GINO's Restaurant & Bar

Gino's Restaurant & Bar- Nostalgia Served Hot and FreshStepping into Gino's felt like opening up a time capsule I forgot I even had. The feeling that was brought to me once I walked in whisked me back to my time spent living in Staten Island, New York from childhood to adult-hood. This hole in the wall eatery had immersed me back into a familiar warmth, tugging the sense of nostalgia that buries deep inside my senses and the feeling was even further strengthened as soon as my boyfriend and I were softly welcomed by the server who told us to sit anywhere we liked. A casual yet familiar invitation that reminded me of the homeyness I once felt. A simplicity yet cozy intimacy trivialized yet, a balance that resonated highly with us was the clear oscillation of this place. My boyfriend, a savant for great taste and portions especially from hole-in-the-walls found it to be an underrated gem. The space itself told stories of long lived family gatherings--a reminder of nostalgic times I once had with friends and family at a time. The broken in wooden tables and the vintage Italian family decor transported me to the sounds and ambiance of countless diners who have also enjoyed the place as much as I did. The service was a combination of attentiveness and comfort. From the immediate greeting from our waitress to her patience with us while we overlooked the menu was delightful. Then came the food, a hot tray of a half portion margarita pizza created a jump in sensory awareness that signaled it's freshness only anticipating us even more to try our meal. The act of eating transitioned to a more delicate handling of the food demanding a mindful approach. My grouper piccata was tangy, and the alfredo served as a part of the time capsule. Gino's is a clear illustration that exudes the hole-in the wall aesthetic you'll love.

I hate to write this review, but my friend and I had a terrible experience over the weekend.Let me explain, the food was on point as usual. However, the racist rant was unexpected. Not that it's not to be expected considering the current political environment. The disappointment was no one who worked at the establishment said anything.So after 10-15 minutes of the outburst, I'd had enough and started leave my seat to engage. There was on gentleman who yelled at the racist patron to shut up.However, As I got up to address the issue, a gentleman approached me and ask I not engage. We didn't allow this experience to ruin our lives.However, I will never spend money at the establishment again.

I'm a snob when it comes to Italian restaurants. That said, Gino's was actually awesome. It's got such an old fashioned and comfortable atmosphere that you just feel like you're at home when you walk in. The bar area was especially cozy, with its low ceilings and string lights that just set a relaxed vibe. We walked into the bar entrance and grabbed one of the high tops along the wall. Amy was our server and came over to us almost immediately to take our drink orders while we looked over the menu. She was amazing all night long, even though the place was packed and it looked like she was handling the entire bar area herself (easily 10+ tables). She always made time to come over and chat us up, not simply to check on us, and this level of personal attention really took the dining experience to another level.Before you order anything, you're brought out a huge loaf of crusty bread covered in garlic butter and Parmesan. The bread is freshly baked to order and - spoiler alert - the garlic butter is not actually butter (it's margarine!), but the snob in me was strangely ok with this as the garlic flavor was so pronounced and had depths to it. It was pretty dope.We wanted to try a few things so we ordered the fried calamari to start. What a huge plate! There were plenty of lemon wedges to sprinkle over it (a must) and the marinara sauce itself was so good you could dip a flip flop in it and it would still taste good. I ordered Chicken Parmesan, because I always judge an Italian place based on their chicken parm and this was to be no exception. I'm a snob, remember? They nailed it. The chicken was huge; evenly pounded to a uniform thickness, you can tell it's the old school hand breading method, and cooked perfectly throughout. Covered in that delicious marinara and a metric ton of mozzarella cheese, each bite was like good old fashioned comfort. It's served with a side of capellini (think a step up from angel hair if you're unfamiliar) and topped with marinara again. The snob in me subtracts a point for the pasta and sauce not being mixed together, but none of the pasta was overcooked and I could mix it easily myself. My buddy got the Gnocchi in Smoked Gouda Cream Sauce with Blackened Chicken. I actually tried a bite and it was creamy, nuanced in flavor with a rich, decadent sauce. Quite tasty. We finished with dessert, which they had a couple specials going. Limoncello cake with a sweetened mascarpone topping, and pumpkin cheesecake with toasted marshmallows. Both were great but get the pumpkin cheesecake if it's on the menu. Holy crap was it good - each bite tasted like Christmas. I kid you not. I'll end with this: I can't wait to go back.

