Seafood Near Me in Orlando

Italian Seafood Worth the Search

You searched "seafood near me" and got a list of chain seafood restaurants, fried fish shacks, and places where the lobster comes from a freezer bag. Ciao Italia Ristorante is something different. This is Italian seafood, the kind where clams are sauteed in white wine and garlic, risotto is slow-cooked in seafood broth, and every dish is made from scratch by a kitchen that has been doing this for 35 years.

The Navarra family opened Ciao Italia in 1991 on Westwood Blvd, just minutes from SeaWorld and International Drive. The seafood dishes on the menu are not afterthoughts. They are some of the most popular plates the restaurant serves, ordered by locals and tourists who know the difference between reheated and real.

The Seafood Menu

Risotto Pescatore

This is the dish people come back for. Creamy arborio rice cooked slowly in a rich seafood broth, loaded with shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari. Every bite has a different combination of flavors and textures. It is the kind of dish that takes time to make right, and the kitchen at Ciao Italia never rushes it. If you order one thing, make it this.

Zuppa di Pesce

A traditional Italian seafood stew. Shrimp, clams, mussels, calamari, and fish simmered together in a tomato broth with garlic, white wine, and fresh herbs. It arrives at the table bubbling and fragrant. This is comfort food with serious depth, the kind of dish that warms you up and keeps you coming back.

Linguine Vongole

Linguine with fresh clams in a white wine and garlic sauce. Simple, classic, and impossible to fake. You either have fresh clams and good technique or you do not. Ciao Italia has both. The pasta is cooked perfectly al dente, the clams are tender, and the sauce is light enough that you can taste everything.

Shrimp Scampi

Jumbo shrimp sauteed in butter, garlic, white wine, and a touch of lemon. Served over linguine. This is one of those Italian-American classics that most restaurants get wrong by drowning it in butter or making it too greasy. At Ciao Italia, the balance is right. The shrimp are the star, and everything else supports them.

Lobster Ravioli

Handmade ravioli filled with fresh lobster meat, served in a light cream sauce. The pasta is delicate, the filling is generous, and the sauce does not overpower the lobster. This is one of the dishes that shows what handmade pasta can do that factory pasta never will.

Calamari Fritti

Lightly fried calamari with a thin, crispy coating and a tender interior. Served with house-made marinara. It is the perfect way to start a seafood dinner, or to share with the table while you figure out what else to order.

Why Italian Seafood Is Different

Italian seafood cooking is not about batter and deep fryers. It is about letting the quality of the ingredients speak for themselves. A good linguine vongole has four things: pasta, clams, garlic, and white wine. That is it. No heavy sauces to hide behind. No seasoning blends to mask old fish. When the ingredients are fresh and the technique is right, you do not need anything else.

That philosophy runs through every seafood dish at Ciao Italia. The kitchen sources fresh seafood daily, prepares each dish to order, and relies on the same Italian techniques the Navarra family brought to Orlando in 1991. It is the kind of seafood you would get at a restaurant on the Italian coast, not in a strip mall by the highway.

More Than Just Seafood

Even if you are here for the seafood, the rest of the menu is worth exploring. Handmade pastas, veal piccata, chicken marsala, and a $13 kids menu with gelato. The wine list is curated to pair with both seafood and land-based dishes. And if you want to take the seafood home, Ciao Italia is available on Uber Eats and DoorDash.