the garlic

our 1st visit tonight and wow! we arrived after 5:30 pm so the wait time to be seated was close to an hour...well worth it. this place is amazingly flavorful. we ordered lasagna, filet mignon, fettuccine alfredo with meatballs and spuntitori italiano. everything was so flavorful. the best lasagna i've ever had and the portion size of everything is tremendous. definitely enough to share or enough to take home for 1 or 2 more meals. we also enjoyed great desserts including a lemon almond pie, cannoli, dreamcicle cake and blackberry and peach tart. what a wonderful place. our server was coleen f and she was awesome. she was friendly, offered great advice onmenuitems and provided the right amount of attention. love coleen.

the ambiance is great as well as the food. the price may be a bit steep but if you go when it first opens you can ask for the early birdmenu(you have to ask) and get a great deal! totally worth it.

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 themenuor 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, food arriving 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 prepared food like 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.

rude rude rude. everyone working there is rude . slow service and they make you feel like you're inconviencing them anytime you ask for something . not child friendly . they have a kidsmenuand highchairs but very obviously don't like children there . tables are so close together you may as well talk to your neighbor in the seat next to you . not worth the headache .

even gordon ramsay couldn't save the garlic from it's "manager".... the so called "managing partner" might be missing more than one arm - there's something wrong with this guy. i was with the party of 4 (that drove all the way from tampa) mentioned in "nightmare on e. 3rd ave" on september 20th when this poor excuse for a human being came to our table and reversed every decision the server at our table tried to make to accommodate my family. i felt sorry for her but then i realized she probably helped instigate the manager's decisions by not fully explaining our situation. i tried to get two words out of my mouth when he approached our table and couldn't before he cut me off before i could ask:

"why doesn't the hostess taking names explain to customers who ask for the first available table that if you are seated outside the main building and closer to the other bar where the entertainers are that there is a different and separate menu?"

he wouldn't let me say anything and immediately cut me off and said "if you aren't happy with the table, the menu, or anything else you can just leave because he has 700 other customers that would be happy with their wonderful selections from this menu." it was almost rehearsed...as if he's heard it all before. well if he has - then why doesn't the owner address the issue and fix the problem rather than let the fugitive drag the restaurant down with him. he basically said they "don't have time" to tell every customer there are two menus. really? - then put a sign up explaining themenu/ seating situation and provide an explanation on their web site about their menus. is it really that difficult to explain how your restaurant works? even bahama breeze tells you with signs and their servers that there's a limitedmenuwhen you sit outside after 4 pm. i saw only onemenuon their website, found what i wanted to order and was disappointed to learn after we were seated and had menus that if we wanted the othermenuwe would have to go back on the waiting list to sit at the other part of the restaurant. the hostess even offered to put us at the top of the list but the "managing partner" as he described himself said that wasn't going to happen. (we've been told by other locals that he's not even close to being a partner) who would assume when dining out that any restaurant has two menus? unless you're a local and have been to the garlic how would you know unless you found out the hard way like we did.

as explained in the previous review, we were seated in a small u shaped booth with very little room for drinks let alone the plates. we got the same lame type of excuse when he made the same ridiculous defense of the inadequate table we were seated at by over compensating - explaining how wonderful the entertainment is, the entree selections in the (outside dining)menuand he sounded like he was doing us a favor by being seated in such a fine dining establishment and his presence. after putting up with his rudeness and disrespect toward my elderly parents and family, we decided to order as it was too late to go anywhere else on a rainy saturday night. i ordered the salmon dish (not my first choice - it was on the "other" menu) which was dried out, bland, and mediocre at best. unknown to my parents and myself at the time, profanity was used in an encounter away from our table but after the way he disrespected my family it was well deserved.

it's a shame that a restaurant with such a good reputation has to be shackled with the mediocrity of mismanagement. as long as that "manager" is employed there i will never return and could not recommend it to anyone i know. i've never been thrown out of a restaurant before but it was certainly an eye opening experience that yes, there are people that have jobs that should not be in them. finally, even gordon ramsay could not save this kitchen nightmare. i hope the owners wake up and can this one armed bandit because he's robbing the reputation of this establishment. judging from other reviews i've read - i'm not alone in what we experienced.

