iaria's italian restaurant

can't wait to go back. good food, fabulous service, and a cool atmosphere. stepping into iaria's is like walking into a time machine. everything is original and unique, and that's represented in theirfoodas well. these are classic italian dishes, served just as they would have been when the restaurant first opened. their staff is friendly and welcoming also. we went on a busy saturday night, a time when it would have been easy for service to be lagging, but our server was fantastic and never missed a beat. i ordered chicken parmesan, which was great, but i can't wait to try more on the menu.

iaria's has been a family favorite for years, and for good reason!  this is about as authentic as italian american can get in the city.  the prices are good for the portion size and the quality offoodas well.  weekends can be a nightmare to get a seat, but it's well worth the wait.  the spaghetti (with meatballs) and lasagna are a must for anyone trying the restaurant for the first time.  other favorites: the fresh mozzarella, bruschetta, minestrone soup, tenderloin sandwich (a hoosier favorite), and the chicken parmesan.  honestly, everything about this place is just delicious.  the staff is extremely welcoming and very helpful in choosing dishes.  overall, this family style restaurant never disappoints!

a swing and a miss...by far.. we really wanted to like this place because it seemed quaint and heritage proud. that expectation was quickly dashed. short story-this restaurant would be an ideal candidate for a kitchen/business restructuring reality tv show. call kitchen nightmares!

thefoodseemed to be made with cheap, mass produced ingredients -iceberg lettuce, bottled "italian" dressing, seasonless ground beef, the list goes on.

the appitizer of tomato mozerella salad was the only thing they achieved despite its lack of balsamic vinegar (a staple of the dish).

the staff seated themselves on the dining floor amongst patrons as a group eating, rolling silverware, chatting, and the bus boys were even massaging the waitresses. classy.

one dish was removed from our bill, after many extensive explanations as to how it was just plain inedible. the sauces on the dishes at our table were described as either bland, oosing with oil, or you are chewing pepper and spices. after the manager walked away, we were bewildered at his manner and came up with the same question-do you think he was high on drugs?

a true shame and embarrassment to the first generation.

service & staff issues. very good food, reasonably priced. after many visits the inconsistent service (wait to be served, short staffed at times) is frustrating. we still go back for thefood(really great pizza, italian sausage, salads) but the back room and staff issues could certainly be improved.

authentic italian !. by far, the best italianfoodi have tasted in indianapolis. i went for lunch and ordered the spinach ravioli - wonderful! i will definitely be back for dinner. our waitress was very friendly and had such a great attitude!! i also enjoyed the inside decor, looks totally italian!! i will definitely recommend this restaurant.

waited an hour for overcooked pasta. this restaurant is a huge disappointment. for being labeled as one of the best italian restaurants in indy, it fails to deliver on every level. the decor is reminiscent of an old diner. the "famous sauce" was overpowered with nutmeg which was all you could taste. after waiting an hour ourfoodfinally arrived dry and overcooked. no respectable italian restaurant would serve overcooked pasta to the point where it falls apart in your mouth. beyond that, the veal parmesan was dry and flavorless with more breading than meat. i would recommend this restaurant to no one. go to olive garden for a better meal.

painful review for such an iconic place. this place has been on our wishlist for sometime and more so due to being a locally family owned establishment with a history dating back to it's opening in 1913. upon visiting this place, it looks dated but has authentic character. my wife and i were excited to finally set aside the time to visit this place and sample some true italian fare. our expectations were heighten further due to the place being packed by what appeared to be true loyal patrons. since we weren't aware you could make reservations and there was an hour wait, we still opted to wait (rare for us). once seated our service was pretty decent considering how packed the place was. kudos to the wait staff. all that said, i'll get on with thefoodreview in chronological order we received items. (pics included of all items discussed)

"fried ravioli" appetizer - very uneventful. basically the meat in a deep fried pocket was barely noted. the "chunky marinara" dipping sauce was bland. no interesting flavors separately or combined.

"bread basket" - had to request it ?!? wish we hadn't. i sampled one piece and was very dry and lacked any type of flavor. this was complicated by the rock hard butter that i attempted to spread on the slice.

"garden salad" - typical greens. they were fresh looking but didn't really taste as such. mushy texture with no snap and barely enough dressing. no croutons either.

"minestrone soup" - my wife opted for this and said it was decent tasting. i did sample it, but since i'm not a true fan of minestrone, it would be unfair for me to review and just take my wife's word for it. thumbs up on this one so far.

