Gino’s Italian cafe

Finally, a real Italian restaurant in the Cedar Park area. And it’s good! The atmosphere is relaxing, the bread and dipping sauce were delicious starters, and the service was great. Spaghetti had homemade meatballs that had the perfect combination of firmness and melt in your mouth. The Italian sausage had great seasoning. And the chicken portabella ravioli was creamy and delicious. I’ll go back again, and bring more friends.

Been here twice. Food here is delicious. Our servers Jordan & Courtney were absolutely fantastic. I hope Gino’s sticks around here for a long while.

I concur with the other Unilocalers! meatballs were straight out of a chef boyardee can! gross! we decided to try Gino’s since we had a flyer in the mail with ½ price apps and $ 3.00 house wine during happy hour, when the bill came my «house» wine was $ 5 a glass, waitress informed me they recently changed the prices. The bread was cold and hard, they don’t even have a Caesar side salad on their menu just a house salad. The fried zucchini was not cooked thoroughly still had uncooked batter on them! very disappointing. yes just go to Reales, so much better than this! the waitress was very nice and accommodating but I will not be back. Food is terrible

If the stars were based one customer service I’d give them 5, since it’s based on food they get one star. The food was over priced frozen food, it tasted like a frozen Micheline’s TV dinner. I ordered the lobster ravioli. Their bread did not look like the typical Italian restaurant bread. No Bueno Gino.

This place is huge! Great bar area with multiple tvs. Small outdoor space, but as seeing as it is in a strip mall it works perfectly. Seated fast — waiter was attentive and very nice. Had meatballs with spaghetti (kitchen forgot meatballs in pasta but was quickly given them once waiter was made aware), husband enjoyed is carbonara. Overall I would give this place 4 stars.
I will be coming back to try other goodies on the menu and I hope this place is around for a long time!

I had the shrimp diavolo tonight as I just wanted to try something different.
Wow!
The closest to a 5 star meal I have had anywhere in recent memory.
The spicy marinara sauce was out of this world with a taste of seafood which was not over powered by the wonderful spices. The shrimp were just right, not undercooked and certainly not over cooked.
Highly recommended. This restaurant is a true find, and a wonderful date destination.

I have eaten here for lunch three times now and I am very pleased with the quality and quantity of food offered. The lunch combo includes a salad to start, hot bread with garlic dipping oil (tasty but strong) and a plate with lasagna, ravioli & chicken parm. It is really enough to feed two people. I don’t eat much dinner when I have this for lunch.
The wait staff has always been friendly and prompt. You won’t confuse this with a chain.

For a strip mall Italian restaurant, the food was pretty great. I had the meat lasagna and she had the cheese tortellini with meat sauce, fried mushrooms as a starter.
The ambiance felt a little upscale, but it’s totally a casual spot.
Lasagna was great. They make their own pasta and it had a perfect meat+sauce+cheese ratio.
The service was great, they give your own carafe of beverage, so you don’t have to worry about beverage refills.
This place was a number of Mexican restaurants before, really hope this place sticks around.

The food is amazing and the staff is great i couldn’t be more happier! This area in cedar park was in need of some great italian food!!! and on the menu has so many great options!
walking in something about the feeling felt so very warm and nice. having to wait was noproblem it was worth the wait! The bread with the dipping oil AMAZING if you didn’t know, they bake there own bread! this is one of my new favorites i will be back again and again. :)

Great ambiance, waiter was fantastic, food was amazing! Highly recommend. A great new Italian place in CP.

This place gives Italian food a bad name. The pesto looks like a mint green cream sauce which leads me to believe the chef has never actually had Italian food, never mind real pesto. It’s so simple to make with good quality ingredients; why change it to some bland creamy sloppy sauce. The bruschetta is a joke; poor quality bread, not toasted on a griddle, poor tomato and ingredients, and a slew of cheese and herbs to cover for the lack of quality ingredients.
American style Italian is always quite sloppy but this has nothing to do with Italian-​style cooking. You’d be better off cooking at home because it will be higher quality and cheaper.

I have been to this place three times already and it has been open for a little bit over a month Each time I have been impressed with their food: I have order Alfredo pizza, Carbonara pasta and alla Palla chicken. My boyfriend has ordered Mussels Marinara, Chicken Ravioli and a pizza. All of the dishes were so yummy! I also like their bread and the dipping they keep on the table, even that it is weird the oil is already at the table before we get sit.
I’m glad they opened in Cedar Park! BTW, their staff is very nice.

