girasoles

never again!!. i heard that this was a reputable place to eat but never in my life have i ever seen an owner treat his employees so poorly. i was really uncomfortable when, during a business lunch, he accosted our waitress to "serve the women first!" she was clearly uncomfortable and submissive to the point of tears. i was embarrassed for her. overall, i was unimpressed by the food and will never spend my money there again.

iron chef? really?. sadly, no. there is this mystical thing called the interweb, where sites such as www.imdb.com will list every chef who has ever competed on iron chef. alas, girasole's jose zambrano is not listed. when it is so incredibly easy to do, please take a moment to check your facts.

rude owner, slow service. i came in on a wednesday. there was only one server working the entire restaurant, attempting to juggle 7 or 8 tables. there was only one person working in the kitchen, the chef, who managed to demean his server in front of me more than once. the food wasn't tasty either, i will never return.

always great! chef jose is an amazing, hands on, fusionist....this place is a bit of a hidden gem, but it's too good not to share! plenty of interesting menu choices, visits from the chef, and for the truly adventurous - let cjose make your selection for you!!

always a good choice.. we haven eaten here for years and love jose and his wonderful food! he always caters to our needs and will make special requests. this place is one of athens' best secrets!

mediocre. ordered the fillet, meat was not best quality, wife got pasta and shrimp which was no better than applebee's, service was terrible, one refill of my drink after i finished eating, desert tasted like it was taken out of a grocery store freezer, expensive for mediocre food, will not go back.

latin fusion and buffet. i've only ever eaten here for the brunch buffet but from that performance i've got to imagine the restaurant is really impressive. it's upscale without being stuffy and the head chef (who might be the owner, unclear) is always insanely friendly and helpful.

the brunch buffet has a fantastic waffle and omelette station and they make recommendations for ingredients. last time i was there they had balsamic marinated pork loin and shrimp & grits that were out of this world. for the athens area it's a pricer breakfast...around $20...but well worth it if you go hungry.

had sunday brunch with my wife and kids. everyone was happy with the choice. staff was friendly and our waiter, dean, was incredibly attentive. food was good and priced reasonably. we will return.

great place. we tried this restaurant because the b/f got a groupon for it through the athens banner herald. we were very pleased.this restaurant served absolutely delicious food! when me and the b/f couldn't figure out what we wanted to eat , the owner/chef came out and introduced himself and assured us that we could order anything we wanted. he could make whatever even if it wasn't on the menu. while we decided what to eat he had the waitress bring us out a salad. it had mushrooms, caramelized onions, blue cheese, and other veggies on it. delish! i decided to order the grouper special which included blackened grouper, cheese grits, fried green tomatoes, and steamed asparagus. i was very pleased with my food. the b/f ordered the vip pasta. i didn't ask, but i'm pretty positive that the noodles were homemade and they were phenomenal. the pasta also had crab meat, spinach, and a creamy alfredo sauce. we ordered the beer battered shrimp for an appetizer and it melted in your mouth it was so tender. the best fried shrimp i'd ever tasted. we will most definitely go back to girasoles even though its a 45 min drive, it's worth it!

great place to eat. we thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant, the food was outstanding and the service was great.

we returned the next night only to be greeted by the owner-chef, he told us he would cook what we wanted so he helped us go through two orders and designed them the way we wanted them. what he brought out was excellent!

we have been traveling in georgia for the past two months and this is by far, the very best place we have ever eaten.

wow!. most amazing food in the athens/oconnee area! worst thing about this restaurant is having to pick just one entree!!

great food & better service.. i'm in the food service business & was impressed by the choices on the menu.four of us each ate a different entree w/ no regrets.i had the scallops w/ lobster & crab sauce over the best cheese grits & side of veggies grilled to perfection.my wife had the pan-seared king salmon that was excellent.our dinner guest had pecan honey glazed chicken & pork chop topped w/ mushroom marsala sauce,delicious.the service made me jealous,i can only dream of such employees.the chef,i later learned whose name was jose,came out to all the tables & introduced himself.he was very personable & even sent us some complimentary desserts.this is the difference between eating & dining.worth the 45 minute drive.can't wait for the next special occasion to treat ourselves again.

the atmosphere was nice with a super friendly and knowledgeable staff and the food was fresh and full of flavor. would definitely recommend!

best little restaurant around!!. i love this place! we eat out with jose' at least once a week. food is always fresh and most delicious! i really think i could eat there every day and never have the same meal. chef jose keeps creating new dishes for us to try. i can't resist the filet mignon with blue cheese and mushroom glaze. the fresh scallops are so good. i never even liked scallops before i had his!! sunday brunch is nice, too. i am always amazed how he whips up eggs benedict like it's nothing...while making omelettes and breakfast burritos to order at the same time. don't eat anything before you go on sunday because the lunch buffet is included and loaded with good stuff!! i think brunch is $14.95 for all you can eat!!

loved it. nice man at the granary (excellent sticky rolls!) next door recommended both the big easy and girasoles, and we decided to go with girasoles. we were seated immediately and the chef came out to greet us! he proceeded to find out what we liked, and made special dishes for us that were pretty amazing. my boyfriend had a spicy chicken dish that he kept eating well after he was full, and my dish had sweet crispy shrimp, steak and onions and grits. the salsa was delicious, too! service was excellent and price was decent, too.