I came in this morning, I can truly say I have found my NEW spot! I have been here in Florida…read moretrying different Italian restaurants and haven't been satisfied with any of my experiences. This Restaurant, has friendly staff, a humble and kind soft spoken Owner. When I started reviewing on other platforms I was dedicated to One Italian Restaurant that I worked in until eventually moving here to Florida. The staff is very attentive and helpful. Today I ate the Chicken Francese, they give you the option of Garlic Knots or Garlic Bread, I chose the Garlic Bread but I think either way I would have been happy with my decision. I was very satisfied with the Chicken, it was well seasoned and moist which can sometimes be an issue in other establishments but it wasn't today, not here. It was amazing. The pasta with the lemony white wine sauce was to die for. I came in at 11, right at opening, the restaurant was quickly filled with many customers and I can definitely see why. I will 100% be coming back here. I write this now at almost 6pm and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I left. 10/10

Yo, I knew this place was going to slap and my pizza was 100/10. The sauce is so good & the crust?…read moreOof. I will be back.

First time I enjoyed this wonderful Italian restaurant. I was very impressed with my whole…read moreexperienced. From the time I was seated, to my waiter (Matthew) service and talking to the owner (Ray). Being from The Villages area, my friend & I like to visit restaurants that are not in our area; usually we go to lunch. My friend got the Chicken Parm & the piece of Chicken was huge & very tender. My choice was the Italian Deli Sandwich which was very yummy. I am a travel agent who does many local bus trips & I am planning on bringing a group of 34 ladies to this establishment. Before I got home, Hailey (Ray's wife) already sent me several group menus. I was very impressed with how quickly Hailey responded. FYI - I did not make a reservation so Ray did not know I was coming over ahead to time. They just treated me like anyone else. I would highly recommend this restaurant for you personal pleasure but also if you have a group who would like to go somewhere different. When you walk in the ambiance is like an upscale place but the pricing is great and compares to other eateries. So do your self a favor & give them a try. You won't regret it.

This restaurant is by far overrated. The ambiance is very dark when you go in with piano music…read moreplaying. The host were rude and didn't have a warm welcome upon arrival. We were seated in the back room for a birthday dinner celebration. The room was extremely dark and we couldn't turn on the other lights because it was connected to the most dustiest ceiling fans that had at least 1/4 of an inch thick of dust. The woman who was coming in and out of the room to pour water in the water glasses had an attitude like she didn't want to be there. I asked her a question about the menu and she very dryly told me "you can't order that unless you are on the other side" then walked away. That's when I was inquiring about the bistro menu. At that point I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat anything there due to their lack of plant based items or even easily adjustable items so I just ate the bruschetta. However when we placed the order for the bruschetta it never came out. So once we asked about it, it was then comped and brought out. Our waiter was very irritated and annoyed it seemed with the large party he had to tend to but his assistant which was a younger more personable guy was way more pleasant to be around. The cost point for the food was beyond the taste and size of the portions. When I asked about kid options, the waiter told me he could have the chef make a kids steak or chicken tenders and fries. It was my mistake for not asking for the price since I assumed it was a kids portion. Granted the tiniest steak did come out I still had to pay over $24 which I would have purchased the regular adult size if that was the case. So some clarity on the menu options for the kids would have been greatly appreciated. I can go on and on about this place but ultimately I would recommend not to go here unless you don't care about customer service or price points. Upon leaving the family event, and getting home I then realized my debit card was never returned to me by our gracious waiter. So once we returned to retrieve the card another day we were greeted with the rudest and most annoyed individuals at the host station. Needless to say we will never ever return.

My brother in law wak kind enough to treat us to dinner here. It is a little off the beaten path…read moreand was surprisingly small. It had maybe 20 tables if that. The decor was minimal but nice. I ordered the Penne Vernazza which had scallops, shrimp, crab, lobster and muscles in a vodka cream sauce. It was over the top delicious. You must make reservations if you want to get a table as their hours are 5pm -9pm nightly.

Food and ambiance here are usually very good. Before I…read morewrite the rest of this bear in mind I am a big city person so I have a slightly different view in regards to reservations. I arrived for my reservation and was told that I would have to wait between 30-45 minutes because people were staying longer and they'd taken a few walk ins. One if you know you have multiple reservations don't take walk ins... there were a few parties behind me with the same issue. Two there is no where covered to wait for a table (inside is too small; outside has 0 protection from the elements). You have one of the nicest restaurants in Lakeland; however there is no excuse for treating customers this way. I have been here several times and my close friends in Lakeland have been coming for years. Do better.

