the garlic

atmosphere was amazingly beautiful. thefoodwas ok the bruschetta was very good.

go somewhere else.. a few friends and i recently went here for the first time because another friend raved about it. the experience was definitely not worth the money. management has packed way, way, way too many seats into the area and the crowd makes it almost impossible to sit comfortably. we requested inside seating but instead ended up getting seated outside where half of the table was facing due west and couldn't see the other half because the sun was in out eyes, and one side of the table was sitting on a wall where the other side was in chairs that skirted the very active service lane. we asked to be re-seated and instead one of the waiters just said to get some sunglasses. eventually we managed to convince the older lady working in front to re-seat us, but she was pretty rude about it. since it's a popular place to eat with the snowbirds and out-of-towners, my guess is that they can get away with being rude because they are going to get clients anyway. thefoodwas way, way overpriced ($30+ for grouper and some mashed potatoes with veggies?) and wasn't really good. after talking with a few other people about it afterwards, they had comparable experiences as well. definitely not a re-visit for me.

best patio dining.foodis good, bread and famous garlic probably a bit better, but the patio makes it all worthwhile. great place if you are in the mood for italian and the weather is nice. service is always friendly. only negative is the house red wine, you're probably better off ordering one of the lesser priced bottles than a full carafe of the montepulciano.

review of two halves. i have eaten here on many different occasions. thefoodis good; some dishes are excellent. it is a lovely setting and i would return. i very much enjoy spending an evening at the garlic!

second half.......

service or lack of ruined a great meal. now again, i have been to the garlic several times and this incident has been a one off. the server was terrible: drinks left empty for the entire meal, no courtesy checkups during the meal, bread was ordered but didn't show up, just a general lack of common courtesy. this particular server did her very best just to avoid doing her job. when confronted about her lack of service she became very defensive and rude. asked for a manager. the manager helped defuse the situation, offered us a free drink. we declined as we just wanted to escape and put the ordeal behind us. it was a shame that a representative of the business could make a meal so miserable.

i think and hope this is just a one off experience as i do enjoy the garlic. like i have stated i will be back at the garlic, but i cannot say the rest of the party will be return to the garlic, this server has lost them business!

i would have slapped myself if i had of served myself that badly at a buffet.

great atmosphere with live music, but thefoodis not that good. overpriced.

first off let me say i've been to this restaurant many times, continuously i've had the same experience. when it comes to atmosphere, this place is the best you could ask for. other than that aspect the restaurant is marginal at best. i order something different every time i go because i can never find something that is just better than okay. the portions are quite big, but i let it go to waste because i have no interest eating it again. the bread and roasted garlic are fantastic, but good luck getting a refill of the garlic. the servers cop an attitude. which is my biggest complaint. i have never had a decent server here. everyone always seems miserable and seem to be run to thin to be able to function. i've had to wait to order myfoodfor over 30 minutes. it totally ruins the atmosphere! avoid this place.

this place sucks....period. they told us 45 minutes for a table and we at 1 hour and 15 minutes. thefoodis okay but not worth the wait. there are plenty of other options in the area. do not waste your time!!!!

cool eclectic patio, not so friendly servers. thefoodwas good, but if you are gluten free, this is not the place for you. when i asked the server if they have gluten free selections, as nothing was mentioned on the menu, he gave me a funny look then said steak or fish. everything else has flour. so this is an old restaurant that clearly doesn't need to change with the times. i decided to have the clams appetizer then move on to another restaurant. they were local and delicious, everyone else eating looked as if they were enjoying!

after hearing good things about this place we finally stopped by for dinner on a weekday night. atmosphere was great and service was strong. but this place fell short on thefoodportions, flavors, and prices. having grown up in ny i'm used to a nice size bowl of pasta with just about anything! chicken parm had 1 small breast on top of an oregano drowned tomato pasta sauce with a small serving of linguine. we also ordered a puttanesca that was nearly inedible due to the salt content from all the olives and capers. very disappointing considering the bill was $50 for the 2 of us with no drinks.

this is not only the best restaurant in new smyrna beach but in all of central florida! my family and i have been going here for over 20 years and have never had a bad meal or experience! i don't understand how anyone could give anything other than a 5.0 and a great review! the staff are great, the atmosphere is amazing and thefoodis the only thing that out does both of those. i 100% recommend this restaurant to any one who appreciates good service, unforgettable experience/ambiance, and world class food.

we are snowbirds and travel throughout florida for the 4 bad winter months.  we get to the garlic at least 4 times each year.  we love the place even before we eat.  thefoodis ok.  i read several coments complaining that the service was slow.  everywhere we go we like it when the service is slow.  as long as we have a martini we are not in a big hurry. we usually sit at the bar.  i advise those complainers: slow down and smell the vodka.

best ambiance and great food!. i do not understand the 78% 'like' as the ambiance is incredible and thefoodand service was great! their wood fired freestanding oven gives a nice smokey flavor to the dishes cooked in the oven. in addition to pasta, they had some great specialty dishes that you rarely see not see in this area:
- the oven cooked bacon wrapped peppercorn filet with burgundy sauce was out of this world!!
- my wife had the very lightly breaded chilean sea bass and again it was out of this world, perhaps the best sea bass ever!
- the oven roasted veggies were the best ever!
- the oven roasted olives and garlic was a unique appetizer
- they served very good loaves of crusty italian bread and baked garlic as a free appetizer
- the dinners included a garden salad and for a small uncharge a fantastic caesar salad!

