Bar Italia Lakewood Ranch, Florida

Review summary

1. S

   Sara & Charles

   Greater Boston1 review

   5.0

   Dined today

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The lunch-sized portions of dinner menu entrees, coupled with a small simple salad, are perfect for a special lunch experience. All of us ordered different items and everyone was delighted with their choices. Outstanding food, and the ambiance is really really nice.
   

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2. M

   Maureen VIP

   Washington DC1 review

   5.0

   Dined today

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Always good ! Celebrated my husband’s birthday our Server Matthew was excellent! Glad we were in back dining room. Front can be too loud.
   

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3. d

   debbie VIP

   Tampa11 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Very good food. Server was nice but got a couple of requests wrong. Could be because the restaurant is pretty noisy. Would definitely go back.
   

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4. C

   Charley VIP

   Orlando68 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   This restaurant has a nice look to it inside and out. Great service and the food was very good. We are planning to return!
   

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5. C

   Cristine

   Greater Boston1 review

   1.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   I want to preface this by stating that this is the first time that I've written a restaurant review. Last night (3/14) I took five guests to Bar Italia in Lakewood Ranch. My husband and I had been there twice before when it first opened, and the food and service was excellent. Last night's dining experience was poor to say the least. First, our waiter (who was very nice and pleasant) was not familiar with many of the wines that we were inquiring about, so he couldn't make any recommendations (you would expect the wait staff to be familiar with the wine list). We then ordered our entrees. My guest and I ordered chicken parm. We both originally wanted to order the Veal Marsala but the waiter advised us not too as he said it "wasn't very good." The chicken parm cutlets were extremely dry and the tomato sauce was overly sweet. The side dish of ziti was drowned in tomato sauce and as a result was very soggy. My other guest ordered Chicken Limone and she said it was very oily. The fourth guest ordered halibut and risotto which she said was bland. The fifth guest ordered gnocchi in a vodka sauce with a bean and escarole side dish. She told our waiter that the bean dish tasted like "fish." The waiter told her that he had heard that same complaint from another guest and so he took it off the bill. At the end of the meal, I ordered a decaf black coffee. I took one sip and couldn't believe how bitter and "old" the coffee tasted (like it had been sitting there all night). The waiter took the coffee off the bill. All in all, it was a disappointing experience. I'm not sure if the restaurant is under new management and thus the lack of consistency in the food quality, but this was not the same caliber of food we had when the restaurant first opened. It certainly wasn't worth the money we paid. The staff was very friendly and welcoming as I previously stated, and our waiter was very pleasant, but that just doesn't make up for the awful food.
   

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6. R

   Robert VIP

   Greater Boston6 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   This was our first visit, definitely won’t be our last. Beautiful decor and the spacing of the tables allows private conversations. Amanda our wait person was excellent. She spaced the service perfectly, from drinks all the way through to dinner. Food was excellent! We both brought enough home for another meal. This is definitely on our dining list going forward.
   

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7. B

   Ben

   Tampa1 review

   3.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   Kind of bland Italian food, grilled Italian bread was just burnt bread not good. Ok not worth the money.
   

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8. T

   Tom VIP

   Indiana16 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Absolutely enjoyed our server Chandler once again !! Very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu!
   

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9. C

   Cheryl VIP

   Key West42 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We sat outside for lunch on their beautiful patio. The Italian wedding soup was one of the best I ever had! Highly recommend and will be back!!
   

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10. T

    Terry

    Tampa3 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Great atmosphere and the food is fabulous! Thursday is 1/2 wine bottle so it’s a good place to try new wines. We have been here over 6 times! Everything is delicious!
    

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