Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)
Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)
Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)
Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)
K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)
Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)
Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)
Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)
Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)
Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)
Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)
Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)
Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)
Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)
Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)
Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)
Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)
D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)
Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)
Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)
A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)
Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)
John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)
Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)
Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)
Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)
Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)
Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)
Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)
Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)
Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)
Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)
Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)
Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)
Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)
Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)
Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)
Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)
Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)
Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)
Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)
Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)
Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)
Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)
Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)
Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)
Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)
Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)
Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)
John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)
Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)
Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)
Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)
Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)
Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)
Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)
Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)
Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)
Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)
Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)
Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)
Cade S.
Benders are the best ever.
(5)
Anthony T.
Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)
Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)
Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)
Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)
Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)
Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)
Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)
Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)
Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)
A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)
Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)
Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)
Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)
K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)
Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)
Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)
Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)
Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)
Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)
Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)
Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)
Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)
Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)
Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)
Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)
Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)
Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
(4)
A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)
Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)
Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)
Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)
Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)
Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)
Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)
Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)
Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)
Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)
Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)
Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)
Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)
Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)
Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)
Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)
Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)
Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)
Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)
Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)
Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)
Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)
John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)
Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)
Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)
Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)
Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)
Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)
Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)
Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)
Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)
Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)
Anthony T.
Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)
Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)
Cade S.
Benders are the best ever.
(5)
Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)
Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)
Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)
Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)
Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)
Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)
Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)
Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)
Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)
D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)
Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)
Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)
Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)
John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)
Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)
A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)
Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)
Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)
Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)
Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)
Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)
Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)
Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)
Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)
Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)
John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)
Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)
Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)
Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)
Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)
Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)
Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)
Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)
Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)
Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)
Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)
Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)
K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)
Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)
Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)
Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
(4)
A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)
Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)
Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)
Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)
Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)
Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)
Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)
Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)
Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)
Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)
Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)
Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)
Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)
Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)
Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)
Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)
Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)
Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)
Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)
Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)
Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)
Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)
Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)
Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)
Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)
Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)
Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)
Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)
Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)
Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)
Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)
Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)
Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)
Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)
Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)
Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)
Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)
A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)
Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)
D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)
Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)
Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)
Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)
John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)
Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)
Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)
Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Pizza is a famous Italian dish savored around the world. The entire credit for the popularity of Pizza in the United States goes to the chain of pizzerias all over the country. While the base and the texture of Pizza remains same across the globe, it's the toppings that differs from country to country. In the United States, you will find the top pizzerias serving pizzas with the toppings of mainly beef, bacon, chicken, ham, and sausage for the non-vegetarians. Other than these famous meat options, Pizzas with veg toppings such as mushrooms, pepperonis, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, etc. are also famous in most restaurants in the United States.
Irrespective of your locality, you will find a variety of different restaurants in your cities offering pizzas of all different types. Pizza is hot favorite among people of all ages in the United States. A large size pizza is enough to feed a family of 3 or 4 at large. Pizza is also the most preferred food whenever a group of friends is hanging out together. Pizza gained popularity in the United States after the American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II.
Over the years, different pizzerias in the United States have developed their own respective regional variations. Pizza gained popularity as the iconic dish in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Whether you prefer thin or thick crust pizza, you can find a pizza of your preference at the best pizza restaurants in your city.
Cade S.
Benders are the best ever.
(5)Anthony T.
Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)Cade S.
Benders are the best ever.
(5)Anthony T.
Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
(4)A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)Anthony T.
Pretty decent all things considered, not bad at all. Beats Olive Garden anyways, this place definitely doesnt blow your mind with amazing food, but it doesn't make you recoil in disgust either.
(3)Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)Cade S.
Benders are the best ever.
(5)Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)Jean W.
I don't get it. People eat here, and like it? The atmosphere at Village is definitely a two star. Tony Soprano and his consiglieres would drive through Fazoli's before they'd ever end up here. Sure, the furnishings are from the 50's and 60's. But the era of the building and its decor doesn't do anything for the invalidity of the begging-to-be-legit Italian food. Therefore, I now refer to it as Village. The one-star service is also lacking in character. After my last visit (and I do mean last...) it occurred to me that our servers here have always been uneducated about the menu, and generally void of personality. Which, in a real Italian restaurant, would never happen, at least not without accompanying shtick. But, the biggest disappointment here is the food. The Pizza Benders...I believe the Pizzelle and the Calzone got together and kicked the Bender out of the edible club. Wow, these things are not good. First off, they must be handy for kids, because immature taste buds would be their only welcoming home. Mostly crust, which also lacks any interesting flavor or texture, they're stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese and sauce, which are all very blaaahhh. Salt is apparently their favorite seasoning here. The salads are made with iceberg lettuce. Really? Still with the iceberg? I get it if it's a wedge salad, but all salads? No-No. My friend had the lasagna. She ate nearly three bites before abandoning the idea of going any further. She wondered if there had been a mistake in the kitchen. She implored me to try it. Reluctantly, I obliged. It wasn't right - too salty, not enough sauce, flavorless meat. She told the server it didn't taste right, I guess hoping for the offer of a refund, or another menu choice. Nope. The server's response was, "Well, not everyone is going to like it." (crickets ... crickets ...) Fifteen minutes after my few bites had started their assault on my system, I did not feel good. Oddly, around the same time, two other friends reported a similar reaction. We all paid homage to the lavatory on the way out. Ahh, the timely circle of life. My instinct was to request an overall refund here, since not one of our party of four ate even half of any meal. Instead, we agreed not to return. And I do feel good about that.
(1)Aaron M.
Read alot of the reviews below... Yes outdated inside, it can get really loud inside, but the food itself it great. Pizza benders are amazingly good. Yes good pizza is greasy. The pizza benders are great to talk home and eat the next day. This is a mom/ pop kinda place, not fancy but great food. I would recommend to anyone to go and have a pizza bender combo.
(4)Angela B.
