Gio’s — Restaurant in England

Wow. I’ve been wanting to come here for such a long time! My friend kindly booked us a table for my birthday at the end of June. Of course the day we went it had to be one of the hottest days of the year 🥵and although this is a total “me” problem I’m not that great with the heat and knew hot food was the worst idea possible 🙃

As soon as we got there, the staff and team were super friendly, and sat us to our table which was luckily right by the open door providing a much needed breeze, we were then given plenty of time to look at the menu and the waiter was more than happy to answer questions about the sizes of the dishes and what specials were available? (I wish I had listened more at this point as I feel like I missed out on a really delicious special which luckily is going to be put as a firm favourite on the main menu using a gorgeous vegan barrata cheese and a vegan do nduja pork, substitute.

I went for the garlic mushrooms and the Capra pizza which was balsamic onions, spinach and I swapped the goats cheese for the vegan feta while my friend went for the arancini balls and one of the calzones. We also both got the rosemary chips which were heavenly 🤤

My mushrooms came out on a sizzling plate, which is normally amazing except for when I was that hot, both the waiter and the owner could see how much I was struggling with the heat and straight away turned on the air-conditioning and offered to move us to a cooler table (which we declined as we didn’t want to be a pest.) I ended up taking my whole pizza home because I couldn’t bear the thought of eating anything while I was that hot and the owner kindly explained what’s the best way to heat up their pizzas and also offered us one of their own personal rocket ice lollies just to help us cool down, which was such a kind gesture thought and was not at all what we expected.

The best thing for me apart from the sensational food and the passion that the owners had for Italy was the fact they were vegan and they told us a bit of history about themselves and explained how they just want people that are local to come and enjoy the food there whether they’re vegan or not. I thought that it was lovely and everything was genuinely unreal - I cannot wait to come back

Also parking is super...

I was stranded in Crewe by the train strikes, and wandering near the station in temperatures of minus nine, I was feeling distinctly grumpy. But I stumbled on Gio’s and my mood was immediately lifted. The first thing I noticed – apart from the warmth, the pleasing décor and the friendly welcome – was that house wine was available in reasonably priced half litre carafes. (I know it’s the same as ordering two large glasses but it just feels so much more Mediterranean to get a carafe). I ordered some house red – an agreeably earthy and robust Sangiovese (though I misidentified it as a Valpolicella on first gulp – but my excuse is that my nose had turned into an icicle and hadn’t yet properly thawed).

It was such a bitterly cold night that I decided something hearty and warming was required – the spicy parsnip soup ticked the box, and so did the beef and pork casseruola with which I followed it. Both had great depth of flavour and were extremely satisfying. The service was also friendly and efficient. I left this restaurant feeling so much better than I entered it – I was almost inclined to think kind thoughts about the striking railway workers, for without them I would not have been here.

I did have just two small quibbles – though I’m still giving five stars. One is the 8% automatic service charge, which is a pet hate of mine. In fact I topped it up to 10%, but had I not been paying cash I would have asked for it to be removed, and left a cash tip instead. (The bill does clearly say you can ask for it to be removed, but many diners find this awkward, and I think it’s a regrettable practice). Also – why is such a charming and delightful kitchen assistant kept scrubbing pots in the background when he should clearly be promoted to front of house where he could deploy his obvious charms to great effect?

This place was so pleasant (and reasonably priced) I might not even need the excuse of a train strike to call by again. (But I still won’t be sending a Christmas card to Mr Lynch at...

I've always enjoyed Gios, but tonight it was a let down if I'm honest. We go semi regularly but if I'm honest the food feels a bit unloved and I think that was last chance saloon for my family and me, sorry guys! Vegan lasagne is pretty much just a bowl full of ragu, tastes okay but just munching through the motions, not a vegetable in sight, pasta is so overcooked in it it's barely noticeable. My boys enjoyed their pizza but you can get good pizza anywhere really so nothing to write home about. The small Margherita was slightly burnt. And my daughter had the 'cheesy' pasta which was just milky and overcooked like you'd get at Pizza Hut buffet. The dough balls were just dry lumps of dough, cooked okay, but again just dull. Garlic bread was way over proven and was a bit like fried bread, not very garlicky, again just blah.... I can't recall the last place I've been where the kids didn't want to finish cheesy pasta or take the garlic bread home, I was actually a bit shocked! I did tell the staff if it 'okay' with as little enthusiasm as I could muster, but I got the feeling they didn't really care 🤷‍♂️ I won't go again, I know what I'll get, nothing exciting... Shame really. To top it all there was a charge of 8 quid odd for service, but the team just stood about talking all night (only us in) didn't check if we needed any more drinks or anything. Feel a bit ripped off and quite let down. Sorry guys, I think you need to freshen up your menu and...