iozzo's garden of italy

iozzo’s is a place with history. thegreatgrandfather, fred, was the patriarch that started the family business in indianapolis in the 1920’s. by 1925 he had 2 dozen grocery stores throughout central indianapolis. the gem of the empire was an italian restaurant on south illinois. it featured a band stand, 2 kitchens,3 bars and seating for 850. a tragedy in 1941 led to a quick and final demise of the restaurant. the family kept their recipes and traditions intact for over 60 years before they opened iozzo’s garden of italy in 2009.

outstanding service andgreatfood. it's a little off the beaten downtown path but totally worth the detour!

a little dissappointed. went to their anniversary dinner tonight and overall the meal was nice. appetizers on the patio. 4 courses. pork osso bucco prepared for most the day was good but mine was warm not hot. reinforces to me that it had been sitting. my wife's grouper lookedgreatand she said it was good. carrot scallop soup was excellent. dessert great.
note to staff: someone clean the blinds and back window facing the patio. i had to constantly look away from the window and the dust, dirt that sat over my families 200.00 meal. not good and certainly influenced my meal. was hard to ignore.

this is agreatplace to grab an amazing meal and have agreattime. the patio is beautiful and they feature live music from time to time. unique drinks at the bar and something for everyone, even gluten-free!


-----29 apr, 2013-----

finally,greatitalian in indy!. this restaurant is a family owned, indianapolis original. the food, atmosphere, wine selection & service were beyond my expectations! we sat outside in the beautiful courtyard and had an amazing evening. i can't wait to go back to iozzo's this summer to see live music and old movies in the courtyard!

great intimate space. had the opportunity to come here for dinner as part of a wedding rehearsal dinner with 20+ people. to begin with, the folks at iozzo's did a wonderful job of handling our large party. second, the food was incredible. i would come here for the meatballs alone! i had the lasagna and i was in love. i will definitely be back. in addition, this a beautiful space - which isgreatfor couples, families, etc. if you want to celebrate a special occasion or simply enjoy well-executed comfort food, then this is your place!

inconsistent, but clear potential. there is no doubt this old school place has earned its chops due to its longevity and i liked the overall decor and feel. our server was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu and wine list.

our appetizers, salad and soup weregreatand much as described by the waiter. one of my guests loved his scallops and the other loved his fettuccine as their main courses. the wine was solid and to value.

however, my main course (chicken diavalo) was not as described by the waiter. perhaps a weak effort on too much of a standard, but the chicken was flavorless and other than the heat from the tired, heavy red sauce, it was a forgetable meal. this could have easily been a completely different experience.

when trying a new restaurant, i typically like to try the standards as if they can nail these, it's typically indicative of solid fare across the menu.

i would recommend iozzo's with mild reservations.

the meal was so incredible i also wanted to scream it from the rooftops......everything i ate was seasoned perfectly and cooked to perfection.the meal was such agreatculinary experience i just have to share it with all of you. this place is called iozza's garden of italy, not sure i would have ventured there on my own if i was not going to meet the chef....culinary master artist, chef kathy jones. this place has some history, the building itself is from the 1930's era. the ambiance is elegant, simple, yet quaint, the service was fantastic.....but wait, the meal was simply beyond delish. we ordered the baby spinach salad, with the bacon vinaigrette dressing. we added grilled chicken to the salad which was cooked to such perfection, it's tenderness seemed to

great food,greatservice. we made a reservation and were seated right away. i was concerned about parking on the way but it was not a problem at all. we went at 1830 (630p) and were able to park in the adjacent parking lot. small restaurant overall and we were sat in the bar area. the tables are a little small in there and the chairs are uncomfortable, but for an hour you can stand it. a place to lounge and have long conversation? no. i took a peak in the courtyard and it looked adorable. plastic pool chairs at the tables, but probably more comfortable than the ones inside.

aside from the above, the decor was great! cute little place. the service is fast and the staff are extremely friendlly and helpful. we loved all that we got. portions are the perfect size. for once we both were actually interested in the dessert menu so we didn't finish all of our entrees, and we were able to try a little of everything from their menu.

appetizer: stuffed portabella mushrooms. hubby loved and loved it some more. he's a mushroom fanatic. i hate shrooms, tried a small piece and shroom wasn't bad, the stuffing however was delicious. house bread was served room temp (cold and on the chewy side) with a tomato/olive oil blend that was yummy. but i opted for butter instead. salads that came with our entrees: caesar and caprese. i'll tell you what, they really need to up-sale their caprese salad. it looked the best, tasted the best, and i'm sure was the freshest. super awesome!! their caesar had a vinigerette dressing, different, but a nice change from the heavy caesar dressing we are all used to. for our entrees we had cheese ravioli, which is smoked mozzerella in a tomato cream sauce and hubs had lobster ravioli with tomato cream sauce with shrimp on top. both of which were fantastic. if you are a cheese lover, you will appreciate the smoked mozzerella they use in the cheese ravioli. the flowers they serve as garnish are edible, because i asked, and yes i ate them. i thought they were good mixed withe the cream sauce haha.

