Gino’s Bar & Restaurant

The perfect reason why you go back somewhere that you didn’t like. I did not like this place on the two other occasions I went but I guess the third time is a charm. We came for dinner with friends that chose to eat here. I was hesitant because I have never liked the food but came back because our friends chose it for dinner and well, who doesn’t like wine and friends?! We started with the sampler appetizer, 2 of them, and they were all out of ravioli. I tried to get them to do the eggplant so we could try that and the waiter wouldn’t do it because he said that it was only packaged in a whole order and not a half bi told him well, we have two orders of samplers and he just kinda looked at me… so I backed off. I split the Chicken piccata and it was amazing. It was lightly breaded and the sauce was good. I have to say the sauce they put on the pasta looked like throw up and therefore, I didn’t try it. I wish they would have just put the butter sauce or something lighter on the pasta. The service was not great. I had to get up and remind our waiter that he forgot my friend’s sangria and that I wanted another one. I give it a solid three stars. Took one away for waiter and one away for pasta sauce.

We have been dining at Gino’s for over 5 years and have always been happy. An unsuspecting «hole in the wall» type of place that delivers excellent casual Italian food every time. We have introduced quite a few people to Gino’s and it is fairly common that we get requests to go back with them… which we are happy to accept. We have even had Gino’s cater some bigger parties for us of which we always get overly positive feedback.
We are partial to the lasagna, chicken parm, chicken picatta, and LOVE the muscles fra diavolo for an appetizer. They must have serious hormones pumped into them, because they are huge and delicious! :)
Plan to walk out very full.

Fantastic portions of excellent food. Beer and wine only but with a $ 19 bottle wine menu, it makes everything right. Enjoy the specials and the great service. We will be back!!!

WOOOOWWWW!!!
Mom and pop Italian restaurant
Great wine
AMAZING FOOD
Large portions
Great prices
Romantic environment
Complimentary Garlic LOAVES! Yes that’s loaves!
This is usually an appetizer at most places
Amazing Alfredo sauce
Get the sampler platter and stuff your face with their amazing sauce, large proteins and great prices!

Service was fine, but the food was lacking unfortunately. I left satisfied but it was nothing exceptional.

I have been hearing great things about this place for a while now, but had never made it in. First off let me start with our server, Carry. He was great! He was so sweet & funny, and super attentive to our table. I am sure the other servers there are great also, but when we go back I will be requesting him again.
I think that I liked more than anything is that this place isn’t your average cookie cutter Italian restaurant. They have many of the typical items you would expect to see on an Italian restaurant menu however the do a good job of making it their own.
We started off with the bruschetta as an appetizer. I’m not going to lie, when it came out it looked a little weird. For sure not your traditional bruschetta, but weird looking or not it was good.
For our main dishes we ordered the chicken parmesan, the cheese ravioli, and a kids pasta with grilled chicken. All of our orders came with a salad. The salad were big and really good. The house dressing was incredibly flavorful.
When our food first came I at first thought they were bringing me a cheese pizza instead of the intended cheese ravioli. The ravioli comes served with a thick layer of melted cheese on top. I am a huuuuuge fan of cheese (who isn’t?!), it was delicious.
I did not order this myself, but did try some. The size of the chicken parmesan was massive. It is for sure a plate that is meant to be split. The chicken was very thin and super tender.
The amount of food that came out for the pasta and grilled chicken was really big having been for a kids meal. As an adult I probably would have been full from it. The pasta itself wasn’t anything too fancy looking, but the chicken that topped it was plentiful and really tender and flavorful.
For dessert we tried the zeppole. I had never heard of them before but our server swore they were delicious, and they were, maybe my favorite past of dinner! If you’re like me and have no idea what those are, imagine a combination between a funnel cake, a beignet, and a hush puppy all in one, served with 3 homemade amazing dipping sauces (strawberry, warm chocolate, and warm caramel).

Omg the portions are UUUUUUGE! Amazing food, delicious wine, tight and cozy place but nice and family friendly.

My mom took me here my first time– went with my boyfriend tonight and it was amazing. The bread is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside oversee with melted butter and parmesan. We got the sausage appetizer and it was very flavorful and delish! I got the lasagna and my boyfriend got the eggplant parm– portions are huge we we had tons of left overs. You can tell they use quality fresh mozzarella and ingredients. Server was very nice. Food took a little while but I think it’s because they had to bake it for a bit. Sangria is really yummy I was tipsy after 1 glass haha. Finished off with the tiramisu and it was out of this world!!! Definitely will share an entrée next time because it’s a lot of food and def will be back! Super yummy little local place!

