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Dinner and a movie | Rosinella and 'Cinema Paradiso'

 

Whole chickens roast in Rosa Vito's wood-burning oven.
Whole chickens roast in Rosa Vito's wood-burning oven.

IF YOU GO

Place: Rosa Vito

Address: 1036 S. Miami Ave., Miami

Price range: Whole pizzas $10.95 and up, slices $2.95-$3.95, half slices $1.75-$2.25. A la carte chicken quarter $5.95 dark, $6.95 white; half $8.95; whole $10.95. Chicken dinner with two sides $6.95-$13.95. Side dishes $2.95. Salads (Caesar, chicken Caesar, romaine with tomatoes or fruit) $3.85-$7.95. Croquettes $1.50, tiramisu $4.25, panini $6.95.

Contact: 305-372-2707

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

FYI: Takeout only.

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jmailander@MiamiHerald.com

• EAT: Fans of Rosinella, the family-owned Italian restaurants in South Beach and downtown Miami, may be disappointed to find that la famiglia's latest venture -- a cafeteria-style eatery next to the Brickell Village location -- doesn't carry the trademark, made-to-order pastas. Not a noodle in the place. Instead, Rosa Vito offers precooked pizzas by the slice and rotisserie chicken.

It's all about speed at this 3-month-old, walk-up counter. The food is displayed behind a glass window in a sparse, squeaky clean environment. ''Roman-style'' pizza slices (thin rectangles big enough to make a single meal) come in standard varieties -- margherita, marinara, vegetable, onion, roasted pepper, salami -- although Rosa Vito is willing to throw an additional topping on to customize. Fresh, Romaine-based salads are packaged in ready-to-go plastic containers, as are tasty tiramisu desserts.

The best bet is the whole chicken dinner, a free-range bird cooked in a wood-burning oven with mild spices that can feed a family of four. The two sides that accompany it are a step up from Boston Market. Our Tuscan white beans were creamy and spiked with diced tomatoes. The veggie of the day -- a small zucchini frittata -- was a mild summer treat. Gratis focaccia slices were crowd pleasers.

The chalkboard menu keeps it simple, but freedom from too many choices -- not to mention French fries -- makes this a welcome addition to the takeout scene.

• DRINK: Grab a mini bottle of prosecco or a Menabrea Italian beer from the ice bin next to the register.

• WATCH: Follow a successful film director back to his native Sicilian village in the 1988 Italian film Cinema Paradiso.

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