When you first walk in, it's a little creepy. But, that's what I typically expect from a tiny place like that, so it's no big deal for me. Just don't expect an Olive Garden setting. It also gets pretty loud since the booths are crammed really close together. The food was really really good. The chicken parmigiana was at least Olive Garden quality. Yum. The customer service was a little lacking. The waitress was borderline rude, but it was pretty busy so I chalked it up to stress. The one thing I didn't like was they didn't offer to bring the kids meals out at the same time as our soup/salad so the kids just stared at our food (we shared (0= ) You get a lot of food for the price and it's really good food too.
(4)Benjamin J.
It is hard to define this place with stars which is good for them considering the best I could do in that way would be a lower rating. Instead I will try to focus on the good and the bad while giving the rating a solid. middle of the road. 2.5 stars. The good is it is inexpensive, decent quality food. They err on the side of red sauce and a lot cheese. My chicken parm was buried under cheese, marinara, and breading, but a giant chicken breast was there nonetheless along side a heaping portion of spaghetti. The menu is pretty large, and the combinations come with a lot of food. Entree, bread, salad, and soup. There was enough for my giant stomach and then some. You get a lot. There is the good. Is that the only good? Yup. For me and my tiny family consisting of a wife and a tween that's the good I find. However, it is quite obvious this place is BELOVED BY THE MASSES. It is CROWDED. Always. And the noise level shows. The noise is somewhere between one jet engine and two jet engines. The big suck-a-grown-man-in kind of jet engines. It is noisy. It is also CLEARLY a family restaurant. If there isn't a kid at a table, there is evidence a kid clearly sat there recently. Or stood there recently. On the table. Throwing something with meat sauce at another child or children. Kids are everywhere. I should tip the waitress and the bussers separately because the guys that clean up this place deserve a medal. If you're looking for a place where you can bring your 18 month old that screams for the entire meal? Look no further, this is your place to go! And you won't be judged by anyone (except by a passive-aggressive yelper), in fact your child will likely be but one voice in a choir. This place also does a bustling take-out service and is probably quite decent as their "benders" (f/k/a calzones) and pizzas are pretty tasty. The service is ok. Friendly but clearly worked hard. The front desk staff are the same. Again, this is 2.5 stars. The food is ok. The price is ok. The noise is terrible. But people love it, including my wife, so an extra star creeps in on my rating.
(2)Alec T.
This place takes mediocre Italian dining to a whole new level of run-of-the-mill-ness! 5 of us came in for lunch. We weren't seated very fast, but it didn't take a long time. Checking out the menu of lunch specials, nothing was over priced, but nothing seemed like an amazing deal. The unexceptional (but not horrible) experience continued when our average waitress appeared at our table after a fair (but not too long) amount of time. She took our order with moderate speed and efficiency, making sure we didn't feel rushed, but not giving us a lot of personal attention or time. After a decent wait she brought us salads that looked like they were from a grocery store bag... but but with a carrot stick and tomato wedge on top, so over-all not horrible. The pizza benders were not as good as Zappi's from the pie, but a modicum better than pizza hut. The soup was better than Campbells, and the Chicken Parm was head and shoulders above TV dinner quality. With a conventional smile our waitress dropped off our bills, conveniently separated, this meant we were on on way in a modest amount of time, with out any great fanfare or trouble. We made sure to leave a standard tip of 15-20% Overall the experience was entirely acceptable. I would eat here again, at some vague point in the not to distant future.
(3)Markie N.
The best pizza bender: pineapple, ham, olives, and mushroom with a side of ranch. You will not regret it.
(4)Steve K.
In my opinion the over all menu is a bit on the bland side. That being said, I have eaten here for years and years. I can say this. Their pizza benders are a MUST try. They are absolutely amazing. I honestly think that is what has kept them in business for so long. Also they are very consistent. I've never had a bad one over the years. Basically they are a unique version of a calzone. I would highly recommend anyone in the Murray area stop in and give a bender a try you won't regret it.
(4)Natalie B.
Ever since I discovered this place about 5 years ago I always crave to go back. Although I've never gotten a pizza bender I get the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken EVERY TIME! It's the best around! My husband and I often go with my father in law who is a regular there. We love the salad and soup you get and my meal even comes with a drink. Seriously for $12 you get a drink garlic bread, salad, soup, and a heaping delicious plate of pasta! Can't beat it! People may think the service could be friendlier but I like it they way it is. I don't like the restaurants where they try and make friends with you and kiss your butt. Here they just ask what you want. But very nice if you need anything or have a question. And the front desk people are always alert when people come up to them and very nice. So many places I go and have to stare them down in the face and say HELLO you ever gonna look up from your book? Not here, and there's more than one of them. It is always crowded and long waits but worth it! Just get there around 5 for dinner and avoid weekends and you should be fine. Also my husband always gets the chicken tortellini and loves it! Just go!
(4)Josta Y.
Where to start?! This place is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in the us, I've been coming here since I was a kid, my family is loNg time friends with the owner, the food is fantastic here the salad is amazing and the Roquefort salad dressing is to die for and there garlic bread always comes out fresh and delish, their soups are great too, now personally for me I always like to start the dinner off with a side of their meatballs, they come out piping hot and gooey with cheese, and than I go for the manicotti for my main dish, it has never disappointed me not once, the veal is also very good and the benders are fantastic we get those for camping trips and than freeze them! The wait can get a little crazy sometimes as it's not a huge place but it really is top notch. Now that I'm residing I'm arizona I have to stop in here everytime I go to utah.
(5)John B.
Love the Italian Village. Pizza is fantastic! My favorite is the ravioli and pizza combination. Blue cheese dressing is delicious as well. It is also very reasonably priced, just simple, good, comfort food.
(5)Scott T.
Love the pizza bender (it is like a non greasy calzone). The Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and Mushroom bender with sauce is my favorite.
(5)Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)Kyle J.
