Il Giardino restaurant now closed

August 4th, 2009 · 5 Comments

This in from our sister site, MyBallard, about a restaurant on the Phinney-Ballard border:

Less than a year-and-a-half after opening, Il Giardino is now closed.

The little Italian restaurant at the corner of 65th & Cleopatra opened in February of last year. The sign on the door thanks Ballard for the support.

Tags: Uncategorized

5 responses so far ↓

1 Seattle Mike // Aug 4, 2009 at 9:56 am

I’m not surprised. We went there on a lovely Saturday evening a couple months ago and it was practically empty. It was an Italian restaurant owned and run by a family from Mexico with no Italian connection. (The menu was loaded with typos in the Italian words.) There was no parking other than street parking. The food was so-so and the ambience was kind of crappy. (Plastic film on the windows to create faux leaded/stained glass.) I feel sorry for the owners and the staff but this is no loss to the Seattle dining experience.
2 JW // Aug 4, 2009 at 11:48 am

It did seem like restaurant was a bit out of place in laid back Ballard, land of people wearing birkenstocks, tennis shoes and North Face. Most Italian places are kind of haughty in a tacky way so the plastic film was ok in my book. I had a great meal there a couple months after they opened. I liked the atmosphere and am sad its closing. People have less disposable income than they used to or maybe this is natural market forces at work. I dunno, I liked the place.
3 GreenwoodGal // Aug 4, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Considered going there ever since they were open, but wasn’t impressed by the reviews I saw. That and I love Rialto on Fremont Ave so much, I couldn’t bring myself to defect!
4 SPG // Aug 5, 2009 at 9:02 am

What kept me from going was that it was just a tad more expensive than some other Italian restaurants that get rave reviews. Not sure I wanted to spend more for less.
A less expensive restaurant might have been able to get a larger following in the neighborhood, otherwise it would have to be something really special to get people to travel to it.
5 anon // Aug 5, 2009 at 8:33 pm

It’s always sad to see a small business close. We ate there one night and enjoyed our meal, but I do recall thinking they would have a hard time maintaining those prices.