Gino's Past And Pizza

The food needed salt. Once added was delicious. The branzino was small but reasonably priced and came with grilled veggies The mojito was delicious. Service was fine. Very convenient, across the street from our Hotel Principe. The ambiance was fun for people watching.

My boyfriend and I are visiting Italy for the first time and we got into our hotel in Venice late, super hungry! Gino 's happened to be across from our hotel, so we decided to give it a try... Atmosphere: Small space, tables are all very close, which come to find out is typical in Italian restaurants. If you are thinking of having a private conversation with a loved one, don 't plan on having it over your meal. That being said, it is also pretty noisy. I wouldn 't recommend bringing a bunch of kids...it 's just too small. There is outdoor seating, which we did not take advantage of because it was windy and a bit chilly. Italian 's eat dinner late so we actually went out at a time that was probably more quiet than later in the evening. Everyone who was eating in the restaurant when we were was probably also a tourist of sorts. The decor is interesting, very eclectic, all sorts of things hanging on the walls. Lighting wise, overall it is on the darker side but somewhat romantic too. Service: We were actually ushered in from the streets. In Italy, it is not uncommon to see restaurant staff outside the restaurant trying to get people to come in. Someone told my boyfriend and I that the restaurants doing that are the ones we should stay away from if we are looking for a true, authentic, Italian experience. We were hungry though, so what can I say? We were waited on immediately and the waiter was fairly helpful in translating the menu. I really wanted just a plain cheese pizza, which if ever in Italy, you should know a plain cheese pizza is known as a Margarita pizza. However, in talking to the waiter, he convinced me I was looking for the four cheese pizza. So, I ordered that and my boyfriend ordered a margarita pizza. I had a feeling I ordered the wrong thing. It just didn 't seem like the waiter quite understood what I was looking for and he kept just saying, you tell me what you want and I can make it . Which is nice, but I don 't think we were on the same page. Our drinks came quickly (two coke zeros and the pizza did too actually. I was pleasantly surprised how fast they were able to whip out these pizzas. In Italy, I don 't think they ask how your meal is or check to see if you need anything because it didn 't happen at this restaurant or any of the other Italian restaurants we took a gamble on. You also have to wave them over to give you your check. According to our tour guide, in Italy it is considered rude to give the check quickly as it may imply they are kicking you out . So, getting our check did take awhile but hey, this was a good learning experience to prepare us for the rest of our stay in Italy. Food: I should first mention that I LOVE pizza and am very particular about it. I am probably harder to please than the average joe. My boyfriend and I ended up switching pizzas because the four cheese pizza was not what I was looking for, but rather the margarita pizza which my boyfriend ordered, was (another learning experience . The pizzas are quite large (see photos , so at least the portions are decent. In Italy, pizza is supposed to come uncut, as per our tour guide, it is almost a sin to share your pizza or cut someone 's pizza. My boyfriend 's pizza was nice and round, my pizza was a little lopsided but that didn 't really bother me. They were nice and hot! Now the elements of a pizza...CRUST: tasty-thin (as most crusts in Italy are but still a good edge, not burnt (very important , crispy (but not overly so . SAUCE: this is where they loose points...there wasn 't enough of it. They need just a little bit more in the middle of the pizzas. Around the edges you could taste the sauce (which did have decent flavor but towards the middle it was not really there. I have to admit, I am a sauce girl though. I like a good amount on my pizza. My boyfriend on the other hand, thinks that there was plenty of sauce. So, maybe it was just my pizza or maybe it was just my personal preference, but I am going off of what I got. CHEESE: definitely a good amount, a little too much for me, but again, me being picky (sorry! . The cheese was good though taste wise. Greasy, yes, but not disgustingly so. However, please don 't ask for an extra napkin because they will give you funny looks. Apparently, this is an odd thing to ask for in Italy??? My boyfriend devoured his whole pizza and I managed to eat the majority of mine-I was hungry...don 't judge! Cost: We were robbed! Our bill came out to 40 something and all we had was two pizzas and two coke zeros. Not sure what really happened, but being our first night in Italy we weren 't really thinking about it too much. However, after having eaten pizza at other pizzerias in Italy I can tell you we were definitely overcharged. I think the prices are usually reasonable??! Would I recommend the place? If you 're looking for a quick, decent pizza, sure. If you are looking for the best pizza in Venice, probably not. But, yes, I think I would go back and give it another try.

Food is not great. Pizza is the only thing good on the menu. Love the beer Stein's though.

The 3 of us were seated near the entrance. Each time the door was opened, it stuck open (an easy fix for a restaurant that cares) and I had to close it to avoid sitting in the cold. Only 2 menus were literally thrown on our table. We ordered a seafood pasta, a gnocchi with ragù and a risotto. The pasta and gnocchi were very salty, and the risotto was a watery mess. We decided not to stay for dessert and, like many other reviewers, were surprised by the 12% service charge on top of the €2 per person cover charge. How this place scores as high as it does, is beyond me. In short: bad service, bad food, criminal service charge. Avoid.

We needed a quick and easy stop after arriving to Venice and we took a gamble on Gino's as it was one of the first places we saw. It definitely paid off as this was some very yummy pizza! Highly recommend for a quick and easy pizza stop!