Cafe Gia

This place is beautiful !! The service was great ! We didn’t feel rushed out. The selection is great and the food was really good. The only negative point is that it was a little bit too salty. The food didn’t need it. The sauces are great as well and the ambiance is what you’re expecting.
I’ll go there again with pleasure!

Intimate dining experience with a family feel and some amazing Italian food! My boyfriend and I stopped here after seeing they had his favorite dish, orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage.
We started with the grilled octopus which was better than any we have ever had (we’ve tried many). The pieces were nice and meaty and the portion was huge compared to others we have had! For dinner of course he had the orecchiette and I had the pasta with chicken sausage which were both amazing! We ate every last bite and can’t wait to go back.

The service was excellent! The waitress people complain about in the negative reviews was nowhere to be found. Nothing special, but the atmosphere is lovely. Everything we ordered was good, no complaints. Lasagne bolognese, chicken parm, shrimp scampi and veal piccata da zio ciccio. The food was on the heavier side, decent sized portions, we all ended up with some leftovers to take home. For desert we ordered a cannoli that was a little too sweet, and a lemon cheesecake… which was bland but had a nice texture. We would go back.

Nice, small café in Baltimore’s little Italy. Our bartender/​server was attentive and easy to talk with. The food was excellent — gnocchi with arugula walnut pesto and rissoto al pesto with shrimp. And very reasonably priced. What else could you want?

Went for dinner with a group. They say us upstairs as there were 24 of us. Plenty of room and quaint. The wine list was adequate as I shared a couple bottles of Malbec that were 38 each. For dinner I had the fettuccine with seafood. Very good and huge serving. Service was good and timely. Will go back.

Family owned bistro with authentic homemade Italian food with a very cozy and appealing décor. The chef, who’s from Italy and married to the owner, even came to our table on his way out to greet us. We will definitely return. Best veal shank and cannoli I’ve ever had. Octopus my friend ordered was excellent, so was the polenta.

We don’t come to Baltimore often, but we always eat here when we do. Over the years I have never had a bad, or even average meal here. It has been exceptional every time. This small, family run place, is my favorite Italian restaurant hands down. It is quaint, decorated nicely inside, and has easy access and parking. The wait staff is always above average as well. I always get garlic bread and the veal piccata. You won’t be disappointed here.

When Joe Benny was out of food, we went to Café Gia and we are so glad we did. Brian was our server and he was amazing. We started with the grilled octopus and the bruschetta, which were phenomenal. Brian recommended the pasta with the wild boar and the fettuccine with the grapes and goat cheese. Both were just spot on. We are so glad that Joe Benny’s was out of food or we would never have found this place! Trust any recommendations Brian gives you because he knows his stuff! Everything was amazing, from the wine to the food.

This is a great little restaurant. Tucked away on the corner. The service was great and the food was excellent. Truly a gem!!!

I love this place! The romantic décor both outside and inside. It’s in Little Italy side of downtown Bmore. Take a bunch of pictures!
Every time someone visits me, I take them here! The food is great. Their Bruschetta garlic bread is DIVINE! A must try! Even if you take the tomatoes off of it (which I do) the garlic and seasoning of the bread is delicious!
The menu is organized very well broken up separately between appetizers, soup and sald, pasta, chicken and seafood. I liked their Penne Rappini. I want to try so many other dishes on their menu like the La Primavera that has whole wheat spaghetti for the health conscious like me and also try the Cavatelli which looks more on the fatty side but yummy.
The waiter and staff are very friendly and accommodating. Check out their cool decorated bathroom, even if you don’t have to go. :)

I stopped in with a couple of girlfriends before going to a concert at Pier 6. We had intended to go across the street, but when my friend saw their beautifully painted exterior she insisted we check out Café Gia instead. The interior is beautiful, with lovely painted tables and artwork. They do have rooftop seating if you want it, but we were fine staying indoors. Our server was wonderful and very patient with my «high-​maintenance» friend who prides herself on her Italian heritage and was very picky with everything on the menu. Everything we ordered was delicious, and paired perfectly with the wine. The perfect blend and balance of cheese, sauce, chicken, and pasta cooked to the just-​right consistency. I’ll definitely be back!

Second time around… Looking forward to our meal! Lots of choices in the area but this is the best! Shrimp scampi delish … Trying the shrimp rissoto and parpadelle caprese tonight.

We came here because the other place we tried ran out of food. I guess my expectations were too high, but I was expecting amazing Italian food in Little Italy. The food was average, nothing stuck out. They have reasonably priced bottles of wine, so that’s nice. The service was really good, attentive, and quick. We got chocolate crème brûlée which I would not recommend, it tasted like it was just chocolate pudding with caramelized sugar. It was good, but not what I was expecting — I would not have ordered pudding for dessert.

I can’t complain about anything at this quaint little restaurant. The service was great! Michael recommended the perfect dishes for all three of us — shrimp risotto, manicotti and the Quattro formaggi pasta for me. It was exactly what I was craving — cheesy, creamy, and just the right amount of saltiness. Michael also checked that my friend loved spinach, as the stuffing for her manicotti was half spinach/​half cheese — just like she loves it. They also had a great drink menu. We had a few drinks for our ladies night out! Highly recommended!

