Gino's Italian Restaurant

Gino's Italian Restaurant, located in between the Balcony and The Piper Pub, has always gotten RAVE reviews so I was excited when my father-in-law, in town for business, asked us to join him there last night. The atmosphere is great; very cozy, old-world Italy. I felt like I had just walked into an old family restaurant in Florence (or what I imagine that would be like as I have never been to Europe). The lighting is dim and the old brick walls have beautiful frescos all over them. The prices were on the higher end, as expected. The average plate was $15-$19 and the portions were small. For that price I expect enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

My husband and I are suckers for bread and dips and Gino's didn't fail to impress there. They had a delicious spicy oil to drench their soft bread in.

I hadn't quite made up my mind when our table started to order so I got flustered and just pointed to something on the menu. I hate jumping the gun like that. I ended up with the Linguini alla Bolognese. Sure, why not? It ended up being cubes of very overcooked steak in a delicious red sauce with noodles. I LOVE steak so it broke my heart but man, it was rough and I couldn't choke them down. Who knows...maybe that is how the dish is supposed to be. I ate a few chunks of the steak and then just saw them as obstacles to the noodles and sauce. The sauce was great! I have to say, my fellow-blogger and I made homemade pasta this weekend and I would have preferred that. BUT...everyone else at the table really enjoyed their dishes of homemade spag and meatballs, a hot and cold salad and ravioli. So...I chalk this up to me closing my eyes and pointing to the menu. I will definitely give it another go but my first impression was overpriced food for what I got.

Did I mention each table has a candle for ambiance? I didn't notice the candle until my husband put his napkin on top of it and it caught on fire. We tried to hide it but the napkin ended up melding to the tablecloth. Good times. I was dying.

I give it 2 forks but hope to add a fork or two on my next attempt. Will not be ordering the Bolognese.