Gloria's Little Italy LLC, Provo

Best Italian food in Provo. Excellent pastas and sauces. good salads and excellent desserts. Go for lunch and you won't be disappointed.

Heaven, I love Gloria's, The food is amazing, the best food in Utah period. The people who say it is too expensive have obviously never left Utah, this is fine excellent Italian dining for low prices, 5 stars!

My husband and I have been to Gloria's a few times. My husband served in Milano, and says this is the closest to authentic Italian you get in Utah. The food is delicious. However, every time we have been there, there has been a problem. He once had an entire Coke dropped on him by a waitress. One time we waited four our food for an hour on a weeknight when it was not busy. We got a gift certificate to Gloria's for Christmas, and have been so excited to use it for Valentine's Day. On the card, it says nothing about black out days, but tonight they told us we couldn't use it. They also raised the prices on the menu for Valentine's Day at least three dollars per dish. Being poor college students, and not able to use our gift card, we had to leave after being seated. Sad day.

If you don't mind plastic tablecloths, mismatched silverware, no off-menu ordering, servers who don't know what 'on-tap' beer is, no salad forks, and bright dinner dining all at a premium price, this is the place for you. Food is good, but the atmosphere is greatly lacking. Drop the prices about 30% and it will match the rest.

My oldest brother served 2 years in Milano, and returned 17 different times, eating at actual homes of actual Italians all over the country. He loves Gloria's Little Italy, and they'll make him any Italian food he asks for, even when not on the menu. The family owners always greet us in Italian and talk to us as long as we want, laughing and telling jokes. When he says it's authentic food, he knows. My second oldest brother is a 5 star chef, who traveled to Italian homes with my oldest brother to taste the food and meet the people. When he says it's authentic, well-prepared, and high quality for the cost and style, he knows what he's talking about. I've brought dates off their missions here, they love the food and family also. It's a Trattoria, not a bakery, and not 5-star dining (which doesn't exist in the food illiterate, cheap state of Utah). Prices are meant to be lower, food is meant to be more modest, like you'd eat at an actual home in Italy. America does not have the same quality ingredients available for purchase (cost-effective or otherwise) that Italy and Europe do. Nothing you taste in America, especially Provo, will taste as fresh and as rich, because even if they order from the same suppliers, the shipping times automatically reduce freshness. Still, they offer a very high quality for a very low cost. New York Italian is not Italian, (sorry Serban/Mihnea) - the owners are from Pisa, not the upper east side. "European" is not Italian. They're nothing like the French; they do things their own way, which doesn't mean following the advice of pasta-themed romanian diners (You clearly don't know any Italians.) The bread: pizze (when served) and panini bread are baked fresh daily, taste delicious. The sliced bread with olive oil isn't "wal-mart" bread, by a long shot, and is comparable to any american establishment, especially for a trattoria. I am chronically ill, and have problems eating, unable to keep food down. I always feel better when eating at this restaurant, and they willingly accommodate vegetarian and gluten-free diets. I never get sick; their ingredients are always fresh, and healthy, daily - and the minestrone is Ask any missionary who spent a few years in Italy - typical Americans need to let their taste-buds "defrost" to really enjoy the food, because the typical American diet is loaded up with salt, fat, butter, and sugar. They use Olive Oil, never butter; these "reviewers" have no idea what they're talking about. Anybody complaining about the "inauthentic" "cheap" bread needs to research how Pisa is in Tuscany. Look up Pane Toscano (bread from tuscany). It's simple, basic, sliced, and looks just like what they serve and bake daily at Little Italy. Yes, it's authentic. Morons. Keep telling the family from Pisa that they can't serve food from their home land and be "authentic." They'll know what I know - you're ignorant. This is easily the best restaurant in Utah County, from appetizer to dessert.

