Italia Gardens - Grand Blanc — Restaurant in Grand Blanc

Italia Gardens in Grand Blanc

Casual Italian dining with a kinda high prices. Salad was fresh and bread was abundant, but bland. The garlic herb butter was a nice touch.

Started our experience with only one set of silverware for a party of three. Had to explain what soda water was and where to acquire it to our waitress, eventually did get a lemon wedge with them. Staff was friendly enough, though stressed with being new and busy. It did take several passes by the waitstaff you get our silverware and such.

First order of mostaccioli with marinara and grilled chicken had to be sent back because the noodles were overcooked and mushy and the chicken tasted like burnt fish. The marinara sauce was quite well done though.

The chicken fingers and broccoli from the kids menu was good. It was about exactly how you’d expect it to be if done well. Spot on for our little one.

Second try for my partner and I was the fettuccine with shrimp and marinara. The plate was a bit cold since our waitress forgot to get it to us in time, so it was supposed to be taken off our bill(the entire meal ended up being complimentary). The marinara was still good and the fettuccine noodles were much better this time. The shrimp tasted like it came straight from Sam’s Club or Gordons Food Service frozen deshelled deveined pre-cooked bag shrimp. Not very impressive but tolerable; that’s just the way it is sometimes in the restaurant industry.

Overall, not the best dining experience we’ve had as a family recently. I’m not going to be too harsh on them though, since they’ve just opened with a new staff and genuinely seem like they’re trying very hard to work the kinks out. I’ll probably stop in again to give them a chance to really impress me but for now I’d be better off at Applebee’s.

They do not appear to have large print menus for the visually impaired at this time. They do have a full bar and a few flat screens with sports playing. The men’s bathroom had some amusing old Playboy advertisements which I did chuckle at. Outdated maybe, but better to remember our history than forget(or ban) it and risk repeating the same mistakes. Overall ambiance is nice and...

I will not be returning to the new Italian Gardens in Grand Blanc after my experience there. It started with being seated by a hostess who did not speak to my friend and me at all until we asked to be seated one table over from the one that was too close to the wall and she said, "Really?" When our waitress came, she did talk to us, but with very little enthusiasm. We wanted to order soup, but that was only served until 3 and it was 3:30. We decided to split a pizza, but that was not going to be started until 4. We said that we would wait. At 4 a new waitress came on duty; she was more upbeat than the last, but she had to tell us that if we wanted to split a pizza, it would cost $4 more. None of this information was on the menu. $13 for a small pizza already seemed like too much, but we decided to order one each and take some home. Unfortunately, the pizza was not worth waiting for and not something I looked forward to eating the next day. The dough was not good and the overall flavor was very bland. Grand Blanc does need a good restaurant that serves more than fast food, but in my estimation, Italian Gardens is not it.

Response to owner: I apologize for misspelling the name of the restaurant. It was not clear to my friend and me that soup was served all day since it was under the note that said "served until 3:00" and the waitress did not tell us. We asked why we were being charged an extra $4 to split a pizza, but the waitress just said that it was policy; there was no explanation about the unlimited...

A little pricy, but it's good. They start you off with bread and a wonderful compound butter, I just wish the bread had been warm. My grandma and I did not realize the price point until after we sat down so we settled on the antipasto salad and a pizza. They offered parmesan grated table side. Salad had plenty of toppings. My grandmother commented when getting her salad out of the bowl "where is the lettuce?" As there was a steep pile of toppings. I would say we had a high quality meal for the cost. We left paying about 35 dollars not including the tip. Although again, we ordered the cheapest items on the menu. I noticed they have some very affordable lunch specials though making it affordable for anyone earlier in the day. It seems like a very good family restaurant at lunchtime. At dinner it is very much fine dining but that does not mean you need to leave your small children at home. I think the items on the kids menu were 4 or 6 dollars a plate. This makes this place a viable option for parents with small children to have a quality date night without having to arrange for a babysitter. I reiterate though, you are looking at 18-22 dollars for an adults plate, or anyone older than about 6 I believe the kids menu stipulated. I would recommend they dim the lights ever so slightly as it would play into a calm...