Giacomo's Cibo e Vino — Restaurant in Houston

This establishment has the WORST owner I have ever spoken to in Houston. A review cannot describe the amount of disrespect I had to deal with the evening of 11/27/2020. My family and I called ahead to confirm their hours, hostess said they closed at 9:00PM, "great we'll be on our way soon!", I said. Fast forward 45 minutes later when we arrive having driven all the way from The Heights. There was absolutely nothing mentioned about only taking parties of four besides when we walked in. It should be protocol that you inform guests beforehand, especially when we made it evident that we were coming to dine in when we had called earlier. Nothing was said about group limits, reservations, or rules. I would assume whoever is picking up the phones could have kindly added that into to the conversation, that way you don't have people drive from the other side of town only to be denied service. I called to speak to the manager because I wanted to explain to her that it was not acceptable to leave out information regarding their group limits and rules, considering we had just called 45 minutes earlier to confirm that they were open. The owner, Lynette Hawkins, was not receptive to hearing any sort of criticism that actually could have been helpful to her business. STUBBORN should be her middle name. Instead I was talked down to, belittled and was not able to speak or express how I felt about the situation we had just encountered. I feel bad that my family and I have been supporting this business for over 7+ years, only to find out this woman does not value her customers and is not a nice person. It's unfortunate because the food is good and I always had a pleasant experience with everyone who worked there, but something this bad can definitely make anyone not ever want to return. She has absolutely no empathy, or else she would have understood my frustration when I clearly laid out what happened, and how it could've been completely avoided by taking a different approach when someone calls and asks about their hours. She was reactive, stubborn, and vile the entire time we were speaking, accusing me of being an idiot for not looking on her website to see that it clearly states no more than four people per group. I've been to plenty of restaurants during COVID, but not once have I had to look at anyones website to look at their rules and group limits. This is why I call every single restaurant before to see if they have any special protocols that I should be aware of. I finished the conversation by telling her that she was the worst business owner I had ever spoken to, because she was and she should be ashamed of herself....

The food was exceptional! We ordered quite a lot to try different things and the menu was very vegetarian friendly! Chef kiss.

The pappardelle with mushroom and Gorgonzola. The corkscrew pasta with a 4-cheese sauce and cauliflower. The cheese plate The baked eggplant stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta in a tomato cream sauce. The chocolate cake with whipped cream, orange sauce and choc. shavings

The Pappardelle pasta was divine! The pasta itself were wide enough to carry the sauce and mushrooms in each bite. The Gorgonzola cream sauce was fragrant without being pungent. The mushrooms were perfectly cooked and not mushy.

The cavatappi pasta was saucy with a few cauliflowers to give it some body. It was definitely a hearty dish without much fuss. The 4 cheese sauce was exactly as you’d expect it to be.

The cheese plate was a highlight! The paper below each chunk outline the type of cheese sitting on top. There were at least 6-7 large wedges on the plate ranging from soft to hard cheese including blue, truffle and milder goat cheeses. Sottocenere was my favorite! There was fig jam and crostini’s to go along with the cheese. By far the best range of cheeses and wonderful accompaniment of jam, nuts and bread.

The stuffed eggplant with mozzarella and ricotta with a tomato sauce was hot and flavorful. It was the only tomato based sauce we ordered which perfectly balanced out all the rich cream sauces. Served with bread, it made the perfect starter!

Last but not least, we ordered the dessert off the menu. I believe this was a seasonal dessert. The sauce on top I believe was an orange sauce...I think! Either way, the cake was crumbly and chocolaty, and the whipped cream was light and fluffy. This was the perfect dessert. Be sure to remember to ask if they have any...

We came here for dinner the other night having not been to the restaurant for several years. We tend to forget about Giacomos as an option because the only way to make a reservation is to call the restaurant. Upon checking in, we were told that we couldn't be seated until the rest of our party arrives which is always frustrating when you would like to go ahead and order drinks while waiting. The waiting area is also overrun with cardboard boxes filled with wine, like hoarder lever quantities. I understand that they don't have a ton of space and probably don't want to pay for offsite storage but it's not a great vibe. Once we were seated we were able to order a bottle of wine. Our server was very nice and well intentioned but anytime we asked a question when she came back with the answer she would respond back to the wrong person. She just seemed a little spacey. We ordered several apps for the table and while they were tasty for the most part they weren't beautiful to look at (which is fine). For my main I ordered the pollo giotto which turned out kind of rubbery and tough. I had a bite of the tagliatelle bolognese and the carbonara which I found to be both bland and a little too far past al dente. In my opinion, the way to go is the hanger steak. That used to be my go to order and when I had a bite of my husband's I found it to still be on point. Overall I found the restaurant to be extremely loud with food that I wouldn't want to come back for. That being said, the restaurant was at capacity on a Friday night so there are many people that obviously wouldn't agree. Also of note, they are not very accommodating for food allergies or intolerances and when you ask they let you know that they generally do not allow...