Gia Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar

This place wins the award for the Best Free Hotel Breakfast Buffet I have ever eaten. I stayed at the Eden Roc for 4 days and booked a AAA special that included free breakfast. The free breakfast was the buffet at Gia. OMG! Ridiculously good. I had a four course breakfast every day.
Started off with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, a small smoothie, and some coffee. Proceeded to a variety of cut up fresh fruit with cheese and salami, prosciutto, or smoked salmon. Then came a vegetable egg white omelet made to order, rosemary roasted potatoes, and sausage. It was finished off with a small pastry and coffee. One day we tried their waffles (amazing), and another day their tres leche banana pancakes… wow!
Of course, after eating a breakfast like that, you’re good all day until dinner. So not only is it economical to get the free breakfast, but it saves you money from not having to buy lunch.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is really nice also. If you go to breakfast before 9am, it’s pretty hectic with business people and convention goers rushing around. But, any time after 9 and it’s a totally different vibe — nice and relaxed. Kinda felt like a food spa.
If I ever have to go back to Miami, I’d book a room at the Eden Roc just for the breakfast!

We were staying at the Eden Roc (love that hotel!!!) for a girls weekend and by sunday night, we couldn’t muster up going to Lincoln Road or even next door to Fountainebleu so we decided to just go downstairs to the hotel restaurant. Mildly surprised. I had a nice fresh pasta with beautiful, large shrimp, bread was awesome, our salad was made of nice fresh greens, and beautiful red tomatoes; my glass (es) of wine were my favorite (a marlborough sauvignon blanc); the service at the ER is always good. the staff are super friendly and to be able to take a quick walk down and then back to the room after a hard day laying at the pool and swimming in the ocean, yea, i definitely suggest going here.

Late evening dining at its best. When we wanted nothing more than quiet, good wine, good food, and quick service, Gia definitely came through.
It was a co-​workers birthday and they brought out a simple but delicious dessert on the house. Kudos for not making a huge deal as we were definitely in no mood for bells and whistles.
The bruschetta with large chunks of tomato provided to the table with bread and crunchy breadsticks was awesome and addictive. For my entrée I ordered a perfectly cooked fish dish (can’t recall the type).
Overall, a great experience and getting exactly what we wanted was worth the hefty price tag.

Service was terrible, bread was cold and hard, we were ignored by our waiter for 20 mins before he decided to get us drinks. I wouldn’t waste my time and go again… ever.

We came for dinner on Thursday, July 2^nd. The restaurant is decorated very nicely. The first thing I noticed was that the lights were too bright… and that’s when I was told that there were artists painting the walls, so I figured that’s why it was so bright.
On to the food. The focaccia was soft, the flat bread was crisp. They served this with a tapenade and butter.
We ordered the frito misto for appetizer. It was good. The breading on the calamari and vegetables was very flavorful.
After my first glass of sauvignon blanc, we asked one of the servers if they could lower the lights. They did, but as soon as some new people arrived and sat down, they turned them up again. BOOOO!!! The ambiance was SO much nicer with the lights dimmed.
I had the tagliatelle puttanesca with shrimp for my entrée. This was really good! The sauce was made with olives and capers, but it wasn’t overpowering, it was just right. My sister had the swordfish, and it was very tender and delicious. My brother in law had the chicken saltimboca — nothing to write home about.
Dessert was great. We ordered the stone fruit crostata for dessert. It had peaches, plums… it was kind of like a cobbler, with vanilla ice cream.
To sum it up, the restaurant was nice, the food was good, BUT it was just way too empty. It’s unfortunate, but a lot of hotel restaurants seem to have this problem.

I can imagine the service being a bit slow if you’re here for a business dinner. But on the other hand, if you’re here on vacation, man this is a great spot! The view, the cozy outdoor seating next to the pools, the delicious pasta, the yummy oatmeal… (ok, so I’d say this place is a 3.5 star, but given how much I LOVED my vacation here… I’m a little biased and need to give it a 4.5 star!)
Brunch was good — freshly squeezed orange juice, and I mean yummy French style fresh OJ, steel cut oatmeal that eats like a dessert with banana crème burlee on top, it just made our vacation that much better!
Dinner was fun too. I wouldn’t recommend the pizza, but the pasta was pretty good, and the dessert, so-​so.
Overall, I think the pace of this place fits in with the whole sunny Miami vacation theme if you’re not in a rush. And the food, it’s a bit hit-​n-​miss, but not bad overall.