Gio's

What a gem this place is. An Italian grocery/deli by day and a restaurant by night. We sampled several appetizers, all of which were good and then shared about four different entrees. The verdict was a resounding thumbs up from everyone. If you are looking for an authentic Italian meal for a great price this is the place. Be sure to bring your own wine as they do not serve liquor. And of course try some desserts which were excellent.

Gio's Cafe & Deli
2724 S Lowe Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
312-225-6368
www.gioscafe.com

What were some of the dishes you enjoyed?

i agree... gio's is a great place.

i don't really usually like pasta even.. but i like the carbonara a lot. they have more meatier selections too though

you can still order deli stuff at night...

The brushetta was excellent and they have an appetizer size of the sausage and peppers that is excellent. For dinner we had three pastas, vodka with mushrooms, shells and broccoli and I forget the other one. Everything was good and flavorful. Simple, good Italian home cooking.

In some other thread, SteveZ recommends the arancini, which is right on.

The roasted eggplant sandwich is a nice light lunch. I like to get it to go. If you are in the neighborhood, there is really nothing like it (that I know of) unless you want to go up to the Roosevelt / Taylor axis.

Uncle Johnny's is awesome in its own right, but their deli selection is not really comparable.

I had posted about <b>Gios</b> in a thread having to do w/ Bridgeport dining reccs >near the "Cell".

What I'd make sure to add- is AVOID the chicken dishes.
Why?,
'cause the cook (I'll hold back from "chef" status, untill shown otherwise) likes to cook boneless chicken for as long as the Pasta takes to get done (or so its seemed on several occasion).
I'm a big fan of Chicago style Chicken Vesuvio(generally bone-IN)- and on 2 diners plates the meat was cooked to a degree of tough/chewy-ness, that was to me-
was unacceptable.
(They don't do "bone In" Vesuvio, there.)

I'll agree it's cute.
I'll agree that it's a cool discovery.
But, stay away from the chicken (unless you like overcooked meat, then by all means!!)

I've been to Gio's enough to have had met Gio plenty of times. He is a great man, with a great restaurant. He is trying to create a restaurant which stands for what restaurants used to exist dominantly for; Gio loves his food and with his establishment he is trying to share his love with people who want to try it. The reciepies are prodominantly from his mother.
The greatest thing about Gio's is If you want something and they do not have it on the menu, just ask, if they have the necessary ingrediants they will make it with no problem. This goes for if you get a pasta dish and want some chicken just ask and they will make it.

Gio's want you to have a family sort of experience at his restaurant.

So if you are like Hombre de Acero and worry about the chicken. Let them know you want it well done and they will do it with no problem.

The restaurant is modeled against restaurants in Italy that inorder to survive need to do more than just make food. Though In Gio's case I think that it's food is all he needs.

To eat my Favorite is the Chicken Vesuvio, it's taste has never let me down, and with a nice piece of bread it is AWSOME!

I have a Documentary about Bridgeport in which I interviewed Giovanni the owner. You can listen to it here. http://vocalo.org/node/10331

So if you are like Hombre de Acero and worry about the chicken. Let them know you want it well done and they will do it with no problem.

On the contrary I think he was saying that the chicken was overcooked, not under. (btw - I've never been to gio's so I have no idea if the chicken is over or undercooked).

figmolly wrote:

So if you are like Hombre de Acero and worry about the chicken. Let them know you want it well done and they will do it with no problem.

On the contrary I think he was saying that the chicken was overcooked, not under. (btw - I've never been to gio's so I have no idea if the chicken is over or undercooked).

Yes, my mistake I misread the post, but the idea still holds ground. Just let them know, they are amazingly accommodating.

-Carlos

I've been going to Gio's for the last five years or so and absolutely love this place! I've never had anything but well cooked food with quality ingredients.

Their soups, on cold winter days, are especially good. I also find that you can never go wrong with their specials. The previous poster is correct: if you want something, just ask, and they'll more than happy to make it.

The grocery section of Gio's is pretty good, too. Their 6-in-1 tomato puree makes a great base for sauces and you can't find it everywhere in the city.

Enjoy!

I had dinner on Thursday. One of the additinally great things about Gio's is their wait staff. If you are still lost on what meal you should have just chat with them and they will give you the best fit meal to what you're looking for.

Here are some photos of the very pleasing Chicken Vesuvio.

Dined at Gio's on our way to the annual family baseball outing (the Sox spanked the Twins, lots of long balls, so the fireworks started early and continued through the rousing display at game's end, but I digress).