for dessert hubs had tiramisu flute and mini cannolis for me. both were fabulous. we loved all their food and the service. not the cheapest, but worth it in our opionions!

bummer. i had heardgreatthings about this restaurant, and took my wife there. the building itself was nice and the hostess was very accommodating. the first thing that started to weird me out was the art on the wall, it sort of looked like it had a bad godfather theme to it. then the music was almost all music from commercials. then the food came, both of our spinach salads had a lot of bad spinach in it to the point that we didn't eat too much of it (we both love spinach so that is saying something). the main courses came next. i got the fettucini alfredo, which was fine, notgreatbut not terrible. my wife got the ravioli, which was awful. the initial taste was ok but then there was something else in the sauce that kind of tasted like bologna. it was almost inedible. at that point we just paid our bill and took our leave. it's a bummer that this place makes bucca di bepo look like legit italian food.

dd.. on a fri. nite, party of 4. two of the 4 had been there before and wasn't impressed. this time we all were. the people were nice and helpful as well as prompt and the food was wonderful. the sea scallops were cooked very nicely withgreatflavour. the salmon was absolutely the best on the table, bursting with flavour and super tender. i'm usually not one for lasagna, but this one was very good. not real impressed with the shrimp dish that my friend got, but was decent. the cannoli was more flavourful than expected. this was very nice all around and am looking forward to another visit soon.

finally, indy has real italian!. i visted iozzo's (which has a facinating history) yesterday and it was a real treat. the service was outstanding (ask for marie). i had the garlic bread with basil, which in and of itself is not outstanding, (and a little pricey at $6.95 for what you get) but the marinara it is served with is fantastic. the sloppy, soppy tomato that they use for dipping was very good and the bread yummy.

i had the italian wedding soup and have never tasted anything so good. the meat, orzo, parmasean and spinach were so tasty together and the broth so rich and flavorful. i had a special- red and golden beet salad with chived riccotta in a chianti sauce. i didn't taste the chianti much, but the beets were so good. the riccotta for me didn't add much to the dish, but my husband tasted it and said it did. so maybe that is just me.

i had plain, ol' spaghetti with iozzo's family sauce. the pasta was al dente and delicious. the sauce was good- very similar to the marinara but flavored with meat. in retrospect, i would have just wanted more of the marinara sauce. the meatballs were the first i have ever had that tasted good. for me, i had to get paste the light brown color and the soft texture (they were not heavy) but the taste was heavenly.

finally, my husband and i shared a wonderful fluted tiramisu. if it hadn't been mushed into the glass (with agreatedible flower), the cake part would have been too mushy for me. but as it was served, it was great.

this food really tasted like the italian food i remember from europe. make reservations, go for a nice night out and enjoy!

very promising italian. we were looking for an italian restaurant and were almost going to agios (i have been there before but wasn't too impressed), so urbanspoon led us to iozzo's!

we were surprised that at 4:30 pm we only got a table in the large bar area - but we soon found out why. it is a very new place, and very popular. so many votes for a restaurant open just 10 weeks!

first thing that hit me was the wonderful smell walking in - i realized it was the smell of the brick oven pizza...yummy.

as i wanted to try that, and some pasta i decided to have a lot of leftovers and order both. iozzo standard pizza and chicken penne pasta. my wife had spaghetti with meatballs.

the pizza was amazing - if you like thin crust which i love. the pasta was perfect, but i didn't like the chicken at all and told the waitress (marie, she is amazing, ask for her, sometimes she works the bar area, sometimes out at the normal tables) she brought the manager who tried to make good - i didn't want to say it, but it tasted almost like the chicken was a bit stale - he said it was marinated in beer and spices etc...but i didn't get that. it was white and dark chicken, so maybe it was that.

house salad wasgreatand the beet salad my wife had was nice too. italian wedding soup was amazing as well, we wanted a quart to go ;-)

we had an order of garlic cheese bread with some basil - it was a bit disappointing,greattaste, but just basically 1 slice of bread with marinara sauce (very yummy) for 6.95? too expensive.

all it all the value of the pizza and pasta dishes are great. be careful with the appetizers.

will be back and might have to upgrade it to a favorite then :)

outstanding!. i had the spaghetti with bolognese sauce and meatballs. it came with soup or salad and i chose the italian wedding soup. the soup was delicious; perfectly salted with lots of yummy spinich and orzo. the spaghetti was cooked perfectly al dente, the sauce was perfectly flavored (not to sweet or sour or too much garlic) and the meatballs were to die for! the entree portion was so generous, i took a lot home. i saved room for dessert and chose the chocolate mousse pyramid. i want another one right now! it was just outstanding. the service wasgreatand the atmosphere and art glass was gorgeous. this is not fast-food italian, folks, so plan on being there awhile. it is well worth the wait!