My fiancé and I first tried Gino’s as a pick up order on a rainy Sunday night. Before I continue this review, let me preface it by mentioning that my fiancé is a New Yorker and has been searching for NY style Italian food since moving to Austin area about 2 years ago. It’s been a mostly disappointing journey.
We decided to try the combination platter — chicken parm, lasagna and fettuccine alfredo. Although that portion could likely satisfy 2 people, we also ordered an order of two meatballs and a cheese calzone. Way too much food for two people, but having leftovers is never a bad thing.
We were both thoroughly impressed with the quality of the food and the resemblance to NY style Italian. The red sauce was amazing! Not too sweet like most restaurants you find serving Italian food in the Austin area. The chicken parm was just as we were hoping, the meat wasn’t too thin, properly dressed in sauce and baked w the right amount of cheese. The meatballs were also great! I’m not into calzones all that much but my fiancé enjoyed that as well. All in all, it was a great meal and we will definitely be frequenting Gino’s when we have a craving for some good Italian food. We’re both excited to try their other items as they have a vast selection.
Note: the interior of the restaurant is extremely nice and the staff is very friendly. Not to mention, the prices are very fair for the quality of food you receive. A+!

Well darn. So disappointing. Based on good reviews and the extreme need for good restaurants in this area, I *really* wanted to like this place. I tried to like it. But not.
— The food lacks love and tastes like it came from cans. Nothing seems fresh. It looks like it’s sad and dead and tastes similar to Chef Boyardee. The Alfredo sauce tasted like bland paste, and the marinara was obviously canned.
— When no one had brought bread, greeted us, or taken our order in 5 – 7 minutes, we politely got up and asked to order. The manager heard this and said nothing. Other than our server, who was the only bright spot in this dim experience, not a single person in the places ever smiled once.
— The interior is drab, dark and cheap, and it looks like somebody bought out all the plastic plants and cheap artwork at Hobby Lobby’s clearance section.
Needless to say, we will not be back.

Only been here once, but for ‘neighborhood Italian’ this place is A-​OK.
The bar area is a good alternative if the dining room is full (as it was on the Sunday night that I visited). I had the baked lasagna that is made in house each day along with a couple of glasses of pinot grigio. The lasagna was a huge portion; served hot out of the oven and full of flavor. The side salad was pretty basic — bag lettuce, store-​bought croutons and dressing. Service was very efficient and friendly. I’ll be back.

Update — went back for a second go, and it was just not at the same level as the previous visit. Everything played kind of generic like an olive garden meal with lots of frozen ingredients thrown together in a sauce pan. Not terrible, but just not quite there. One of my biggest complaints is that their «carbonara» dishes are «carbonara» in name only. They just use a white cream sauce.
This place is quite literally 1 item away from perfect in my book and that would be using in-​house hand made pasta. The sauce was excellent. The service and engagement with the customers is excellent. The sauces are excellent. Just break down and make your own pasta. And for all I know, they may for some of their ravioli dishes, but for the pasta with clam sauce and the fettuccine that my wife got, I’m pretty sure it was dry pasta. Other than that, I love this place and will definitely be back.

stopped in on Wednesday evening to try out the new local restaurant. The restaurant was clean and well decorated and the servers were very pleasant. Unfortunately that’s where the good part ended.
We ordered the calamari as an appetizer. It was overcooked. It was put into the fryer when the oil was not hot enough, and then was allowed to cook too long to compensate for the wrong temperature. It was very chewy, and the batter was burnt on the outside and gummy where all the pieces were stuck together.
We had to ask for bread — when it came, it was warm, and very light — kind of like wonder bread french bread. The oil with roasted garlic dipping sauce was ok.
Our caesar salads were as basic as it gets — chopped iceberg lettuce with store bought non-​seasoned croutons and bland dressing.
I ordered the baked ziti alla Gino, which was supposed to have chicken & eggplant — it had a few pieces of chicken, but I couldn’t detect any eggplant. The sauce was bland, under seasoned, and the whole dish was overcooked. It wasn’t inedible — just extremely underwhelming.
My wife had the chicken all caprese. The sauce was pretty good, but the chicken was overcooked and under seasoned — the mozzarella on top looked like deli sliced sandwich slices. It came with a side of spaghetti that held true to the rest of the meal — underwhelming.
We really wanted to like this place. The neighborhood needs a good family restaurant. Next time we order a pizza we’ll give them a try — hopefully it is better than what we had last night.

