Gaberino's Homestyle Italian — Restaurant in Norman

I'm giving two stars with the standard of 3 stars being passable, 2 stars being disappointing, and 1 star being inedible. The only thing I will say is that this was an online to-go order, but I got there before it was ready and I don't think the 5 minute drive home affected the quality.

I am also being conscious of the fact that this is a local restaurant and we should all be supporting our local businesses right now. But all of my complaints come down to execution. Everything we didn't like could have been better with nothing but a little more effort.

I ordered the lasagna and honestly it was really good. If I were rating off the lasagna alone, I'd have given 4 stars. But that was the only thing that was actually enjoyable.

My husband got the chicken alfredo, and I'm saying this with all sincerity, Olive Garden's alfredo has more flavor. I literally just went to Olive Garden last night with friends and got the Tour of Italy platter which comes with a portion of alfredo. So I legitimately just had Olive Garden's alfredo last night, and it was better than what I just tasted. I'm not trying to be insulting and give the worst insult I can think of. I'm telling you I literally had Olive Garden last night and it was more enjoyable than what I just ate.

We also ordered garlic bread, and it had a SUGGESTION of garlic butter on it. It was basically dry toast. The bread was white. It was the La Croix of garlic bread. It was like taking a bite of toast and someone yelling the words "garlic butter" from the other room. Garlic bread should be the easiest slam dunk on the menu for an Italian restaurant. I don't know how you manage to make garlic bread disappointing, but they pulled it off.

Lastly was the desert. My husband ordered "chocolate cheesecake" and what we received was plain cheesecake with chocolate sauce drizzled on it. That was just insulting. The cheesecake was fine, and I wouldn't have complained if I knew that's what we were going to receive. But we ordered chocolate cheesecake. I felt lied to. And it was $5 for a slice.

I ordered the Tiramisu, and it was okay. They used sponge cake instead of ladyfingers, which isn't egregious, but it isn't as good. I'll admit that this complaint is a bit of a stretch, but it was $6... And after everything else it was just another disappointment to add to the list. It was a 3 star, passable desert.

Overall, I haven't been that disappointed by a meal in a long time. It didn't taste bad, but when Olive Garden has more flavor, that's really...

Went to this place for the first time a couple of weeks ago with some friends who recommended it. This is another one of those "don't let the strip mall location fool you" places! Inside was very cute and cozy. They have these bigger booths that even have curtains you can close for maximum privacy! Very cool! We were the first people in, so we took one of the curtain booths. One of my regular dining companions was with me... and let's just say she's picky and indecisive with her orders most the time. So she ordered a pasta dish... and a tiny side of each sauce to try (because this was her first time there, and she didn't know which one was the best). The waiter was incredibly accommodating on this, and seemed amused (instead of annoyed, which can happen when she starts the weird requests lol). He was pretty great! We ordered an appetizer of mushrooms that were to die for... I say keep the plate with the leftover butter sauce to dip your bread in! They had a wonderful selection of gluten-free pasta and pizza that I would never guess was gluten-free! I got the gluten-free pizza (I'm gluten sensitive, not Celiac's, so I just try to limit my gluten) and it was hands down the best I've ever had! The lemon Italian ice dessert was perfectly sour, fresh, and only slightly sweet. We sat and talked for nearly 3 hours, and the waiter never stopped coming by to fill our water and check on us. We never felt rushed at all. On the way out, what we think was the manager stopped us to compliment our outfits and tell yes thank you for coming in. We apologized for monopolizing a booth so long, and she waved it off and told us she was good we felt comfortable enough to sit there and chat. All in all it was a great experience, and I will...

Waste of money and gas to pick up our order.

Picked this restaurant because of the good reviews but this place takes the cake for the worst Pesto and Alfredo we have ever had. All of the reviews saying this place has the best Italian food MUST have been eating out of a dumpster before then because a monkey with a recipe from Google could have made my food better than this 'restaurant' could. I would rather buy the cheapest sauce from a store, dump it on pasta and eat it cold than ever pay for food here again.

The Alfredo tasted like plain heavy cream on noodles. It was runny not creamy. No seasoning at all either. I mean salt and pepper?? Hello?? Maybe they haven't heard of it. The Italian sausage, meatballs and shrimp were disappointing. Like they used ingredients from a frozen pizza box.

The pesto didn't even taste like basil and I'm pretty sure the oil they used was vegetable oil or something disgusting like that because there wasn't even a hint of olive oil. The noodles at the bottom were plain and not mixed with anything, not that there really was anything to mix them with. I had lemon pepper chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach in my 'pesto' pasta. The spinach was lumped at the bottom and the sun dried tomatoes tasted like ones from a can. No effort at all. I'd rather scrape burnt pesto that I made out of a three day old pot, season that with corn starch and eat that instead of the wet noodles they sent me home with.

The garlic bread was the driest I've ever had, it was like eating a giant plain crouton. Almost no flavor at all.

I'd give 0 stars if I could. I probably won't get food poisoning though I'll admit I am nauseous at the bit of it I consumed. Will update if...