Gardel — Restaurant in Providence

Ugh I hate to be writing such a negative review for a restaurant I was so initially excited to visit. I had been waiting months to try Gardel after seeing positive reviews online.

Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype. It also was my worst ever dining experience in Providence. I don't ever write negative reviews, but this dining experience was so bad that I had to in hopes that Gardel can take feedback and improve the experience.

To start, there were fruit flies in my wife's tinto de verano. 2 of them to be exact.

We tried the Gardel special fries. I let out an audible sigh of sadness at these. They were the soggiest fries I have ever eaten in my life, and I am a fry connoisseur. I lifted a fry out of the bowl, and there was probably about 1/4 cup of water in the bottom of the bowl. I'm not sure where that came from, but the fries were so awful we didn't finish them.

Finally, the 170g steak. Woof. I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I could have gone to Shaw's and bought / grilled a steak better than the one I was presented. Slightly gray, way over salted. Just plain terrible. And at $26 for 170 grams, I expect a quality cut and cook. The Gardel sauce that came with it basically tasted like someone poured soy sauce and caper together and called it good. For a place that claims to have high quality Argentinian-style meats, I was totally let down.

It seemed like whoever was doing the cooking was doing so with little feeling, little attention to detail and no care. The ingredients weren't quality, and the chef clearly wasn't feeling any passion.

Gardel - I'm rooting for you, and I hope you can turn it around. That being said, I wasted $90 tonight on time and money I'll never get back. I felt disrespected by a meal and chef that truly seemed not to...

Had an incredible dinner at Gardel last night. We walked in just before 7pm on a friday night and were able to get a table for 2 without a reservation, which was so wonderful. The restaurant filled up completely within the hour. We sat down and were greeted by our lovely server who recommended a delicious bottle of Malbec that we split. We got a steak, empanadas, and an arugula salad. All of the food was delicious and flavorful. Empanada’s came with 3 different flavors and 2 condiments. Salad was yummy and a very healthy portion! Steak was out of this world, best steak I’ve ever eaten, excellent cook and seasoning. After we finished our wine and dinner we got some great recommendations for vermouth, we each ordered one and they were both delicious. We were brought out a complimentary dessert that was so yummy, filled with caramel i think. Overall one of the best meals I’ve had in Providence and I will...

Having lived in Argentina I was really excited about this restaurant and all the great reviews. We came with a group on a Sunday at midday and were accommodated easily (there was no one else in the resto the whole time we were there). The menu was decent and the food was good, but the service was lacking. Our server didn’t attempt to create a rapport with our group at all, and just seemed disinterested and at times just annoyed. E.g. The empanadas come in a set of three mixed varieties (chicken, beef, caprese) and a vegetarian in our party asked if it would be possible to get an order of just the caprese empanadas and the server just flatly replied “no”. There was no effort to accommodate our friend or respond kindly, just a flat no. The food was fine but not good enough to make us want to come back with the...