I came here after seeing some okay reviews and not wanting to make dinner for the night. I came in around Eight on a Saturday night, I figured that I would have to wait and was fine with it. What I was not expecting was to wait thirty minutes to be seated while being the only one in the waiting area. After finally getting seated, we waited for close to fifteen more minutes before our server finally came. I got the lasagna and my girlfriend ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We both received soup and salad with our order. Once we FINALLY got our food (had to of been close to 30 minutes later and we had had discussions of just leaving) the food itself wasn't too bad tasting. About thirty minutes later, we both were on the receiving end of a wonderful bout of food poisoning at the same time. Reaching out to the company itself by phone, they said they'd be calling us back, but based off of our horrible service I would assume they won't be unless I go in myself. I can understand why this place is so popular and packed, it's very inexpensive. But save yourself and your stomach a break and avoid at all costs.
(1)Manda P.
About an hour after eating and leaving this restaurant my boyfriend and I came down with food poisoning. For that reason alone, I will only rate one star. However, other factors warranted a low rating. Our server said very few words to us other than asking for our order and serving us. I don't expect servers to be talkative, but it made for a very awkward experience. We also waited almost an hour from when we placed our order until receiving our entrees, while those seated after us were asking for boxes. I don't claim to know how a professional kitchen works, but I ordered spaghetti and meat balls... I'm sure under different circumstances this place would warrant 2 or 3 stars, but food poisoning is obviously a no-go.
(1)Shauna S.
We only ate here once though we have several friends who have been regular customers here for decades. The salad had wilted lettuce; the rest of the food was just eh. It was at least inexpensive. We might give them another chance v
(3)Jonathan B.
Even if you've never been here before, you've been here. It's the typical family run Italian restaurant - the type of place that Robert Irvine loves to come in to and make the owner cry. The menu is really long and confusing. I've been there a few times with family & each time I have to take a while to figure out what's going on with the menu. The food is so-so. Nothing that's going to blow your mind. Portions are decent but I'd be happier with a smaller meal that was done with a bit more passion.
(2)Been B.
I have heard of both lovers and haters of this place. I kind of sit in the middle. I have been 4 times and have only loved the pizza bender. The dough is tasty and keeps the contents nice and hot. I just haven't been a fan of the sauce. It is good, but ultimately plain. Garlic bread could be so much better than butter and seasoned sliced bread. Lastly, my salad has had so much dressing every time. I keep forgetting to ask for it on the side. Maybe next time!
(3)Jana A.
So I'm a bit ashamed to say that I now crave this stuff on a regular basis. We went there one day and maybe I had a residual hangover that was effecting my thought process... But it was good. The server was on top of shit, the salad was crisp and ranchy. The pizza was perfectly over cooked to the point were the crust was crispy the way I like and the garlicky butter toast just melted in my mouth.... Not to get to pornographic about my new craving for Italian Village but it was DELICIOUS! It must've been the fifth of whiskey I ingested two days before... Has to of been. Or maybe they stepped up their game recently? I don't know but I like whatever change they made. Nom nom nom.
(4)Robin A.
I come for one thing and one thing only and that is the pizza benders with a side salad, I've never been disappointed service is always great and the place is clean and updated. The menu looks good with your typical Americanized Italian food but Its the bender that keeps me coming here...
(4)Joseph G.
I like this restaurant for a good quality cheap meal. My wife has been going here since she was a child. Her grandparents used to own the Sinclair next door. So she introduced me to the place. This is the kind of food that you eat and thing meh. It's ok. Then later you crave it and realize it really was pretty darn good. It's nothing fancy. The ambiance isn't that great, although they did an amazing remodel a few years back that helped improve that a lot. The service is so so. I give it a B. The noise level tends to be a bit high during dinner because they get so busy. All in all though, it's good food for a reasonable price. I can take my wife and son to dinner here for around $30 including tip which is good in todays market. I strongly recommend their veal and pizza bender combo. Both are incredibly satisfying.
(3)Kimberly L.
One of SLC's hidden gems! This had been our family's favorite restaurant for over 20 years. Don't even bother ordering anything but a pizza bender though... They are amazing!
(5)K N.
The food here is ok, at best, but it is the service that stands out as particularly bad. Last time I was there, my friends and I actually started timing the service. After being seated, it took about 11 minutes for a server to approach us and take our drink orders. It then took nearly another 10 minutes for the drinks to be delivered. That seems excessive for five sodas. I want to be clear that the restaurant was not especially busy at the time. There were perhaps four other parties there.The establishment itself is not especially clean and that could be, in large part, to children running rampant. Way to go parents! Overall, even the less-than-good food aside, the Italian Village experience is mediocre, and that is a compliment.
(2)Nikki S.
Dear Italian Village, I want you to know I would give you 10 stars if I could. My husband and I went here for our first date almost 15 years ago (he had been coming here long before we met) I had the bender and my life has never been the same. Over the years I have branched out but I always get a regular bender with sauce or the lasagna. Both with garlic bread and salad. I'm shocked at other reviews! Yes it's a plain old salad. What makes it exceptional is their dressing. They don't use dandelion weeds to "impress". Simple cuisine is where it's at. The meat in the lasagna is wonderful. I believe it's ground pork. I don't really care. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. The sauce is very thin, which is great because you don't want to be taken over by sauce when biting into the bender. We moved out of state but are returning for a visit over our anniversary weekend in May. Fire up the ovens!!!
(5)Emily J.
They have great pizza benders. That is all I ever get when I go to the Italian Village. I love the quaint little secret of Murray Utah. It is BUSY! So if you do not want to wait on a Friday and Saturday Night for a table (up to an hour) but you want the Pizza Bender. Order it to go. The Lasagna was better years ago but it is still good. Just not my favorite. I do love the Salads. (For a twist try alfredo sauce for your pizza bender if you make it with more gourmet toppings.
(4)Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
(4)A M.
