Garlic John’s

Pleasant place to dine for decent Italian food. Service was exceptional while not overwhelming. Our water glasses were never empty and the food had good flavor. It was a very pleasant experience and food was good.

Had a great dinner last night. Chicken Parm and Shrimp Scampi. Frank the bartender is always awesome and accommodating, as is Frank the Manager.

Just not that great. There are many better choices nearby. Small matters of service really — greet someone as they arrive, check the main courses are okay as they arrive… That type of thing. Food was okay enough but was not as described. If there wasn’t any other local alternatives it would be okay but there are many a few minutes drive away.

So far so good! Apps have been great! Mussels marinara are a family favorite and they delivered!
The service was mediocre but food was good.
Salmon with horseradish was great, enough to share with my husband. My kids shared one kids pasta and it was plenty! Perfect atmosphere for family dinner. Nothing fancy but good enough.

Food was mediocre at best. We did not order an appetizer and waited 40 minutes for our food. Waitress filled our water once and never told us about the delay. Unacceptable in every way.
Now the food. My chicken parm was so over done that it was like sawdust. The sauce was so thick and grumpy that it wouldn’t mix with the pasta. Chicken Scarpiello was okay. But where’s the meat.
After 4 hours in the car we were totally disappointed.
I know it was off season but better to close than treat customers this way.

Decided on a night out in Manchester.
With a large array of choices we made a big mistake.
We chose garlic johns and with many regrets.
The host and water girls never spoke to start the evening. Which followed with bread and no butter while waiting. Wish that was the biggest problem
Of the three meals ordered this was the issues
Alla griglia $ 23
A sliced in half chicken breast covered so you couldn’t see the meat. Of course that was difficult with there being so little.
Oh the garlic bread is here and unable to take half of the whole piece since they were glued together with a load of cheese. Tasty though, thank goodness.
Grilled crusted salmon was mealy and soggy with the taste of freezer to go. $ 24 loaded with capers
My dish was the puttanesca was also loaded wth capers so many I thought that’s what the dish was. The spaghetti was saturated in oil to the point of ridiculous. Did I mention the salmon oozed of the same oil.
Apparently no tomato paste was on hand so oil was substituted.
Let’s not forget the salad with watered down dressing.
Well an over– priced bottle of wine can cover the night.
$ 130 bill and food that would make colonel sanders smile.
There are a plethora of choices in Manchester. Do yourself a favor go to
Bobs Diner instead.

I am on vacation with my family and we were looking for a place to eat, and we found this place, big mistake! This place should just go out of business. I should of thought if a restaurant has the word Garlic in it, its probably because they use garlic to try to give taste to food that tastes like nothing. As we were walking in we noticed there wasn’t anyone eating outside under the covered patio, and thought ok we can sit outside and enjoy dinner. We also have a 5 year old and 3 year old and thought it would be better for us to sit outside just in case you have a problem with one of your kids. Well as soon as I walked in I asked the gentleman if we can sit outside for dinner. He then says to me no its closed because its hot outside and there are storms coming and we don’t want to get wet. I looked at him and thought, but its a covered patio? Anyway, It was 78 degrees and partly cloudy and the next chance of rain is two days later. So he lied, he could of just said sorry sir, it is closed and we aren’t serving outside. I would of accepted that. We sat down and waited a couple minutes for our waitress. She took our drink order, I had a Strawberry Daiquiri and my wife had a Chocolate Mudslide. Both were actually good by the way. The waitress then took our dinner order, I didn’t really think anything sounded too good on the menu so there was an option to pick your own pasta, your own sauce and add another ingredient to it. So I thought how can they mess up a dish that had Garlic & Oil in it, after all this place is called Garlic Johns. I ordered the Penne, with Garlic & Oil sauce with grilled chicken. My wife ordered the Penne Vodka with grilled chicken and my 3 year old daughter ordered a small personal pizza. As soon as we got our dishes we thought, ok they look ok, and then we took a bite. My dish tasted like they just ground up cloves of garlic and threw it in with the pasta. Where was the oil? I am writing this review the day after I had dinner there and all I taste is garlic. I feel sorry for anyone coming next to me and thinking what the hell did this guy eat? My wife’s dish tasted like they opened up a Campbell soup can and poured out the ingredients and mixed with grilled chicken. She couldn’t even eat it. My daughters pizza was a small 6 inch pizza cut into 4’s. The pizza was the kind you find at a walmart that is frozen in a bag and you take out to defrost and eat. That is exactly what we got. She looked at it and said, I don’t want it. And my daughters favorite thing to eat is pizza. Before we got the bill we told the waitress that my daughter took 1 bite of pizza and didn’t like it, so we thought she would just take it off the bill. When we got the bill the pizza was still on it so my wife asked if she can please take it off and the waitress said let me ask my manager. She came back and said yes we took it off your bill. We then got up and walked outside to the car and looked at the sky and thought, where is the storm that is coming in? I think the only black cloud was the cloud that was right over the restaurant. Hopefully the next time we visit Vermont and drive by this place there will be another restaurant in its place.

