Italian Gardens Restaurant

My experience here last weekend was actually really good. We did get there at the beginning, so there weren’t a lot of customers, but our waitress was very friendly, always had the drinks filled, and knew when to leave us during our conversation.
I had the special, which was a ravioli with alfredo sauce and pesto. It was very rich and delicious, but there wasn’t any way I could have eaten all of it. I also had the cannoli for desert, chocolate chip, which reminded me of chocolate chip cookie dough on the inside. The crust was a little too hard though.
Overall, I had a good experience and plan on returning.

Horrific. Don’t waste your hard earned money on this disgusting place of business. Everything has went down hill in a year sorry to say. What happen to delicious food and friendly wait staff?
My wife and I stopped by Saturday night (about a week ago) not too busy so we figured great time to stop in. First thing we were sat at a dirty table that wobbled, no big deal. What comes next is very disappointing. We were greeted by an older waitress who screams «I’ll be right with you» from across the dining room. Classy. We ordered brusketta which was a pile of flavor less tomatoes and onion on top of soggy wonder bread. The waitress recommended spaghetti and meatballs which my wife took her up on. I ordered veal parmigiano. The spaghetti was watery so much we had to drain it off the plate, sauce was out of a can with a very high acidity! My entrée was nothing more than one frozen veal patty with the side of that awful spaghetti. I asked for a vodka gimlet when my waitress informed me that the owners are «good» Christian’s and don’t believe in serving alcohol. I thought to myself does that make me a «bad» Christian for indulging? My wife ordered a pitcher of Sangria which we never received. As for dessert the lemon cake was fantastic! However this wasn’t homemade as we were informed, they also sell it at many other restaurants in the city.
I asked about the lack of music, the waitress promptly put on Frank Sinatra although she wasn’t allowed to? still not sure on that one.
We will never return as we feel that we did not get our money’s worth. We also don’t care for the lack of better words, «trashy» waitress with offensive teeth using profanity and complaining about the owners to other staff.
I do not see this establishment prospering.

This place has just gotten worse as time has went by. I thought to myself give it one more chance and make it simple so I order spaghetti meatballs. Let’s just say chef Boyardee would give them a run for their money. And the soup I had tasted like Kroger brand bean and bacon soup with some hamburger. This place needs an actual Italian to learn to cook from!!! Won’t be returning. I mean really how bad can you mess up spaghetti???

How bad was the service? Really bad.
Was the food worth the wait? No.
Would you go back? Never.
Did you read the Unilocal reviews prior to seating: No! You know it never ends well when that happens.
Why my sister and I came here, I don’t know. We were hungry and she suggested the place. We walk in and there are only 4 – 5 tables filled. So we thought the wait would be short. Nope. The server was busy selling us on the bread — the white bread with butter and herb as we waited for our food. We had 3 – 4 orders of the bread during our wait. 2 times, the server just bought it to keep us calm.
The table in front of us had been waiting a long while for their food. The server just keeps telling the table — and then our table — that the food was coming. 10 minutes pass. 20 mins pass. «The food was coming» She would suggest. The large table finally gets their food, but we wait at least another 15 – 20 minutes for our food. Waiting time (from order to food): 65 minutes.
When we received our food, it was cold. Like the food had been standing. So not only was the kitchen behind, but the server was not getting her food out quick enough! My sister’s plate was not even warm. My plate was warm, but the food was lukewarm. The server took the food back and warmed them in the oven. Then and only then, we saw steam rise from our food. Additional waiting time: 5 minutes.
So we didn’t have food for 70 minutes. My sister even asked the table of 6 ahead of us about their wait. They suggested it had been awhile. Note, we only had ordered pasta dishes. My sister had lasagna, maybe. But no meat.
Then the cycle continued with new customers. Instead of a greeter letting people know the kitchen was behind and the wait was going to get a little longer than expected, the server just keeps saying that their food was coming; when that was not true. Then offered or bought out more bread.
We got a dessert for our wait. But really, the food just was not that great for that type of wait at all. It was 2 – 3 stars, at best. No manager came out to explain or check up on any of the parties. Maybe this is how things go here.
Suggestion: Please work on reducing the prep and serve time. Also, adding greeters at the front would be helpful to inform people about a wait time. You don’t have to tell us the kitchen is down one cook or behind, but you should let the customer know when there is a wait time longer than expected. Lastly, a manager or shift lead should come out to explain or check up on any of the parties who are appearing to be unhappy. The kitchen and the servers all knew the kitchen was behind, so a manager or shift lead usually knows the issues going on as well and how that may impact the front of the house. Usually when someone asks to take something back to the kitchen, a manager or shift leads usually come out to check on the table to ensure everything is OK. It would be nice for a manager or shift lead to make these checks.