The pizza at Il Forno is excellent IF you dine in. During this recent experience, Door Dash caused…read morethe pie to get cold. Not even warm, but COLD. Like, refrigerated! I suspect that the driver had placed the order directly in front of the car's air conditioner. When I attempted to bring it to his attention, I learned that he did not speak a word of English. I gave up and warmed it in the microwave. Terrible! It should be noted that all my previous delivery orders from I'll Forno garnered five star ratings. Conclusions: Dine In: excellent food, great ambiance Delivery: inconsistent, risky

We came in and were not really greeted, but more like not feeling welcomed. Everything seemed to be…read morea bother by our server, Cam W. We all decided to get the lasagna and had the garlic knots as an appetizer. The food was all very good. Especially, the lasagna nice and cheesy. See my video. It's the food that keeps you coming back.

Great food,service was excellent, I was really surprised at the quality and the service.read more

First time at Palace Pizza and it definitely won't be the last. The lasagna, baked ziti, spaghetti,…read moreand pizza were all delicious -- everything tasted fresh, flavorful, and truly homemade. The service from everyone was outstanding and made us feel welcomed from the moment we walked in. The location is great, and we absolutely loved the authentic Italian atmosphere. A wonderful spot for anyone craving classic Italian comfort food. Kid friendly And they also serve alcohol ... Thank you

not the best food in town. I had the spag/meatballs. meatballs were awful "tasted like mush"…read more 2 lbs of spag, way too much; pre-cooked in what yr? The odd sauce was not Italian in any way shape or form.

Very good Italian. We had large group that enjoyed variety of items. Lasagna good with rich meaty…read moresauce. Enjoyed homemade salad dressing.

This restaurant has an amazing view of the lake as well as open views all around when dining. It…read moredefinitely has a family feel atmosphere with both a pub option. The waitress we had was very kind and welcoming and bubbly with conversation. My family were all very pleased with their food, which consisted of bbq wings, lemon pepper boneless wings, a Reuben sandwich and fries and chicken fingers and fries. The only negative I have to say is I ordered a Greek salad without feta and the amount of dressing and oil was beyond an acceptable amount that I wasn't able to eat it all or even half. By the time I ate through the top layer of lettuce the entire bowl was wilted and drowning in oil. So my advice would be stay away from the salad and just enjoy the heartier options.

I've seen the lot is usually crowded and the views are stunning, so we were pretty excited to try…read moreit out. Upon entering, a sign asks that you wait to be seated. This becomes an issue when close to ten minutes and multiple staff pass by with no acknowledgment. I went to stop someone walking by in order to get a table. To be fair, they were busy, but I'm not sure that warrants crickets at front of house. We were sat at a wet table that smelled of wet rag and at this point, seriously considered leaving. Being hungry and seeing how busy it was, we decided to stay. Our server was seasoned and friendly. Our drinks took a while and as we reviewed the ever confusing menu, we decided to order some alcoholic drinks. Drinks arrived and we had to step out front quickly. I found our server and let her know we had to step out, but would be right back. She said no problem. When we came back about three minutes had passed and our table was cleared. She brought us our drinks again and took our order. We ordered the crazy bread and the pepperoni pockets as an appetizer. The only thing crazy about the bread was the cost. It otherwise compared to dominos. The pepperoni pockets were very good! I ordered a spinach gourmet calzone and my partner got the sun-dried tomato pizza. The calzone was as described on the menu. That said, I longed for the calzones of NYC with heaps of ricotta, mozzarella and spinach sautéed in olive oil, onion and fresh garlic. What I got was essentially a cheese bread with a hat on. Chunks of unseasoned tomatoes, fresh unseasoned spinach and mozzarella cheese-that's it. No seasoning of any kind, outside of the charred taste that all the items had from the oven itself. The sauce had a sweetness to it and this also was just...a far cry from what I'm used to. He said his pizza was cooked well, but lacked flavor. They're in business a long time, so something is going right. However, for me, it missed the mark on all levels. At the end of the day, you go out to eat for the food, the food here was less than Sysco quality. We won't return.

Pizza was very good.We got a large half pepperoni half cheese! It was hot fresh and delicious !…read moreWhen we are in town this is our go to place. Check it out.

All the food we got was delicious and hot. The service lacked a little our server seemed a little…read moredisengaged. The place was nice and cozy. It was small and quaint.