This is a restaurant from my childhood and even as an adult who tries to eat healthy now, when I go back to Salt lake City this is a must have. I get the pizza and lasagna combo and have plenty to take home. All of their flavors are unique and classic. The homemade dressing, garlic bread and lasagna appear typical but taste special. Most foods and places I liked as a child have lost their charm... or the food it just gross... but this place remains a gem.
(5)Ron K.
I travel every week and usually stay downtown when in SLC. This time was in Murray so found the Italian Village. I was happiest that it was open until 11 pm. That may be it's best quality. First I was offered a drink, so I asked about wine. The choice was white or red. After picking red my choice was Cab, or Chianti. I was expecting to hear different vintners, but then realized that those were the choices and laughed. The Chianti didn't taste like Chianti, but it was okay. They put together nice combo dinners, so I tried pizza + lasagna, and added a small salad. Nothing for a while, then all at once the salad, "garlic bread", and bowl of lasagna arrived. Nice timing! The "garlic" bread was 4 slices of Wonder bread that appeared to be sprayed with Pam, and was toasted. It had no flavor beyond that. I actually could not detect any garlic flavor present or implied. The salad looked like what you get out of a bag, only it was fresher. Good blue cheese dressing, but overall a failure for an Italian restaurant. Basically just iceberg lettuce. The lasagna tasted okay. It was reminiscent of Boy-Ar-Dee. The sauce was just what you would expect from a can, and generally everything lacked a dose of flavor. Specifically a bit of garlic and spice. I figured the pizza would be a hit. Oops! Crust was okay, veggies were fresh. The sausage literally tasted like hash. Looked like it too. Not enough sauce to taste, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Again, could have used some garlic and flavor of any kind. The salt and pepper, which were the only table spices, helped enormously. I can see how this place might be a local favorite, maybe for teens. But I have had much better in the Salt Lake area and frankly don't understand the attraction. My dinner, with wine and all came to $17. A good price, but for very average food.
(2)Jake G.
Best kept secret in Murray. Perfect little Mom and Pop restaurant. Reasonably priced and perfect amount of food for the price. Try the pizza benders, they are the best! Would have given a five but the service could be a little better. More attention to diners and friendlier attitude would get a five.
(4)Eileen C.
Crazy busy with a 30 minute wait at 6 pm on a Thursday night. Mostly regulars. Good value gets the three stars, food quality is just okay. $14 chicken parm dinner included a fountain drink, a cup of soup, a generous salad, three slices of toasted Italian bread with garlicky spread, cheesy chicken parm topped with a pile of spaghetti and tasty marinara sauce. It was even busier when we left than it was when we arrived.
(3)Ashley H.
I love Italian village. Still one of my favorites. I haven been coming ever since I was a kid! Pizza benders are the best, you can't go wrong
(5)Steve W.
This isn't fancy, pretentious Italian food. I can't even say its authentic Italian food. I would call it classic, americanized italian. Lots of flavorful red sauce atop copious amounts of tasty pasta with garlic bread and minestrone soup. The prices are good. The portions are generous. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. The service is decent.
(4)Michelle K.
Our Italian comfort food place! Back on the 1970's, this was the closest place to Sandy, to get a pizza. It was quite a treat back them, and still is. I had forgot about this place as chains took over the south end. But, a few years ago, I was reintroduced to this gem. Now, this is our take out pizza place, and my lunch date, and business lunch staple. Generous portions of salad, soup and entrees, make this a no brainer for Sharing with my daughter. One of the only places for veal parm. Fresh salads, and handmade soups are so rare, but, IV, never lets us down. I keep the phone number in my phone, so I can always get take out on our busy weekdays after work. The only downfall, (for me) is it gets so super busy on weekends, and very family friendly, which means lots of noise, and braty, I mean off leash braty kids. But, I guess that's a good thing for them. And it shows how popular this place is, and for good reason, so I just get take out on the week ends. Just writing this review has convinced me that this is dinner tonight...
(4)Lauren B.
The food is what you go for, if you're looking for a good deal, the bender and salad is where it's at. It comes with the drink. Although, you can basically guarantee that they will get some item of your order wrong. I don't like onions and they salad is infested with them, I ask for it without and it rarely comes the way it's suppose to. It's family run and the waitresses mean well but they mean business so don't expect any small talk! Don't get me wrong, the food really is worth it. Especially because the price is good!!!
(4)Austin S.
Let me premise this by saying that this is definitely a Utah/local joint and i'm an out of towner with SLC/Murray family that I married into. With that being said and with all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. The place looks really cute and it wasn't too far from the house plus I was starving! The service was good. The food tasted awful compared to the East Coast Italian that i'm used to. I guess I was supposed to get the meatballs or a bender as they are called here, but after tasting the garlic bread, I was worried. The bread was kind of eh and i'm a garlic lover so that is saying something. I just wasn't as impressed as everyone else at the table who was local. I am thinking that if you are local, you may love it, but as an out of towner who had their first try-I was honestly fairly grossed out and didn't finish any of the food.
(2)Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)Melissa S.
Fantastic pizza (sausage and pepperoni is my fave), awesome benders (I keep it simple with pepperoni and mushrooms), delicious Roquefort dressing :) and my favorite garlic bread! It gets busy but I think it's worth the wait!
(4)Samuel C.
How do I describe a Pizza Bender? A Hot Pocket times a thousand, based under the assumption that Hot Pockets are indeed incredible. The chocolate milk is awful. Nesquik is a sad excuse for a cold creamy glass of chocolate milk.
(4)Elisa C.