Their Alfredo Sauce is awesome but I’m pretty disappointed with the $ 3 charge to share your food.
Maybe that’s a new thing in restaurants, but if it is, the ones that don’t charge frivolously will get my business.

Maybe it used to be a nice place, but this was a very unremarkable dinner. First, it was 7:00 on a Saturday night and we were one of two tables filled. Not a good sign. Next, both our glasses were dirty. I ended up drinking my beer from the bottle. Waitresses were talking so loud about personal business in the back that we could hear the whole conversation while we ate. The «bread» that they brought out was a couple pieces of white bread toasted with some garlic butter. Not too good. I had chicken parm. Chicken was pounded very thin and was not very tasty. Wife had cheese tortellini with chicken. Paid extra for the chicken and go a couple small pieces. Not worth the up charge. Tortellini appeared to not be fresh. I would not go again unless a lot of things were cleaned up and improved.

Read a review that said to go here instead of Olive Garden so I thought I’d give it a try.
In short, we won’t be going back. My wife had the house salad and pasta carbonara. I had Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti and a Chicken Orzo Soup. We both had garlic bread.
They were training a new hostess/​server. I get that she was new, but she has a LONG way to go. I asked her what her favorite thing was and she said «I like the chicken fettuccine with pesto cream sauce … It’s basically a pasta … With cream sauce … And pesto and chicken.» It pretty much went downhill from there. I’m sure she’ll improve. Eventually.
First the bad: First and foremost, the whole place smells of cats. I’m almost positive there is a litter box somewhere on the premises. We should have walked out right then, but no. The salad was a slab of nearly white iceberg lettuce with a few bits of shredded carrot. The soup, while good, tasted exactly like Campbell’s. My wife’s dish was okay, but the sausage was REALLY spicy. Enough to ruin the dish — even for me (we tried to trade) and I love spicy food. The garlic bread was what is more commonly known as Texas Toast. You can buy it in the frozen section of your grocery store. The spaghetti noodles that accompanied my dish seemed off somehow — they reminded me of school lunch noodles — like they had been sitting in a water bath all day but somehow treated to keep them from getting soggy. It took quite awhile to get the food to us despite the fact that we were only two of the 6 people on the restaurant at the time.
Now the good: the Chicken Parm was perfect. Not dry, well cooked, perfectly breaded, breading wasn’t soggy, cheese tasted fresh. The marinara tasted really bright and fresh.
So it was a pretty negative experience with one real highlight — but the reason it got one star instead of two is the price — which is equal to or, in some cases, higher than the Olive Garden down the road.
For food this questionable, in a restaurant in this location (bad part of town, co-​located with the most «iffy» looking tattoo parlor I’ve ever seen — and that statement is coming from an Army Veteran who has seen some amazingly iffy tattoo parlors) the price is just too high.
Forget Olive Garden — I could get far better food at a Fazoli’s for half the price.
This place would be a decent candidate for Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. By which I mean that it is staffed by people who you can tell really want to provide a good experience … But, unfortunately, just aren’t.

Local. We live on the Eastside and want to support our local restaurants and so we tried Italian Gardens. We were greeted by a friendly hostess and were promptly seated. As we were seated, an appetizer of ‘bread’ was brought to our table and we ordered our drinks. Nothing special about the wine or beer selection. The bread was sliced white bread, toasted with garlic and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it. The salads — we both ordered the salad to accompany our meal with Blue Cheese dressing. My salad had mozzarella cheese on it, my wife’s did not –hmm. The BC dressing was one of the worst I’ve had. The entrees — eggplant parmigiana for her, chicken parmigiana for me. The eggplant was good, the chicken was dry, very dry. Again, an order of bread accompanied the meal. Nothing special about the sauce. The dessert — Tiramisu, tasty but partly frozen. All in all, a nice place, nothing special though.

