Gino's

We love this place: Everything from the delicious, often organic and local, food to the generous portions to the cozy atmosphere, cordial waitstaff and reasonable prices. The only downside is that there is sometimes a wait -- but why not? This is a great place to eat! Enjoy! Pros: Food, Staff, Price Cons: Wait more

There are so many other great italian places to eat in Portland that dining here is really just a waste of time. If you like HUGE helpings of food then this is your place. However their food lacks flavor. It's also VERY loud and I agree with the reviewers about the lack of service. I've tried almost every italian place in Portland and this is not the worst but down at the bottom of the list. If you want amazing Italian food, try Mama Mia's downtown, 3 Doors Down on Hawthorne, or Bastas in NW. more

If you want to enjoy the true Gino's you must not look for mainstream and you really should try to find a way to be ""in the know"" in order to enjoy the extraordinary underground greatness that the kitchen has to offer. Certain evenings offer specials that will delight, as they are suited for the season and selected for the ingredients that are available. There are often special wines available that are perfectly paired to the dish - if you know to ask for them. Order the large mixed greens for a salad that is simply to-die-for with fresh local grilled veggies on top (although the ceaser is praised by ordinary diners, the mixed greens is the real deal for those in the know). I can't account for the cry-babies on previous posts but I've been eating at Gino's for 8-years and can't find anything to compain about. If you don't like Gino's, go back to Olive Garden or take something out of your freezer and put it in the microwave oven! Pros: Staff, Food, Neighborhood, Salad, Wine Selection, etc. Cons: If you have to ask you wouldn't understand more

We went to Gino's last night for the first time. We must have gone on a good night, because the service was very fast and polite, which seems to be opposite of other people's experiences that I've read on this site.\r \r The food, however, was not so good. I am still having bowel pains. My husband had the Penne pasta with meat sauce. It includes chunks of sausage, and yes, spare ribs. I mean, with the bones. I've never seen meat sauce where you have to pick out the bones while eating it. Not at all appetizing. I got the pasta with oysters and red sauce (I can't remember the fancy name). Of the 12 oysters on my plate, 3 were unopened. The remaining 9 oysters tasted a bit on the ripe side. I could only eat a couple and the rest went on my discard plate. I normally love oysters, so this was unusual for me. It's a good thing I had a discard plate served with my meal for my shells, my husband needed somewhere to dump the bones from his ""meat"" sauce. They should call it bone sauce. At any rate, as we continued to eat, the meal just tasted greasier and greasier. Even the fish broth served with my oyster dish was greasy and thick. At least I'll have a shiny coat.\r \r Oh, and the portions were huge! Which is a good thing normally...except when you are eating at Gino's.\r \r We wanted to order caesar salads but they were $10.50 apiece. Since there is no explanation on the menu or offered by the staff as to why they have the most expensive caesar salads in the universe, I decided against ordering them. I wanted to ask, but was afraid I would sound rude . I did see a salad brought to another table that was huge, so I assume the price was because it serves two. Either that or because they put gold dust in with the anchovies.\r \r We also both ordered microbrews. They were served at room temperature. This was a dissappointment, since my husband was choking on a bone.\r \r Overall, I liked the service and ambiance, but won't go back because of the food. Pros: Location, parking, ambiance, service Cons: Stomach pump required more

Gino's excuse for crappy service seems to be that they are a ""family."" Well, if your family is surly, serves cold food and doesn't bother to make sure you have enough water, then this is definitely family style. Personally, I go out to eat because I want good food, not to be bothered too much by the waiter's bad mood, and yes, to get the kind of service we are actually paying for. I went to Gino''s on the basis of a previous review that said ""It's like family, grandma might not deliver the food on time or check on you every two minutes, but when the food arrives its a rewarding experience worth the wait. I don't tend to frequent those restaurants where the waiter stops in every five seconds to sell add ons."" That sounded great to me. But the reality was that the waiter's never check on you until they want to sell you desert. We didn't bother. I don't mind a leisurely pace, but waiting 40 minutes for the waiter to bring the bread and waiting another 30 minutes to get the main course is pushing it a little. When the main course arrived my husband asked for a refill on his drink. It never came. Neither did additional water. No one ever checked back to see that the kitchen hadn't made a mistake, which they had. \r \r Basically, they will serve you what they want to serve you when they want to serve it. \r \r Gino's seems to have forgotten that we're paying customers. \r \r Pros: I honestly can't think of any Cons: They'll serve your steak rare if they want to. If you ordered medium-well, who cares? more

sat outside here, the only thing is we were about 4 feet from the dumpster and you could smell it :( - other than that, nice wait staff, good beer, and the salad is good too. We weren't that hungry so we split a salad, but it seems the prices for everything on the menu were kind of high. One thing I noticed is that they print off the menu daily, which means that it is fresh content Pros: Good Wine and Beer Selection Cons: Dumpster outside is close to seating more

Comfortable, relaxed place for a good mean with friends or family. The wine list is good for everyone from the moderately priced bottles to the expensive ones. Pros: Atmosphere Cons: Parking (on a rainy night!) more

