"If the smell of fresh pizza dough is a sure lure, then you'll be hooked easily by the Italian Gardens, which sends that savory aroma throughout Kenilworth Park Mall. You can buy it by the piece or the pie; thick or thin crust; red or white toppings. You can eat in or carry it out.

And if pizza doesn't get you, something else probably will. The Italian Gardens features a fairly extensive menu of pasta with a variety of sauces, Italian specialties, salads, regular sandwiches and Italian and American subs.

Although it smelled terrific, we passed up the pizza this time. The meatball sub is large and tasty with good meatballs under a thick sauce. The day I was there, it was served as a special with fairly standard french fries. My young lunch companions like the spicy chicken wings. Although the wings are supposed to be an appetizer, the portion was large enough for a light lunch. They were tasty without being too hot.

The Italian Gardens seems to do a brisk lunchtime business, so be prepared to stand in line if you go at peak hours. But you do get to inhale the sweet smell of freshly baked pizza while you wait."

- Mary Maushard, The Sun

"The person who order the shrimp and garlic used one of those fastidious technical terms-"yummy" to describe the dish, which came with tomatoes and white wine sauce. Pretty good marks also for the garlic bread, which was crispy and...with no lack of seasoning. Big salads preceded the entrees. They came in bowls large enough, nearly, to be serving bowls. So few will walk away hungry.

"It's easy for gnocchi to come out hard, but this is very tender," said the gnocchi chooser." And "they got it right" said one connoisseur after tasting the marinara sauce with the ziti.

"The shrimp scampi was attractive with accompanying bright green broccoli and soft gray mushrooms. The shrimp was pleasurable, complemented rather than overwhelmed by the garlic and the white whine sauce. We...[ordered] Chocolate Delight, which turned out to be layered cake with an edible gold leaf and a hint of anise.

Good enough for us, no argument."

-Bobbie and Tom Wilkinson, The Washington Post