I’ve been a patron of the Italian Gardens since I was 3 years old and have seen it go from Pizza Pete to the subsequent owners and now back to Pete’s son and daughter.
My wife and I used to go to the Gardens 3 times a week, but then took exception to the changes implemented by the owners after Pizza Pete, having our last meal at the Gardens nearly a decade ago because it had ceased being what we’d always known it to be.
A decade is a long time to be without one of your old faves, though, and we really missed it. I can’t count the times we remarked how much so.
Over the years we often wondered what became of some of our old buddies from the Gardens, including some of the servers who’d been with Pete for decades. So, a few days ago I jumped on the local obituaries site and, sadly, found the name of our favorite server from the Gardens. She had passed only two months prior.
Thinking about her got us discussing the Gardens, so I searched online and found that the Gardens now had a website. Not only that, it said that the Gardens was back in the family! My wife and I were thrilled. We had to try it again. We went last evening.
We were immediately taken aback, mostly in a good way, by the changed décor. As another reviewer said, it at first did seem a bit sparse, but we sorta liked it; it was well defined without being too trendy and «bistro-​ish.» What a pleasure to see a wood floor instead of the old, dirty carpet, and it was great not to see fake ivy covered with years’ worth of dust. :-) The fresh paint and reframed memorabilia were appreciated. It was a bit brighter inside than we would have preferred, but we really enjoyed the music. In fact, while we ate we were reminiscing about some of the songs we used to always be able to count on hearing at the Gardens… and we heard them all again last night. Glad the family hasn’t changed the music, as it’s part of the feel of the Gardens.
For dinner we ordered a pizza, pasta and salads. We were t-​h-​r-​i-​l-​l-​e-​d to have the old Gardens salad again after so many years away! It was just as heavy on the garlic as we remember and salty enough to be full of flavor. Gone was the California blend lettuce mix the previous owners had served us the last time we ate there, which was the major reason we didn’t go back. The salads came with the usual cheese and black olives, but also red onion and banana pepper rings, additions which we did enjoy. The portion size of the salads was larger than it used to be, which we appreciated.
The pasta was a tiny bit overcooked, but the sauce was pretty much the way we remembered it. Enjoyable.
We didn’t eat there when the previous owners had moved to serving rolls, but we thought it quaint that the Gardens had the same garlic bread we remembered from before.
The pizza was a 16″, which we appreciated, and was generously topped. We really liked how the toppings were finely diced and gave nearly 100% coverage on the pizza. (We owned a number of pizza shops, so we appreciate good coverage with toppings.) We really liked the oil/​butter/​pan release they used on the outer crust ring, as it was similar to what we did at our shops. The crust had a good flavor, but in a quaint sort of way we kinda missed the old «cardboard» (premade) crust they used to use, and the canned mushrooms we used to order on our pizza. The pizza we had last evening was very good and we’ll order it again, but the crust, though brown in appearance on the bottom, was a bit undercooked in the center of the pie (I could even say a bit raw in the center, but not around the perimeter, which was odd).
We had two glasses of the house white wine and, while it wasn’t the best we ever had, it wasn’t horrible, either. It tasted better when it warmed up a bit; it was very watery when chilled. We then had some of the $ 7-​a-​glass Chardonnay and found it enjoyable.
Our server was Heather and she was great. Very friendly without being overbearing. Attentive without smothering. We enjoyed the banter we shared with her. We were sad when she told us that another of the old-​time servers had just recently passed away, too, but it made us smile when she told us that both of the recently deceased servers had eaten at the Gardens shortly before their passings.
We found the prices reasonable for the portion sizes.
We’re vegetarians and never strayed far from our usual pasta, salads, pizza and wine, so the pared-​down menu doesn’t bother us. Note that there is no 3-​way liquor license anymore, so beer and wine only.
The restaurant was not crowded, but it did take quite a while for our entrée to arrive. The salads, wine and pizza were pretty much on schedule.
We compliment Pete’s son and daughter on the work they’ve done to put the Gardens back in the condition it was before, only a bit updated and cleaner. The Gardens is an Indianapolis treasure and we are very happy to have it back. We’ll be regulars again.
We urge you to support the Italian Gardens.

