iozzo's garden of italy

away from the busy downtown,iozzo'soutdoor seating offers you the ambience. whether it's a date night or you're with your friends, you will enjoy your presence for sure. the menu is decent, however the tiramisu is the star in my opinion. the risotto and veal marsala are equally good too. a place where i would definitely return more than once.

disappointing italian. we have been going toiozzo'sfor special occasions for about 4 years now. tonight was a huge disappointment.
first, to get happy hour specials you need to sit in the bar. second, all of the items the server asked if we wanted included significant upcharges. okay so we may have to pay attention to the fine print on the menu and read between the lines when our server talks but did the food make up for that? no! it was one of the tasteless and poorly prepared meals i have had in a while. if it wasn't for the 1/2 price martinis i would have rated the meal a 0.
the baked penne chicken with tomato cream sauce lacked any flavor. the chicken was plentiful but lacked an any spice. the eggplant parm was pathetic. thin sliced grilled eggplant covered with skimpy provolone cheese layered on top of a brittle ball of pasta with tomato 'sauce.' if you can't pull a complete strand of spaghetti from the pile - in my kitchen i would have thrown it all out. to go on would be futile as were the constructive complaints we made. in a discussion with the manager he acknowledged a change in the chef and apologized. to the discerning foodie looking for a good a meal this is not the place any longer.

this is a great place to grab an amazing meal and have a great time. 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, great italian 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 toiozzo'sthis 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 atiozzo'sdid 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 is great for couples, families, etc. if you want to celebrate a special occasion or simply enjoy well-executed comfort food, then this is your place!

they were unreasonably rude to me. this place came highly recommended by a dear friend of mine. however, after the experience i had with their staff handling with the situation on the phone with me was not very pleasant.

you see, i am a deaf customer and i was trying to call them to make a reservation for a special occasion, they gave me hard time because i use relay service which meant they assumed that i was a telemarketer or someone is calling to annoy them. that is not the case, i cannot call them directly due to my deafness so i use this service to interpret for me when i make calls to various places. they hung up on me multiple times after myself attempting to explain to them that i was a customer interested in reserving a private room for a special occasion.

what was appalling is that they threatened to call the police! what happened to sensitivity, understanding and tolerance of customers who are deaf or other kind of disabilities? after all we are paying them, right? apparently they did not want my business and chose to be extremely rude and disrespectful to me.

i had sent them an message previously, to inquire about reservations because i could not get through to them earlier due to the continued ringing.

but after what i was treated by their staff, i decided to take my business somewhere else. they do not deserve my business for their insensitivity, rudeness and just plain horrible to me.

fyi foriozzo'sstaff: i am not a criminal nor i was threatening toward you on the phone. if you wanted to learn all about relay services- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hearing-impaired-telephones3.htm for the future deaf customers that has to deal with you rude people.

so i am sure you can tell by this point i had a pretty amazing meal atiozzo'sgarden last night. i will defiantly be back. please go and support a locally owned place that is pretty amazing!

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 were great and 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 recommendiozzo'swith mild reservations.

living the godfather.iozzo'sis a must see place even if you are not a big italian eater. the decor and atmosphere are marvelous! and the smell when you walk in is heaven! you want to start eating right a way! they were not terribly busy when we were there - the middle of the afternoon - and we received some extra attention, especially with the telling of the family story.

so much of whether food merits 4 or 5 stars is up to individual tastes and what people were brought up on. but, the food was all served fresh and hot and i highly recommend it! nearly everything, including dressings and sauces, are homemade. so it is a unique taste experience. and you have to order the meatball martini! three meatballs on a nest of spaghetti served in a large martini glass for $5. a person could have that with a salad for a meal!

we went for lunch, which i prefer for the lower prices. but if you are looking for a good time in the evening this seems to be a good place to go.

iozzo's: good ideas, not so good execution. i've gone to iozzos three times now; while overall i would give them a cautious 'thumbs up' the new owner(s) have much to tend to. first, presentation: ravioli with any kind of sauce should not be drowning in it. being italian growing up in chicago's old little italy, ravioli should not be 'submerged' under a sea of sauce: any trip to an italian trattoria in rome or florence or anywhere else will attest to that: sauces dress pastas lightly, not 'drowning' the pasta.iozzo'sserves their ravioli 'buried' under too much sauce. while i do like their "family" [marinara] sauce and give them good marks for that, they've got some 'presentation" techniques to improve. example: they'll bring you a little dessert-plate size of some italian tomato salad; it's excellent but what comes out on a dessert-size plate is a teeny-tiny portion of tomato salad dressed very deliciously obviously with a good extra virgin olive oil, s & p and i think some basil or oregano, but the presentation and portion is underwhelming. my steak done in an italian style was superbly cooked medium rare the way i like it, but the chef was way too heavy-handed with the seasoning: i was taken aback by the amount of some kind of salt in it. cut back!iozzo'sis in a century-old brick building and has a problem with air-conditioning in horrid hot weather as indy has had this past summer. one evening, we had to walk out before beginning our meal, it was wretchedly hot in there; while they apologized, they said they had installed the maximum number of a/c condensors the building could handle. well, something's wrong. i grew up with a family-run italian restaurant in an 1880 all brick row house in chicago near downtown. we installed oversize condensors with city approval and on the hottest summer days, the intimate victorian-era italian dining room was blessedly cool as everyone who dined there would attest. so i don't get it. there has to be a solution toiozzo'sa/c problem. i'll go back there but i'm going to be more selective in what i order. and i'll go back when it's cooler! steve (indianapolis)

fourth time and still...fine. this was our fourth dining experience atiozzo'sand while it was fine, the results keep diminishing every time i return.

while not incredibly expensive, every time i leave i feel like i've paid a bit more than my meal was worth. the food is just fine, the service slow but friendly, the atmosphere charming but a little small.

i do highly recommend the courtyard on a night with a good breeze and i imagine that it would be lovely place for a first date.

perfect date night. my wife and i have been here three times now, the last of which was on valentine's day.iozzo'shad a valentine's special that was very affordable. $100 for two. it came with an appatizer, salad for each, an entre for each and two desserts as well. the best part was having a glass of wine paired with each course of the meal, and it was all included in the price. i highly recommend iozzo's.

finally, indy has real italian!. i vistediozzo'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 withiozzo'sfamily 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 a great edible 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!

good food, good feel, but overpriced. i really enjoyed my lunch atiozzo'sin general. i did notice that the lunch portion of spaghetti bolognese was $8.95, and adding meatballs was $2 more, but i figured it would be a giant portion, with leftovers to take home. the serving of pasta filled a cereal bowl, and the $2 meatballs? four 1-in. diameter meatballs. it did come with a teacup-sized tossed salad. tasty, but a lunch portion like this should have run $6.95.

awesome lunch. i went toiozzo'sitalian garden after my mom told me about. the basil garlic cheese bread and the marhgrita pizza were delicious. inexpensive and really fresh and real food.