All of the cheese! Loved it. Authentic and great service and can confidently recommend the ravioli.

Awesome place. Was very impressed by the food here. Some of the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten. Portions are good and lots of flavor.

My first visit and I really enjoyed it. I had bruschetta for appetizer which tasted fresh to order and delicious, the house bread was very yummy. I love a good bread. The ceaser salad was perfect. Entrée for me was Chicken parmigiana which was a very large portion I couldn’t finish it but it was delicious with the red house wine. I went during the day around 3−4pm on a monday so It wasn’t busy. I did like the family/​friendly atmosphere. Food was great. I will definitely return again. They have a large wine and beer list. My handsome young waiter leo was very nice, attentive and had helpful recommendations.

Went here today because of the 98 amazing reviews. From outside it looked pretty boring, but the inside had a nice, cozy, authentic feel. The soft bread with melted garlic butter is one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time, and it’s the only reason this isn’t a two star review. The main issue is the tomato sauce. I can’t believe nobody has mentioned this, but it tastes EXACTLY like Spaghettios™. I mean it’s exceptionally thick and ketchupy.
An Italian restaurant’s foundation should be its marinara sauce, and this place doesn’t get it even close.
The calamari was fine. The ravioli was decent but covered in globs of cheese and baked. The cherry Coke was too sweet.
Overall it was fine, but because of the previous reviews, it was very disappointing.

Moved from NJ TO FLORIDA 7 years ago, had a really hard time finding a «decent «Italian restaurant that compares to up north … This restaurant just blew us away. From the calamari, to the most delicious bread they put on the table — to the most delicious Eggplant Parmesan and topped off with red velvet cake (free for my birthday!) and cannoli’s, I totally look forward to going back to this restaurant all the time ! Thank you for making me feel like I’m eating «back home» !
Oh and by the way, our waiter, wish I could remember his name !!! He’s been there for many years, was total perfection ! 5 star service !!! Always want to be seated with him !!!
See you soon Gino’s !!!

Seriously the most amazing Italian restaurant in Tampa! We had such a great experience there. My husband and I found this place on Unilocal and took the chance to dine in. After taking the first bite of our salads… We said that we would never go to another Italian place in Tampa.

Small neighborhood Italian restaurant that has been tucked away for decades. Who knew? First time here and my first thoughts are that tables are a bit too close together. Second thought is that the crowd of locals don’t care. If the food is good, they will come.
Server was good and told us that he’s been there for 28 years! Wow! That’s a long time in any job and I figure if he’s not related to owner, than management knows how to train and keep employees loyal and happy.
The portions are enough to make at least 2 meals if extremely hungry, 3 if you are moderately, eh I could eat type of hungry.
Eggplant Parmesan with a boatload of spaghetti on the side was really delish! Very cheesy and comforting. Ceasar salad dressing was a bit confusing as it has an unusual tang to it. Bread was a bit over oily to me.
Considering the portion size, the cost is pretty reasonable. They have a few different pasta options and ok to make changes to menu options.
Come as you are casual. Worth a visit for a family owned, non chain italian ristorante. Mangia!

Loved loved loved this place, and I hate Italian. Lol this place has converted me into a believer! The menu has so many options, there is no way you WONT find something to eat here. Service was great, our server was attentive. I got the spinach fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken. Delicious. Unlike most Italian places this place doesn’t have white table cloths and and fancy uniforms for the employees. Which I LOVED, they let the food speak for itself. The portions were huge. Well worth the price. I will be back

Started out with the Italian Sampler for appetizer bc I was STARVING & it was all very good! Great choice to try variety of delicious appetizers! It includes Mussels fra Diavolo and Fried Mozzarella Sticks, Ravioli, and Calamari. After all that and a salad, I felt like I’ve already had my dinner!
This time I had the Italian Sampler #1, which includes my beloved Eggplant Parmigiana, plus Ravioli and Cappellini al Pesto to try. I really didn’t care for the ravioli, and the Cappellini al Pesto was too bland for me — my bf and I both felt like it was missing something and we determined that it could def use some garlic.. or lots of it and maybe bit of salt. I had a bunch of sauce leftover from my Mussels fra Diavolo appetizer and just dumped all that into the Cappellini and it definitely improved the flavor and made it worth eating! I was so relieved to have my ‘ol faithful Eggplant Parmigiana to fall back on, just as good as I last remembered!
And the garlic bread here was fresh as always and SO GOOD — the best!

