STORY AND PHOTOS BY BRENDA EGGERT BRADER
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How about this? Relax in a cozy, warmed in red accents, dining room while you linger over a soft glass of wine and peruse the Italian-American menu that hosts an unbeatable selection of food items. There are no hand-held flashing buzzers here. There is always room for one more to be seated at Café Panino.

Café Panino in Winter Haven, and the two sites in Lakeland, offers Italian-American cuisine with flair. The portions are oh, so large and so delicious. From the exceptionally large stack of heaping corned beef and sauerkraut of the Reuben sandwich to the tasty big Panino hamburger, lunch is a main meal here. Dinners can include Italian fare or one of the specials that change every week. “The restaurant offers a full menu each season,” said Denise Schech, house manager for two stores.

Lunch becomes a special occasion when you choose the lunch combo. Select two items to pair together from the chalk lunch board at all the sites. “There are seven items listed and the customer selects two of the seven for his combo,” said Schech, “Or, try one of several Panino sandwiches. The Bavarian Panino is Italian all the way with homemade flavors and sautéed items. There are many special breads and, of course, the great hamburger.” You can’t go wrong ordering dinner. Check out the new quarter roasted duck or perhaps the seafood pasta with scallops, shrimp and calamari. The best-selling item for dinner is the New York strip steak for only $9.99. “It is a very tasty 12-ounce steak,” said Schech. “My favorite and also very popular is the pork tenderloin.”

Dining at Café Panino caters to your desire of choice location. The Winter Haven store on Central Avenue presents a quiet small area in the store where you can meet for lunch with friends at a small table and people watch near the windows. Booths add that cozy feeling along the side. Stop by in the afternoon for a wine and small appetizer. The casual atmosphere and peaceful ambiance is appealing during a busy workday. The larger dining room is accented in red and offers an abundance of tables in the Winter Haven store. Windows face street sides since it faces an intersection. Dimmed for an enchanting dinner hour, the dining room is comfortable offering seating at booths or tables. Nothing is rushed, but the service. You can sit back and relax over a cocktail after surrendering your order.

I have been treated to three dining occasions at the Winter Haven store. Dinner featured the seafood pasta, large in portion as it was in flavor. My companion dined on the linguini with clams that offers a pound of steamed clams on top. Other restaurants have the same old margarita choices, but the specialty here is martinis in various yummy flavors. A Panino drink specialist won first place in a drink competition with his martini specialties. Recommended is the Italian cappuccino flavored martini. Oh, so refreshing. I loved the roomy large chairs at the individual tables in the main dining room. No need to feel cramped and too close to other diners here.

The store hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for lunch and 4-10 p.m. dinner Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but no lunch menu is available. The Winter Haven Café Panino is at 346 W. Central Ave., 292-8300. Reservations are not needed, but they do accept them for large bookings and, of course, specialty groups.

The two sites in Lakeland are downtown at 1021 S. Florida Ave., 683-2252 and at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport at 3131 Flightline Ave., 619-2100 in the airside center.