Gianni's Trattoria — Restaurant in Concord

My husband and I went with a friend to Gianni’s Trattoria in Concord last night, and I have to say, I really liked it! It’s in the downtown area of the city, which has that quaint old, small town vibe. I loved coming outside after our dinner to see the small street’s trees lit with leftover Christmas lights, or maybe they weren’t leftover, but it was really pretty to see.

Okay, so we get there at 5:00 hoping to get a jump on the crowd hoping to avoid the COVID virus as much as possible. We were the first ones there and people began slowly coming in afterwards. It did get busy, but they seated people properly, socially distancing, and all the staff and servers were wearing masks.

The inside is rather romantic with a feeling of being outside on an old patio of a little restaurant in Italy. The walls were old brick partially covered in a stucco-like or cement texture and just had the look and feel of being outside. The entrance’s overhead was painted with what looked like grape vines and it held bottles of wine.

Our server was Kay and she is excellent. She has a great personality and knew the menu well. Our friend had been there before and had requested Kay when he made the reservations.

The menu is laid out very well and everything sounded good, and I settled on the Chicken Picatta. My husband got a Chop House Salad and Lasagne and our friend got the Francaise Chicken along with onion soup for an appetizer.

Not long after the drinks were brought out, a plate of delicious garlic knots was delivered. Oh. My. Gosh. Delicious doesn’t really describe them…they were mouth watering! They were hot out of the oven with a hint of garlic and when dipped in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, exploded flavor onto your taste buds! The dip was just the right amount of the oil and vinegar and was so tasty! I couldn’t get enough of them…in fact none of us could – we ate all of them!

My husband’s salad was huge, I mean huge, not just big, huge -- the three of us could have shared it. It was a beautiful sald and full of kalamata olives, which he gave to me since I love them…awww. So now comes the nitty gritty…the entrées!

My chicken picatta was extremely flavorful; the chicken breasts were moist and tender and so good. The angel hair pasta along with the artichoke hearts were very savory with that rich, but not overpowering butter sauce. My taste buds danced the whole time I was eating! Unfortunately I couldn’t eat all of it, and had to bring home half of my entrée. Guess I ate too many garlic knots!

My husband liked his lasagne and I tasted the sauce and it was the flavor I have been looking for in an Italian sauce…tomatoey, but sweet. I can’t find that in any Italian restaurant in Charlotte. Gianni’s has that checked off for me!

Our neighbor liked his Francaise Chicken and soup. As we had finished our meals and our server had removed our plates, Gianni came over to speak to us. He had met our neighbor on a prior visit of his and it was very nice to meet him and have him speak with us for a few minutes. He also brought us a small, tasty, but strong (for me anyway) drink!

It was a good meal, in a nice little Italian restaurant that I enjoyed very much. If you’ve been looking for the perfect Italian restaurant with good food and a romantic mood, give Gianni’s a try, I think...

My family visited Gianni’s tonight because our usual place is closed Mondays and e wanted to try something different. We were fans of the pizza loft downtown and decided to try out the new place. Huge mistake. First off I found it pretentious to ask if we had reservations when the restaurant was more than half empty. We ordered 2 appetizers and an entree each. The Caprese was served with tomatoes that were not ripe and overall was flavorless, the bruschetta on the other hand was way too salty and the bread was burnt not toasted. The bread served for dipping was cold and leathery. The waiter who spent most of the time huddled in the corner with other servers was barely seen. He claimed it was because they were busy but again, the restaurant was less than half full , he only refilled our beverages once and that one time he spilled water on my niece, he eventually returned with something to wipe off the table but still had to be asked to refill her drink. I had the Sausage entree it more accurately the sausage-less entree (no noticeable meat I thought I’d be getting a sausage) the taste was quite tart and acidic I would describe it as chef Boyardee with a little red pepper flake and vinegar. Two members of my party had the Shrimp dish, their entree was better than mine, however we almost didn’t make it home in time for them to make it to the restroom. Both of them got sick from eating your horrible food. The last member of our party got the spaghetti and meatballs. She usually has a huge appetite and always finishes her plate she ate one bite of the meatball and a few bites of spaghetti and said she was full. She got it to go to be polite. When we got to the car she was very upset because she was hungry and worried we’d make her finish this slop. She was happy when we told her she could throw it away at home and described the taste as strawberries mixed with mustard, and said that the meatballs were gristly . This is one of the worst meals of my life and it cost almost $140. I tipped our horrible waiter who more or less ignored us $20 as a courtesy not because he deserved any tip at all. I know that I’m a dollar or so shy of 15% I almost always tip 20%+ but this was with out a doubt the top 5 of worst service I’ve received. Overall this was a terrible experience. The food was awful, the service was lacking, and the overall unwelcoming. There is no way we will return here 1 star since no stars isn’t an option. The people at this place...

Yesterday, I found myself on an Italian binge. As dinner time rolled around, I was deep in Concord (coming from South End) and struggling to decide what kind of cuisine I was in the mood for. Concord isn’t exactly bursting with incredible dining options, but I turned to my trusty Google Maps bookmarks to find something nearby. That’s when I landed on Gianni’s Trattoria at the Gibson Mill.

When I walked in around 7:15 PM, the place was absolutely packed. The hostess informed me that the earliest she could seat a party of one was 8:30 PM, and even the bar was fully reserved. Luckily, she mentioned the community table option, which was full at the time but had two spots open up about 10 minutes later. I gladly snagged one of them.

The hostess shared a few of her personal favorites from the menu, but I have a routine when trying a new Italian spot: I judge them based on their meatballs, eggplant parmigiana (if available), lasagna, and of course, their red sauce. Gianni’s offers complimentary bread service with oil and vinegar, which was a nice touch to start.

I ordered a side of meatballs first, and while they took a little while to arrive, I wasn’t in any rush. The dish came with two generously sized meatballs, which were more dense than fluffy—just the way I like them. They were well-seasoned, and you could tell they were homemade, with a rustic quality that set them apart from anything mass-produced. The red sauce paired with them was delightful—on the sweeter side, with chopped onions adding a nice touch of texture and flavor.

Next, I tried the Melanzane Ripieno. While it wasn’t eggplant parmigiana in the traditional sense, it featured thinly sliced, fried eggplant wrapped around ricotta cheese and basil pesto angel hair pasta, all topped with red sauce and mozzarella cheese. While the flavors were spot-on, I personally prefer my pasta separate—this felt more like a twist on eggplant rollatini. That said, it was a great dish and beautifully executed.

As for the lasagna, I was too full to try it then and took it to go. I’ll have to update this once I reheat and taste it, but I’m optimistic based on how good everything else was.

The waiter also described a few of their house-made desserts, which I’d love to try on a future visit. If I find myself back in Concord, I’ll definitely keep Gianni’s Trattoria on my list. This spot is a solid choice for anyone craving...