I have loved Italian Gardens since I was a little girl. I remember going there instead of the Olive Garden across the street as a child and my mother explaining to me the meaning of authenticity.
As an adult, my boyfriend and I have been here a hand full of times. We recently ate here after their reopening and have to say, it wasn’t too shabby.
There are a few things missing from the menu that I was a bit upset about (Shrimp and broccoli alfredo). They also serve basic garlic bread now instead of the delicious knotty bread we couldn’t get enough of in the past. My bf got the chicken alfredo and said it wasn’t like it used to be, but wasn’t bad. I got the chicken parmesean and thought it was pretty good. The oil and vinegar dressing on my salad, however, was unbelievable! It was so simple, but absolutely delicious.
Not exactly as I remember, but not bad either. I’m hoping some kinks get worked out in this reopening and hopefully a few favorites get brought back. Even if they don’t, this place still reigns over Olive Garden any day.

Italian Gardens has changed owners, and is apparently back in the hands of the original family that owned it when it was ‘Pizza Pete’s’. There are noticeable good and bad things about the change in ownership.
Good: The inside has been totally remodeled. The floors are new, there’s a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and the booths and tables have been updated. All the ‘stuff’ has been taken off the walls, which makes it feel a little bare at first, but generally gives it a cleaner, more open feel. The manager was clearly visible all evening, which was nice. The salads that come with the entrees have a bit more ‘stuff’ on them now as well.
Bad: They have done away with a lot of the things we liked. The menu has been pared down a lot. I’d say that over half the items on the old menu are gone. My husband noticed that the tortellini is no longer on the menu, and when we ordered the bruschetta it’s nothing like it used to be. It’s now essentially tomatoes and cheese on bland garlic bread, served with heated up (likely canned) marinara sauce. The bruschetta was so good before… this was such a disappointment. They have reverted back to the sad slices of Texas Toast style garlic bread, and the wonderful garlic rolls are gone. This might have been the disappointment of the evening. My family had been really looking forward to the rolls. The pasta fagioli soup is no longer on the menu either, which was a favorite of my husband. And my favorite, the cannoli, is gone as well. They also have cut back to a single, tiny bathroom, which was barely big enough for my daughter and I to be in at the same time.
Some things haven’t changed though, namely the service. Our waitress was nice, but probably should have been shadowing someone. She didn’t know what soft drinks they have, or what salad dressings they offered (it turns out they only have three, which you would think she would be able to remember), and completely forgot to put our appetizer order in to the kitchen until we asked where it was. I didn’t realize the children’s meals came with a salad, and she didn’t offer that information when I neglected to order one for my daughter. Which isn’t a huge deal, but if it’s part of the meal and I’m paying for it I would like to know that.
Additionally the restaurant was practically empty, but it took a very long time for her to attend to us. Ordering drinks, refilling drinks, bringing the check…
The food is what kept my husband and I coming back here for almost 14 years, and now that it’s not what it used to be… I’m sad to say but I don’t think we’ll be coming back anytime soon. It makes me sad. We went on so many of our first dates here, even had our wedding rehearsal dinner here. I’m sad it’s only changed for the better cosmetically.

Looks like this is the first review since they reopened after remodeling. In short, we were SO disappointed/​grossed out.
I got the famed fettuccine alfredo. The sauce was very very thin, not much flavor, very oily, etc. The fettuccine was among some of the thinnest I’ve ever seen – really borderline spaghetti. It came with Italian wedding soup, which was not very flavorful. My boyfriend got spaghetti and meatballs on the recommendation of the waitress and he was really unimpressed. He said the sauce tasted like it was straight out of the can and that the meatballs were not very good. His meal came with a salad (pretty basic) and he chose house dressing, which he said tasted like a mixture of just olive oil and salt. The bread that came to the table very seriously looked like it came from a storebought loaf of (Wonder-​ish) bread that was toasted/​semi-​burnt with some garlic power and butter on top. We both brought home leftovers but are considering just throwing them away.
We were all about trying it since it’s a local restaurant, and we were told that it was even better now that it’s reopened. Suffice it to say that we will never be back :(

