Il Giardino Sul Mare Restaurant

I want to give it a negative rating which annoys me cause we’ve been coming to Il Giardino’s since 1997 before the waiters bought it. It’s a fav. So much so that my husband booked it for the night before Valentine’s Day. WHAT A FRIGGIN DISAPPOINTMENT!
They had a «special» menu — which were some of the entrée’s that’s on the regular menu except inflatedly priced tonight. I get it, it’s the night before Valentine’s Day.
Asked for the white balsamic herb dipping oil that is usually complementary with the bread. Was told that it would cost $ 3.95 tonight. Oh. Okay, we like it so… Cha-​Ching!
Daughter and I both ordered the sangria. After ordering noticed that it was just $ 2 more for the carafe but waitress, Virginia, never offered us that option. Thanks gurl.
I ordered the strip steak, medium. It came out rare. The blood was flowing all over the plate. For me, that’s gross. I couldn’t find Virginia, our waitress, so asked the bus boy, who was around more than Virginia, and who was running around more than she was, if I could get a medium steak. About ten minutes later Virginia showed up. She announced quite irritably, «let me know how THAT is» as she HANDED me the plate and sauntered off. Oh, someone isn’t happy and she’s not the one left holding the $ 32.00 rare steak.
It was THE SAME STEAK. Not cooked any more, the end was cut off but left there and still cut in half where I left it. It was covered in piping hot, over cooked crab meat and mushrooms. Gorgonzola cheese was non existent. It was still rare. The blood was now under the lettuce and tomato slice garnish. I’m not kidding.
After about fifteen minutes, Virginia showed up, stone faced. «How’s things!» Erm, not too good. I told her my steak was still undercooked. I asked her to take my meal off the bill. Did I want anything else? Nah, everyone else was finished eating at this point. She took the plate and walked off. Did we want any more bread? Drinks? No, none of that was offered.
We paid the bill, tip included. I told the owner as we were leaving how disappointed we were. He blew me off. He said «we cooked your steak again» then ignored me. Really. Just looked past me, then looked away and started a conversation with someone else.
You lost a good customer tonight. Will NEVER be back.

Small menu, but the food is tasty. It is probably the best Italian food I have had. A few years ago, they had a different owner that would come with homemade limoncello at the end of the meal. They no longer offer the homemade version, but if you ask, they will come out with the bottled version. I highly recommend ordering the zeppoles. The restaurant also has a live singer on the weekends who does a fabulous job!

Best Italian in the area. Never been let down here !

I would have given this place 5 stars but they are very expensive. Other than that every time we have eaten there we have really enjoyed our food. Their drinks are a bit overpriced as is some other entrees but the chef is definitely to be commended for the food that he does put out. Our favorite appetizer is the carpaccio. It is beautifully presented well seasoned and my family & I enjoyed it immensely. The wait staff seems professional although it is frequently crowded. It seems that they have a particular crowd that visits frequently and they seem to be sat in better seats and sometimes have been taken ahead of us. We do not visit here often because of the price but when we do we do enjoy it.

Great Food!!! A nice, clean, quaint restaurant with a one man music performance on Friday night. Both my girl and I had a great dinner. Highly recommend giving this place a try

Went on a Sunday @630.no wait at all.5 tables. Time between courses seemed a. bit longer than norm for not being busy (. Service was good thou.).However food was great. wife asked for a. non menu item and it was made with no issues (shrimp picatta) was very good. Would of had 5 stars if not for the salad. It was just iceberg lettuce
cheese crumbles. no cuke,.tomato, onion. nothing else at all,.but the meal made. up for it. The shrimp scallop an swordfish special was great. We will be back again as we have been for the past 10+ years.

The place reminded me of the dining hall of a nursing home. The food was OK and the wine list was limited, with some low quality wines being sold for crazy high prices. Place is in need of a serious remodel. Service could have more attentive.

Always a pleasant experience with excellent food, service and value, Could easily have gone 5 stars, because I would gladly return to this restaurant anytime. Try for a table by the window for the maximum experience.

This used to be a great restaurant. The food was very inconsistent recently. I hope it was just an odd night.

Excellent all around! Great service, the food was spectacular! Best stuffed artichokes I’ve ever had!