I don't do reviews.... but I simply had to do something as a result of the wonderful experience I had last night at Gino's. My husband and I had never been before but had heard good reviews from our friends. We got there around 7:30 pm and were promptly seated. You enter through the bar which is just around the corner from the main restaurant area. Seating is a casual thing without signing in so don't expect a formal host. You basically catch the eye of someone and they seat you. The ambiance is lovely: relaxed, low lights, cozy with out pretense. We had the mixed shells for an app. which comes with lots of bread for soaking up the delish sauce. The mixed green salad was heavy on the seasonal veggies which was a nice suprise. Our bottle of chianti disappeared quickly and we actually had to box most of our main dish because the servings are all so generous. Everyone was friendly and our waitress was great: prompt, conversational, unrushed and seemed in a genuinely good mood. And here's the thing....when I left my bag on an empty seat, it was there safely stowed behind the bar in the morning with everything in its place and a concerned employee to hand it over......wow. service doesn't get much better than that. Thank you Gino's for not only a lovely evening but taking nice care of your more absent-minded patrons! We'll be back soon.... Pros: service, ambience, wine and apps Cons: a bit steep for a daily habit! more

Ginos is just an incredible addition to sellwood's restraunts. They have just exeptional ittalian food. I like to get the ""chicken marsala"" witch comes with the best mashed potatos i have ever had. I do not recomend coming with large groups. Pros: great food, service and ambience Cons: may take a while to be seated more

Gino's has great food and terrfiic low lit ambiance. Gino's is not the place for the nit-picky, trivial minded, or those with sticks in certain orifices. If you've never found yourself in one of those preceding categories continue reading with abandon. It's like family, grandma might not deliver the food on time or check on you every two minutes, but when the food arrives its a rewarding experience worth the wait. I don't tend to frequent those restaurants where the waiter stops in every five seconds to sell add ons and give a trite ""how you doin?"" Gino's lets you sit back and relax. Enjoy a bottle of wine, there wine list is as big as a novel, dine on one of the best ceasar salads in town, or eat a succulent steak. Once your seated you'll never feel rushed. Bring a friend, friends, or family and you can all sit down for a slow soulful dining event. Over the years my wife and I have introduced many of our closest to Gino's and always had a great time. We've always been treated well and so have our friends as we look forward to coming back each visit. I don't know about the variance in the other reviews here, as long as we were polite it seemed the staff was equally gracious. Go and enjoy! :) Pros: enough food to share; great mashed potatoes, steaks, seafood and relaxing atmosphere. Cons: if you're looking for bright colors and a waitstaff like Red Robin, or Olive Garden, then go there. Might be a wait. 6 or more are required to eat family style which is good, but not for everyone. more

I have eaten at Gino's 4 times and although I did have one good meal, the others were either horrible or just okay. The service ranges from passable to exceedingly rude. I live very close to this restaurant and I gave it many chances to show me it was worth going back. Well, I will most likely give it another try but if the waitstaff doesn't become nicer or better trained, I will go elsewhere. \r Some dishes are very good. Others should be taken off the menu. Wine is okay but the amount they pour varies. At least it is better than the timble full of wine you get from the restaurant down the street (Assagio's). I think this has the potential to be a good restaurant but without consistancy and good waitstaff, the chances of this being a restaruant of choice is very slim. Too bad. Hopefully the owners/management will read these reviews and do something. Sellwood needs some good/great restaurants. We dine out at least 3-4 times a week and it is always nice to have a restaurant(s) close to home. Pros: Close to where I live Cons: Not consistant food quality, poor waitstaff more

The vongole pasta was gritty, the coconut cream pie was hard as a rock and the servers were just plain rude. When I commented upon the fact that I couldn't break through the crust of the pie with my fork the server actually said ""hey, don't blame me, I didn't make it."" There was no offer of another dessert. This like it or lump it attitude seems to be the hallmark of Gino's. Dressing on the side? There's a charge for that. Want your Pie warmed up? That's not how it comes. You want a refill on your drink? Not on the waiter's agenda for this evening. You want an order of bread with your dinner? Maybe if you ask three or four times.\r \r When you are paying $50 for a meal for two you shouldn't have to pay extra to get the salad dressing on the side. Yep, that's right, if you want the dressing on the side they charge you extra. Okay, so I can live with an extra 50 cents tacked on to the price of a nice meal, but the way in which the waiter told us about the extra 50 cents was just insulting. The general idea is clearly that they have absolutely no intention of doing anything out of the ordinary for you. All in all the experience was lousy, the service was awful, and the food was sincerely unimpressive.\r \r Portland has a plethora of excellent restaurants with fantasic service. There's no reason to put up with a place like Gino's. Cons: Really poor service and below average food. more

