New Italian restaurant, with bar truck and more, open in Sarasota-Bradenton

Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·2 min read

A new Italian restaurant featuring the same owner as another local eatery — as well as a wood-burning oven built atop a Fiat 500 car and an outdoor bar fashioned out of a vintage truck — has opened its doors.

Osteria 500 is now open at 1580 Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place, the Lakewood Ranch development in Sarasota County. The new restaurant's owners include Giuseppe Del Sole, who also owns the Italian restaurant Napulè in Sarasota, and formerly Made in Italy in Venice.

Carmine Ussano, another one of Osteria 500's owners, said he and Del Sole are longtime friends and were looking at opening a restaurant together. Ussano also used to live in Lakewood Ranch, and when he learned of Waterside Place, he met the developers, then contacted Del Sole.

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Italian restaurant Osteria 500, pictured here, is now open at Waterside Place in Lakewood Ranch.
Italian restaurant Osteria 500, pictured here, is now open at Waterside Place in Lakewood Ranch.

"We decided that this would be a very nice location because it’s on a lake, it has a big patio like we were searching for," Ussano said. "We thought that the space was good enough and big enough for the concept."

The menu features pizzas made in a wood-burning oven, custom-built on top of a Fiat 500, with fish and other meats cooked on a custom-built charcoal grill. Other dishes include homemade pastas made using an imported pasta machine from Italy, antipasti such as imported meats and cheeses and homemade focaccia, and desserts including gelato.

Osteria 500 also has a full-liquor bar, serving craft cocktails, a wine selection that Ussano said is about 90 percent Italian, and draft and bottled beer. The restaurant features two bars: a larger one indoors, as well as a smaller outdoor bar that's housed inside a vintage truck.

Osteria 500, which also features a patio and outdoor bar fashioned out of a vintage truck, is at 1580 Lakefront Drive.
Osteria 500, which also features a patio and outdoor bar fashioned out of a vintage truck, is at 1580 Lakefront Drive.

The restaurant is about 8,000 square feet and seats around 180, with the indoor space including a mezzanine that seats about 40 and overlooks the main dining room and bar, while outdoor seating includes a lakefront patio. Two projectors will screen black-and-white films or scenery from Italy, as well as larger sports events, Ussano said.

Osteria 500 plans to be open 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 941-866-8962 or visit osteria500.com.

Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New Italian restaurant, bar Osteria 500 open in Sarasota-Bradenton