Casa Amigos, Da Vinci’s, El Cubanito, Lefty’s Wings, Massimo’s Pizza, Rick’s Diner, Ruffino’s, Susie Q’s, Think Greek and Zapata’s top the list
TCPalm tells you where to find food locally on the Treasure Coast
TCPalm’s entertainment reporter Laurie K. Blandford finds the best food, reports on new restaurants and goes behind the scenes to tell their stories.
When in Port St. Lucie, eat as the locals do.
Bucket-list restaurants in Port St. Lucie are known for their food or nostalgia — or both. As Port St. Lucie continues to grow, the best restaurants can be found along U.S. 1 and in the rapidly developing western part of the city.
When you think of Port St. Lucie, you think of these restaurants.
The city has too many must-visit restaurants to include them all, so TCPalm plans to make more lists. If you have a restaurant that should be included in the next list for Port St. Lucie or any Treasure Coast city, email laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
Here are 10 essential restaurants in Port St. Lucie.
Casa Amigos Authentic Mexican Restaurant
Jaime Aguilar opened the first location of Casa Amigos Authentic Mexican Restaurant in 2018 in a standalone building on the east side of U.S. 1 between Prima Vista Boulevard and Crosstown Parkway. He opened a second location in Vero Beach in 2022. The massive menu features Mexican street tacos, salads, soups, bowls, fajitas, enchiladas, chimichangas, quesadillas, flautas and burritos bigger than your head. Popular appetizers include tableside guacamole, queso fundido, elotes, nachos and ceviche. Desserts include pastel de pina, cheesecake chimichanga, churros, fried ice cream, flan and sopapilla. It’s also the self-proclaimed “home of the original” margarita, served as small or jumbo, with flavors that include blood orange, prickly pear, pomegranate, blueberry, watermelon and jalapeno.
7950 S. U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie; 772-204-2744; casaamigosrt.com
Da Vinci’s Italian Grill
Anthony and Dominic Feola, whose parents emigrated from Italy in the 1950s, own and operate Da Vinci’s Italian Grill. Their father opened the restaurant in 1986 on the east side of U.S. 1 in the St. Lucie Square plaza, just south of Kitterman Road, and named it after the ship that brought him to America. It features traditional Italian cuisine and uses Old World family recipes passed down through generations. It’s open for lunch and dinner and known for its pizza, breadsticks, garlic bread, calamari, meatballs, pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, fettucine alfredo, calzones, caprese, bruschetta, salads and cannoli.
6692 U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie; 772-466-9331; davincispsl.com
El Cubanito Restaurant
The Estrada family — Osmani and Nuris and their son, Osmani Jr., all born in Bayamo in the southeastern part of Cuba — opened El Cubanito Restaurant in 2006 on Port St. Lucie Boulevard, just west of Morningside Boulevard. It serves large portions of homestyle Cuban cuisine made from scratch. It’s popular for its specialty fruit sangrias. Try a variety of menu items with the Cubanito Sampler: fried green plantain chips, ham croquettes, chicken chunks, shredded pork and tamales. Other highlights include bistec de palomilla, fried pork chunks, arroz moro, tostones, Latin egg rolls and crispy yuca with garlic sauce.
1660 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-398-2202; elcubanitorestaurant.shop
Lefty’s Wings & Grill
New Jersey entrepreneur Chris Milmoe opened Lefty’s Wings & Grill in August 2000 in Bridge Plaza on the southwest corner of Port St. Lucie and Westmoreland boulevards and named it after his father’s nickname. The Port St. Lucie restaurant was the third in Florida but now is the only one with the original name. (The Lefty’s in Coral Springs remains, but it has a slightly different name: Lefty’s Tavern & Grille.) Brian Reynolds and his business partner, Jerry Slovinski, became the new owners in 2004. The sports bar is best known for its chicken wings that are fresh, never frozen and made to order. They’re cooked crispy in high-quality, zero trans-fat oils, then tossed in flavor. Sauces include ghost bear barbecue, sesame honey, Ragin’ Cajun, chunky garlic, raspberry, hot to trot and Lefty’s special.