I've driven past this restaurant for many years and always saw cars there. Today I decided to finally try it out. Big mistake. This is not Italian food. This is not even good food. The salad was limp iceberg lettuce with one slice of tomato and a carrot stick. For the main dish I had the lasagna and my friend ordered chicken fettuccine. The lasagna came drowning in some sort of processed tomato sauce, and inside was a layer of pink, ground up mystery meat. It looked disgusting. The chicken fettuccine appeared slightly more normal but the chicken was hard. We both left the restaurant crossing our fingers that we don't end up with food poisoning. My recommendation: pay a couple dollars more and go to Roma, which is half a block away and 100 times better. There you can eat food that tastes fresh and is far more authentically Italian.
(1)Kim T.
3-1/2 stars. Spacious ... plenty of seating. Where else can you get soup, salad, entree and large drink for $9.99? I got the spaghetti and meatballs ... 5 to be exact. For an extra .70 I also got fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I get the personal pizza with lasagna and large drink for $10.50. Not bad at all! Service is good, too. Things they need to work on: 1. Serve the soup hot. 2. The bread is good - add some garlic spread to it. Not the very best Italian, not the worst. I'd rather come here and support local than go to Olive Garden. I also love the retro sign outside. I think I'll try a bender next time. I hear they're good. I like this place ... we come here often.
(3)Wilford N.
It was a dark and stormy night. No darker than a typical night, mind you, and it wasn't really all that stormy. Come to think of it, there was a slight chill but the weather was otherwise quite nice, especially for early November. Okay, so let's just say it was a night. Can we agree to that much? A Wednesday night. She insinuated her way into my office the way politicians insinuate that their opponents might be gay. My office doubles as a living room, and she actually got home first, so it may have been the other way around. All that aside, though, she confessed to me that she had a burning hunger--a hunger that only Italian food could quench. She was feeling adventurous, see, but didn't have the bread for one of those high-falutin' places downtown. So we dropped a line to an old pal of mine, fella called Google, and asked him where a couple of disaffected dreamers on a budget might be able to get themselves some decent fare to remind them of the Old Country. No, not that Old Country. The other one. The one shaped like a boot. Google suggested a nearby place called Italian Village. Said he knew of many a traveler who'd sated their hunger there among the linoleum and neon lighting. We arrived to find a line of locals who'd come to what was clearly a regular hangout joint for them. This was looking promising. The place looked run down, but the waiting room was crowded with anxious diners awaiting their tables. We thought maybe we'd found one of those well-kept secret gems that every town houses, which the regulars are reluctant to tell others about for fear of it being overrun with interlopers. Since the hostess said we'd only have to wait a few minutes, we decided to have a seat and wait for a table. Something strange happened now, though, as it seemed time dilated for us, while the staff seemed unaffected. What was only five minutes to them seemed like well over half an hour to us. This temporal anomaly remains unexplained. Once time had gotten back in joint with itself and we were seated at our table, our thoughts turned to the finer things in life; that is to say, strong drink. My heart sank when I spotted the large bouquet of balloons tied to the chair of an adolescent boy there clearly celebrating his birthday. You don't usually find wine and balloons in the same place. We were surprised to find, though, that they did in fact have a wine list. For that matter, so was our waitress. We opened it excitedly and pored over the selection of red wines. Both of them. We selected our wines and ordered our meals, then sat back in anticipation of a hearty repast to observe our surroundings. They were boring though so we just joked with each other about the fact that according to the menu you could get a pizza, your salad tossed, and change from a twenty. Also, apparently the salt and pepper shakers are in a TPE BDSM relationship with the water cup, ever since the glass of wine left their happy little triad to follow her dreams of being a hand model. The soup arrived and was totally, completely, amazingly inoffensive. The garlic bread was clearly Wonder bread which had been buttered and toasted, but it was definitely bread, and they definitely brought it to the table. There's no arguing with that. A short while later, when we had finished with the soup (not because it was gone but because we were bored with it) the salad and manicotti arrived. They had gone to the trouble of removing the salad from the bag it came in and the manicotti from that little cardboard tray you cook it in, so we thought that was a particularly nice touch. The main course, Tortellini, was also delightful. It reminded us of the Tortellini the way mom used to make...a trip to the to the freezer aisle to get. They say the clothes make the man and the sauce makes the pasta, and I'm pleased to report that this meal was no exception. Their marinara sauce was unlike anything I've ever tasted, except for all the other times I've had marinara that came out of one of those gallon-sized cans that always sit there on the bottom shelf in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. There was also a pizza but honestly it's a blur. The portions were quite large and we didn't get through more than half of our meal, and we contemplated donating the remnants to starving orphans, but decided they'd had a hard enough life already. All things considered, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the following types of people: Those tragically born without taste buds, or just taste. Those who went to public school or who used to fly a lot and are nostalgic for the food. Hipsters who are looking for a new restaurant to "love." People I hate.
(1)Maria M.
After driving by so many times me and my boyfriend decided to give it a try. We waited 20min to get a table, we were thinking that the food was delicious, but it wasn't; not only the waitress took forever to take our order the food took even longer to get to our table lol...the food was like can food and the chicken tyson pre-made chicken lol. The Bender however is very good!! :)
(2)Lorin J.
Okay, first off, you need to understand Italian Village. If you went to Murray High or Cottonwood High within the past 40 years, this is home. It's like an old family friend. It's not real Italian food and it's not gourmet. Someone even told me that a Greek family originally ran the place and it's their home recipes. Now that THAT's out of the way. The food is decent, the portions are huge, the price is cheap. Plan on waiting a while because it is popular, especially with Utah's large families. Plan on it being noisy. Don't plan on impressing anyone on a first date...unless they went to Murray or Cottonwood. The pizza benders are good. I love the pizza and spaghetti combo. ALWAYS two meals for the price of one. The meatballs are AWESOME. Shay and Scott run a great joint. They take care of you. They're open late. And the staff is (usually) friendly, but always busy. What's not to like?
