Pazza Luna is a small restaurant hidden in a small plaza outside a small quiet neighborhood. Like most places in this blog, blink and you will miss it. A co-worker praised and praised this place in the outskirts of the Kissimmee area (which is far bigger than one can initially imagine) and told me that it’s run by a Puerto Rican family. Hmm, an Italian restaurant run by Caribbeans. Sounds like an adventure in cuisine.
The day I went began with oddity. Inside, it got mildly eerie because there was nobody there. And by nobody, I mean not a single soul. The dining room was clean but didn’t have a single soul. The kitchen didn’t have any movement. Place was open…but there was nobody home. Anybody could have robbed this place blind. I stuck around for a little longer to see if anyone would notice a customer. Finally after about three minutes, I was being seated. The lady tells me how business over there varies depending on the day. This level of unpredictability would drive someone like me insane.
Now, the garlic knots. The place says their claim to fame is their rolls of bread. The bread arrived on a small basket and literally on a bed of oil, butter, and garlic. This is the worst food to have on a first date unless you have tic-tacs the size of jawbreakers.
But it is indeed the best garlic knots I’ve ever had, as it was bursting with whimsical flavor, calories, and was rich enough to pose as a great appetizer. These garlic knots made the actual appetizer look bad, even though their mozzarella sticks were indeed a light delight. I decided to go with their most popular item, which according to them is the meat lovers baked ziti: which was pasta, meat sauce, meatballs, sausages.
The baked pasta was a bit underwhelming. I came in to this restaurant with the notion that maybe the Italian food would attempt to have some sort of Puerto Rican kick. You know the kind with the extra spices, extra flavor, and the cooked-from-home sentiment. The pasta itself was just a base as it didn’t have much flavor. All the flavor came from above with the blend of cheeses, sauces, and meats. Once you got past the top layer though was a layer of plain ol’ ziti. Mixing the pasta up with some oil or basil (or anything) would have helped plenty.
What did save this experience though was the bread and the dessert. Their spumoni, which is ice cream chunks surrounded by a hard chocolate shell with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, is a pure delight from start to finish. If I ever were to roll around here again my meal would be four helpings of bread and this dessert. The spumoni was one of the better desserts I’ve had in Kissimmee.
Bottom Line: Pazza Luna has good food, but fails to separate itself from the usual Italian crowd (In spite of their warm, and scrumptious garlic knots) even if the founders came from the Caribbean. Kind of like Cuban Chinese cuisine (which exists, believe it or not), Caribbean Italian would have made a great fusion of flavors, styles, and foods. Sadly, this place doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity as they deliver merely good Italian food—nothing more, nothing less. If you live around here, give it a shot. But if you live far, I don’t see how you will feel satisfied making the lengthy journey (and past true-blooded Italian places) to dine here.
After all, if you are like everyone else, it would explain why the place didn't have a single other soul during my entire time there....
Final Verdict: Lightly Recommend
Pazza Luna
2932 Pleasant Hill Rd
Kissimmee, FL 34746
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