Giardino Trattoria & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Aurora Township

I’ve been here at least 6x now and have left unimpressed the last 2 times. Work took us out to lunch, we ordered 4 appetizers, and everyone got their own meal.

The Good: the chicken wings had great flavor, sauce underneath tasted good as well but did seem like a sauce underneath. Loved the peppers on top. ordered meatballs as an app - I’ve had the sandwich and it’s great - can’t go wrong with meatballs from here and the bed of polenta underneath was a great addition wanted to try the ricotta, fig, honey and if you like something different it did not disappoint. There should have been more ciabatta pieces tomato bisque is really good pizzas are a good size/price, I’ve left full after each visit.

Not So Good: the calamari portion could be slightly larger for the price but the peppers on top were a nice touch. The basil aoli is ok. saw they added a wagyu burger, 4 of us ordered it and what a miss it was. The burgers were cooked as instructed but had no seasoning at all, overall tasted very bland. I did not taste any aioli, the lettuce was about 5 small chopped pieces the same lettuce in the Cesar salad I’d reccomend maybe doing arugula on top instead, the onion was 2 chunks not slices or rings so felt a bit odd just sitting on the burger, and the tomato jam was very offputting and didn’t do the burger any justice which was disappointing as it was one of the reasons I wanted to try it - it was not a jam at all it was more so if you took tomatoes, smashed them, and dropped them on the burger, and also they gave me french toast vibes, it tasted like nutmeg or cinnamon because of whatever sauce was on it and did not go well at all with the burger at all. They should scrap the burger completely or revamp it and add an actual bacon tomato jam not tomato chunks. I knew I should have gotten the prime steak sandwich instead which is amazing. this is the 3rd time I’ve had the burrata pizza and it slowly is starting to disappoint. i wish they put more pesto on the pizza. Saying it had a drizzle would be an overstatement. My personal preference would be if the pizzas were cooked slightly longer to give the crust a little crisp especially with the style of pizza they are but it’s starting to feel bit soggy. the ortaggi pizza was bland, not much flavor the peach sodas missed the mark, I’ve had it before and it was good but today it tasted basically like soda water with the thought of peach.

Not sure if whoever was making food/drinks just wasn’t feeling it today or if this is the overall direction of the restaurant but definitely not the same as when they...

I went here before a show at Paramount theater. There were two of us and it was our first time there. We had made reservations and were seated right away. Atmosphere: The restaurant itself is lovely. The lighting is just beautiful and the booths are comfortable. Food: My companion ordered the gnocchi, which was quite good. They don’t serve bread and in fact don’t even have bread to serve you other than what looks like Texas toast if ask for it and they charge you a dollar. (I am half Italian and I don’t think we survive without bread.) I ordered the salmon and I was asked how I wanted it done. I hadn’t seen choices on the menu so I asked her what she meant and she said well you know medium or well done that kind of thing. I said I’ve never been asked that before in terms of salmon and she said that she wasn’t sure why she had to ask it either. I kept wondering what would happen if I had said rare which I think is illegal to serve. 🤷‍♀️ It also was served with a steak knife, which I found very strange. Like with most salmon, I didn’t need a knife at all. Drinks: I ordered a regular coffee, which looked like expresso but they were out of creamer so I couldn’t drink it. Each of us ordered cocktails, which neither one of us liked and didn’t drink. (Our waitress never commented on our completely full cocktail glasses.) Which again is odd because normally we both really do like cocktails. My companion also ordered a wine asking for a recommendation, but our server was not 21 yet and said she didn’t know (she did not offer to ask somebody). It was not a generous poor and was just OK. Since our drinks did not work out well, we landed up drinking our water which our waitress never noticed we were out of. Dessert: For dessert, we have the ricotta cheesecake which was nice. The kind I am used to (ricotta) is lighter and fluffier, but this was a denser version and still yummy. Overall: the atmosphere is nice, you can have a conversation and the distance to the theater is wonderful. If I return, I’ll try the pizza and maybe a soda, that seems like a safer bet than...

We got lucky yesterday as we had not made any reservations for a valentines dinner anywhere. We live in Aurora and wanted tom try a new local restaurant. We called Giordino Trattoria and Pizzaria to see if they had any tables only to learn that they were booked til closing. However the young lady answering the phone said there would be space at the bar. So we drove over and found parking close to the door. It was easy.

When we walked in, we were greeted by a smiling hostess. She remembered my call and showed us the bar. Fortunately for us there was a couple who were just leaving. Perfect timing.

We cozied on up to the bar, perused the menu and placed our orders. My wife ordered calamari and the Filet Medallions. I ordered the Greens salad and Prime Rib.

Our drinks arrived soon after along with our appetizers. We were very impressed and figured that our mains would be equally delicious. We were not disappointed. My wife really enjoyed her medallions as did I my prime rib.the sides were well appointed to match our cuts of meat.

The wait and bar staff are very professional and laid back. We enjoyed speaking with them.

Our meals and drinks fall into the $$$ category. With a healthy tip, we spent around $146.XX. It was well worth it. We were so pleased with our experience that we made reservations for tomorrow night. We’re going to try their pizza. We can’t wait.

If you’re looking for great food and a fun atmosphere, you won’t go wrong with Giordino Trattoria and Pizza.

Also, after Touche’’ a French cuisine restaurant next door opens, they will have a large basement speakeasy that crosses under the three restaurants including Leilani (Asian Fusion)on the corner,

Oh, I almost forgot, we had their chocolate cake for dessert. Now that was to die for. We ordered a second one to take home with us.

Don’t just think...