Unilocal was not wrong this time! The food was freaking awesome! I believe that Jesus Christ helps the cooks in the back. There was a moment when I was eating either the fried ravioli or my meatloaf where my soul was one with the food and I almost shed a tear. Yes it was THAT good!
Our waiter was nice at first, but then he just started getting worse and worse. He took forever to ask us if we needed to-​go containers. We didn’t know why because we literally sat there with food on our table for over 15−20mins. He took forever and a day to give us our check, then we learned that the check was sitting on the host’s stand. Where do they do that at? Not at any restaurant that I know of.
As a waiter, even if you have a bad experience at another table you have to shake that off for your next table. Not sure, but we noticed that there was another table next to us who were just like us «lesbians.» And they too had to wait forever. While the table on the other side of us were a man and a woman and they received their checks at their table and got to-​go containers at the speed of light.
«All» people should be treated with respect regardless of your personal opinion. Your tip relies on it. His actions granted him a lackluster tip. Think before you react.
Regardless of this waiter’s own personal problems, we still will return because of the quality of our meal and because of the hospitality of the host. Will we want the same waiter? Hell no.

This is our neighborhood go to place for good, reasonably priced Italian food. Tonight we split a bottle of wine between 3 of us and it was $ 19 for
The bottle! I had the sampler platter and there was a ton of food! I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. mine had Eggplant parmigiana, cheese ravioli and pesto pasta. And I added a side of meatballs (there were 3) because I LOVE meatballs! Everything was so good! My hubby had the veal parmigiana and ate all but one small piece and our friend Dave had the chicken Marsala and ate all of it. All our meals came with a salad. The ambience was great as we were put at a table off to the side in front of a wine rack. It was a very enjoyable meal. Even our waiter was pleasant and attentive. I highly recommend Gino’s for a wonderful Italian meal that isn’t crazy expensive!

This place is ridiculous, and so close to a 5-​star review from me that it hurts to post a 4.
I have driven past this place for many years, and for whatever reason, never considered stopping in. So many small Italian joints have disappointed me over the years, so I guess I’m always a little skeptical. But one day about a year ago, I was involved in some pretty serious burger talk with Steve E & Kelleigh M and they told me about this place and how they have excellent burgers. I was like, «Burgers at an Italian restaurant?» I reluctantly bookmarked the place, time marched on and I long forgot about it until this past weekend. My 15 year old son wanted to go out and get some food, and tells me he’s tired of all the chain food, so I whip out the old Unilocal app and start looking at bookmarks. I’m reading them off, and he selected Gino’s, much to my surprise. So I make him change from his shorts to pants and we hit the road.
So it’s Friday night, around 6PM and we’re seated immediately. Shortly after we arrive, the place fills up pretty quickly. Capacity is just under 100, so when I say quickly, I mean it. For whatever reason, when I think Italian restaurant, I believe pants are in order, either casual slacks or jeans at the very least. And after making my son put on pants, I was surprised to see a couple of grown ass men wearing shorts and t-​shirts. One moron was even wearing a freaking baseball cap. Seriously people?
We ordered a lot of food. Too much, probably, but it was all very good. We started with the Italian Sampler #2 for an appetizer. The toasted ravioli and the calamari were fantastic. The muscles were large and pretty good as well. The cheese sticks however tasted like they came frozen in a bag.
Next up, our salads. The veggies were fresh, crisp and clean, but the dressings (ranch and Caesar) were terrible. They both tasted like straight vinegar. Very confusing.
Finally, our meals arrive. We got the Italian Dinner Sampler with chicken parm, lasagna and alfredo linguini. This dish was fantastic! Every aspect of it, including the alfredo sauce, which is usually a huge let down at small Italian joints. And the burger, as advertised by my Unilocal fam, was deeeeelicious. Flame grilled, fat and juicy. Nice, sharp Swiss and fresh mushrooms on top. The only issue was the bun, which was far from fresh. Additionally, it wasn’t toasted or anything. So it’s like they put all this consideration into every part of this burger, then reached into some Winn-​Dixie burger bun bag, grabbed one out and slapped it on there. I took one bite and it just crumpled into 3 or 4 pieces, so I discarded it and ate the burger with a fork. If they use a better bun, or at least toast it, they have the best burger in Carrollwood/​Forest Hills hands down.
Like wine and beer? Well they have plenty to choose from, especially with beer. I was surprised to see such a large collection of craft and imported beers. I had an OBP Pilsner.
As for the server, he served his purpose. He wasn’t very personable, but he smiled when he brought out our food and everything came out at a good pace.
Overall, this place wins and I can’t wait to return.