Above, Italian Garden's baked lasagna — layer-after-layer of lasagna noodles separated by perfectly seasoned meat, tomato sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. Below, Italian Garden's calzone, which comes stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, ricotta and mozzarella. Daily Record photos by Nick Castillo & Lance Winter

Foodie Friday: Italian Garden

Thu, 02/25/2021 - 7:26pm

Food

Lance Winter

Publisher

@LanceWinter

lwinter@sanmarcosrecord.com

Thursday, February 25, 2021

E solo cibo delizioso.

If you're Italian is a little rusty the aforementioned sentence translates to, "It's just delicious food." That's the perfect description of one of San Marcos' best eateries — Italian Garden.

Open since 2000, it's been the restaurant's mission to serve Italian cuisine of the highest quality to San Marcos residents at a price they can afford. That's anyone. From families to college students at nearby Texas State University.

On the day of our visit no sooner were we seated than the wait staff brought out piping hot homemade garlic knot rolls for us to sample. The olive oil herb dip that came with them was sensational, prepping our taste buds for what was to come.

It didn't take long before I decided on the calzone.

A calzone is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza —sort of like a turnover. This rascal came stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, ricotta and mozzarella. A champion of this delectable delight I can say it was perfect. Oftentimes the dough on a calzone can be too thick, tough and doughy. Not this one! The thickness of the crust couldn't have been more than an eighth of an inch thick. It was accompanied with a small bowl of warm marinara for dipping.

It was big enough to share but I'm ashamed to admit once I started to chow down on this delicious entrée I couldn't stop. At $6.95 it was a real deal.

My dining companion decided to try the lasagna.

This was a work of art on a plate.

It was layer-after-layer of lasagna noodles separated by perfectly seasoned meat, tomato sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. It looked like it was enough to feed a small family, but my partner dispatched it quickly. It too was just $6.95.

Italian Garden has a variety of menu options including pizza with the usual toppings. But they also offer some specialty ingredients to choose from, like: artichoke heart, spinach, broccoli, feta cheese, eggplant, roasted peppers, white clams, Alfredo sauce and grilled chicken to name a few.

They also offer a low carb, fat free options, like grilled chicken with spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts.