KCRag Forum

Historic Italian Gardens sign finds new home in Kansas City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvZGSJHhj1E

smh wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 7:39 pm

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 3:14 pm

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 1:23 pm Lumi is now in possession of the Italian Gardens sign that used to be near 11th and Baltimore.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=107 ... 6370955964

I only ate there once and it was towards the end of it's life and boy oh boy it was gross.

Please elaborate! I have a vague recollection of the sign when I came to KC in college or high school for a concert, but by the time I moved to KC it was gone. I need to hear about the food. Or at least the food near the end.

From what I remembered it was cheesy red white vinyl table clothes, every pasta was drowned in this bright red sweet sauce, it was huge inside with nobody there

The St. Joseph's day table loaded with sweets.

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 8:17 am

smh wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 7:39 pm

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 3:14 pm

I only ate there once and it was towards the end of it's life and boy oh boy it was gross.

Please elaborate! I have a vague recollection of the sign when I came to KC in college or high school for a concert, but by the time I moved to KC it was gone. I need to hear about the food. Or at least the food near the end.

From what I remembered it was cheesy red white vinyl table clothes, every pasta was drowned in this bright red sweet sauce, it was huge inside with nobody there

I met Evel Knievel there, so I have fond memories of the place but can't tell you anything about the food.

The food was probably better in the early years when it was family recipes made from scratch with fresh ingredients. Later it became more of a generic Italian place that was nothing to write home about. People were fond of the place mostly because of memories of going there with their families.

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 8:17 am

smh wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 7:39 pm

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 3:14 pm

I only ate there once and it was towards the end of it's life and boy oh boy it was gross.

Please elaborate! I have a vague recollection of the sign when I came to KC in college or high school for a concert, but by the time I moved to KC it was gone. I need to hear about the food. Or at least the food near the end.

From what I remembered it was cheesy red white vinyl table clothes, every pasta was drowned in this bright red sweet sauce, it was huge inside with nobody there

There likely is a book or old news story, but what's with the sweet sauce? If memory serves this is/was on offer at several spots around KC through the years. I haven't encountered it elsewhere though maybe that's a me thing?

Ate there with my family a lot in the 90s. It was fine. I remember generic bread baskets that we just ok. The pasta was pretty good. Lots of red sauce. It definitely had an old-school vibe. Seem like there was ivy wallpaper somewhere?

I also remember ivy wallpaper but I thought I was dreaming it. Haha.

smh wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 8:24 am
There likely is a book or old news story, but what's with the sweet sauce? If memory serves this is/was on offer at several spots around KC through the years. I haven't encountered it elsewhere though maybe that's a me thing?

Some Italians add sugar to their tomato sauces for many dishes. I don't know if it's a regional thing in Italy or something American Italians started doing after immigrating. I had a roommate in college that used to add sugar to spaghetti sauce. His mother was Italian and his father was Irish.

I think it's very common in Sicilian-American cooking. Probably because the canned tomatoes here are fucking terrible.