LASTRADA ITALIAN RESTAURANT – Restaurant

Dinner only, seven nights a week, in a room hung with movie stills, Italian landscapes and unapologetic Godfather memorabilia, with Rat Pack records on the stereo. Chef-owner Mark DeRusso has been running it on A1A at St. Augustine Beach since 2002. The kitchen leans hard on seafood - frutti di mare, pan-seared sea bass, lobster ravioli, shrimp scampi - alongside wild mushroom ravioli in brandy cream, lasagna, hand-rolled meatballs, and a steak list unusually long for an Italian house. Duck a la Strada comes with cranberry and port. Reservations by phone only. Classic, unhurried, and consistently packed.

Cuisine: Restaurant