House Italian Cuisine — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I have discovered what, for me at least, is a neighborhood gem!

I happened to see a review of a new restaurant on Baymeadows called “House Italian”. It was an odd name and the review went on about how good it was and how big the portions were. Now I usually take, “great restaurant, they give you a lot!” reviews with a grain of sand because “lots” and “good” are not always paired. But it was close and I did not feel like making dinner that evening so my wife and I went.

Walking in I thought, “Oh Oh, you’ve made a mistake” because the décor was less “Italian restaurant” and more “Strip mall take-out Asian” but we were there and it smelled pretty good so we stayed. That may have been one of my better dining decisions in a while.

The menu is not huge, but is eclectic. They have lots of Italian but also burgers, Mexican and sandwiches. We ordered from the Italian portion of the dinner menu; my wife got scampi and I got chicken picatta. Both were delicious and there were at least 8 large shrimp on the scampi order and two large chicken breast flats on the picatta. The sauces were spot on, not too garlicky or lemony and a perfect amount of seasoning. However, I think the biggest surprise of the night was the soup that came with the meal. They had a lemon chicken soup, and that is my go to in a Greek restaurant because I love it. Well I have perhaps never had better lemon chicken soup anywhere than at House Italian…I’d go back for the soup alone. Plus it is served with a lovely piece of grilled ciabatta in a pool of oil and garlic, DELICIOUS.

The pasta for the scampi was done to perfection, just al dente, and the rice they served with the picatta, well it was a garlic basil flavored rice, almost a risotto, and it’s flavor was superb.

Two days later I returned to try the sandwiches and again was delighted. I had a Cuban panini and my wife had a Pastrami panini, both came with that wonderful soup (which also was served with the garlic bread) and we both had to take some home.

So, my advice is to go! Overlook the décor and the impression that this is some slap-dash operation. It is a good restaurant with good food and VERY reasonable prices. Furthermore it is the kind of place you can just say, “Hey let’s go get Italian- naw don’t bother to change, it...

This restaurant open in May 2025, with a chef who wanted to bring good Italian food to the Baymeadows area. He formally worked at Poppy‘s Italian, which is one of our family‘s favorites, and it’s clear he took some inspiration from his work there.

Parking is plentiful, there are even spaces close to the entrance, including a handicap spot or two, if that’s something you need.

Second thing, Service. The service was so friendly and kind and efficient, you feel more like you’re eating at somebody’s house than eating at a restaurant. One of those reasons is because it is a family owned restaurant, and the whole family works there either as chefs, sous chefs , hostess, waiter, or even the bus boys. And I do like supporting family restaurants.

There are a number of Italian restaurants in town, and one of our favorites is Poppy’s. Well, the chef worked at Poppy‘s prior to opening up his own restaurant, so you will see some of the similarities. But besides that, they also have dishes like hamburgers, lamb, Greek salad, and a few other things that Chelle spot that are not traditional Italian, but based on the food that we had, I’m sure they’re really really good.

But you want to know about the food.

Garlic Bread - smothered in garlic, this chunk of bread is a must try. Caesar salad – my wife and I split a Caesar salad, and it was more than enough for the two of us. Some of the pasta, dishes, salad, but on this first visit we had sandwiches, so this salad was à la carte. Light, Fresh, traditional in every since,. Very good. Buffalo chicken sandwich — not sure that I’ve ever had buffalo chicken sandwich at an Italian restaurant, but this one was so good. The chicken was breaded in a traditional Italian fashion, and you can imagine it being chicken Parm or chicken piccata. Cooked a perfect perfection with the same bread they use for garlic bread. Chicken Parm sandwich - same as the buffalo chicken, just with Head cheese marinara. Can’t go wrong.

Looking forward to going back and try some of the pasta dishes, one evening. There are seven or so tables, very spread apart, so getting takeout is also a really...

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t often write reviews for places I dine, however, I had to make an exception for this place. My husband, kids, and I met with some friends here to try it out. Every single dish we tried was AMAZING. There wasn’t a single thing that any of us ordered that I wouldn’t go back for. I personally had the chicken francese, the chicken was crispy, the noodles were cooked to perfection, and the sauce was light and lemony! Delicious. We had the mozzarella sticks to start, hard to mess that up, but obviously handmade and the marinara is obviously made in house with fresh chunks of garlic and tomatoes, YUM! Each of us got a different dish, which we all shared bites of and it was all amazing, the seafood in the pastas were fresh, not fishy, and the sauces were perfect! I literally could talk all night about the complimentary garlic bread, house made bread covered in garlic and butter, I wanted to order some to take home it was so good! We ended the night with a cannoli, the tiramisu, and the chocolate cake. All of which, was amazing as expected after all the delicious food beforehand. I’ve tried tiramisu in many places and this was by far the best I’ve ever had. This place was amazing and I would come back time and time again, the food was fantastic, the prices were VERY reasonable, and the staff was helpful and attentive. Amazing experience, I’d love to go back again soon!

The only downside is the place isn’t big enough to invite a large party without taking up the whole restaurant which is a bummer because I’d love to invite all my friends to try it because it was THAT good! I didn’t even take pictures because we were too busy stuffing our faces to...