Gino's

Recommends

Sarah S.

Joined 1 year ago

I really liked my service here, so let me clear that up right off the bat. The Caesar salad was great, but pretty garlic-y, so consider that if you're on a date. The atmosphere is pretty old-timey and it feels like a good place to take the fam.

Recommends

Donna W.

Joined 1 year ago

We love Gino's. Yes, sometimes it is crowded but we usually go early to avoid a wait. Staff has always been great. I just love the mussels. With the bread, it is a meal for me. Give it a try.

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Sprink

Joined 2 years ago

Love it or leave it I suppose.... So I've read a number of the reviews for Gino's and I'm pretty surprised that so many people have had such terrible service experiences there. Its certainly not the best service ever but in a town of notoriously horrendous service its not bad enough to even register on my service radar.

I've been there when they are FULL (among other times) and it was a longer wait but we hadn't made a reservation so there ya go. We drank wine, hung out and got over it. Once seated everything went swimmingly.

The cioppino is so amazing that we talk about it when we're out of town and can't eat it. That's food love people! We split one order of cioppino and a salad and leave full, happy and satisfied.

If you want to fill up on bread this is not the place for you. If you are looking for fine dining this is also not the place for you. If you want $2.00 drinks? Not the place.

Do you want fresh local seafood that doesn't involve a bun or batter fried anything? This is TOTALLY the place for you. Do you want an authentic atmosphere that's fast paced and noisy yet cozy and romantic? This could be a place for you. Do you want a meal that's focussed on your entrée and all its wonderful flavors rather than bread? I think this could definitely be the place for you.

Ultimately it seems as though Gino's inspires people to either love the hell out of it and become loyal regulars or hate the hell out of it and swear to never go back, cursing its name and giving it the evil eye. Give it a try. If you love it, YEA!!! If you hate it, well, its unlikely to kill you so if you ask me you're still up by at least one.

Doesn't Recommend

cosmetictattooartist

Joined 2 years ago

I used to love this place. The menu is limited, but the food and atmosphere used to be the best. They no longer have the chicken on the menu which was a favorite and the waitress had a real attitude. I asked how long the cook had been there and she asked me why I wanted to know. When I told her the salmon was the best I ever had about 5 years ago, she told me that Gino's was great and had been in business for 15 years and was a great restaurant, blah, blah, blah. It has always been slow which is fine when you want to talk with the person you are with, but I felt like they wanted to give us the ole heave-ho when it got busy. The food used to be simpler. Now it seems they rely more on oil (butter, etc.) and the taste of the food is not as clean. Portofino has much better food.

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lizzysreviews

Joined 4 years ago

Great Italian food and bar atmosphere. This place is a wonderful Sellwood restaurant. I love the Cioppino and the bar provides a unique experience. If you want to watch a game and have great food, this is the place to go.

Recommends

Krista01

Joined 4 years ago

Portland's Best Italian Restaurant. Three of us had heard about Gino's so we gave it a try. Had a little trouble finding it because the entrance is through a bar on the corner, on block north of SE Tacoma on 13th. Worth the hunt, this place is incredible, we started with great wine, then their famous Caesar Salad, which is huge, enough for 2 people. We had Salmon Dijon, Raviolis, and Cioppino. The salad and italian bread were excellent. All the italian dishes were wonderful, will return soon.

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knockknock

Joined 11 years ago

The Antithesis of a Chain Restaurant. My partner David and I have been patrons of Ginos since the beginning. This is a genuine San Francisco style Italian restaurant. If you know ahead to order literally everything to share, you will have a fabulous experience. Our faves are the mixed shells putanesca from the starter menu (OMG), the overdressed and and oversized not-so-gormet caesar salad (but very yummy), and the porterhouse steak for two with grilled and roasted amazing veggies and slamming mashed potatoes.

You will not find a better wine list in any portland restaurant and the cheese plate makes dessert a European pleasure. Mark, the owner, is a wonderful caring man that will honor any loyal customer with a family style greeting and over-the-top service.

For a funky fabulous meal this is the place!

Recommends

BBofelli

Joined 3 years ago

Incredible Italian Food. This is a high quality, upscale Italian Restaurant that is hidden in the Sellwood area. You have to enter it via the bar on the corner. I have not had this good of Italian food since I visited San Francisco. All our meals were great, and the Caesar Salad was the best I have ever had, recommend you share one because they are huge. Wine was also good, even the house wine was wonderful. Will go back soon.

Doesn't Recommend

neatnix

Joined 4 years ago

Not worth the money. My wife and I decided to try Gino's for dinner last night. First a half hour wait for a table turned into one and a half hours. Many people were seated that came after us. We sat at the bar, and had a couple of drinks, and as I said the bartender was a very pleasant young man. When we finally sat down, we were pretty hungry. The server was pretty indifferent, there was no bread basket to go with a salad ( you have to order it), and the food took forever to arrive even though it was almost 9:30, and the place was half empty. The food was so, so, but the service was uninspired. For the cost of the meal, there are plenty of better places. Will not eat there again.

Recommends

Billpdx

Joined 4 years ago

If you like garlic GO!. The only grains of salt needed at Gino's are when you are reading many of the one star reviews here on this site. I suspect many of those people would be much happier eating at the Olive Garden or Stanford's.

My wife and I just had a great dinner with some friends at Gino's. We had been 4 or 5 times before but our friends were new to the place. The wait for table was less than ten minutes and before we new it the waiter was bringing us samples of a couple different red wines for us to pick from. We split a caesar for four that was really meant for eight then we all had different pasta dishes. All four of us were very happy with our choices and bites of each were passed around the table. Our service was very casual. He was friendly and helpful when needed it but he also left us alone to enjoy our meal at our own pace and not feel rushed. All in all it was a really nice evening and we will go again soon.