Grazie! Italian Eatery

This is a restaurant we’ve enjoyed a few times but as of today, Tuesday, 12÷29÷15, at 2:30pm they are closed, with no sign explaining and no one answering their phone. Disappointing — we drove here specifically for them and can’t believe they couldn’t put something on the answering machine or even post a sign.

I don’t like writing a bad review especially for an Italian place. But the good we are served today is possibly the worst Italian food I ever had. And I have been in Venice tourist traps numerous times. The kale «salad» was just some kale with a tiny bit of ancient pine nuts and raisins. The wedding soup was worse than Campbell’s. Even the olive oil rancid. I have had good in Grazie before but never had such a terrible experience. Perhaps all semi decent cooks have left?

I am extremely picky when it comes to Italian food, being Italian raised on the east coast. I’ve walked past Grazie before to be WARNED by friends not to eat there. This was one of the busiest weekends of the year and my friend found it hard to find a place to accommodate her parents and a group of friends so they settled for Grazie, who was more than willing to take the reservation. When she got there, even though they had a reservation, they still had to wait at least 15 minutes to be seated. Because it was a «busy weekend, the menu was shortened and adding or subtracting items to a dish was not allowed. When they got the food, UNFORTUNATELY, three of the guests who ordered salmon received it undercooked; one had it totally raw and INEDIBLE. I understand it was a busy weekend but you need to be prepared when being in the business for so long. No customer deserves to eat raw fish. They did not charge them for the items, which was the least they could do. Will not be at Grazie anytime soon. It is unfortunate that true authentic Italian food cannot exist in Bloomington.

Service is always efficient, friendly and knowledgeable, but the food consistently disappoints. I’ve come here an average of once or twice a year for the past ten years. Excellent wines and well made cocktails. The flavors in the dishes are evident with promising potential, but low quality ingredients and high prices ($ 25-​$ 35 per entrée) makes me feel ripped off every time.

Had a great lunch!!! Food was great as well as the drinks. We had Amber as our waitresses and she was great!!!

I don’t know where to begin. I could give them one star or five stars depending on how you see things. We ordered $ 100 bottle of wine and tons of appetizers for 8 people. Everything was going fine until an hour later our waitress announced that the restaurant had absolutely no food left except for chicken piccata. No seriously… Chicken piccata only. She said it would be on the house so we ordered three of them and then called the local pizza X store and had two pies delivered. We laughed our way through the evening as table after table got up and left. Then the pizza man showed up with our pies. You can’t make this stuff up. The restaurant picked up our entire tab. Except for the pizza. Kudos to the waitress and manager who dealt with the most surreal scene I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Shame on the owner who was present but never showed his face to apologize to any of the tables. He threw his staff under the bus and made them deal with his mistakes.

This was absolutely the worst restaurant experience in my life. The restaurant ran out of food, literally. We sat for 2 hours waiting for our main course when the waitress suddenly announced that she was sorry but that the restaurant no longer could serve anything other than chicken piccata. Chicken piccata — are you friggin kidding me. Never in my life. Oh – the chicken piccata wasn’t that good. Pick another place!

Though the food is okay, it’s nowhere near remarkable and way overpriced. My wife had the spaghetti with meatballs which she said were bland and not worth it. I had eggplant parmesan because how can you go wrong? It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t great.
The cocktail menu seemed fun. Our server didn’t really offer any suggestions on it. I ended up ordering a Cosmo because sometimes I get nostalgic for Sex in the City. It was lackluster and smaller than your average martini drink.
Final note, one of the people in our party ordered a seafood pasta dish. As the server was placing the dish on the table, she spilled seafood sauce down the front of my wife’s shirt. The server mumbled an «oops», not an apology and my wife got to smell like stinky seafood for the remainder of the evening. Blech.

I haven’t been to Grazie in a long time because after giving it 3 – 4 tries (which my mother did as well) I gave up. I just remember it always being not that great flavor-​wise & overpriced (which seems to be the consensus on here even after all these years). This is literally the only place my mom & I immediately cross off our list when we’re deciding where to have dinner.
Also, my boyfriend & a couple of his friends got food poisoning here one time but the food was so unmemorable that he can’t even recall what made him sick.
It’s just not worth the time/​money.

Overall it was just ok. The food was good, but I felt it was overpriced. The side salad was drowning in dressing (which was still pretty good). I ordered the manicotti. It was good, however for $ 17 I expected a larger portion, or some type of side.

Gratzie has very tasty Italian food but lacks in ambiance. In the 3 times I’ve been, the «basics» have been the best dishes– the garlic bread appetizer and meatballs are especially good. That said, the décor and layout are an odd mix of vino posters & industrial loft.
Before tonight, I would have given 4.5 stars. Unfortunately, there was a business group in the back room that was EXTREMELY loud. Think Nicks on a Friday night loud. It made our dining experience extremely uncomfortable and the young staff did nothing about it. I regret choosing dinner here tonight, which is a shame. I just wanted to eat my garlic bread in peace.