(3)Patricia P.
Bathroom sink has a constant drip. Wasting water is the least of this restaurants problems. Decor looks as if it was purchase from. Pic n save, when it was pic n save. Insider tells me the foodis prepared days in advance & frozen. Very cheap.
(1)Jenner B.
If you are looking for average at best Italian food than this is the place for you. At first glance of the outside I thought that it looked like a school portable made into a restaurant which the inside revealed it pretty much be the case. When we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins. to be seated. This was a bit surprising because when we went to the dining area there was hardly anybody there! The salad was iceberg lettuce and had nothing going for it. I am a big fan of garlic bread and its pretty hard to mess up garlic bread so we decided to order some. One taste and I knew the rest of experience is probably going to be the same disappointment. The bread was basically wonder bread that was toasted. With no garlic. Really. It was a bland piece of toast. The famous pizza bender was alright. Overall it was average. It slightly edges out frozen Italian food, but not by much.
(3)Alissa D.
This is one of our favorite places to go. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Spaghetti, ravioli, pizza bender, soup, salad, lasagna and my personal favorite, chicken Parmesan. Oh man. My mouth is watering! The service isn't always stellar, but the owner is almost always there helping and working her butt off. They are always very kind there. It's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, it's supposed to be an affordable place with good food. And we love this place!
(5)Jen D.
This was a family favorite growing up. So I guess I lacked taste buds as a child,because 20 years later I returned and wish I hadn't. The positives, we had no wait time. But the waitress still seemed annoyed she had to seat us. She disappeared before we were settled. She returned after, I'd already said in my head where is the staff, two or three times. She took our order, like she was working the drive thru, cutting you off before you completed your order, asking what dressing and drink you wanted. She promptly disappeared. It was very quiet as they had just opened. We waited a bit and she returned, without saying a word putting our drinks down and tossing straws. Yes she tossed them. After another absence, she returned with soup, spilled it, and said I try not to do that and walked off. Yes she just walked off didn't bother to clean or replace. With enough time to eat what was left of spilled soup she returned with a bag of shredded lettuce, rolled in ranch dropped in a bowl with a carrot and a tomato wedge. It is here we arrive at the second and last positive. There was enough dressing, almost too much, but enough. She plopped down a basket of bread, with a couple burnt pieces and departed swiftly. I wonder if she was a nascar driver in a former career because she seemed too busy to make eye contact, smile or set things down in a civil manner. She returned with our main course. The bf got the half and half, no flavor and drowning in sauce, I ordered a pizza, the vegetables we added after it was cooked and threw the taste off. No refills on our drinks, and never checked on us to see how the food was. Finally I see her whizzing buy with my empty glass in my hand she makes eye contact. Buzzed by. We are still waiting for the check when she finally asks if she brought us our check, well we think she is asking us she never actually stopped walking but her head was facing our general direction. She returns again with out stopping and tosses the bill at us. I put my card on the bill and she returns to pick it up, I pick up my empty glass and she says,oh you want a refill ? She ask what I have and my bf says coke. Her response kills me, as she know acts we are the most demanding customers she says, you want one too? With the attitude of a snotty 13 year old puberty stricken child. She return with bill so I can sign, plops down two drinks and without saying a word is walking off. Never once was there a kind word, a thanks for coming in, nothing. So if you like no wait, go when they open and if you like enough dressing get the bag of shredded lettuce in s bowl. But only if you want to be treated like a seal at sea world and have stuff tossed at you. Ask for Sherrie she has a great toss she only spills the soup.
(1)Juli L.
Love the garlic bread. The benders are pretty good too. So is the veal Parmesan. Usually have to wait a long time to be seated because its busy.
(3)Cee L.
it's totally a local thing - not real italian food the famous 'benders' are a poor excuse for a calzone and they charge you extra for red sauce. the salads are anemic with iceberg lettuce and some pathetic strips of dried out carrots. the 'garlic bread' is made from sliced sourdough. it's loud and usually has the typical utah compliment of large families letting their kids run loose. service is odd.
(1)Che B.
The alfredo was mediocre, Pizza benders were ok. Lots of food for the price. This place is 3 stars at best for the overall experience. The food was probably 3.5 stars while the atmosphere 2.5 stars.
(3)Chris H.
Have been eating pizza benders since 1968 and they are awesome. This place has been the Friday night hangout since I was in high school. Love IV!!
(5)Rae R.
My friends and I came here after a comedy show at the Murray Theater for a late night meal (They apparently eat here often, this was my first time). They raved about the "Pizza Benders" (basically a Calzone) but I was not very hungry so I just opted for a side salad. The SMALL salad was $4.99 and would never pass for a salad at any other restaurant. It looked more like the the bits that you throw away when you're trying to make a good salad: the garbage yellow parts of iceberg lettuce, limp red cabbage, big chunks of yellow onion, ONE baby carrot, and two tomato wedges. Also, I don't know what they put in their "vinaigrette" dressing, but it sure didn't taste like any vinaigrette I've ever had. My husband got some garlic bread which was basically Wonder bread with some kind of faux-garlic paste on it. My friend seemed happy with his greasy Pizza Bender but it didn't look very appetizing to me. The decor is outdated and grungy and the floor was filthy. One of the employees was actually trying to sweep the carpet. Really? Sweep the carpet? That place was in need of a good vacuuming! I guess people go here because it's greasy comfort food, cheap, good for large groups, and open really late on the weekends. I, however, think it is gross and will not be returning. You know that show on the Food Network called "Restaurant: Impossible" where Robert Irvine whips crappy restaurants into shape? This place is in DIRE need of that service. Message to owners: get on that show ASAP!
(1)Charles S.