Ambiance was good. Food was just ok. I did not like the bruschetta. The margherita flatbread pizza was good but lukewarm. We also had the sampler with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and Alfredo linguine. They were also a bit lukewarm. I did not like the lasagna. It may have been better if it was hotter. I guess everything was just reheated. The other two on the platter were good, not great. I was hoping for great. I don't think I'd go back.

This was a little hole in the wall- food was mediocre; staff was friendly but the tables I recall being quite sticky upon sitting down. Large portions- price was decent too.

OK, so I called at around 3 PM to book a group of 12 for dinner. They graciously allowed us to come in even though they had a group of 32 and a group of 20 as well in the restaurant at the same time as we were . When we arrived, they had two tables for us close together so that was perfect, but I have to say the service and the food was above anything I've experienced in a long time. They did everything they could to make our experience amazing and it really really was. I would highly recommend this restaurant for small groups or large groups.

Looking for a perfect Italian neighborhood restaurant & bar - you found it!! It's a small little hole in the wall place but with some huge flavors when it comes to the food. Our server walked us through the menu and was helpful in our selections. The Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream sauce was Mind Blowing!! You could just order that with the bread and have a meal! Soooo Good!! The chicken parm is my go to and it was just as good, but I ate some much Gorgonzola sauce and bread that I took the rest home. If you haven't been yet, you gotta go soon!!

We wanted Italian food. We went to our first choice but it was an hour wait, our second choice had a two hour wait. We found this place and their pizza looked so good even though that's not what we were craving we decided to call and see if they had space they said they had a table getting up and should be ready by our arrival which is exactly what happened. Star for that since they don't take reservations.Star for cute but cliche atmosphere of old school style Italian restaurants. They also had Prosecco on tap! Right who knew!? They brought out loaves of fresh baked bread that seems like the frozen style bead from the store, well one plate was fresh and soft the other was hard but we were hungry and didn't mind. The disappointment was it was soaked in margarine or something not butter.. it was so oily waaaay too much.Ordered the appetizer which was an entree of the smoked Gouda gnocchi with blackened chicken. We were a large party of 6 and starving.Fist thing I noticed right away was the gnocchi was from a box. Come on! It's an Italian restaurant and the dish was over $20 and they couldn't be bothered to make potato gnocchi in house? It's so easy my daughter at 9 years old makes it. Smh. The chicken was dry and tasted like it had been in the refrigerator for while. Like the store bought chicken that's already cooked and cut up. It wasn't even hot. Still we were hungry at some point we chowed down. Entrees arrivedTwins got meatball subs and they were huge and bland. Fries and onion ring portions huge. Son got seafood fettuccine Alfredo. I could tell the shrimp looked freezer burnt it was a weird dark pink color and he didn't finish the plate it was so large and thankfully he did not because he got sick after. If he had ate the whole plate he might have had a full food poisoning episode!I had the number 2 sampler, lasagna which I didn't eat cus I don't like ricotta but I knew that when ordering so not on them, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken parmigiana. I felt sick on the way home. I knew something wasn't right and so now as I write this the Alfredo sauce was probably bad. Husband got pizza and it did NOT look like the photos. The photos show a thick bubbly crust and this was a flat thin crust but decent. Our guest got a burger and it was pretty basic I mean how can you mess that up. He didn't say much so I don't know what he thought but it didn't look good. Our check was just under $200 with tip. Overall if you can't make Italian food fresh don't have an Italian restaurant. We love to cook and sometimes we want a night off and we pay to eat out. When we do we want to have quality food that's made fresh. Not boxed pasta or spoiled Alfredo sauce. Do better! Especially now that I see it's been open for so long! Maybe it's time to retire.

We love Gino's! We have been going there for many years! Always highly recommend Ginos! Only surprise was while dining with the love of my life on Friday night, there was not more bread available to accompany our magnificent grouper piccata so we were disappointed. This was well ahead of closing. We will be back many more times; however , we will order three loaves before 9:00 pm. to ensure we're covered. XOXO!

We all had the best time celebrating my father in law Domenic's 95th Birthday this last Saturday 2-1-2025!! The food was amazing and the service was exceptional! The Yasparro Room was the best place to have a celebration dinner. Thank you to our wonderful server for her hospitality and excellent service! Thank you Gino's for giving our family and friends a special place to share and eat great food and to Honor and celebrate my father in law! *Photo credit -Atlas Fern Photography*