Spinella — Restaurant in Geneva

The food is good, but not exceptional. What is unpleasant is that no opportunity is spared by Salvatore to upsell you things. There is lots of friendly banter. But, when we asked for starters we wanted, we were informed that there was something else we should try. And this was the theme, with cocktails and the main courses - 'no, you should try this' (instead of what you have asked for). Same with the wine - 'don't have the Cote du Rhone, I'll give you a better bottle for cheaper' - a) we want what we asked for; and b) the 'better' bottle was neither better nor cheaper. To top it all, at the end we were "offered" limoncello. I can only speak to my experience - which is that every Italian restaurant I have eaten at in my entire life offer free limoncello. Not Spinella. Not just that, but in lieu of a limoncello I was offered a cognac. Would I like XO VSOP (I have a bottle at home it is about 70 chf). It was pushed upon me and I expected a shot might be 20 chf. It was 58 chf. It is by far (I have travelled a lot and eaten in expensive restaurants) the most expensive single I have had. When we questioned it, we were told he had cognacs at chf 400/glass as if that was cheap and I was a peasant. It isn't as if Spinella is a Michelin star restaurant. The service was also very slow. The coffee after dinner luke warm. All in all, at best a thoroughly mediocre experience with acceptable yet overpriced food and drink and, despite the superficial friendliness, poor service. A case of the emperor's new clothes. Don't be put off by me, though - there are plenty of good reviews, I see. But hear this - unless you have no regard for being taken advantage of, you best check the price of anything (especially any offered alternative), before you agree to order it. Or beware about burning a hole in your pocket. Two course meal with 2 cocktails and some average wine - 250chf for a couple. Not worth it. I would have put up with all of it, but the waiter was cleary taking advantage in trying to upsell us at every moment. It's completely transparent, totally unnecessary and pretty tacky. I'd rather eat at the Beau Rivage. We would have gone back and brought and recommended friends. Yes, I know Salvatore and Spinella couldn't care less - and that is...

I wish I could give more than just 5 stars. 10 stars! 100 stars!

The staff are absolutely incredible. I was slightly nervous coming to Geneve not knowing all but a few phrases in French. The guys at Spinella made me feel right at home. They did their absolute best to accomadate me with English. They are lively, energetic, fun, and all around GREAT hosts. I stopped here on 21/10/2022 for a birthday dinner for myself. I could not have made a better choice.

When the host greeted me, he asked if I spoke English. I kindly said English, as I don't know much French and I'm sorry. He immediately and happily switched to English without any hesitation ❤️. He told me their drink specials and their meal specials of the day. I kindly informed him that I do not drink alcohol and I'd prefer just water. He instead offered their assortment of non-alcoholic drinks. I just smiled and told him to make me something special and surprise me. What he gave me was absolutely delicious. I belive it was mix of apple, pineapple, lime, cranberry, and a few others that I can't remember.

For the food, I started with the Bruschetta, and let me tell you... Yum 😋. I wasn't a huge fan of Bruschetta at home, but this was ver good. Very very fresh and vibrant.

For main, I had the Amatriciana. I've read about this and attempted making it myself, but it just isn't the same using American bacon. The Guanciale really makes it shine. They loaded me up with extra Parmigiano as I asked, and I used all of it 😃.

For dessert, they talked me into the Tiramisu. I never was a big fan of Tiramisu back home... I've never had it served fresh (That's American "italian" restaurants for you. Frozen junk from a box) I'm happy they talked me into theirs, it has changed my outlook on Tiramisu 😊

I'm glad I got to meet these wonderful people and let them share their culture with me. If (when) I'm back in Geneve, I absolutely will return. Thanks for making my trip just a little bit more special. I look forward to meeting again...

We went here during our stay in Geneva as it had very good reviews. While the food was good we were put off by the overall experience. We made a reservation for 9:45 and arrived a few minutes early. We were informed by the owner on arrival that kitchen closed at 10 but there was no rush. However he then spent 5-6 minutes going over menu and making suggestions even though we had sis we knew what we wanted. Within a few minutes of ordering we received our starters right away. We stressed again we wished to finish our starters before receiving the main course which we were again told no problem. However about 3-4 minutes into our starters our mains arrived. We felt like we were being pushed out the door and server told us that kitchen was closed and therefore they had to give us our food right away which ruined the experience. The starters were ok but we have travelled throughout Europe and North America and I would not rate them as being great. When we were done our meal the owner then proceeded to try to get us to order drinks and dessert even though my wife informed him several times she did not drink and I only occasionally had a drink. The entire experience felt very rushed and even though we arrived just before 9:45 we had eaten and were out the door before 10:30. The interesting thing was even though kitchen was closed at 10 the server brought out full dishes to people outside 10 minutes after 10 pm. Perhaps it was the owner just being enthusiastic but we felt pushed out the door and constantly trying to be upsold on food, drinks and dessert we did not want. While I can’t argue the food was not good I would highly recommend you book a reservation earlier in the evening. I would also suggest the restaurant not take reservations so close to closing if they are going to rush customers...