Italia Gardens — Restaurant in Flint Charter Township

Oxford location's food is soooooo much better. Was very disappointed with the cooking... But on the flip side the service was better at this location.

Edited with more details

-Sausage Siciliano platter: Sausages had a creosote oily-bitter film on them and veggies were pretty burned as well. (grease-fire type flavor, maybe grill needs cleaning?). Sausage seemed to be a different version of the house made at Oxford... but that may have just been the off flavor introduced in grilling. Potato wedges were kind of mushy and cool... not nicely browned and crisp. Potatoes also had a lot less flavor. If we weren't so tired and hungry from traveling all day, I probably would have returned it, but I just powered through eating most of it so we could get home.

-Chicken Piccata: The sauce for this dish at Oxford is consistently excellent, with layers of flavors... the sauce tonight at the Flint location somehow had almost no flavor. Same for the broccoli with this dish... although the broccoli was of good quality and fresh, it was just missing so much flavor. Repeat issue with potato wedges.

-Kids chicken tenders: This was good overall, just the difference from the other location's broccoli which has some sort of garlic seasoning, not just plain steamed broccoli.

We did like our server though as she had clean serving practices and she was prompt and friendly.

I think part of the issue is that we had such high expectations from the consistency we've experienced at the...

My husband and I stopped here in our travels from South Michigan up to North Michigan. We are vegan and I am gluten-free so it is challenging. And at home we mostly only eat organic. We thoroughly enjoyed the marinara sauce. I got mine with the gluten-free pasta, which was a corn base and he had the usual wheat. We both had spaghetti and it was really delicious. I haven’t had spaghetti in several years now. It was a true cheat Since I only eat cooked food a few times a week. We added mushrooms and Broccoli (sorry no pic) and it was really divine. The sauce was a tiny bit too salty for me… I am trying to really cut back on my salt intake, so I used a little bit of lemon to break it down and it did taste better that way. The mushrooms and broccoli were done really nicely and kind of melted into the sauce. I will try this again in future in an Italian restaurant that has gluten-free pasta. I don’t eat out much due to my strict mostly raw vegan (heavy fruit) diet. The service was pretty good. Not excellent as we told them we were vegan and then they served us butter with the bread. But I don’t hold that against because most people that are plant-based are vegetarians not vegan and the two diets often get confused. Vegans do not eat any part of the animal or byproduct of the animal And many of us do not eat insect excretions. Vegetarians will eat milk based products, including cheese, eggs from chicken and other foul, and a few other ingredients that are in personal...

Italia Gardens consistently ranks as one of the best restaurants in Flint on several different listing websites and it's no mistake.

My wife loves Italian dining, I generally don't care for it. Initially Italia gardens was a good compromise for her to get her Italian fix because it was passed on to us through friends that the ribs at Italia Gardens were surprisingly good. Our friends did not lead us astray. If you don't like Italian food just order the ribs and you're all set. The ribs are every bit as good as you would expect to find at a BBQ establishment and you'll have the benefit of a quiet and old style environment.

But here's the twist. I tried my wife's pasta one time and it's delicious. I've been back to chain Italian places since and I still don't care for them. I find most Italian food a little bland and too heavy for the lack of flavor. I don't have that problem at Italia Gardens. Ever since I tried her pasta I don't do the ribs anymore. My order is just a big plate of lasagna. The sauce is a sweet style sauce and the layers of cheese compliment it so well that I never lack flavor here. It's still heavy (You're eating a big pile of carbs man), but the flavor justifies the indulgence. Meals come with a salad (and I do enjoy a good salad) and a big roll of bread that seems as best I can tell to be made in house. The garlic butter served with the bread is to die for.

Even if you don't care for Italian food, give this...