Gimmy Gio' — Restaurant in Colle di Val d'Elsa

We were staying nearby in Strove, and the owners of the Airbnb we rented recommended we visit the historical part of Colle di Val d'Elsa. I searched for restaurants in the area and based on the great reviews, decided to try Gimmy Gio's. So glad we did!

The only hitch was that we parked in the old part at the top of the hill, planning to explore a bit and realized that Gimmy Gio was at the bottom. While the very steep hill was a great way to burn off some of our dinner, anyone with limited mobility would want to park nearer to avoid it.

The restaurant was charming, the staff was very friendly and helpful, and the food was delicious! Our group (including kids ages 13 - 19) tried several different dishes (a few duplicates) - everyone enjoyed their meal. A big bonus was that cost of our meal was also very reasonable.

The risotto con asparagi was AMAZING, perfectly creamy and delicious. The gnocchi al pesto do pisctacchi was very good - also perfectly creamy with a subtle pistachio flavor and a light chopped pistachios garnish on top. One of our group who isn't very adventurous ordered the pollo arroste con patate (grilled chix and fries), while a little more basic than the rest of our meals, it was exactly what he was looking for and thought it was very good. While the person who ordered the pizza diavola thought it was good, he had a little food envy given the rest of our meals. The pici cacio e pepe con briciole - the pici pasta known for in the region (a thick hand rolled pasta similar to a thick spaghetti) - was...

While shopping in a local women's boutique in this quaint little town, we got a recommendation from the boutique's owner to eat lunch at Gimmy Gio. And what a great (grande) recommendation it was!

A simple, traditional and excellent lunch we had! My boyfriend and I shared a liter of their white house wine, a fresh, colorful mixed salad, a really, really good sausage and onion pizza, and two delightful cappuccinos. All for 28.75 American dollars!

While we were eating, we noticed that local people were eating at Gimmy Gio - another sign that you're in a good restaurant! In fact, a table of five local bankers sitting near us, regularly calls in their lunch order ahead of showing up, and when they get there, their lunch is ready and waiting. Che perfetto!!

Anyway, this meal was easily one of our favorites in all of Italy. If we had had more time, we would have loved to come back to try one of Gimmy Gio's pre fixe meals (and one of their many bottles of wine!); they looked incredible! (Looked to be too much food for lunch, but definitely not too much money!)

Oh! And notice the white shim under the table leg across from us in the picture with the pizza? This is one of my boyfriend's biggest pet peeves - sitting at a table that rocks. He's constantly folding napkins and wedging them under table legs, trying to make them stable and level! Well, apparently Gimmy Gio doesn't let this type of sub par dining experience slide at his place. Whether he shimmed the table or someone else did, no rocky tables at...

As a tourist, this was the worst food experience we’ve had in Italy - in fact, the worst dining we’ve ever had in our lives. Terrible (as a vegetarian). We didn’t try the pasta or pizza so we cannot judge their main dishes but the antipasti vegetariano was terrible, with green canned peas and soggy boiled potatoes??!? Even the two tiny pieces of cheese on the plate were the lowest quality processed cheese we’ve ever tasted! Also, bread basket was completely stale!! Mixed salad was horrible. Even the olive oil and balsamic on the table were very poor quality. We wasted €26 and could have had a panini or food from the Coop. They should be embarrassed for serving what they did. This may sound like a very unkind review, but I’m holding back my anger of about 50% because the people were...