This is passable Utah-style Italian fare. Lots of canned, frozen and jarred ingredients combined in a less-than-unique way. The service and atmosphere are nothing to write home about. With all the wonderful food options in SL Valley, I don't think I'll become a "regular" Here.
(2)Jay T.
Everyone raved about the Pizza Benders, so I figured I'd try one out. I got the regular one with pepperoni, ham, and sausage. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It's simply a calzone, but much smaller than anticipated. The taste was good, but nothing over the top fantastic. For the 7$ price tag, it wasn't too bad, just like I said a bit small. I definitely could have eaten two and been more satisfied. Overall, not bad, but nothing more than an average 3 star place.
(3)Vida A.
ok so i always wanted to know the big deal about this place because it seems always crowded but dingy from the outside. Inside is not much better even tho they did a do it yourself remodel. They are open until 11 monday thru thursday so we went in since it was past 9 and dining options were all chains. The server was soooooo slow to the point we thought she forgot the hostess gave her a table. The only thing I can think of as to why this place is popular is because it is dirt cheap. I ordered the noodles with pizza and it came with a drink and bread for like $10.50 my bf ordered the tortellini and pizza. I added a side salad which came out with the noodles and 15 minutes later our pizza. I hate to say but Olive Garden has better food! Everything was bland and lacked love like good Italian food has. The garlic bread is wonder bread with butter spray, I am telling you the food is below average. The dining room is loud especially the family who was actually letting there kid's practice there cheers, classy. This is a typical Utah place, bland, cheap food to fill the hole. Yuck!
(2)Betsy H.
Italian Village is pretty mediocre. I mean, its not horrible, it just tastes basically like a level below cooking at home. The menu is pretty generic- pizza with a side salad, pizza with a side of spaghetti, pizza with a side of ravioli.... I went here a few days ago after work with some co-workers. I perused the menu, and decided the most adventurous choice would be the pizza with a side salad. So thats what I ordered. The salad was quite large, bigger than most 'side salads', easily 3 cups of roughly chopped lettuce, with a few white onion slices mixed in. The dressing was mixed throughout the salad, and there were precisely 2 tomato wedges and one carrot stick on top. Kinda blah. The veggie pizza I ordered was ok. Not horrible, not great. The crust had a good texture, and was baked to a nice golden brown. The garlic bread was Wonder Breadish, and looked not great. I didn't have any, so I can't tell you how it tasted. Didn't look terribly appetizing. Bottom line is: My coworker was buying dinner, so I won't complain too loudly. But when its my turn to buy, I'll either make it myself or choose somewhere else to go.
(2)Brian P.
The pizza and benders are extremely salty tasting and the garlic bread is terrible. I have gone twice, hoping the first time was just a rare bad night. I won't be returning. I just don't get what people see here.
(2)Clint E.
My family has been going to Italian Village since I was a kid. My mother has been going there since she was in high school. It's a fairly popular place to eat. Don't go on weekend evenings as you will be waiting a long time in a crowded waiting area. The best times to go are during the day and late late at night. I would say that their more popular dishes would be the Pizza Benders. They're like calzones but simpler.
(4)Brian R.
Best. Place. Ever.
(5)Heather B.
A local favorite, Italian Village is usually a good bet for comfort food. The last two times I've eaten here, the service has been incredibly slow and rude and the wait is ridiculous. It took 15 minutes to get drinks and another 25 to get food on top of that; for a party of two on a Sunday. Do not expect to get salad or bread prior to your main course or drink refills. They seem understaffed and I was definitely left underwhelmed. The food was pretty good, although my tortellini was luke- warm. If you are really craving this Murray restaurant, do yourself a favor and get takeout. On the plus side-they do now serve cheap beer and wine.
(2)Darin B.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid. This place has always had great food at reasonable prices. If there is any downside to this place it has to be the service. If it is busy or if it is slow, you can always count on sub par service. From not getting your drinks refilled, to waiting way too long between (is everything tasting ok tonight) check-ins, servers are usually rarley seen. Had they come by to ask tonight we would have mentioned the pasta was not hot. Also a numbscull move... I bring my 92 year old grandma here tonight, the place is basically dead, they see her holding my arm and her with a cane, and they stick us in the last booth farthest from the door. So since I am used to the less than spectacular service, I do love the food. I just wish this place would give spectacular service and not just take thier returning patrons for granted. As for the food, I do love the pizza and the pizza benders here. A favorite as well is the garlic bread.
(4)Andy W.
How can this place have so few reviews? This place has been around FOREVER. I was sitting down with my wife eating a pizza bender, (which was lovely) when we noticed an older couple next to us talking about how long they had been coming to this place. They had been married for over 30 years and had been coming to Italian Village since they got married. The cuisine is simple and delicious. I am a huge fan of the pizza benders and of the garlic bread. The wine list is very small but gimme a carafe of cheap wine and a pizza bender any day! I Love This Place!
(4)Maxwell M.
All I can recommend is the Pizza benders... For about $17 you can feed a couple with a salad, bread, and Pizza benders! Now, you are probably wondering what a Pizza bender is? Well, it is a delicious concoction of Pizza toppings in side a perfectly baked crust. It's essentially a pizza pocket minus the sauce. Their salads are perfectly tossed in their delicious Ranch dressing.. they recently Updated the atmosphere and I have to say it looks great. the service Is great and the Pizza Benders are fantastic. As a not, I do not recommend their other entrees since they are processed foodstuffs.