My partner and I visited this restaurant, in Baltimore’s «Little Italy,» for lunch during the week. There is on-​street parking, and the restaurant is very clear about its hours and menu, offering this information outside of the restaurant.
Overall, we did have a good experience here. The service was certainly a highlight. We were greeted promptly, and everything was delivered to the table in a well-​timed manner. The staff was very polite and helpful.
The food here is good, but I wouldn’t call it exceptional. We ordered the garlic bread for an appetizer, which seems unusual to me given the fact that bread – perhaps not garlic bread, but at least sliced bread – is often a standard offering with most meals in Italian restaurants. We only got four small slices of bread with this order. My partner ordered the orecchiette with Italian sausage and broccoli rabe. It was good, but not much more than the ingredients tossed a bit with the pasta. I ordered the puttanesca, and it certainly was tasty. This restaurant adds the anchovies directly, and I liked this touch – in some places, I’ve found that this ingredient gets hidden. However, the sauce was a bit on the watery side, and overall, it wasn’t a standout.
This restaurant offers some solid Italian standards, and the service is very good. It is certainly worth visiting, but don’t expect to be wowed.

How have I not been to this gem of a place? Café Gia is small, but so colorful you barely notice. We stopped in for dinner after visiting their new cocktail and wine bar — pane e vino — around the corner. We were lucky enough to catch Aaron Joseph from Wit and Wisdom mixing up a bunch of fancy cocktails. Fancy enough, that we needed food.
We called over to the restaurant and they quickly pulled together a table for 6. I mentioned we were hungry, we started quickly with a bottle of red and some bread. And shocking — octopus. We ordered it. (I think I order it every time it’s on the menu — sorry friends). And the burrata which was on special. The cheese was creamy and mild, and served greens and their fresh bread.
Octopus doesn’t photograph as well as it tastes. This antipasti was marvelous; a perfect start to the meal. The octopus is grilled to a slight char bringing out stunning color. I love it, sitting on top of a bed arugula, spinach; a base for the creamy garbanzo beans, salty capers, and crisp red onions.
I think the apps were better than the entrees. The table ended up going with the papparedelle pasta with Ox Tail bolognese. Spot on. A perfect chunky, yet, gamey meat sauce. I think it was the favorite on the table.
I had gnocchi di spinaci — for some reason, I wasn’t craving the ox. I can’t let the picture speak for itself, but the menu does a pretty good job: «Sweet and simple, this sauce has a nutty tang from the blue cheese, cantaloupe and arugula». They were full of spinach flavor, but it did not take away from the light and fluffy pillow effect. The sauce… So, I think I single-​handedly finished off a loaf bread dipping.
I have been avoiding Little Italy for quite some time, in favor of Sotto Sopra. I think my gnocchi was fresh made, I am not sure about the other pastas. I will be heading back here, probably actually the cute little bar Pane e Vino they have opened next door. I haven’t quite figured out why they have a urinal and a toilet in a single stall bathroom, but I am sure there is a reason.

State of Emergency. Much of the city shut down in the face of the riots. State troopers and National Guard blanketing the Inner Harbor where we are as well as other parts of Baltimore. Luckily for us, this restaurant was open for business.
Welcome to little Italy. Baltimore is a beautiful city. Swept streets, well tended and quaint buildings. It’s a short jaunt from the bay. Café Gio is nestled in a corner, bright with color and long on charm. There’s not a surface in the interior or the exterior that is not painted in vibrant colors. Even the plates and the glasses are colorful. The tables too are painted and the whole café is alive with murals.
We ordered the specials. Mussels for me and Black Sea bass for the Hubs. Never have I had such plump and fresh mussels. No sand, no bitterness. Every mussel brought from Rhode Island sweet and firm. The sauce that covered these ocean gems was delectable with a hidden sass after the swallow. A hint of heat, it flared then subsided, leaving one wanting only more.
In case you wondered if the café was really Italian, our server’s name was Giuseppe. When we asked if they had a dessert menu, we practically skipped over and announced «I am the dessert menu.» Three items: cannoli, tiramisu, bread pudding Nutella with home made vanilla gelato. Since Giuseppe waxed poetic about the last two items, we couldn’t decide so ordered them both. How to describe such deliciousness? I can’t. I only have enough energy now to moan that I ate too much and post photos.
Here they are. Now if you can, go find out for yourself. Five stars for staying open under the cloud of violence and being a light in the temporary darkness that hangs over of this fair city.

We stopped at the grand opening of the bar next door pane vino. It was quite crowded and happening. There were some free passed apps which were really nice seasoned shrimp and homemade pizza. The reason fir 3 stars is that our drinks were not good at all and no happy hour prices like advertised. Definitely want to check out the restaurant and give the bar one more chance. Lovely staff. Friendly owners

Loved it. Small place well decorated with great food and great service. Well prepared food and a nice mix of unique and traditional dishes.
The group I was with are not from areas of the country that you can get authentic Italian food and they loved it as well.
If u go u have to get the garlic bread with anything you order and use it to clean off your plates.

Little place at the end of the road, it was prefect for what I wanted as a lone traveler.
I got the specials appetizer; Burrate cheese (like mozzarella, but better) on lightly grilled tomato slices with some greens and balsamic dressing: Delicious!!! Highly recommend.
I got the spinach gnocchi in a Gorgonzola cream sauce… a little strong but still good. The portion was not large, which is exactly what I wanted.
A couple glass of good red wine and the evening was complete.
I had great service from Fabio. The specials sounded great and I will definitely go back for more.