nightmare on e. 3rd avenue. the owner should be ashamed of his behavior if he has any shame.
we had taken my boyfriend's elderly parents out for their 56th anniversary. having experienced this restaurant on one prior occasion i thought "what a perfect place".
however; what we experienced is unfathomable.
to begin; i would add that on the poor health of both parents, mom having battled cancer 3 times (most recent lung cancer with a lobe removed, dad having a recent previous stroke). each are on incredible amounts of necessary medications. with this we reviewed theirmenuat home on line having our choices already planned including calling ahead to see if we could make reservations which we were told no only parties of 10. i then asked when is the best time to arrive to avoid a long wait explaining our circumstance. we were told by 6 and we did, we arrived by 6 coming from ormond beach.
after waiting over an hour in a packed standing room only (fire marshal would have closed the place) we were taken to our table which was outside in a section i did not know exist and were seated at a very small inadequate table for 4 adults next to a bar.
our server brought us menus and asked if we needed drinks. we ordered waters and had to shuffle things off the table to make room for them.
already feeling somewhat confused, annoyed at the long wait, small table and lack of ambiance i said to the server, is this the right menu? something about it was not like my first experience which was a few months back. she said that there was a differentmenuon this side and proceeded to bring us the fullmenufrom the other. this smaller version lacked what we had already chosen at home. we then asked to order from thismenuand was told we could not as they have 2 kitchens that are separate. annoyed even further we sat in disbelief and disgust at what our options now were. we were told that we could leave the table and again be placed on the waiting list. well this was not an option as it is now nearing 7:30 parents need to eat and take their meds. mom asked; well then could we at least move to a larger table which 2 were open on each side to us. our server said sure, i'll get it cleaned. btw, we did order 2 glasses of wine and 2 iced teas for the parents which were on the table our glasses of water had to be placed behind us on a shelf to make room. as we were reviewing the new and much smallermenuthe next thing we knew we were being greeted by a one-armed man who came over and said "i hear there is a problem"? as we were trying to explain he kept rudely interrupting and it was clear we were not going to have our say. he ranted and was on the defense as if rehearsed while continuing to verbally assault and insult us, tossing themenuaround saying how wonderful thismenuis and if we don't like it we could have our 2 glasses of wine on him and find another restaurant as he has 150 customers backed up waiting for a table and walked away. our server returned taking our order and we asked again could we please move. she now said her manager told her no, the tables were for parties of 6. prior there were 4 seated and after there was a party of 5 at one and 4 at the other. now we all are completely fumed.
our dinners arrived and certainly lacked appeal. i had to excuse myself to the ladies room. as i headed out i arrived at a narrow walkway having to wait for another person to pass and standing next to me was the one-armed so called manager / managing partner as he so boldly informed us earlier.
in a very crass tone he said to me i know you must be thoroughly enjoying your meal tonight. i replied; (can't use profanity) i have never been so rudely treated and embarrassed and that you have ruined our evening to just leave us alone and i proceeded on. coming back i requested to speak to perhaps a manager above him only to be told that this one-armed jerk tossed us out. he sent 4 servers to our table and told them they had to go. they began grabbing our food, drinks everything. one grabbed mom's iced tea and she said to stop and that she needed that as she had to take her medication, he replied; you have your water. next i understand the one armed bully was back, grabbed dad's plate of food and they both had a match of who would win. dad said let go of my food, he would not so he tossed it.
i was speechless. never and i mean never have i nor should anyone ever be treated with such disrespect. this manager/managing partner (cannot even say "man") should be reported. this was elderly abuse denying an ill person and tossing them out.
i dare anyone reading who may contemplate dining here attempt to complain. i am considering contacting the news journal and anyone else who will listen as i have read other reviews like mine. he is a bully, and the fire marshal should be placed on notice as i am confident this night was in clear violation and certainly a potential danger to the patrons.
also upon our arrival and observing our surroundings it was clear that if you are a regular from nsb you get special treatment. this was very obvious...
happily mark and i were able to turn a horrible experience into a wonderful celebration by taking his parents to saint augustine the next day to the columbia. hats off to them as they are truly professionals and we cannot express enough about the food and service we received. let this be a lesson to those at the garlic...
it should be noted; this all may have been avoided had we been informed that where we were being seated has a different menu.
shame on you

