Gioia Ristorante e Pastificio

Definitively on the noisy side. Hard to keep a conversation.
Food was good

We went to Gioia to celebrate a birthday. The service was attentive and the food was very good. It is hard to hold a conversation, though, as the din of voices is very loud.

Food was amazing! service was outstanding!

Gioia is probably the best Italian restaurant in Chicago! It’s always the best! Food, service, location and people.
The only thing to notice, yesterday it was a bit noisy, but it depends from the guest, not from the restaurant 😉

Beautiful and cozy interior. Welcoming and attentive staff. The pasta dishes were really good, perfect for sharing. The squash blossoms were our favorite. Good selection of wine by the glass.

Service was wonderful! Food was okay. Cacio y pepe and chips were great but the burrata was just ok and the ravioli were mediocre.

Well where should I start….. the moment we arrived ( 3 of us ), we were told to wait for our table even tho we had reservations …. by 3 young ladies that seem to act like teenagers and were smirking, showing some slight attitude .

Then they sat us on our table about 15 mins later. It was so loud and very hard to speak to my husband and my friend. We had to keep raising our voices to hear each other.

Our waiter sucked big time! The person who deserved more credit was the bus boy . We arrived there at 8:30p
and only got our dinner at 10:05pm! Yup

We had to ask the bus boy for bread. We never got ask if we needed anything or checked if we needed refills on our drinks.

And we weren’t given almost any attention from our waiter , it seem like he was ignoring us and serving a big group of really loud and obnoxious people behind us more then anyone in the restaurant. Maybe he thought he will get a bigger tip from them ?!

The food was average . I had the cacio e pepe. I thought it had too much pepper and overwhelmed my mouth.

The look inside the restaurant is really nice but don’t be fooled by the looks !

I hope they manage the restaurant better and service ! For the amount of money they are charging , def not worth it! For that price I expect good service and some bread !

Overall the restaurant was better than I had expected. The food was mediocre but the ambience and service made up for it.

Stunning evening! The food was great and the service excellent.

We loved it! Amazing food and atmosphere

The food was outstanding. We thought the service was adequate until I was given the wrong leftover bag which was fish. I'm allergic to fish and at those prices, I had to throw it out! My friend was given my leftovers which were a rather large leftover piece of the wonderful beef tenderloin. My friend lives in the city and I live in the suburbs-too far to meet up for an exchange. What a terribly disappointing end to a lovely evening!

I stopped by for cocktails and dessert with my Dad.

Worth every penny

One of the few authentic Italian restaurants in Chicago. Bravo.

On Sundays (our waitress told us) that they are out of several dishes because it all gets used on Friday / Saturday.

The wait staff was all in Tshirts, jeans and sneakers…. Not the dress code for the ambiance they are presenting (very nice decor)

Would not go out of my way to return… too many great places nearby.

Food was disappointing. Service, bar scene, & ambiance were nice.

Service is as not great. Food was fabulous, but so noisy we could hardly hold a conversation.

Our experience at Gioia was truly great. Service, food, ambiance were all better than we expected. We've already recommended it to several friends and are anxious to go back ourselves.

AMAZING! 10/10, cannot wait to go again. What a special place. Everything was phenomenal

Fantastic meal!

The food was fantastic, the ambiance was perfect for a night out and the service was outstanding.

Went to Gioia for dinner to celebrate our anniversary and the food was outstanding Italian food! Alberto was our waiter and he was the best! Definitely recommend asking for him. My wife and I had the table side pasta that serves two people perfectly. In addition we ordered the Buccatini (pictured below) it was delicious! The ambiance of the restaurant was nice and different. For dessert we had the tiramisu and it is a must have! Overall the taste of the food, the price and restaurants atmosphere make this place a must try!

Brilliant experience! We’ll be back. Thank you.

Service was great but food rather disappointing. I had the La Parmigiana and it arrived like warm and tasted ok. The Branzino and the Tempura Chicken were also mediocre. The starters were very good including the Burrata and the Pizzetta was delicious. The chocolate torte desert was excellent.

Fabulous food and dining experience

The food was delicious, but it was the staff and ambience that will bring me back! The entire staff was so polite, attentive, and contributed a great deal to my dining experience. 5/5!

The pasta was extremely al dente, I.e. not fully cooked. Noise level was high.

The staff is on it and is polite. The food is fresh and very good.

Amazing service. Delicious entrees. Expensive dining.

We were very excited about this dinner but it was disappointing. Our resi was at 8:30 and we weren’t sat until 9 pm. Once sat we were not greeted by our waiter until 12 - 15 min after sitting down. The food portions are insanely tiny and it is overpriced.

Food was outstanding, but service was lacking. Clearly they were having an issue on Friday night. We had a 7:45 reservation but we were not seated until after 8:30pm and our server did not greet our table until after 8:45. We were able to grab a drink at the bar and the cocktails were outstanding and the bar staff was so friendly and helpful! Hopefully they were just overbooked and it was an off night, however after an hour wait no apologies or acknowledgment was given to us which was disappointing. I do look forward to coming back on a less busy night!

It seems my party caught Gioia on a bad night. 7:30 reservation came and went. After being seated just before 9, we waited another 30 to 40 minutes to be greeted (if you can call it that) by a waiter.

Friday night in the west loop is certainly prime time and they didn’t live up to the standards one comes to expect in that area. It’s a shame because I was really looking forward to the experience.

I try to be gracious to restaurants in a post-pandemic world, however, it didn’t seem that they were short staffed and everyone we interacted was highly skilled. Why did the fall so flat? I’ll never know, but certainly be mindful of that when booking a weekend reservation.

Food was good and I appreciated their selection of pastas and proteins. The table side pasta was delicious— albeit very simple— and the ravioli was a bit tough but tasty. Appetizers were not anything special.

We had an amazing time - the food was delicious, the wine was excellence, the ambience was romantic. Gioia Nei Paccheri and Tiramisu were our absolute favorities of the night. But we will be back to explore more
Thank you for hosting us!

The noise level is very high. The food is excellent, however, other establishments offer comparable food at a lower price.

Very good overall. We thought the ravioli were a bit too hard for our taste. The attention to us was also very good but I didn’t care for how they pushed serving the wine which was not as cold as we like it. We were recommended the tartufo tart we didn’t really care for.

We went on a Tuesday to celebrate our 45th Wedding Anniversary and we were promptly seated at a quiet table for 2 away from the larger tables. We had the Alaskan Salmon appetizer (excellent) and started with a cocktail which was also excellent. I had the Sea Bass and my wife had the Pork Three Ways. Both were done to perfection and served still steaming. We ordered two glasses of the Tuscan Red and were not rushed in any way. Finally, They provided each of us with a glass of sparkling rose in honor of our anniversary. Great drinks, great food, in a great atmosphere.

Always great service at Gioia. Really well crafted wine list!
The sommelier suggest a wine from Sardinia for maialeto and pacheri.
Perfect pair!!
Thank you for a special night Gioia

Dry pork belly, flavorless bouillabaisse but we loved the soft shell crab appetizer, Ragu and Dover sole. Excellent service. Bartender was a little slow.

The uniqueness of Chef Federico Comacchio's reciepies, the ambience, the service ... makes Gioia a place where I will be going for a long time.
Thank you !

Great atmosphere, staff was attentive and extremely knowledgeable, food was delicious! Will definitely be going back.