I don't know what restaurant the haters have been going to, because this is as authentic and good as Italian food gets. Maybe they don't appreciate the fact that the pasta, sauces, dressings, etc are all homemade. In the kitchen. Their bread is rubbed with fresh garlic and drizzled with fantastic olive oil and toasted. Last time I went, the bread was made there as well. And the owners are Italian - one, Gloria, is the head chef. The food is more expensive because, like I said, everything is made in-house and good quality. In my opinion, that is worth paying for. Especially when they import some thing from Italy, like their cheese. And their desserts! They are amazing. My favorite dishes are: Gnocchi, ravioli, lasagna, the lunch-time paninis. I'd have more, but I haven't tried anything else. All the desserts are amazing. I don't know. If you don't like real Italian, then don't go here. Go to The Olive Garden where everything is so Americanized it shows that Americans have no taste for the authentic. But try the fruit tarts - they are divine. So is the chocolate cake.

As far as food goes it was good, not perfect but, good. The service was weird and I think that it could use a little improvement. I took my wife there for a date and from the moment that we entered the door it was almost like we were being rushed into leaving. When we sat down to order we were immediately asked what we had wanted to eat. My wife and I had not been in the establishment before so we had asked for some time to look over the menu. Approximately two minutes had passed by the time we were asked again. Again we asked for more time to look at the menu. It was a short time again before they had asked what we wanted to eat. At first we figured it was the waitresses first job or she was just really excited to serve us. At that time we ordered, feeling rushed. Once the food was served to us we started eating. Not five minutes had passed before we were asked if we wanted boxes for our food. I had not even gotten a fourth of the way through my entree and my wife had taken all of two bites because her food was way to hot. We had told the waitress that we were not ready for boxes. The waitress then walked away. She probably gave us another five minutes before she asked again. We told her we were not finished yet so we still would not need boxes. I would guess it was approximately two to five minutes later before we were interrupted by a different waitress, asking if we were ready for a box. I then told her, "I guess I can be done eating." I almost got the impression that she got the idea that I was not finished because she asked if we wanted to purchase desert, even though I was not even half way through my dinner. My wife really wanted desert so we purchased some. As we were eating our desert we were harassed by a third waitress asking us if we needed boxes for the desert. We said we were not ready (We were on a date so we wanted to talk, it was approximately 8:30 at this time). As we were sitting eating our desert and talking my wife tells me that the waitresses keep coming and looking at us. Every now and then one of them would come and "check" the same empty table that was right next to us. At approximately 9:00 pm we paid and left the establishment. I felt as if I was being stalked as I was eating. I do not think that I will ever eat there again. I was there for about 45 minutes. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

The people that are rating this as a good place to eat either have no taste buds or no idea what REAL Italian is supposed to tasted like. This place is horrible. Really cheap ingredients. (You can taste it in the food) It looks like most people are completely taken in by the nice atmosphere and think themselves in to believing the food is also good/authentic. Its the least authentic Italian I have ever been to. I have to say that the pre-sliced bread bugged me a lot as well. There is NOTHING italian about cheap Wallmart bread with garlic butter on it.

My fiancé and I went out to eat hoping for some real authentic Italian food....and did NOT get what we were hoping for. Not only is it about $15 a plate, the food was NOT authentic. I was very disappointed with the first part of the meal when the bread was brought out. It looked like they went to Walmart, bought Sara Lee bread and put it in the toaster. It was just not good. We didn't even take our left over food to go. When we left there was a huge waiting line to be seated. Not sure why it's so popular because seriously....NOT GOOD.

We ate at Gloria's on a Saturday night and got two scoops of gelato, the chocolate covered strawberry and mango. Pros: -REAL, fresh fruit enhanced the texture and flavor of the dessert -The restaurant itself is so authentic that the feeling is just that of a Florentine ristorante. -GREAT service -Presentation was subtle with authentic ice cream bowl and metal gelato spoons with garnish to add some excitement. -BONUS: delicious wafer given with dessert -Reasonably priced (Compared to Maestros) Cons: -Smaller selection of gelato flavors, but desserts over-all very authentic and offer a wide selection -Creative flavors, some too different for all to enjoy -Not quite as generous with their scoops (compared, once again, to Maestros) On a scale of 30 with the categories being flavor, ambience, service, price, selection, and creativity, Gloria's receives a 25, compared to a 20.5 given to Maestros. (See review for Maestros)