Don’t waste your time better off buying a microwaveable dish and eating when you reach your hotel or rental. Stopped here after a 3 hour ride based on the Unilocal review. My son ordered pasta marinara it was literally tomatoe sauce dumped on penne — not even close to edible I ordered pork scallopini — which should be thinly pounded medallions of meat instead I received fat pork dark meat cutlet that was tough to even cut — my husband ordered chicken Parm I have had better in a pizza parlor — save your money its like the Olive Garden but triple the bill

Good but not great, it’s Italian food more like Olive Garden, less like an authentic trattoria, but very family friendly and the service was excellent. I’d go again, but only if it’s the only choice.

I had avoided Garlic Johns for years because of a very unsatisfying meal, but my husband has wanted to try it, so I gave in the other night. It was a mixed bag for me, though he enjoyed it very much. I don’t eat veal for humane reasons, but he had Veal Saltimbocca ($ 26.00) — loaded with cheese, good looking meat, generous portion. But I tasted the sauce and it was Beef Base City — or bouillon… blech. It came with a good portion of al dente broccoli and some so-​so risotto. I had the Chicken Scarpello following our server’s recommendation.(Was it coincidence that our server recommended the two most expensive items on the menu?) The dish wasn’t bad; the best thing I can say about it is that it was loaded with garlic. The chicken pieces were dry, some of the sausage tasted a little funky– as in old. There were no mushrooms alas (I thought them an integral part of the dish). The presentation was appetizing. I love that the server offers both fresh ground pepper on the salad and fresh grated cheese for the entrees. The wine was a generous pour.
The bread was delish — except that some of it was from the night before «Bread Drawer» and was rock hard. We asked for more.
Prices are average… a little high for the quality, but this is typical of Manchester.
I did appreciate that the meals came with salads. The lettuce was fresh, clean and crisp. The «award winning» Gorgonzola dressing was good, but very watered down. Why did I sense that they were cutting corners every which way?
It was a slow, slow night. Service was friendly.
My husband had a generic (Sysco) probably) chocolate cake that was served ice cold. ‘Should have been served room temp. It looked very unappetizing with a swirl of fake whipped cream.
Will we be back? It’s the only Italian restaurant in Manchester that is open for dinner alas. So we probably will — when my husband begs!

Have passed this place several times while traveling in Vermont and decided to stop this weekend after spending time at Stratton. Well, there was a reason the parking lot wasn’t too full at 7:30 on a Saturday night. The décor is okay and the menu had a good variety, but the food was very bland and lacked seasoning (I had the chicken parm).
Our waitress lacked the finesse that servers need. For example, when putting fresh pepper and grated Parmesan on my plates she TWICE did so at an angle that put her armpit directly into my face! It was so odd! When serving plates she didn’t announce she was there, it was sort of a sneak attack and then the plate would land with a plop. No one in our party of eight will be returning.