"spaghetti & meatballs" - the spaghetti in of itself was cooked properly. the meatballs were just like the aforementioned ravioli appetizer, uneventful. the sauce even less eventful. there was no notable garlic, oregano, etc. taste to the sauce at all... i really and truly hate to say this but have had better sauce out of a jar.

now down to the most disappointing dish of all - "baked lasagne" - upon arrival, it didn't even look very appetizing, but that doesn't always stop us. this thing was simply packed, no, a better operative word was "caked" with ricotta cheese. very dry texture and yet again, no hint of garlic, oregano, or any other traditional italian flavors. this was my wife's entree, and had to fight her from taking my "spaghetti & meatballs", which we've covered already.

in summary, obviously we didn't have a very good experience. we are the type to revisit due to a bad night, but there is no way this was a bad night with so many disappointing dishes and opportunities. this might of been a great place last month, last year, or 50 years ago. at this point, dare i say, olive garden has this place beat.

if you've read this far into my review, i would suggest a place like "vito provolone's" further south and is listed on urbanspoon.

really hated giving this review for such an iconic place with this type of history!

family-owned classic american-italian. iaria's probably offers some of the best quality and value for authentic italian-americanfoodin indy. the antipasto is very good and the kitchen is efficient and consistent. portions are large and bread is very good. iaria's has some of the best chicken parmesan around and although i like to try different things at restaurants, i always seem to order their chicken parmesan. the same family and friendly staff for many years. it can get crowded so come here in a party of 2 or 4 and make reservations on most nights and all weekends..

i have a real soft spot for iaria's italian restaurant. the fact that i live just a block or so away from it might have some influence on my opinion, but i don't think i'm too biased. iaria's serves good, reasonably priced italianfoodin a friendly atmosphere. as an added bonus, the restaurant has a unique sense of history to go along with the tasty vittles; it was first opened in 1933 and has been owned/managed by four generations of iarias. with its yellow bricks and neon signs, the outside of iaria's is kind of a throwback, reminding me of the 1950s. (not that i was alive then, mind you.) the interior is divided into two distinct sections at opposite ends of the building - the family dining room and the bar. both the bar and the dining room feature booths and tables decorated in the traditional italian colors of red, green, and white. the vibe is informal, more like a diner than a fancy schmancy dinner place. the wait staff is always friendly and warm. when you're here, you're fam

liked it.... i enjoyed thefoodas well as the atmosphere. i've eaten in the restaurant and in the bar. i'll go back.

yum!. thefoodis always hot, and the ice cold. top pick for indianapolis italian.

okay. just okay. i went here expecting something spectacular, having heard rave reviews from a number of people. my experience was not as positive. while the decor is cute homey and the servers are very pleasant, i went there for great italianfoodand didn't find it. here are my comments on some of the dishes those in my party ordered: 1) minestrone soup: okay, but canned progresso is better. 2) garden salad: okay, but pino's il sonetto, in terre haute, remains my standard for a fabulous italian-style garden salad. iaria's house italian dressing, though, is quite good. 3) tomato sauce: okay, but it tasted a bit burnt to me. the best i've ever found in indiana - and it is consistently the best - is at amore's, in zionsville. 4) lasagna: okay. amore's is way better. 5) manicotti: disappointing. celentano's (available in grocery stores) is way better. 6) spinach ravioli: disappointing. in indiana, the best i ever had was at pino's, in terre haute, but the best i've ever had anywhere was 20 years ago at babylon, in chiang mai, thailand. 7) meatballs: not as good as my mother-in-law's. amore's are also way better. 8) sausage: okay, but a far cry from the italian sausage i get every year at the italian festival in indianapolis. i hope you'll have a better experience than i did.

"less than okay!". we went here on a whim. we had been to the newly opened iozzo's on the near southside and were very dissapointed with thefoodand service. iaria's had better service but i was sorely dissapointed with the entrees and salads. we started with the antipasto, "not worth the extra four dollars we paid! what a rip off!" watery vinaigrette with no flavor. i would hate to see what the salad included with the meal consisted of! i ordered the grouper piccata. i know this is an endangered fish and most restaurants won't serve it for that reason, but i have had it from coast to coast many times and this was not grouper. they tried to pass off this mediocre whitefish as grouper. i was so dissapointed! the piccata was obviously made with cheap white wine.. p.s. if you wouldn't drink it then don't cook with it!! it gave an overpowering vinegary taste to the dish. if i had ordered the capers it would have been inedible because it had to much salt to begin with. my wife had the lasagna! don't let the description fool you! it was a luke warm pile of waterlogged cheese and meat, next time i will go to the grocery store and buy stouffers!! if anyone knows of any real "italian restrants in indy please tell me"!
from the upper east coast!

i haven't been there in a long time but thefoodwas good the last time i was there. the meatballs are very good and the raviloi is good, it's about the only place left that has meat ravioli, at least i hope they have meat ravioli. it' basic no frills but good food.

iaria's has been on our list of places to go for quite some time. between the long running history (since 1933), being featured onfoodnetwork(on best of) and the slew of positive reviews, we were very psyched to sample their authentic italian dishes. wa