i was astonished to input one of my favourite restaurants on here and see it at 79%! what nonsense! this is the best food in the county, my top 4 i've ever eaten at. the lamb is imported from the freshest best location available. sometimes new zealand, sometimes australia. garlic is everywhere on themenuand heavily influences the decor, as would be expected. i've had a vast majority of the menu; when i can afford to eat here, i do. i've never been less than 100% pleased with the food here. it's true and authentic italian cooking and it's done superbly. my mother and father were both chefs, my mother loves it, my father would have. if you live for restaurant atmosphere, this place is amazingly romantic and cozy. you feel like you've entered a different country when you step into the courtyard, nestled snugly with a lot if canopied oaks and green lush plants. live entertainment, great food and amazing desserts, awesome atmosphere. what more could you ask for?

the food is unbelievable. every dish on themenuis sure to please. ambiance is very neat, however the music can be a bit too loud if you're dining inside.

the garlic is for lovers and ..... the garlic - a must try. a place with great atmosphere, good food, and live music. i have witnessed a friendly staff and the manager always assists to make sure you are satisfied the moment you walk into the establishment which of course means a lot to me.
when you pull up, parking may be difficult to find, because this place is usually packed on weekends. safe to make reservations early. once parked, you will walk thru a garden area, there are benches for you to wait until your party is called. as you walk into the restaurant, you will see a nice display of seafood, steaks and also a sneak peak into the busy kitchen. garlic hangs from the ceiling and surrounds the walls along with tuscan style pieces of pottery and other fun nick naks to amuse you. the bar is always merry with locals. live weekend music is usually presented by a piano player, or a saxophone player. both musicians are good! if you are being seated in the dining room area, you will be happy to note once seated you have plenty of room to enjoy great conversation with your party comfortably. everyone always gets big smiles and excitement when the waitress brings out the first roasted garlic dish and freshly baked bread. i know everyone is delighted with their pasta dishes, but since i am half italian and enjoy making my own homemade pasta dishes and pizzas at home, i would say stick with the meat , chicken, and seafood dishes. the most satisfying dish for me would be the pork osso buco dinner. the pork osso buco is a slow roasted pork shank braised in a portobello mushroom and shallot sauce, served with their famous garlic mashed potatoes, reasonably priced at $22.95.
this dish is heavenly for me, tender and all the flavors blend perfectly. you will find this entree to be large in portions, so i always have left overs. my husband enjoys the grilled angus ny strip entree. manly in size-16 oz, fire grilled, tender and juicy, and priced at $31.95. a couple of other recommendations i have tried were the veal piccata, prepared with capers and garlic lemon sauce, moderately priced, and the garlic rack of lamb, for only $28.95 are both great choices as well. also, the salads are always fresh and good. i personally have made this a favorite place for the atmosphere, roasted garlic and bread - :) and themenudishes i recommend highly. overall, i know you will have a wonderful time here.

great new year's eve dining. went to the garlic for new year's eve - tried their crispy roast duck with blueberry sauce. this was a new year's eve specialmenuitem, and it was very very good. duck was perfectly cooked and the blueberry sauce was fantastic with it. also came with their garlic mashed potatoes and some asparagus with a garlic butter sauce. all was well cooked and delicious, as was the bread. some in the party were thought the roasted garlic that came with the bread was too cold.
highly recommend reservations for an occasion like new year's eve. parking was somewhat difficult, but because we had a reservation we were seated outside (the weather was good) and had a beautiful night under the christmas-lighted trees and decorations. it was very crowded, so anyone sitting in the outdoors portion needs to watch their footing. not wild about the tunnel of vines that is the entrance, because it became a tunnel of smokers which others had to pass through. but overall, it was a great night. recommend.