The Italian Grill

Nice atmosphere. Clean. The house dressing is homemade and delicious. Chick parm was thick and juicy; a nice size portion. Breading didn't fall apart. Pasta al dente. Plated nicely. Changed hands last year and one of the chefs quit, taking the awesome, not overly garlicky, delicious sauce with them.... When greedflation took over, you guessed it: portion size got smaller. The pics depict pre-greedflation. Pasta, sauce, and of course cheese portions were noticeably smaller. Really guys? Haven't returned. We don't like the new sauce and chicken Parm is all we eat. So, no point....not with all the choices nearby.

I had a amazing Birthday dinner here tonight. It was amazing and a shout out to Will for being a great server's. The manager was on the floor making sure all of the guests were enjoying everything. I honestly can't remember the last time I seen a manager making sure everything was Perfect! She was very polite and hardworking. I would definitely recommend The Italian Grill!!!!!!

So happy with our dinner experience! Walked in on a rainy Wednesday for dinner as family of six. Our daughter was turning 6, and we were in a pinch. I brought our homemade birthday cake because I knew we would be back too late to cut it at home. I reluctantly brought the cake into the restaurant just so it didn’t melt in the car, and was expecting trouble for bringing it inside. To my amazement manager Marta welcomed us with open arms and offered to store it in the fridge for us! I was astounded at the service. Food was so yummy, meatball appetizer and gnocchi were really tasty. Each dish had a special upscale twist that you don’t find at most Italian places nowadays. Service was very attentive and friendly. Dining room has had an elegant upgrade since we dined in 2020. So happy. We will be back!

OMG! This place is amazing. First time here. Service, food, and atmosphere was tremendous. Very customer service oriented. Chelsea, at the bar was talkative very friendly, and went out of her way to make us feel at home. They had live music by Tony, playing old rat, pack, style music, which was, appropriate, amusing , and cute. Highly recommend! And we will definitely be back as we live locally. The bar was spot on with lively sweet people.

After reading the reviews, we decided to check it out for ourselves. The bad reviews were so minimal that I thought, "they have to be good". We walked in and immediately seated at whichever table we wanted. BTW this was today, Sunday, 7/9. When we were seated, our waiter came over, Wes, and immediately asked if we wanted a drink. I ordered a smoked old fashion. We ordered a bottle of red wine for dinner and had bottled water. Wes came within minutes with my drink and wine for the table. Soon the appetizer of buarrata cheese salad came and it was delish! In the meantime, a basket of homemade focaccia bread was presented along with a small carafe of seasoned oil to dip in. Our entrees were served, I had Veal Picotta and my husband had the special, spaghetti bolognese with sausage. I noticed the pizza oven and mentioned to my husband he needed to go see. He did and then the owner came over and struck up a conversation with my husband. They talked about pizzas and having a home oven. We were eating our dinner when all of a sudden a cheese pizza shows up courtesy of Rob, the owner. We let it cool down, still hot from the fire roasted oven. So at that time we decided to save half of our dinner so we made room for the pizza. Glad we did, that was incredible. Dinner was done and dessert time. Apparently they offer a complementary zepolies for dessert. We got that and I got an espresso. All I can say is that from the beginning of walking into the restaurant, we had nothing but a great experience. Rob was very cordial and interested in our input. Great time and food. We will definitely go back whenever we are in town. This is definitely THE ITALIAN RESTAURANT OF SARASOTA.