that they had several restaurants in upstate New York (more to come about this) and moved to Florida in 2019.
We enjoyed cocktails before dinner. My friend had a special Martini, and I had a nice glass of Johnny Walker Black. We didn’t do appetizers this time because we wanted to have plenty of room for our main course. My friend had Sauteed Chicken Francaise. She said it was awesome! The organic Chicken Breast was lightly egg-battered with lemon and white wine. She said it was one of the best she ever had! I ordered baked Veal and Eggplant. The portion was huge and oh so delicious. I loved the fresh Mozzarella that was layered between the Veal and Eggplant. My leftovers were even better the next two nights!
For dessert, we had their homemade Tiramisu. So light and fluffy that it melts in your mouth. Menu
I came back a few days later to talk with Stephen and boy, did I learn a lot! He has been in the restaurant business for just about his whole life. In fact, he was the youngest person to receive a liquor license in New York State for his first restaurant. His first restaurant, which opened around the time of 9/11 put him on the map. Stefano’s was a real hit in Wappinger’s Falls. He opened Stefano’s 2 in 2013, which also was a hugely successful restaurant. There were more restaurants, like J. Dominicks, which was a big restaurant with a party room in Poughkeepsie, NY. Finally, in 2017, Stephen & Heather sold their restaurants in New York.
Stephen and I talked for over an hour. I have so much more to share, like the time he worked at the Palm Restaurant in New York City. That’s going to be for another story.
Cipriano Cucina is a family-owned and operated restaurant. Open Tuesday-Saturday 2 p.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. – 8 p.m. Closed Monday. They have a great Happy Hour at the bar from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. with $10.00 special Martinis, $6.00 wine, $5.00 wells, and other revolving specials. There is also a great bar menu.
I love everything about Ciprian Cucina and definitely will be going back very soon.
Cipriano Cucina
3561 53rd Avenue West
Bradenton, FL 34210
941 242-5050 (Call for Reservations)
website
Photos from Cipriano Cucina