The staff was very personable and accomodating when our moderate size party shrunk at the last minute.
I only winced a little when I looked at the menu prices. I think I paid $ 16 – 18 for baked ziti. But, with that baked ziit, I did get a yummy little salad, and we got all the bread we could eat. And the portion size was pretty large. The two big dudes I was there with had left overs. I ended up eating all of my meal, although I probably should have stopped just before I reached halfway. It was just really good!
This is just one of those places where you can go to support a local east side business. Olive Garden? Yeah, that’s across the street. Who cares. Forget about that. I’d rather go to Italian Gardens.

Best little Italian place on Indy’s Eastside!!! Been eating here for years and there’s nothing bad on the menu!!!

Delicious, huge-​portioned Italian goodness. Great marinara sauce (aka mafia style = «gravy»). Heavenly, creamy Alfredo. For double cheese delight, get the cheese tortelini with cramy Alfredo. Buttery, yeasty, garlicy dinner rolls & rich creamy garden salads. The visit is more fun when you pretend you’re in a seedy mobster movie. A little shady, pretty seedy, but great food.

Great portions for the price, but the place has a dank, musty smell when you walk in that’s pretty off-​putting. Service was good

I had heard many good things about this place before going. After going I don’t get it. It was well, terrible, is the fist word that comes to mind. I give it 2 stars only for atmosphere. On the inside it looks like an Italian restaurant found in NYC’s little Italy, which is cool but…
As for the food: Whenever I go to an Italian joint, I almost always get the Veal Marsala. 1. The veal was a frozen breaded patty having no difference of taste from a frozen pork tenderloin served at your local DQ 2. They served this «stellar» cut of beef with INSTANT mashed potatoes, THE #1 cardinal sin of any restaurant.
If I go out to eat anyplace other than KFC I better at least get REAL mashed potatoes or I will never again darken your restaurants door!

Depressing. Very. We used to come here a lot before we had kids and the food was good. Much better than the overcrowded Italian chain across the street. We decided to stop in with the kids for dinner and were very disappointed. My husband’s salad «didn’t taste right» and had a lot of wilted lettuce. My cup of pasta fagioli was not the amazing soup I craved during my first pregnancy. This was very salty, mushy, and nearly inedible. My kids’ orders came with a side of applesauce that tasted downright rotten. Once we finally received our entrees (it took nearly an hour!) we were underwhelmed. My husband’s shrimp pesto wasn’t exactly pesto. it was more olive oil with mint than anything near pesto and shrimp tasted like freezer-​burnt flash frozen shrimp, definitely NOT fresh. My manicotti was rubbery and the marinara was VERY salty. The knotty rolls that came with dinner were so salty we couldn’t eat them. The ONLY saving grace was our waitress. She was an absolute doll. All in all I doubt we’ll come back again, which is upsetting. I don’t know what happened but it’s not good. We definitely want the old Italian Gardens back. not this disgusting version.

I think if you look in the dictionary under «a hole in the wall», you will find a picture of this place! Its been there for years and years and has been able to stay open even after the Olive Garden opened across-​ed the street! Its not the loud crowded place you find all over the place! Its a hole in the wall and if their more then 10 people are eating at lunch it would be a surprise! The food is OK, fresh and hot when it comes to the table, what more can you ask? This is not a fancy date place its a family joint with the charm of someones grandma’s (must Italians have a kitchen in their basement) basement! Go try some belly filling food!
Remember to eat well and to live well, and please no chains!

‘Tis ok. I had the ziti which I thought was pretty good but the rolls/​bread that were brought out were definitely a bit too sweet for my tasting. I wasn’t a fan. The calamari breading was a bit thick which left me with another ’tis ok feeling. The atmosphere is cozy but a bit crowded. The last thing I do want to note is that there are ashtrays and benches directly outside of the entrance. I am sure these are for the waits (since restaurant is smaller) but it only encourages smokers to use that space. For those who are offended by smoke I think that would be a deal breaker in itself. Try it, maybe you’ll like it but don’t make a special trip.