(5)A C.
ok, i have to be reaaaaaaaaalllly careful here. for many utahns, this place is nostalgic. people that go here have been going here forever and it probably has a sense of home for them. there's' something very special about that. something i can really respect. it was recommended to us by one of those people. that's why it breaks my heart to say what i have to say. i gave it 3 stars because there are many positives but the main star, the food, doesn't rate as high for me personally. i did not grow up here but visiting this place made me have a sense of what it may have been like. i thought that was pretty neat. let's start from the beginning: walking in- decor is clean, refreshed, simple. we were seated immediately. our waitress came by in a timely manner and she was very sweet. figuring we'd been there a million times, she was ready to take our order in the first second we'd sat down. i get the feeling they don't get "new" people very often? the menu sounds pretty good! standard I-talian pizza/pasta fare. dinner combo specials that offer great deals. i'm starting to get excited! what's this?! you can get a salad, personal pizza or "pizza bender", garlic bread, and a drink for $9.99. my husband opted for a bender which is basically a hot pocket, empanada, calzone type thing. it kinda resembles a hostess fried pie but larger. i'm pretty sure it's meant to be a calzone. i opted for the personal pizza (8") with pepperoni and mushrooms. along with the garlic bread, i asked if we could get a small side of alfredo just so i could check it out. i love a really good alfredo sauce for dipping... this is a lot of food for a really great price, no?? the waitress brings out our garlic bread and alfredo. instantly, i know i'm in trouble. garlic bread: 4 slices of white sandwich bread bright yellow spread, bright green specks, garlic salt. this has got to be the saltiest thing i've eaten in my whole life. alfredo sauce- they were very generous with my "small side" of it. i'm sure someone out there will be able to tell the difference between this alfredo sauce and your standard creamy white country gravy, but that person isn't me. this sauce clearly came out of some kind of powdered packet. stir powder into boiling water and presto! if it wasn't then i'd be surprised, but that's the consistency. i swear. dipping the bread into it was just a salt war. i couldn't hack it. salad: the size of the salad is very generous. a great big bowl of iceberg lettuce, topped with some white onion and tomato wedges. this is what i like to call a "utah salad". . i got ranch dressing with it. i'm from texas so everything is good with ranch but it has to be the right kind- and it was. good ranch, folks! ..and the salad was very fresh. not wilted or anything. pizza bender: very light color. i already described what it looks like. my husband liked it ok pepperoni and mushroom pizza: i'll say it looked really delicious. however, there is some spice i cannot place. i had my husband try it but he couldn't seem to figure out what i was talking about so it's probably just me, but i swear i tasted a faint hint of a taco seasoning or some kind of seasoning that isn't normally present in pizza. i couldn't seem to get past that flavor so i gave up. maybe there's something wrong with me. if anyone else tries it maybe you can let me know if i'm crazy. here's a summary of my experience: if i were 8 years old this food would be right up my alley. if i grew up in utah, this kind of food is what my mormon non italian mom would make our family for tuesday "italian night". i don't mean to offend anyone. it's just the perfect picture in my head to describe it. nostalgia. loyal clientele. nice atmosphere. great service. just not my cup of tea for this kind of fare. i wish them many more years of success!
(3)Sarah B.
So yesterday my husband and I were really bored. That happens from time to time, but yesterday it was bad. So bad in fact that I was tempted to just go home and go to bed (7 p.m). We're trying to save money, but we decided to break our "no eating out during the week" rule and went to wherever UrbanSpoon (on the i-phone) told us to go. I've driven by Italian Village a million times but it never caught my eye. You walk into the place and realize you wouldn't be surprised to see tan 60 year-old mafiosos wearing loafers sitting at the tables. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of tan mafiosos in Utah, but the effect is still there. Anyway, the food was awesome and you get a lot for your buck. For the two of us to eat a decent meal with drinks it cost less than $30. I will totally go there again! The paintings were awesome and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like an Italian version of Village Inn, only better service, better food and fewer crying babies. I highly recommend!
(4)D Christopher L.
Not good at all. The service was poor and I would prefer Little Caesars for food. I heard the Pizza Benders were good, but I didn't care for those either. I would head to the Olive Garden and save yourself some grief.
(1)Ashlie M.
I have been going to Italian Village for as long as I can remember. I love this place. It's been recently updated so no more 70's vibe. The original pizza bender is my fav. I went there with my boyfriend the other night. We both got big Ceasar salads, pizza benders and garlic bread for under $25. Great filling meal. Pizza benders are great leftovers if your too full to finish them.
(4)Amanda C.
An old time favorite. I have been going here regularly my whole life. The pizza benders are amazing. I usually get mine with ham mushrooms and olives. This is the only place where I love red sauce. I wish I knew how they make their garlic bread so I could make it at home. It seems to be nothing special on regular bread but whatever they do to it makes it amazing!!!
(5)Rich L.
First Impressions were right. Looks kinda 70's Divey outside figured it would be just O.K., went inside and got hit in the face by the smell of cheap tomato sauce. I think when they recover the furniture they just redo it with the same vinyl. It's clean but very 70's. I ordered a Bender which is like a Calzone without sauce. They just serve the sauce on the side and charge you for it.
(3)John K.
Orange pasta sauce? I guess it's a Utah thing. I tried Italian Village for lunch and ordered the lasagna that included a salad & garlic toast. Nothing was that special including the service.
(2)Kylee W.
Pizza Benders. Enough Said!!!
(4)Ash K.
Get the Pizza Benders. You're welcome. Everything else I've tried there has been mediocre, but the Pizza Benders are awesome. My family has been getting Pizza Benders as takeout for probably 25 years. I'm thinking their Pizza Bender trade alone keeps them in business, because the rest of the food is not that good.
(4)Tina S.
I love Italian food, it is one of my favorite types of food. This little restaurant is amazing. Everything I have had there is wonderful. Mostly I get the calzone also known as a pizza bender, but have had their meatballs and they are good. Lots of cheese on everything! You do have to pay for tomato sauce on the side of your calzone, which is kind of a bummer, it should be a part of it since there isn't any inside.
(4)