Gio's is on my regular rotation now as a pregame stop. As I have posted elsewhere, it is generally not great Italian food, IMO - not saying it is bad, just not great. Meats and fish can be overcooked at times and that does not just apply to the chicken. On the other hand, they make very respectable pasta sauces on the premises, the marinara being the star for me, the Stracciatella is good, and the Arancini remains very good.

They also have a small, but good, selection of groceries including some good pasta, corkage is either minimal or non-existent ($0-10), the staff is uniformly pleasant and helpful and the atmosphere (you are really eating in the middle of a small grocery store) is very charming.

So, if your goal is to eat the best Italian in town, this may not be your place; but if your goal is the have an enjoyable meal in an unassumingly lovely place, this is a fine choice indeed. It has an authentically simple, neighborhood and maybe a bit old-fashioned feel to it. The family loved it, too and it was just part of what was a perfect family outing.

Just found this place yesterday. Sort of a cross between Bari and Freddy's in Cicero. The vodka sauce was a standout and the breaded steak sandwich is now at the top of my list [ I doubt La Milanesa will ever be topped, though ].

I love Gio's atmosphere and service. Unfortunately, I am not that impressed with the food. Sometime it is very good, other times mediocre and more often than it should be, not good at all. Overcooked chicken and other meat items, simple sauces with a bit too much salt and powdered garlic - nowhere near as good as either Bacchanalia or Bruna's over on Oakley, or the Italian place over by Chinatown whose name eludes me at the moment.

I like Gio's and have been going there for a few years, but it is as much for the location and the charm of eating in that grocery store, as it is for the food. Sorry to be the food douche in this thread.

dicksond wrote:, or the Italian place over by Chinatown whose name eludes me at the moment.

I like Gio's and have been going there for a few years, but it is as much for the location and the charm of eating in that grocery store, as it is for the food. Sorry to be the food douche in this thread.

Do you mean Bertuccis Corner? Found that in the same week. Not at all on the level of Bruna's I would say. I had beef parmigana and was very put off. I guess I got lucky at Gio's. Too bad. Always fun to try somewhere different though.

dicksond wrote:generally not great Italian food

Gio's had been mentioned in recent sub comparisons and the arancini thread, so I have been trying to swing by for some time, and finally made earlier this lovely Spring week. The place had a true neighborhood vibe and I'd love to sit at one of the red-checked tables by the brioschi and dried pasta on the walls next time.

I will not be revisiting the arancini or the sub sandwiches, however. The giant arancino was cracked and slumping, a gelatinous mass of overcooked rice and cheese served in a scalding and totally unseasoned tomato sauce retaining its canned acidity, ground meat and peas completing a picture more of a pot pie than an orange-shaped snack. The sub sandwich featured chunky, oxidized meats, unpleasant tomatoes, and a thoroughly soft roll. The sandwich, rice-ball, and a can of San Pellegrino ran $16.25. Panozzo's and Freddy's haunted my slow commute west.

Agreed.
Putting Gio's (fighting out of the Bridgeport Corner)
up against Freddy's (Reigning City-Wide Champ outta Cicero)
in da Ring together....is akin to placing The Top UFC Fighter Jon "Bones" Jones
up against a Golden Gloves Semi-Finalist.......
NO CONTEST!

(sorry for the fighting metaphor- but, i feel so strongly about BOTH! )

Santander wrote:The giant arancino was cracked and slumping, a gelatinous mass of overcooked rice and cheese served in a scalding and totally unseasoned tomato sauce retaining its canned acidity, ground meat and peas completing a picture more of a pot pie than an orange-shaped snack.

I went to Gio's on Friday evening prior to the Sox game.

While the table's arancino wasn't as sad looking as the one you describe, it was a gelatinous mass, not good, thankfully it was split amongst 6 people.

Our table did enjoy the salad w/meat, meat present wasn't always the highest quality (ham appeared to be cheap boiled deli ham), but as stated was still enjoyable (maybe it was the crisp cool lettuce on the steaming hot day last Friday was).

I had the eggplant sandwich, sautéed eggplant, not fried, served with a side of peppers & marinara. This sandwich was delicious, only complaint is I would have liked a crispier bread exterior but other than that, I was VERY pleased with the sandwich.

The owners of the popular Italian cafe will soon open Gio's Authentic Mexican Food in the former Oliver's Cafe at 451 W. 31st St., which they've renovated with new tables and chairs, a splash of vibrant paint and Mexican folk art to adorn the walls.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141226/bridgeport/new-gios-mexican-byob-restaurant-serve-mole-breakfast-tortas-more