New, Expanded Amante's to Open

The original Amante's

As any dyed-in-the-wool Broward resident will tell you, the original Amante’s was a slice of New York heaven in Deerfield Beach and not just figuratively but literally as the restaurant served a robust menu of soulful Italian-American fare as well as co-owner Bob Amante’s killer NY-style pies. From 2006 to 2019, the restaurant drew a packed house nightly as drawn by the food as the old school vibe and warm, family-fueled hospitality. In October 2025, the new, refined and expanded Amante’s – still owned/operated by the Amante family (husband and wife Bob and Cristina with son, Nunzio) – will open at 2009 NE 2nd Street in a gorgeous new space just steps from its original location. In cooperation with operating partners Eddie & Christina Pozzuoli – the seasoned restaurateurs behind P Hospitality Management –Amante’s will sport a bright new look; the same craveable menu of Italian-American favorites, including Bob’s pizza; indoor & outdoor dining, a private dining room; buzzy indoor/outdoor bar and a separate speakeasy-style entrance strictly for takeout orders. With roots in the restaurant industry going back to 1975 and preparing to launch a splashy new incarnation in 2025, the Amante family is preparing for a truly memorable 50th anniversary!

---

​ “It’s hard to imagine that when we opened our first restaurant in 1975 it would lead to this,” says Bob, that first restaurant being a tiny breakfast spot and later a luncheonette in a then very-sleepy Deerfield Beach. “Fifty years later, we’re going strong and the restaurant is still a family affair and that extends to our regulars, who have become as close to us as family. We’re so excited for the next chapter and thrilled to be working with Eddie and Christina on the new Amante’s.” In truth, it’s not a completely bizarre coincidence that the Pozzuoli’s would be the perfect operating partners to help usher in the new the Amante’s. Anyone familiar with their backstory will see the parallels between Eddie & Christina and Bob & Cristina: Italian-American husband-and-wife culinary teams both from big, loving, loquacious Italian families; diehard commitment to honoring their shared heritage, especially when it comes to food and unflagging dedication to hospitality. In one word: family.
 
“We knew the Amante family but originally only through reputation,” says Eddie, who hails from a restaurant family going back many years to the original Tavolino in Coral Springs, recently relaunched as Eddie & Vinny’s Coastal Italian, named after the Pozzuoli’s two children. “It just so happened that we finally met when Bob and Cristina dined at Eddie & Vinny’s and we got to talking. So many parallels between their family and ours and before we knew it were talking about working together on what will be the new Amante’s. They’ll deliver that unbeatable old school soul and spirit and we’re bringing a touch of modernity and operational know-how. When Amante’s opens it will truly be the end-result of a dedicated team of people as driven by their shared pasts as they are focused on an exciting future.” 
 
So, what about the food?! A survey of the vast menu reads like you died and went to red sauce heaven. “I’m not a chef, I learned to cook at home with my family,” notes Bob. “So the food we serve is a reflection of the type of Italian-American home cooking that never disappoints.” All the right boxes are checked, from delicately fried calamari, eggplant rollatini and sweet Italian sausages with broccoli rabe and roasted red peppers to house-made pasta fagiole, lasagna, spaghetti Bolognese, linguini alla vongole, veal parm, snapper Francese and chicken scarpiello, to name a few. And that’s before you get to Bob’s Pizzas!
Originally from Sicily and emigrating to New York at age 10, Bob learned pizza-making on the block back in the Bronx at Luigi’s restaurant. “I’d watch them make pies, doing the whole thing with the dough, the tossing, you name it. But then the taste. That crust. The freshness. I was hooked and said ‘I wanna learn how to do that.’” And so he did, launching a five decade-long career using the same oven and mixer that now calls Amante’s home. Bob’s pizzas come in all shapes and sizes with countless flavor combinations, as well as Sicilian deep dish style, not to mention calzones and strombolis. House Specialty Pies include The Bianca (ricotta and mozzarella); The Amante (broccoli, spinach, garlic, and mozzarella – with or without sauce) and a traditional Margherita (light sauces, sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil). Bob’s Pizzas will be available for dine-in (12-inch pies) and to-go (12- and 18-inch) exclusively at a speakeasy style rear door with its own neon sign; Amante’s in the front, Bob’s in the back.
 
The new Amante’s is a bright, airy space featuring seating for close to 200, encompassing the dining room, bar, PDR for up to 40 and al fresco patio. Housed in a 4,000-square-foot space made up of a former BurgerFi and yogurt shop – wall dropped, spaces united – Amante’s winks at the original’s homespun charms with part of the dining room ceiling sporting interwoven canvas straps in the colors of the Italian flag. White walls and an open kitchen of white subway tile delivers a sleek, clean color palette lit by a healthy dose of South Florida sunshine courtesy of Amante’s many windows and nano-doors. After all, being just steps from the Atlantic, it would have been a crime to not let a bit of the outside in. Speaking of outside, the restaurant’s eastern facing patio seats 50.
 
Amante’s will open October 2025 at 2009 NE 2nd Street in Deerfield Beach, Florida. For additional information and to stay updated on opening news, please visit www.amantesrestaurant.com and follow on Instagram at @amantesitalianrestaurant.