Il Forno Italian Restaurant Southside — Restaurant in Lakeland

If you are looking for authentic Italian food, you're going to find it here. This isn't the "big chain" Italian food! You're going to get food like Mama used to make! Delizioso! We came as a group from our Assisted Living facility. We were pleasantly greeted by staff members. Throughout our dining experience, we received the best service we have ever had. Our server was refilling our drinks when the glasses still had about an inch of drink in it. We never were searching for our server or trying to get someone's attention. We were treated as though we were the only customers in the restaurant. As far as the food, it was Awesome! Portions were larger than any of us could finish and we like to eat! Included with most of our dinners was a large salad, individually prepared not one big bowl, and a piece of garlic bread. If I were to offer any suggestion to improve, I would ask to add more garlic on the bread. I felt the garlic flavor fell a little short. That would be the one and only thing I could say negative about this experience. As you look at the pictures, you can see the size of the portions and the look on our faces. Not one person had a complaint about anything, except me with the garlic bread. It is a place we asked our Activities Director to DEFINITELY bring us back to! I ordered Eggplant Parmesan. I have never tasted anything so good. Smothered with cheese just like I love. It came with a side of spaghetti and the salad and bread. I was so hungry that I was sure I would finish everything. I thought wrong. As is usually the case with Italian food, the other half tasted even better the next day. Two other ladies put together and ordered a Blanco Piizza. The rounds of cheese on the top as well as the sauce and other cheeses had us all drooling. They said it was great! Our bus driver ordered Lasagna. It was individually baked in it's own dish. Thick, rich and packed with flavor. She is usually one of our group that easily eats everything that she orders, but not this time. Even she had to take half of it home! One of the men in our group, a big guy who used to serve as a security guard, ordered a Stromboli. He said it was delicious. He was the only one able to finish his meal, however, it didn't come with a salad or the garlic bread. I strongly advise you to stop by and give IL Forno a try. You will be glad you did. ...

We dined in April 17, a large-ish party of 9, happy the weekend crowd permitted it. I'd not been here in some years, and had been unimpressed then. But many reviewers here and on other sites granted Five Stars, so...

The restaurant has a charming look, very earthy plaster walls & dark wood furniture. It's not a cozy place, very open and, busy with weekend diners, noisy. It may have been extra busy due to the air show at the nearby airport (Lakeland Linder).

We were seated promptly at our reservation time. We got our drinks orders in and there was little delay in service throughout our visit. Knowledgeable staff, I would say good service overall.

Five of us ordered chicken piccata, one seafood pasta Frutti di Mare, a Pasta arrabiata, a Margherita pizza, & antipasto.

The piccata was weird, most of us didn't care for it. Contrary to the menu, the kitchen did not use fresh mushrooms, rather, the piccata plates were prepared with marinated mushrooms. Usually, piccata is made without any mushrooms at all. The marinated mushrooms added extra acidity to the dish. I thought it was okay, even slightly interesting; the other four didn't like that sour tang. One diner didn't like that the sauce was so thin.

The pizza was okay, it could have stayed in the oven longer. The antipasto waa just okay. The Frutti di Mare was a hit.

The arrabiata was contrary to the menu description, unusual, the spicy sauce cut with a creamy Alfredo-like sauce. That diner thought it tasted like it was canned sauce, like Chef Boy-r-Dee. She was disappointed. I tasted it, definitely not as other arrabiata dishes I've had, but not unpleasant. More like a vodka-style sauce, not spicy st all.

The birthday boy had a limoncello cake slice he quite liked.

Overall, I have to pass on returning here. It is better than Olive Garden. It may be that we caught the team on an off night. There are better options for Campagna-Italian-American food...

I placed an order online for delivery. Like many other restaurants Il Forno uses a third party for deliveries. I believe they use Door Dash. My family ordered a cheese calzone, a veggie stromboli, a chef's salad and a hot ham and cheese. The order arrived hot and cheesy in about an hour. We live about 15 minutes away. Unfortunately the order arrived with two calzones. Ricotta cheese is not an option for me- that is why I ordered the stromboli! I called the restaurant directly and asked the person who answered the phone if their strombolis have ricotta cheese in them. She wasn't sure so she transferred me to her manager. I told him the situation and he asked me what I wanted him to do about it. I stated that I would like the correct order to be delivered. He said that they do not deliver. I then got transferred to a different manager, Dave. I would like to say thank you to Dave. He not only rectified the situation but he personally delivered the correct order himself. That is customer service that doesn't happen often. I got a phone call that he was on his way and it arrived within half an hour. Mistakes happen. I appreciate how this situation was rectified. For these reasons Il Forno earns 5...