Many people regard this place as the fanciest Italian restaurant in Bloomington and has a reputation for being overpriced and snotty service. It’s not that bad! It’s good! The dishes are delicious and well-​made and they have a lovely wine selection. It is downtown and can easily be walked to when around town and the atmosphere is comfortable. I have not received snotty service when I have been there, but I do find the prices are high for what I am being served. I have always finished my meals and enjoy doing so.

I’m really not sure why this place has such bad reviews. We went on a Sunday at lunch and it was superb. I was with my parents, my brother, and my niece (who is three). Our waitress was Lexi and she was phenomenal! One of the best waitresses I’ve ever had.
I got the gluten free Gouda Mac & Cheese with bacon. Oh my goodness. It was to die for. It was so good! My brother got fettuccine with sausage and the sausage was so tender and delicious. My dad also got tomato basil soup which was a little spicy, but still amazing. The pita chips we got with our spinach artichoke were the best I have ever had. They didn’t have a kids menu, but gladly brought my niece some chicken and noodles that she loved. When I return to Bloomington I will definitely come here. This place is awesome!

After 6 long years of edumacation, my brother finally graduated from Indiana University. We decided to celebrate the occasion at Grazie!
Keep in mind, if you’re making reservations for graduation weekend, please do so at least 2 months in advance. Also, be prepared to put a $ 10 deposit on each member of your party, and you’re not allowed to make any modifications to your reservation 2 weeks beforehand. Honestly, I didn’t mind all the rules. They made sense, and it was more of an insurance policy for the restaurant.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff. The food. Upon arriving, we quickly found out that they were offering a fixed price menu. Unless we wanted to dine on a park bench somewhere, we were (in a word) stuck. At $ 55 a head, this wasn’t exactly the sort of place where you dine on a budget. With 6 of us in our party, we all knew it would be an expensive bill. This led to some unnecessarily awkward bickering between my father and my brother’s god parents. No matter. Continuing on with the review.
If you’re dining there, I recommend you request a table towards the front. It’s an intimate dining atmosphere surrounded by lounge music, mahogany and art. Our party was directed towards the back room. Honestly, this back room looked like, well… a backroom. There were no tablecloths, windows or a fancy, loungy atmosphere. Sorry Grazie! You missed the mark on that one.
Now onto the food, for real this time.
First, we started out with a champagne toast; shortly followed by an individual serving of a eggplant garnish on baguette. From there, we had the option to chose from a Caesar salad or a tomato bisque soup. I decided on the Caesar salad. Until now, everything seemed pretty basic. I was enjoying my meal. For an entrée, my parents both had the Chilean Sea Bass, and I decided on the Salmon Fillet. Both meals were absolutely delicious. Now, this food reminded me why I made the reservation in the first place.
Throughout the entire meal, the service was fantastic. Regardless of the other 6 graduate families around us, our waitress remained attentive and courteous.
Overall, I was pleased with my experience and the family was too. Thank you, Grazie!

Grazie is completely overpriced in comparison to the quality of the food. Everything tastes like it’s been sitting around the kitchen for hours and simply reheated prior to being served. If you’re looking to Italian food of this caliber you should go to Olive Garden — not only will the food taste the same, it’ll cost half the price.
The only good thing I can say about the restaurant is that the service was decent. Other than that, completely a waste of money. Especially with Malibu Grill and Little Zagreb’s nearby.

House salad was wonderful
I had Mamas meatballs and it was exquisite. House made sauce was very good.
Staff was friendly and helpful

I ate here after I returned from Tuscany last year and felt like I was back in the old country. I had Manicotti and Caprese Salad and they were delicious! This is not the Americanized Italian food that Americans frequent. It is family owned and operated and has the traditional Italian fare that I love.

My daughter needed some «track food» the night before her meet so I grabbed some spaghetti and meatballs to bring back to her at the hotel.
It’s still under debate if I am more embarrassed about feeding this to her or that I was charged $ 18 for it.
Nothing to this meal that left me impressed. Sad thing is the place was packed!
smh…

Yup. Consistently blah. Did a take out order. Overpriced and incredibly underwhelming. $ 18 for spaghetti & meatballs? A can of Prego and boxed pasta would’ve been better.
I’m surprised they are still in business. How can no one else make better Italian than this place?

Wild Mushroom Tortellini FTW. This restaurant was recommended to me by the front desk staff at the Courtyard and I was pleased with the choice. It was not cheap, but it was rich and delicious. The dish was $ 21 and did not include soup or salad. I ordered a soup to go with it for $ 5. This was a little overpriced in my opinion, but the portion of the pasta was significant. I didn’t have any leftover, but I was too full to even consider dessert seriously.
I visited on a quiet Monday. Service was friendly and kept my water refilled. I can see how other reviewers mention this as a date place. The booths are tall and give you a fair amount of privacy. I don’t think I really had view of any other diners while I ate. Given the prices, I would definitely prefer to have my parents treating me to dinner here than spending my own money if I was a student.
A tip for about the focaccia bread for the kitchen: please don’t line the basket with a paper napkin. The napkin stuck to the bread and I had to peel off the crust to make it edible. It made for poor presentation and I also missed out on the good crust!
I liked the atmosphere, service and my food. Minor things and being a little high priced keeps me from being more generous with the stars. I would give 3.5 if I could, but I rounded up because DAT TORTELLINI!!!