We enjoyed a very nice evening here tonight. Tried the Mozzarella Caroza at the suggestion of other reviewers and it was very good. Had the specials of stuffed shrimp and beef tenderloin tips. Both were wonderful Staff was super attentive and friendly.

The stay at the bed and breakfast (Bromley Inn) was average. They allow pets which is why we choose this place over others. It was a pleasant trip, I would say our lodging experience overall was just ok.

Nice prices, food was very good. We were craving Italian while staying at Stratton, this was a good choice. Chicken parm was delicious. So was the Penni a la vodka.

Cute place, food was ok, had the chicken Marcella… very bland, the bread so hard you can’t eat it. Kids pizza was nothing but a hunk of dough and massive cheese. Limited beer selection, the salad was a joke nothing but lettuce, would go out of my to go here again

We had to try an Italian restaurant in Vermont so we chose Garlic John’s. My husband ordered the veal parm dinner. He found it pretty good considering where we were. I ordered the penne vodka. Super disappointed. No taste, dry, no salt and it was just penne with a sauce barely there. OK for the good part – We started with the Mozzarella in Carroza, the best I have ever had. The gravy that accompanied the 2 perfectly golden pieces of carroza was just delicious. Cannot wait to visit next time. I will have that for my meal. The staff was very friendly and super attentive.

Stopped in here Labor Day weekend for dinner with my wife. Labor Day weekend I repeat… the restaurant should be prepared for an elevated volume of customers.
Long story short, sat down at 7:45, paid out bill at 9:30 in the middle of eating our dinner course.
Meals ordered:
«Famous» Garlic bread: ²⁄₁₀ 30 min wait time
Linguini Putenesca: ³⁄₁₀ 45 min wait time (Added Grilled shrimp to order, waitress forgot to add the shrimp)
Angel Hair Pasta with mixed seafood: ¹⁄₁₀ 45 min wait time (Olive oil soaked sauce, canned clams, ³⁄₅ of «fresh» clams were closed shut.)
Owner took our plates from us in the middle of eating… luckily I only at 2 bites of my disgusting seafood pasta dish. When asked about our meals, we expressed sincere dissatisfaction, were competed $ 5 on my dish and charged for the grilled shrimp that were never added to my wife’s dish.
Avoid this restaurant please. There are so many other great establishments on the SAME road all lined up next to each other.

When a meal is listed on the menu as coming with a vegetable side you might expect it to come with one. Our waitress giggled slightly as she told us «the menu lied» and chicken parm comes with everything else listed… But no side. What?
That, however, is my only complaint. We we able to sit on the deck and enjoy our meal outside. The food was good, waitress was friendly, setting was pretty. There are no shortage of restaurants in Manchester and short of the lying menu I would have no issue dining here again.

I’m not sure why Garlic John’s has an average of 3 stars. My wife and I went here during our anniversary weekend. Our waitress was very nice, the atmosphere was very nice and our food was GREAT!
We were unsure what our dressing attire should look like. When we got there we noticed it was across the board! There was a couple dressed semi-​formal all the way to a family dressed like they just got back from the gym. It was very odd to see such a wide variety but I would say the majority of people were wearing polo shirts.
As for the food, I had the puttanesca and my wife had the colossal shrimp special. Both were amazing! For desert I got the raspberry lemon drop special, which was a small five layer cake with a lemon custard on top and a raspberry in the center. It was a great way to end the day! If we ever end up in Manchester again, you can bet we will be stopping there again.

An upscale restaurant in Manchester that serves great Italian food at decent price. From when you walk into this restaurant, you will be impressed with the décor. The wait staff are all very friendly and helpful in recommending specials or items of the menu. I had the Red Clam sauce with Penne (instead of linguine because penne is easier to eat) ($ 18).
The entrée comes with a field greens salad. Even though the sauce tasted good, I thought it had be watered down with too much pasta water. Despite the high price, I think what makes me give this place a 4 star rating over a 3 star is the desserts. I has Suzie’s Cheesecake ($ 6) is light, airy and tastes the way cheesecake is supposed to taste. If I am back in the area, I really want to try the Hazelnut Gelato.