by “The Food Guy” – Food Blogger / Restaurant Critic for Vero Vine
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For my next tasting experience, I head down the street not far from home to Cap’s Pizza! As with any restaurant review that I do, I always search Google to find some information for my articles. This was a tough one, because I couldn’t find much information about them at all. Aside from the usual sites like Trip Advisor, Yelp, and Facebook, how has this place flown under the radar for so many years? With 4+ star customer reviews, they must be doing something right.
The restaurant opened back in 1987 by John and Collete Capobianco and was originally located at the corner of 27th and Oslo Road where Cumberland Farms is now located. John and Collete used to vacation here often and stayed with John’s parents in their summer house located in Lakewood Park. With regular visits to the area, it began to feel like home and they decided to relocate to Vero Beach and open Cap’s Pizza! Back in New York, before moving to Vero and opening Cap’s, John was a Pro Boxer in the light heavyweight division with a record of 21 – 5 and was ranked a Top light heavyweight in the late 1970’s. He had to retire due to injuries sustained in a pro bout, which impacted his vision.
Located on 27th Avenue in SW Vero between Oslo and 5th St SW, Cap’s has been located on the same block (two locations) for over 30 years now. They do have a small parking lot that can fill up quickly during lunch and dinner service so be sure to arrive early. While the outside of the place is not much to look at, don’t let that fool you, the inside is nice with booths, tables, and a few seats at the bar to choose from. The walls are decorated with sports memorabilia including “Cap’s Hall of Fame” wall, with information about John’s boxing career, along with a few TVs scattered throughout.
Now let’s dive right in and see what this place has to offer and what I had to eat!
Fried Mozzarella Wedges – ($7.99) – Fried mozzarella sticks are all too common these days, so it was a nice change of pace to see these wedges. The breading was seasoned with Italian spices and was nice and crunchy! The cheese inside was soft and stringy just like you would expect. The house made marina sauce had a rich tomato flavor and was thick enough to stick to the wedges when dipped into it. They were really good!
Garlic Parmesan Wings – ($12.75) – Wings are one of my all-time favorite foods and Cap’s does them justice. When they sit them down in front of you the garlic butter sauce aroma is intoxicating! They are fried, then tossed in a garlic butter and garnished with grated parmesan cheese. Blu cheese dressing was served alongside. The wings were crispy, with loads of garlic flavor, and the parmesan cheese added an additional subtle flavor. They were great!
Small Antipasto Salad – ($9.95) – Who doesn’t love a large salad as a meal? This one seems to have everything that you would desire in an antipasto salad. From lettuce, tomato, pepperoncini’s, black olives, mushrooms, salami, rolled up ham, and freshly grated mozzarella cheese over the top, this is one salad that won’t leave you wanting more. Everything was fresh and tasted great. It was served with Cap’s house made Italian dressing.
Chicken Parmesan with a side of Pasta – ($15.00) –We are big fans of Chicken Parmesan and this one is fantastic! Buried underneath a blanket of mozzarella cheese is a parmesan breaded chicken breast cooked to perfection surrounded by Cap’s house made marinara sauce. The chicken was tender and flavorful, and the mozzarella was crispy along the edges and soft and gooey in the middle. Pasta with marinara sauce was served alongside. This dish was truly amazing!
Chicken, Bacon, Spinach, and Tomato 16” Pizza – ($22.00) – Their slogan is “Home of the Different Pizza” and this one lives up to that claim. This is one of the newer creations that is not on the menu, so be sure to ask them to make it for you. It was perfectly baked, the crust had a slight crunch, and the slices held up as we picked them up to take a bite. They are known for their spinach pizza, and this one takes it to the next level with chicken, bacon, and tomato. Everything was beyond fresh and this is one pizza that I could order over and over again.
Chocolate Caramel and Peanut Butter Heaven Cake – ($5.25) – Peanut butter, chocolate, and caramel together are always a winner, and this dessert delivers on all of those. This is more of a peanut butter cream pie with chocolate and caramel sauce over the top than cake, but does that really matter anyway? What I can tell you is that it was really good and the wife and I were fighting over the last few bites of it!
In Conclusion:
With no shortage of Italian restaurants in Vero, how does a place like Cap’s survive in this crowded space for over 30 years? It’s because they make some of the best Italian dishes around and put their heart and soul into every dish they serve. As a family run business, they also care about your experience at their restaurant and will make it right if for some reason you are not satisfied. If you have been in Vero for a long time, then I’m sure you know about this place already, but if this article is the first time you have heard of Cap’s, then get over there and try them for yourself, I know you won’t be disappointed!
Atmosphere – 4 Forks
Service – 5 Forks
Food – 5 Forks
Rating Scale Legend:
1 to 5 Forks – 1 Bad to 5 Excellent
| Wednesday | 11AM–9PM |
| Thursday | 11AM–9PM |
| Friday | 11AM–10PM |
| Saturday | 11AM–9PM |
| Sunday | 3–8PM |
| Monday | 11AM–9PM |
| Tuesday | 11AM–9PM |
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