1034 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-337-3212; leftyswingsandgrill.com
Massimo’s Pizza & Pasta
Italian native Massimo Mangieri opened Massimo’s Pizza & Pasta in Darwin Square in Port St. Lucie in 1998. He had been living in Vero Beach for 10 years before he opened a second location there in December 2024 on State Road A1A and called it Massimo’s Beachside Pizza. The restaurant’s menu features pizza, calzones, stromboli, hot subs, cold subs and authentic Italian dishes. It offers whole pies or slices of cheese and specialty pizzas. The dough is made from scratch daily. The sauces are homemade. The ingredients are chopped fresh. The cheese is 100% all-natural Grande mozzarella. Desserts include chocolate mousse, cannoli, cheesecake and tiramisu.
3207 S.W. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-336-3737; massimospizzaandpasta.com
Rick’s Diner
Rick and Judy Eno opened Rick’s Diner in 1997. After they retired in 2013, the Hyde family took over the restaurant. It’s located in the Coco Vista Center plaza on Port St. Lucie Boulevard, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. It offers fresh, local food in a vintage diner setting. It’s open for breakfast and lunch with a variety of signature dishes made from secret recipes and daily specials. Popular breakfast items include biscuits and gravy, French toast, eggs Benedict, country fried steak, corned beef hash and scrapple. Lunch features wraps, sandwiches and burgers, as well as meatloaf, a smoked ham steak platter and traditional German Jägerschnitzel.
466 S.W. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Unit 101, Port St. Lucie; 772-356-2017; ricksdinerfl.com
Ruffino’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
Maria and Gaetano “Guy” Angelone opened Ruffino’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria in 1992 in Rivergate Plaza on the northeast corner of Port St. Lucie Bouelvard and Veterans Memorial Parkway. They are from two different towns in Italy, only minutes apart, but they didn’t meet there. They moved to Long Island, New York, and both started working for her cousin’s restaurant, King Umberto’s. When they moved to Florida, they opened their Italian restaurant. It features authentic Italian food with over 70 menu choices and daily specials, as well as a domestic and imported wine list.
1145 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-335-2988; ruffinos.net
Susie Q’s
Suzy Q’s has been serving classic diner favorites for breakfast and lunch since 2003. It temporarily closed in April 2025 because of a fire but since has reopened. It’s located in the Lakeside Center Plaza on the northeast corner of Port St. Lucie and Airoso boulevards, next to the Port St. Lucie Community Center and City Hall. Popular menu items include the stuffed French toast, biscuits and gravy and classic eggs Benedict.
263 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-878-8228
Think Greek
Stella Koufalis started Think Greek as a food truck in 2014, sold it in 2017 and opened a permanent location in 2018 on Port St. Lucie Boulevard, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. She opened a second location in January 2025 in Stuart. She’s the sole cook, making food that’s as authentic as it gets, thanks to her mom’s and grandma’s recipes. It serves both traditional Greek food and nontraditional Greek food. Koufalis puts fries on sandwiches instead of lettuce, which she said is more traditional. She also puts an American twist on some menu items: Greek nachos, Greek quesadillas and Greek wontons. The latter won Yelp’s “Best Bite on the Beach” at the 2020 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. The restaurant also was deemed to be the “Best Bite In Town” by the Food Network last May. The show’s executive producer was celebrity chef Guy Fieri from the popular show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”
644 S.W. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie; 772-800-3128; thinkgreekfl.com
Zapata’s Mexican Grill
Robert Caravan and Robert Wilson opened the original Zapata’s Border Cafe in 1992 on U.S. 1 at what is now Little Cup Café. They moved farther north in 1999 to its current location, just south of Kitterman Road, and owned the restaurant for 14 years. It’s now owned and managed by Ramon Rodriguez and his family, who are trying to bring the Mexican cuisine and flavors from their home state of Jalisco, Mexico. The restaurant is named after Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican revolutionary and freedom fighter who lived and died in the early 1900s.
6700 U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie; 772-464-7288; zapatasmexicancuisine.com
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm’s entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.