Gino's used to be a good restaurant. My wife, and I would stop there for dinner whenever we were in Sellwood. However, over the past year the service has continued to deteriorate. We took my mother and father in-law to Gino's at about 9:00 PM on a recent Friday evening. Because there were five of us (another friend met us there and another said they might show-up) we were told we would have to wait for the one table that seated six. After 45 minutes, I suggested that I would be willing to sit at the bar and have dinner while the four members of our party could be seated at any of the three empty tables for four. The waitress told me they could not do that, and then she got the manager. He said I could not sit at the bar, and he would not seat anyone in our party. I asked him if I showed up alone, could I sit at the bar? He said, yes, but because I showed up with others that their ""policy"" would not allow me to sit at the bar. At this point, I realized that Gino's is suffering from the arrogance that comes from being popular for a while. We left without eating, and we will never go back to Gino's. It's sad really. It used to be a good restaurant, but now the prices are high and the service is pathetic. Pros: interesting interior Cons: very rude staff more

I read the negative reviews of this place and was a little tenative about going, but we had a great time! We waited about an hour for a table (on a Saturday night) but our food came really quickly once we ordered. I stayed away from the pasta due to the reviews on here but my friends loved it! Grandma Jeans pasta got rave reviews (it's full of meat) and the portions are ridiculously huge. The goat cheese ravioli was great and the cioppino was interesting with saffron. You can easily share one entree with two hungry adults. The whole place is fun and smells great. I thought the prices were fair for the large portions and quality of food (about $20 per person). It's not the most elegant Italian cuisine, but it's great for down-home comfort food. Pros: fun vibe, huge portions, hearty comfort food Cons: long wait, squished seating more

If you're expecting either the Olive Garden (unlimited salads and bread, cheap frozen/canned ingredients) or Genoa (intimate seating, wine cellar the size of the entire dining room, truly professional waitstaff) you'll be disappointed -- Gino's is a family-style, mid-range Italian joint, with all the compromises and pleasures that entails.\r \r Reading many of the negative reviews here, I think people simply expect the impossible: a well-known, popular restaurant which has only a few tables, seats you in under 30 minutes, and offers absolutely perfect cooking and ambiance on every visit. \r \r Of course, if you walk in with a large party and an attitude, the already-overworked staff are not likely to respond well -- there are most likely dozens of us committed regulars waiting outside for a table who won't give them a hard time.\r \r My recommendations: steer towards seafood and the daily-special ravioli but away from anything based on tomato sauce or pork, both of which I've done better at home...though admittedly I'm obsessive about my sauces and swine. Pros: seafood, casual atmosphere, consistency Cons: unexciting tomato sauces, occasional long wait more

First off they took forever, I mean FOREVER to actually get our entrees ready, then they turned off the lights so then we couldn't see the person sitting in front of us, providing us a candle that was in a cup. The food was cold, the waiter was slow, and the drinks were diluted. I would NOT recommend this restaurant for anyone, I for one would never go there again. If you're looking for a fun place to hang out and enjoy some Italian foods, Gino's restaurant isn't the place to go. Pros: dessert Cons: lighting, parking, service more

Where do restaurants get off pouring two inches of wine into a huge glass and charging over $7.50 for it ??? It's just disappointing to go to one of the Oregonian's top 100 from their recent Diner's Guide and have lackluster food. The Caesar Salad consisted of overdressed Romaine, Croutons in huge portions. The Pork with Al Dente Pasta was flavorless. Ragu, straight out of the jar, would have been tastier......And the Skate was served on a tasteless Fried Polenta. And what about bread ??? There was none served at all........... Did I mention we waited almost 45 minutes for the salad, and then another 35 for the entrees ? The six of us have much better places to spend $180 for dinner.....Never Gino's again. more

Got together with good friends (3 couples) and headed down to Gino's one Saturday evening recently. We waited for an hour for a table, and spent the time at the bar having a great time and a few laughs. The caesar salad was absolutely delicious - we asked for a little extra anchovy in the dressing - it was tangy, cold and great. They brought us a huge basket of bread on the house (maybe because we didn't cop an attitude when told we'd have to wait 1 or 1-1/2 hours.) We all ordered different entrees and appetizers and no one complained - the servings are large, so we all took food home. We had the best time hanging out. Wouldn't recommend Gino's for an intimate, romantic dinner - but if you're out for an evening with good friends, it's a great place to go. Pros: fun atmosphere, good food, good value Cons: parking (sometimes), desserts more

Gino's is is made all the more irritating because it has so much potential that it fails to live up to. Everything is a mixed bag. The service was friendly and personable, yet slow and very absent-minded. The environment is unique and happily funky -- but so LOUD that you have to practically scream to be heard over the din. (I eventually stopped talking and lapsed into acoustic engineering fantasies.) And finally, the food: our salad was quite good; the raviolini was merely generic, and the penne putenesca was excellent. But all of it was overpriced by about 40%. And what kind of Italian restaurant charges you extra for bread -- and then doesn't even provide olive oil and balsamic to dip it in!?! If I ever hear that they've had a change of management but kept the same cooks, I'll give Gino's another try. But not otherwise. Pros: Most of the food Cons: Unbearably noisy, Out-of-it service, The rest of the food more

this place was terrible. spare yourself the time and money. I just got home and am $60 poorer and 4 hours older, and am bitter. Cons: everything more