iozzo's garden of italy

loved it!!!!!!. we have have been wanting to try this place for quite some time and now we have and we were very impressed. the food was very good and the service was as well. this is arestaurantwe would go back to and recommend to friends.

iozzo's is easily my favorite italianrestaurantin indy, and i lived in italy for 2 summers. the food is fantastic and authentic, and i would highly recommend the lasagna, the wedge salad or spinach salad, and the goat cheese marinara appetizer. they also have a very friendly and knowledgable staff, and a large wine selection! one of my favorite restaurants!

iozzo’s is a place with history. the great grandfather, 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 italianrestauranton 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.

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!. thisrestaurantis 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!

the menu is pretty classic indy-italian, but i appreciate the special menu which had some unique items on it, some of which were tasty. my guess is if i return, i will likely be continuing to order off the specials menu simply because it is not exactly the same as every other italianrestaurantin town. but….the quest continues. iozzo’s garden of italy 946 s. meridian street

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's serves 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's is 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 italianrestaurantin 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 to iozzo's a/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)

great food, great service. 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. smallrestaurantoverall 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!

fresh and delicious. a friend and i ate lunch there today, and i was thoroughly impressed. i am italian so my evaluation of italian restaurants can be somewhat biased. we both enjoyed the italian wedding soup (the fresh spinach was an impressive touch). i enjoyed the caprese salad, with fresh basil and what must have been homemade fresh mozzarella. my friend ordered italian beef, and commented that he didn't know italian beef this good was available this side of chicago. to top it off we had spumoni ice cream-also very fresh and loaded with real cherries and pistachios and very little chocolate ice cream- the way it is supposed to be. the atmosphere is quaint and the patio makes you feel as though you might be somewhere in italy. the only negative was the highway noise as therestaurantis located near the interstate. ~k. vigliaturo

iozzo's garden of italy has become one of my favorite lunch spots over the past year or so. located just south of shapiro's in the same historic building that used to house the late, lamented café at ray, this italianrestaurantalready had quite a bit of

not a fan. bland food, horrible service and overpriced. i loved the atmosphere, therestaurantwas beautiful and clean. maybe i should've brought my lunch?

very promising italian. we were looking for an italianrestaurantand 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 arestaurantopen 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 was great and 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, great taste, 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 :)

greatrestauranta mile from the heart of indianapolis. well-priced food, fast and friendly service along with the vibrant new york styled set-up made it a joyful dine. the margarita pizza and spaghetti with clam sauce were wonderfully made.

iozzo's garden of italy rocks!. thisrestaurantopened monday august 3, 2009 for lunch service. i went there 3 times this week. i tried 3 different dishes and loved them all! i had:
1. the italian beef sandwich with anti-pasta - 5 stars
2. linguine with white clam sauce - 5 stars
3. italian standard pizza - 5 stars

i also tried the lemoncello flute for desert one day and i had the garlic bread with cheese for an app one day and they were both fantastic! i highly recommend this place for lunch, and i can't wait to try their dinner menu, so i hope they open soon for dinner!

cheers!