what a great meal!. first, i apologize to the large party who had to wait for us to finish before you could be seated. i don't know what time your reservations were, but i know we were there for much longer than anyone expected. good food and good conversation will do that to you.
and make no mistake it was good food. the highlights:
as usual some of us got the fiocchi pasta purses stuffed with pears, gorgonzola and walnuts with teh drawn sage butter and prosciutto. so good! ditto for the crabcake appetizer and the shrimp and grits. huge shrimp, and a wonderful sauce with the grits. lots of crumbled, bacon, too, which is always a plus. the chopped salad, another favorite, didn't disappoint, either.
entrees were excellent. "best lambchops i've ever had in birmingham; maybe the best i've ever had, period." "best lasagna i've ever had." "wonderful fettuccini paglia e feinozzz" (she said the leftovers were even better for lunch the next day.) "best ribeye i've had in a long time." i also give high marks for the short rib and lobster pot pie, which didn't skimp on either either meat. the parpadella with braised pork ragu was good but not great. the pork tenderloin was good but "dh makes it better." those were hte only off notes.
the chocolate bread pudding and apple something something also got high marks, tho one diner thought the bread pudding was actually too chocolatey (the other person eating it thought it was perfect.)
this place gets loud and it gets crowded but that is a small price to pay for eats (and service) this good.
-----24 jan, 2013-----
breaking my own rule for the 2nd time. i swore i'd never again reference another reviewer's comments while writing my own review but i just can't help myself. before going to a place i've never been i look them up on urban spoon and check out the number of likes. if their "score" is less than 75% i'll pay particular attention to the unfavorable reviews. even with a good score i'll read a sampling of reviews so i'll have an idea what to expect but my experience is my own and that's what i eventually write about. at the same time, if i disagree with another reviewer i have to remember that their experience was their own and they're entitled to report the dinner as they remember it. but when someone reports an experience that isn't there own...? "i ate here once and liked it, but i read reviews of people who didn't like it, so even tho i have not been here in years and have no idea if i would like or not like the food or service, i am going to write a negative review and slam the owner."
oh my. if you're going to base a non-review on what other people say, why not base it on the favorable reviews then? but i"m here to report on my own experience. i actually already did this once when i was here for dinner. i went back for lunch and lucky enough to get the same server who i'd had for dinner on my previous visit. once again she knew the menu backwards and forwards. she answered all of my questions without needing to go check with the kitchen. when i asked for her recommendation when i wasns't sure about a couple of items she was quick with an answer, and more importantly, she had a reason for her suggestion.
they were just as busy at lunch as they were at supper. the negatives are that once again i had trouble finding a place to park. in spite of the crowded restaurant our service was prompt and we never felt neglected. the food was very good, but i must confess i like the dinner fare better, mainley because i feel more entitled to order appetizers with my meal. there were 4 of us at lunch, on separate checks, and there was a little mixup with the credit cards but it was quickly fixed. i have yet to encounter any of the unpleasantness other people have described. i'm not saying it didn't happen, only that it hasn't happened to me. i'm looking forward to my next dinner here.
-----19 sep, 2012-----
it's anitalianrestaurant--where's the garlic?. i've heard some scary things about gianmarco's--the service is slow for instance, and the owner is mean. i didn't experience any of that tonight. they do have the world's worst parking lot, but once you walk inside you're in for a treat. our reservations were for 7 and we were seated at 6:45. even though it was tuesday, a day when you'd expect things to be slow, this joint was hopping. the noise level was a problem. this seems to be common with restaurants in birmingham. i'm thinking of learning sign language and using ear plugs when i go out to eat. our waitress was friendly and cheerful and went over the many many specials in great detail. diner #1 chose the grouper special; diner #2 went for the pork chop special. i ordered off the menu and selected the chicken francese. we also ordered 2 appetizers, prosciutto wrapped fried mozzarella and some pasta covered pears and gorganzola thingies. the fried cheese was good but i had a hard time detecting the prosciutto. the marinara sauce it came with was outstanding. the pasta wrapped baked pear and gorganzola was nothing short of phenomenal. i'll be sure to order that again on my next visit.
diner #1 had a chopped salad that she said was very good. the rest of us gossiped about her salad. i don't like olives, which her salad had in abundance. diner #2 doesn't care for onions, also present in the salad. we asked our waitress if we would have been able to get the salad minus those items. she said they are made to order and special requests are no problem at all. diner #2 had a bowl of pasta fajool....umm pasta fagioul. spell check doesn't like that either. diner #2 had a bowl of pasta and bean soup that he said was the best he'd ever had. i had the tomato and mozzarella salad with a balsamic glaze. it was okay. the slices of mozzarella were thick and many, no skimping here. the tomatoes were from a local farmers market if our waitress was to be believed (and i had no reason to doubt her) but i've had better tomatoes. to be fair i'm a tomato snob and there are only a few varieties of tomatoes i like (gotta love the heirlooms). the balsamic was a little tame as well.
each of us raved about our entrees, but diner #1's garlic cream sauce was missing any hint of garlic. she said it was very rich and creamy--quite tasty, but garlic cream sauce ought to come with garlic, yes? my chicken was wonderful. tender and not a bit dried out. it's so easy to over cook boneless chicken but this was absolutely perfect. the lemon/wine sauce gave it just the finishing touch it needed. it came with some sauteed spinach that lacked only one thing--you guessed it: garlic. i can only assume they ran out in the kitchen. diners ! and 2 shared an apple dessert that i call an apple blossom but gianmarco's calls something else. the dessert was the only thing that didn't receive high marks. it was good, but not as good as similar desserts at other places.
despite having to park down the street (thank goodness it wasn't raining) and in spite of the lack of garlic (i'll ask for extra next time--they seem to handle special requests easily) this was hands down one of the best dining experiences i've had. if they maintain this level of food quality and service, gianmarco's will be on my regular restaurant rotation.