Osteria 500, located in Lakewood Ranch’s rapidly expanding Waterside Place, takes its name from the Fiat 500, a car that owners Carmine Ussano and Giuseppe Del Sole call “one of the main symbols of Italy.” Developed in the 1930s, then updated and rereleased in the late 1950s, the car was marketed to Italians for its durability and usefulness, while also becoming an emblem of postwar Italian style. Osteria 500 similarly combines dependability and panache, with a dining experience that blends old favorites and new dishes that are executed with finesse. 

Like a new car, the space captures your eye, with a mezzanine overlooking the main dining room, where the ceiling is covered with lush greenery and hundreds of dangling lemons, making you feel like you’re dining beneath the branches of a citrus grove. Behind the kitchen line, a mosaic-tiled wood-burning stove adjoins the front end of the namesake Fiat, which shines in cherry red.

More seating pours out onto a patio that overlooks a lake. There, another vehicle—a blue vintage bus—has been converted into a cocktail bar and is an ideal destination for patrons interested in a quick drink while they wait for a table.

The antipasti portion of the menu includes steadfast favorites like meatballs ($15.95), beef carpaccio ($17.95) and calamari ($17.95). Fried zucchini blossoms ($17.95) are stuffed with ricotta and provolone cheese. They’re humongous, maybe even too big, but I’m never mad about too much fried cheese.

Another starter category includes the restaurant’s tagliere boards, similar to charcuterie. The tagliere di salumi is draped with thinly shaved prosciutto and calabrese salami, and Castelvetrano olives can be added for an additional $4.95. A glass of aglianico (a red from southern Italy, $18) provides tannic undertones and sharp acidity that cut through the cured meat’s fattiness.

Main courses are divided into three categories: pasta ($21.95-$28.95), pizza ($16.95-$21.95) and wood-charcoal grilled meats, the latter of which include salmon ($29.95), branzino ($44.95) and veal ($34.95). The pizzas are Neapolitan-style pies, so expect individual-sized portions and a puffy, blistered crust. Osteria 500 co-owner Del Sole was previously a co-owner of south Sarasota’s Napulè, which is justly famous for its pizza, and so it’s no surprise that the pies here are excellent, too.

Of the pastas, trofie vongole e asparagi ($25.95) is made with little pasta twists tossed with asparagus and baby clams, and for an additional $6.95 you can add bottarga, a dried fish roe sometimes referred to as Sardinian caviar. The bottarga adds a funky fishiness to the briny mix of ingredients. It’s an acquired taste and not for the faint of heart. I love it, but if you’re someone who asks if the fish of the day tastes “fishy,” steer clear of the bottarga or try something different altogether. A good option: the calamarata con crema di burrata al pistacchio e salsiccia ($25.95), in which large pasta rings are anointed with a burrata and pistachio cream sauce, dotted with mild sausage and then buried beneath a blizzard of chopped pistachios.

All the classic desserts are here, at prices ranging from $9.95 to $11.95: tiramisù, chocolate cake and limoncello cake—which skews a touch dry. But why mess around with a plated dessert when a cart loaded with multi-colored gelati is set up near the front of the restaurant? You would think I might have hit my pistachio maximum for the evening; however, that limit does not exist, and I couldn’t resist a dollop of creamy, green pistachio ice cream. Delicious.

If you’ve never been to Waterside, consider taking your gelato to go and strolling across the nearby bridge and through the park opposite the restaurant. Osteria 500 is just one of the neighborhood’s destinations. The Korean barbecue restaurant Korê is right around the corner, as is the brewery Good Liquid and the coffee shop O & A Coffee and Supply. You might even try to time your visit to coincide with the neighborhood’s Sunday farmers market, when the street out front comes alive with vendors and happy families hanging out. I bet you’ll be back before you know it.

OSTERIA 500 | 1580 Lakefront Drive, Sarasota, (941) 866-8962, osteria500.com