Review of Carmelo's Italian Ristorante

We went to Carmelo’s under extremely high recommendations from several locals and also friends who recommended it while visiting Punta Gorda. The server at first was attentive, and made his food recommendations. Since I am gluten/dairy free he assured me all is well and even asked how I thought I would enjoy my meal. I chose the shrimp and scallops limoncello. Thinking it would be lemony, I suggested just an olive oil, white wine and garlic sauce instead of the cream sauce. We asked twice for lemon for the water, eventually it came, we never received salt and pepper for the table. Once the meals came, I asked for a clean knife, that never came. My meal was so sweet, I couldn’t eat it and the shrimp and scallops completely lost their flavor, the artichokes all had the tough outer piece still attached, I couldn’t even taste the rest of the meal, because of the sweetness. When the food was delivered, I had taken one bite, the server asked how our food was, but I truly couldn’t comment since it was so hot and it was only a bite of the pasta. He never returned to ask again. When I mentioned about the flavor, he asked me why I didn’t say that when he asked how our meal was. He didn’t come back after saying he would mention it to The chef. Our experience was so negative I have mentioned it on the app I use exclusively when traveling to find gluten free meals.

Safety Feature Ratings

• Staff is knowledgeable and can answer questions

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Poor