This is one of my favorite restaurants. My husband and I have dined here many times. The food is delicious. The wine list isn’t extensive, but it is appropriate for the area. It would be nice to see some higher end selections, too. My husband is Italian and our main home is in Brooklyn. We feel this is on par with the Italian restaurants we frequent in Brooklyn. The service is usually excellent. With reservations, we have never had to wait… not even on Christmas Eve when it was very crowded. We usually order a bottle of wine, a couple of appetizers, entrees and sometimes we have dessert. The appetizers are always large and delicious. I don’t think we have ever tried something that we did not like. The only thing that stopped me from giving it five stars is that once, while my husband was dieting, he asked if he would be able to have a side a vegetables with his entrée instead of potatoes. Our server said «sure» he could have a side of vegetables and no potatoes. He didn’t mention that they were a separate charge for the side. We asked about it when the bill arrived. He informed us that they are always additional. They were inexpensive and if he had mentioned it from the start my husband would have ordered it anyway. But, he would have also chosen a potato to give to me or bring home. We normally spend at least $ 250 before a tip for the two of us, so it really wasn’t about the money. It was a minor thing, but it left us feeling not as pleased with our experience there. We have gone back since then because it really is the nicest restaurant in the area.

Its ok for the area but the place draws a big older crowd.
You better go early since the place empties out by 9 on the weekend.

Food is excellent. Even with take out. The seafood pasta is rocking’! Creamy, fresh and so savory. adequate seafood… thumbs up on this one. after eating, i didn’t even mind the fact that i was on hold to order for longer than 5 minutes. almost. lol…

Outstanding food and service! Would definitely recommend and we will return soon! Appetizers and specials reasonably priced and food was fresh. Liquor license is a plus!

Mediocre at best! Despite previous reviews, this place was highly disappointing! My review is from the perspective of a large party with a pre-​set menu, and my advice to others would be to avoid choosing this place as your venue. First of all, it took an hour after arriving for bread to simply be put on the table and orders to be taken. The rest of that hour was spent trying to get beverages and staring at the butter put out on the table for the nonexistent bread. The timing of the meal was simply awful. It took roughly two and a half hours to get through the appetizer, salad, and entrée. In defense of the employees, they seemed to be working very hard. My guess is the place was understaffed. You didn’t exactly see anyone from management stepping in to try to improve things, either.
Now a word on the food: The portions given out to the members of the large party were incredibly inconsistent. One person would receive a heaping portion of something, while the person next to you would receive maybe ¼th of that amount. This occurred across the board, from appetizer to salad to entrée. Whoever was haphazardly portioning out the food should be ashamed. Also, the stuffed mushroom appetizer was especially disappointing in terms of size… three dime-​sized mushrooms, really?
In terms of taste, the food ranged from good (the penne vodka was, in particular) to just blah. Maybe I am biased, coming from Italian heritage, but it was nothing to write home about. Certainly better than the Olive Garden, but that’s the best compliment I can give it. The salad we were served was a sad bowl of romaine lettuce with the smallest amount of vinaigrette I’ve ever seen; no other salad toppings. Also, the Sangria tasted like it came right out of a cheap bottle from the liquor store, with the only fruit being a few sad apple slices.
The building itself was worn and dated looking. The upstairs was particularly bad. We were luckily seated downstairs, but upon going upstairs to use the restroom I was faced with a very musty smell and a disgustingly worn out carpet. Overall, I would not return to this place. Sure, it’s a cute location right along the water. But the service was poor, the food was mediocre, and the building could use a lot of TLC.

One of the best restaurants in the area. I totally recommend this place. I have eaten here three time and the prices are reasonable, service is great and the food it’s outstanding. Please also is ten to the specials since they are real gems.

We had a problem with a gift card purchased, but the restaurant was accountable and took care of everything. I always appreciate good service and would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

I loved the staff and we had a patio table which was great when we went but unfortunately the food was a HUGE disappointment! I had the caprese salad and it had so much vinegar, I could hardly eat it! I’ve lived in Italy for three years and NEVER had it prepared with vinegar or at least if it was it was so appropriate it wasn’t over baring. I had a shrimp, sausage, and pasta meal. The sausage was cooked to perfection but had it not been for flavors of the sausage the meal would have been void of ALL flavor! The garlic pieces and sausage were relied on to create the flavor and all I did was add salt and I could eat it but I had to make sure that I cut the sausage up very small to make sure that every piece of pasta had it or it would have been buttered noodles… with my added salt. I have been dying to go to this restaurant for several years and I wish I could say it was worth the wait.

I love this place. This is my second times. This is one of the best Italian restaurant. There food are fantastic. It’s very elegant and very clean. People are very nice and friendly.

One Star for food. Manager RUDE and NASTY! Will never ever eat here again. We were treated rudely by the manager over a $ 5 dollar lunch coupon. We were told no problem if You never return, a lot if other people like us. REALLY??? Very very poor business conduct. Food only average. Never will return.