gianmarco's

loved it! our food was great and the service was great! yes it is a little more crowded inside than your typical restaurant in this area, but in a way it leads to the close knit relaxed vibe of the place. it was loud-ish but i had no trouble speaking to my husband. you should go!

very rude. i decided not to make reservations here because when i called them on the phone the person was very rude. it was a man with a thick accent who i spoke with. the conversation was very brief and it ended with him hanging up on me. i was very pleasant and asked straight forward questions about availability times. i understand that you may be busy; however, customer service should be your number one priority. because of this, i'll take my business elsewhere. there are too many good restaurants in birmingham to support ones with terrible customer service.

food only review. i had their meatballs and marinara at antiques in the gardens at birmingham botanical gardens and that was two years ago and i still remember how wonderful they tasted.

wonderful food but... the rudest staff i have ever encountered. we were told multiple times to "move out of the way." i totally understand, but there was nowhere else to stand except out in the cold and it was no way to treat anyone, especially not customers willing to pay as much as they charge. the most ridiculous experience i have ever experienced. will not go back unless it is around 3:30 in the afternoon..

excellent food with service above & beyond. once again the respinto family did not disappoint. i had the chopped salad and veal chop parmiagiana and my daughter had duck-stuffed mushrooms and the eggplant parmiagiana. all of the food was excellent as always and too much to eat at one sitting, so we were able to enjoy some leftovers later in the week.

following our great dinner we encountered some car troubles in the parking lot, and two of the waiters came to our aid, helping to push our suv so we could get out of the jam we were in and drive away. our only disappointment was their refusal to accept anything but our thanks for their assistance.

plan ahead and make reservations several days in advance, the food at gianmarco's is well worth the effort.


-----11 may, 2013-----

great food. i have had the pleasure of dining at gianmarco's on several occasions and have enjoyed each meal. the food is excellent and the service has been good. the only criticism i have is the challenge it can be finding nearby parking. will continue to recommend and dine there in the future.

reservationist is clueless. i called this morning to book a table for 8 for a date in mid-may. woman says she can't book that far in advance. "just call back in a couple of months." i said we really enjoy the restaurant and the date was graduation weekend, so we wanted to be sure of a table. she says, "we use paper. if i wrote it down, nobody would see it." ok. i told her we would just book elsewhere. she says that's fine. ok, i know the restaurant is booked often, but this woman just turned away $600-&700 in revenue because she uses paper and is clueless about class and grace. she wants me to call back in a couple of months? she surely does not want my business. if she had, she would have taken my number. simple arrogance. i have dined all over birmingham and the world and have never been told to call back two ( or any number) months later. wow. i had recommended this restaurant to two families this month. no more. she needs to get a job in gulf shores!! or worse, biloxi.

the little italian place down the street. i'm married to an italian husband. a picky italian who knows what he likes. and we both are in love with this restaurant. another plus is that the waitstaff are long time employees.
the oysters appetizer is my "go to" starter. i'm a sucker for the risotto while my husband is crazy about the alfredo.
we faithfully get reservations because we are not fond of standing in line. the one time we just didn't have time to get reservations, we got our meal to go and it was packed beautifully. the portions were exactly the same as the restaurant meals. they even gave me all the ingredients to put together for my oysters so i wouldn't have a soggy appetizer by the time i got home.
the place is always bustling, but we never feel like we are being rushed.

rude staff. i called for a reservation on valentine's day, and i can only echo what an earlier reviewer said. the pretentiousness is overwhelming. the person on the phone said, "not here. not here." he could have simply advised he didn't have availability assuming that was truly the case, but he went the extra mile to make it sound like i wasn't good enough to eat in his restaurant.

their food is good, but not that good. normally i wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a special meal, but come on, this isn't downton abbey. this restaurant is in a suburb of birmingham, alabama. they have no right to be snobby to any potential patron.

i called to get a reservation for valentines day. the man who answered the phone with his raised pinky tone said, "people call in december for those tables." i really never knew that people were that pretentious in real life. i thought that level of absurdism is reserved for bad kids movies. i will never dine here. you sir are too good for my money.

the porkchop special was a greasy affair, i was so disappointed in my meal.
my husbands meal of the quail was wonderful.
next time i will stick to your regular menu.
loved your wine room.

probably need to give it another try.. food was less than impressive. nice setting...i'll probably give it one more shot.

for give me if im wrong but i thought racisam was dead, clearly its not at gianmarcos. i have plan a evening there on saturday to celebrate my boyfriends birthday. called in advance to make sure i didnt need a reservation and was told no over the phone. when i got there that was the first thing they asked me , we were the only people of color . to make this story short they had tables available and told us there was a 30 min wait or we could walk out the front door and go around to the back where there was another part to the restaurant and they had plenty of seats there. well i never and you can believe i never will again go back to that place.

amazing, special birthday dinner. fantastic service. sat in the more relaxed wine area.

a very disappointing meal. service was very slow. my wife's salmon ravioli's wrapper was tough and the salmon dry. my wild mushroom ravioli was very different from hers that i suspect that it
was frozen: we make ravioli at home and the wrapper is never as mushy as theirs. the "homemade" mozzarella certainly was store bought and in no way resembled real house made cheese. all in all, an expensive olive garden quality meal. the only good thing was that the restaurant was open on monday.

fantastic dinner last night at gianmarco's. the mussels were great and the meatballs are the best in town. we are already planning our next visit.