Agliolio ~ a FRESH Take on Italian — Restaurant in Florida

We so wanted to love this restaurant for its claims of fresh authentic food. Sadly, this was not to be. We took Dad out for his 84th as he loves Italian food; especially pasta and shrimp. The service, by the way, was top shelf; our waitress Zynnia was a gem. The kitchen, however, malfunctioned badly under the additional weight of a large party present. Very odd, as when I made the reservation for 5, the hostess was asked if this will be before their busier hours. She chuckled and said “ no problem”. We specifically asked our appetizers be brought out at once as we were only a three top. My fried calamari was cooked properly but could have used a few lemon wedges. My sister’s shrimp dish was ok. Dad’s stuffed mushrooms arrived 10 minutes later after I had to ask for it twice. Bad start. The bread is peculiar. Crusty bits of old oily bread is far from fresh or authentic. It gets worse….here come the entrees: her chicken parmesan arrived burnt and the accompanying penne ala vodka had a peculiar taste. No particular ingredient was identifiable. It all had to go back. Her pasta was replaced with a penne side that was dry and lacking flavor! My veal francese dish was ok and mysteriously lacked any hint of lemon. My father’s dinner was a disaster. His ravioli side dish was good but his shrimp parmesan was ugly. Over cooked bullets hidden by cheap cheese. By that time, we had given up on this kitchen to put out decent food. Word to wise: authentic means you par cook shrimp to a light color, cradle it in a baking dish with heated sauce, place two pieces of fresh mozzarella on top. Give a quick flash under the broiler for a minute and it’s done. My pasta side came with an interesting and tasty “sunday gravy”; alas, there wasn’t even enough to cover the pasta. All that was present were the tomato-y remnants of some long gone civilization that featured delicious pasta dishes. The true bright spot was dessert. We shared a tiramisu that was absolutely perfect. Obviously it was store bought, as this kitchen is woefully incapable of making anything this good. Perhaps they should import all their dishes from a good restaurant and serve that instead! A word about ambience: it is a poor practice to allow staff to have a meal break in the dining area while still wearing their aprons. We were seated as close to the kitchen as possible and the pick up area was strewn with debris. Well, a kitchen that doesn’t know how to cook probably can’t operate a broom either. So, the one star goes to our thoughtful and efficient waitress Zynnia; she can not be blamed for a mismanaged kitchen that pushes out poorly prepared food at an uneven pace. We have had the soups, salad and entrees at Olive Garden and their quality surpasses AglioOlio by light years. So much for “fresh” and “authentic”. What a...

I wish I would give it 4 or 5 star but my experience was is definite 3. There is so much where to improve from here. From the beginning, my friend and I entered right after another pair of ladies. We waited about 4 minutes or so, they asked my friend and I to wait outside as they clean up some tables and they will come and get us. This wait was weird, the bench where we sat was a few steps away from a window. So I decided to get up and enter again, as I saw 3 other little group heading towards the restaurant. I'm glad we did, we got sat right away. The table was not fit for us, we were missing a utensil in the rolled up napkin and a small plate. The waitress was pleasant but I think she was split with too many tables. The food was a 3 as well, I ordered a side lemon chicken orzo soup, it looked delicious but it was warm not hot. My friend ordered Fresh grilled lemon & herbs chicken wings with a spinach salad. The chicken had a delicious taste but the wings were not grilled, they were burnt. My friend had to pick off some of the meat to enjoy the lemon & herbs flavor that was on her plate which she truly enjoyed. I ordered a bruschetta sald with cajun shrimp. For me the shrimp was a bit too watery, although they did not minced on the cajun flavor, I tried to soak the water from the shrimp which made quite a difference. The salad was tasty but the ratio of bread (hence, I ordered a bruschetta salad) was lacking so I decided to order a side of bread to enjoy with my salad. It was too bad that I was 3 quarters done with my salad by the time the bread arrived to the table. I must say the food has all the possibilities to be better. We ordered tiramisu for dessert, truly the dessert was so delicious. The bill was $51.00, we tipped $10. I really wished the whole experience would have been a lot better for my friend and I. I chose this place to enjoy a...

I’ve eaten here for so many years and I’ve watched it slowly decline. I haven’t been back in about five months because last time I was there the drinks were half full and no one seemed to care, food was okay. Tonight I decided to go back and give it another try salad no longer comes in the family style bowl the bread was soaked in cheap olive oil it was gross. The portions between my friends dish and mine were light-years different. My same pasta dish I’ve eaten for at least 5 years literally tasted like dirty dish water for the sauce. I’m not one to send food back or complain, So I simply said my pasta tasted like it didn’t have a flavor and was just water and if they could bring me some more sauce. She says oh no I’ll take it back and make you a new one I said no there’s no need just bring me some more sauce. I got my bill and I got charged four dollars for the extra sauce. When I asked about it she said well that’s why I told you I had to take it back to the kitchen OK…lol The blue cheese olives for the dirty martini were also rotten. I’m also very skeptical that the pasta is made fresh in house. Even though the salad didn’t come like it used to it was still good, also the saltimbocca was good just way thinner less meat and more breading. Sad to say it’s become mediocre at best and I won’t be returning. Seems people like bad food for as full as it always is I’m so confused

*just gave it another try left after 5 mins ….being rushed and looked at like a crazy person by bartender Prosecco was flat so was tonic literally just getting worse and worse....