Riviera by Fabio Viviani

I was shocked when I saw what the restaurant looked like. The pictures are very deceiving. They don't show that it's just off the lobby and all that traffic. No ambiance no wow factor. It looks like a part of the hotel lobby, where they serve the free breakfast buffet in the morning. The bar itself is beautiful, but there's no wow factor when you're sitting at your table. Too bright, to Baron, too sterile.
The print on the drink menu is so small, I joked with my waiter and he said yes that's been a problem. My wife's $17 drink which was an old-fashioned was very good, but very small. My two tequila drinks were not very good.
The waiter made a big fuss about the meatballs, they were good, but not excellent, and for the size they were very expensive. We did enjoy the Mediterranean salad.
The menu is very limited, I was expecting a nice restaurant with lots of choices of different dishes, including different seafood, there's essentially three items listed under the entrées, I tried the seafood fra diavolo, and was appalled The waiter told me I would be very happy about the large amount of fresh seafood. They were the smallest muscles I've ever seen, with no meat inside at all and the clams in the dish with the smallest I've ever seen. The squid/octopus was hard and chewy. I did enjoy the pasta and the sauce. My wife's snapper was reasonable, but nothing special.
Last, but at least the waiter raved about their homemade Keylime pie, and how amazing it was. It was a thin slice of pie, maybe the size of a small coffee, cup saucer, with a ton of whip cream on top. Tasty, but very disappointing on how much it was for such a small Piece of pie.

It's kind of a mixture of a place where you get the free breakfast when you stay at the best, Western, or place when you're at the beach you go for sandwiches, fries, and a burger. Judging by the pictures I saw on yelp, I thought it would be an elegant, sophisticated Italian seafood place, it is certainly not. Don't let the photos fool you, you're just off the lobby with all the traffic right there
It was our Valentine's Day date, and just so disappointing
There is a photo on yelp of my pasta dish I ordered. My dish LOOKED nothing like the photo. I have never been served such small muscles or clams.

AhhhMazing! Every single employee has been helpful, outgoing and downright delightful. Came here for brunch and back for dinner. The food, while on the higher price point, does Not disappoint and is presented with love whether eating in or taking to go. Beautiful seaside seating indoors and out, couches with fire pits as well!
Pop in if you're walking by and If you are staying at the Maren, you won't ever want to leave

I was excited to come here as it's a new restaurant for me.
In September it's not super crowded with tourists in Fort Lauderdale so we got a seat outside facing the ocean.
Our waiter was very attentive.

We ordered off the happy hour menu which has $10 small plates and drinks(various prices). I had a glass of Prosecco which was just the right balance of dryness.
We ordered the tuna nachos and the clams and mussels. The Tuna nachos were good, they had a little kick, they were served on very large size homemade potato chips.
Unfortunately the clams and mussels were not so great. The mussels were either fished too early or overcooked because the inside stuck to the shells and was next to nothing.
The waiter kindly agreed to replace it with another dish.
We had the meatballs which comes with hardy pieces of bread. I liked the Tomato sauce, the meatballs were okay, I've had better and I've had worse

Just ordered room service from this restaurant and wow. Stunning presentation and so so delicious! Compliments to the chef wow.

The sweetest place ever thank you so much Riviera. My friends and I were visiting for spring break and we were lost. They had the kindest workers assist us in our journey. Thank you so much we wouldn't have had this experience without you.

Good service. This said, No water because there was no cups? Fatty steak and everything was cold.

We stayed at the Maren hotel so over the course of a few days we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner at this place. My biggest gripe is the lack of consistency with the food and service.

Highlights:
- breakfast sandwich is good
- husband reported that the smash burger (lunch menu) is good

Mid points:
- Broccolini is inconsistent. Bad when it tastes like fast food Chinese take out, but excellent when they do it right
- skirt steak needs to be seasoned with salt, especially because it's served sliced

Lowlights:
- burger on the dinner menu is a miss

Ate at the bar and service was great. The hummus was amazing! Those meatballs though, OMG!!!

While enjoying the weekend at Tortuga Music Fest, we decided we would have to get a good brunch in on one of the days so we weren't just eating festival food. Walking past the brand new Maren Hotel multiple times, with so many people eating outside at the "Riviera" by Fabio Viviani (which you'll probably remember from Top Chef), we figured we would check out the menu.

When it comes to brunch, I never think of Italian Brunch as an option, it just didn't sound right in my head... but that's all changed now. We went ahead and made a reservation and when we walked it, our hostess graciously gave us the option of an outdoor or indoor seat, we first went with the outdoor seating, however we quickly realized we didn't want to be in the hot sun for our meal and during the festival, so we quickly retreated back into the A/C... even though outside is a great view of the beach and great spot to people watch, especially during the festival...

Our amazing waitress, Jennifer, was so funny and helpful in giving us recommendations, from her favorite dish (Pork Chop Milanese) to some of the most popular dishes like the Breakfast Spaghetti and Charred Octopus.

I personally enjoyed all of those previously mentioned items them most, however the Shrimp and Melon Ceviche, Sachette, and Brussels Sprout Hash were all good as well. For drinks, we went with the Bentley, Verde and Mango Margarita which were all good as well. I think everyone in our group had different favorites for the meal.

The restaurant itself looks great inside, with a nice and inviting decor with varying textures and combinations that all mesh well with each other, definitely a spot that you would be happy to take a date with you. And the staff was amazing, with the Assistant Manager even checking on us from time to time.

To end the meal, we got the Pistachio Cake and the Pistachio Gelato, which were both great, however if I had to choose, I would definitely go with the cake over the gelato. The various layers of the cake and textures mixed with the white chocolate on the plate was just a perfect combo.

I would definitely recommend checking it out for yourself and now as I'm here writing this review... all I'm wondering is "what's on their dinner menu..."

I've been here twice now and had two very different experiences.

The first time almost everything we had was amazing. The tuna poke was great. The octopus was really tasty. But, the Sachette was the star of the show and It's actually why we came back a second time.

This go around virtually everything was flavorless. With the exception of the Sachette, which was amazing again. If you decide to go that's the only must have.

The hummus didn't taste like anything. The olives in it were the only pops of flavor you got.

The chicken wings were good, but they were tiny and with only 8 in the order, they are overpriced.

The rigatoni was super bland. The pasta itself was nice but the sauce was flavorless.

Cocktails: The first time, they were great. Second time, same issue, they didn't taste like the ingredients on the menu. They were strong, so there's that.

I don't think we will return, since it's a very pricy dinner...and we left completely disappointed. On second thought , maybe we just come back and sit at the bar for the Sachette and a wine haha