it should be rated 100%!!

great setting. service andfoodare subpar.. folks say this is a good italian restaurant for the u.s. perhaps if you have never been to nyc, san francisco, philly, or st st louis you might think so. perhaps if your benchmark is cheap chainfoodthat purports to be italian.
this is based on three visits as a guest of others who rave about this place.

while the atmosphere is lovely, the service lacks decency let alone dignity and knowledge. the food, like chain food, focuses on quantity rather than fresh simplefoodthat is the hallmark of u.s. italian food.

while the oven roasted vegetables and garlic are quite good, the remainder of thefoodis not. the beef is priced like prime, but it is grocery store quality. given that nsb is a fishing town, it is disappointing that the seafood is not fresh and local. as for the red sauce, you are better off opening a bottle of rao's or a can of san marzano.

while the restaurant is popular, so is mcdonalds and dennys. pass.

a must eat at place. had a great meal at the garlic and the service was great . the price of some items are a little high but worth it in the end.. and thefoodwas to die for.

my visit was @ july 7,2014. i waited to write this review because i thought my opinion would mellow over time but when it comes down to it a disappointing meal at a local supposed area iconic restaurant needs to be posted. it was a birthday celebration for a friend and reservations were made way in advance so there is no excuse for management to assign only one waiter with what i might say was at best "occasional helpers" to serve @ 16 people (there may have been more) i ordered a glass of wine and an appetizer (which i no longer see on the menu or it may have been a special ) and a mediocre amount of wine in my glass. the complimentary bread with roasted garlic arrived and was quickly drowned in balsamic vinegar which was a shame. salads ordered started coming out so i asked where my appetizer was. will check on it was said. my friends tomato basil bruschetta arrived and as was the roasted garlic drowned in balsamic and in edible with the bread soaked and limp with vinegar. (what is up with the balsamic here!!) it was taken off their check. our cesar salad came out "family style" so since 4 of us next to one another ordered it a friend divided it up into 4 servings. someone at he other end of the table asked where their cesar salad was and the waiter asked us where the salad was. umm here on 4 plates which were not large servings by any means (and are a up charge added to your meal) we were shocked that he thought the plate he brought was supposed to serve 8!! i asked @ my appetizer. "oh how was that?" i said has not arrived ...yet. he came back shortly with it and said it has been up there but nobody picked it up. i thought would have been the waiter since i asked twice before or do we self serve also?! needless to say it was cold so i quickly shared it around and moved on refusing to wait longer for a new one. geesh. my pork osso buco was the saving grace which was great. it took forever for refills or water so a pitcher of water was left with us i assume easy way out. the check was misplaced for my friend who's birthday it was. i was shocked at such poor service,foodarriving that was badly prepared even going unnoticed, bad excuses, and from a supposed iconic pricey famous restaurant. a lesson in how to lose 16 plus customers in one fell swoop. there were other inappropriate comments and poorly preparedfoodlike my friend across from me showing me the watery sauce pour away from his pasta dish but this review is already too long and sad.


-----21 oct, 2014-----

i have to say i was excited when a friend announced he was having his birthday celebration at the garlic since years ago i ate there and it was awesome. this date was july 7, 2014 and the reason i waited so long was i wanted to calmly think about how to rationally state how an iconic restaurant with a fantastic reputation could disappoint and have gone downhill so badly. my earlier visit my family drove and i think used valet, not sure but the parking nightmare was evident upon arrival. well i surrender easily and waited and waited for a valet to show up but when someone pulled out close by i jumped on the opportunity and parked. i found my friends and we proceeded to order, then the complimentary roasted garlic and bread came out and it was drowned in balsamic vinegar, yuck. i waited and waited and waited some more for my appetizer and finally flagged down our one waiter for a large party. said he would check on it, meanwhile salads started coming out. then a plate of cesar came out and dishes dropped near us " here's your cesar " three of us ordered cesar so we divided it up and began eating. meanwhile the other guests at the other end if the table asked where their cesar salads were , waiter came up and asked where the salad went, really? we divided it up by three and there were like 4 more servings needed ?!?! again i asked about appetizer and was told he would check. dinner came out and when i received mine i said just take the appetizer off my check. he asked "was it not good?" ummmm i never got it. he left and came back with my fried ravioli barely warm and he said " it was sitting up there, nobody picked it up" umm he was our only waiter so was i at fault for not picking it up? !?!? there was occasional other staff seen but not often by any means. dinner was good which was a saving grace, oso busco. one other thing i noticed was that my friend next to me ordered bruschetta which also came drowned in balsamic vinegar. teach that kitchen staff for crying out loud. it came off the check. to add insult to injury they could not find the check for the friend who's birthday it was. many negative reports from others in our party. reservations for this dinner were weeks in advance so planning was expected and it was a monday !!! go figure. needless to say the garlic turned into the disappointment sorry to say.