Read this as 3.5 stars.
Italian food has a very special place in my heart. If there’s anything I miss from the east cost, it is most definitely Italian food. As most residents of the Austin metro area are aware, there is something of a relative shortage of Italian restaurants, and the few good ones that we do have are usually ridiculously overpriced.
The moment I saw the board for Gino’s go up, I just had to try. Since I live but a stone’s throw away, I was rather pleased to have an Italian restaurant in the general vicinity.
The place is like the TARDIS, just in terms of size. (It is bigger on the inside). There’s ample seating, a nice little patio, and a bar area. The décor is very typical of any Italian restaurant– with typical art of Italian streets adorning the walls. The only thing missing is a large roaring fireplace.
We arrived at 6 expecting happy hour to still be on, but we were informed that they’ve reduced hours from 4 – 6. Surprisingly, the restaurant was crowded with families and couples alike; this is definitely a good sign.
Our waiter promptly brought us bread — which by the way, is fresh baked in house and absolutely great. My LO who is a carb snob, had no problems with it. Definitely take her word for it.
There is a respectable amount of vegetarian fare as with most Italian restaurants, and we shared a spinach cheese ravioli with pesto between the two of us.
I’m not pretending to be an expert on Italian food– I had no one cooking Italian for me growing up, so I only have other restaurant standards to compare to– and I thought the ravioli was nice. The sauce was rich, the filling was tasty and I didn’t feel icky, as with a few of those chain restaurants.
I do think some things can be improved. For instance, when we were seated, there was a plate of olive oil and garlic just sitting there. I would definitely prefer it being made fresh each time. The waiter had no idea of what most of the food was, nor were we offered a dessert menu — they could definitely use some training. I’m not complaining, I’m just constructively criticizing.
I hope this place sticks around. The last two predecessors didn’t stay too long. If tonight’s crowd was any indication to the future, then I am completely hopeful.

I am always happy to see a new locally owned small business open up in the area! Gino’s (same group as the location in Round Rock) opened with in the past week. It is somewhat hidden behind the 7 – 11 and in the same complex as the Starbucks.
Gino’s is nice and welcoming but not super fancy (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The décor is in lines with a mom and pops. The restaurant is surprisingly large with a separate bar/​lounge area. We stopped in during happy hour which runs Monday-​Friday from 4pm-​6pm. During happy hour guests can enjoy $ 2 off wine by the glass, $ 1 off beers and ½ off select appetizers.
I started off with a glass of Sean Minor Cabernet Sauvignon which is $ 7 during hh and Jesse had a Peroni on tap which was a great deal at $ 2 a glass. While we were deciding on our dinner choices we enjoyed Italian bread with a nice garlicky dipping sauce.
We decided to try a few appetizers:
Mussels Dlavolo — I enjoyed these mussels with a kick (about 20) in a spicy flavorful marinara sauce.
Two Meatballs — in a nice marinara sauce but the flavor of the meatballs were just OK.
Bruschetta all Gino — The chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil were scarce and the «toasted slices» of Italian bread were barely toasted at all.
Service was great, the specials were also solid and I would easily come back for the mussels. I am also curious about the pasta, pizzas and salads which we hope to try soon.
FYI they do have a patio but it is not pup friendly.

Came here on the grand opening! Sammie was our server and she was super fantastic!
We ordered a couple glasses of red wine to start with. Fresh warm bread and garlic dipping oil was our app! I asked for some Alfredo dipping sauce as well and it came out quick and was so delicious. I am an Alfredo snob and this by far is the best ever!!!
Hubs ordered the cheese pizza and I ordered the cheese tortellini Alfredo dish. It came with a soup or salad. The soup was lentils so I chose the ceased salad. I’m not a fan of iceberg lettuce but the salad and dressing were very tasty! Filled me up so I didn’t over eat.
The Parmesan in the jar is super fresh.
Bathrooms were clean. Restaurant is super spacious unlike the one in Round Rock where it all started many years ago. Everyone was super friendly and attentive. Parking was a little hectic due to it being close to a Starbucks and Texas has gotten a little chilly in the evenings so every soccer mom needs a white mocha at 6pm to warm up… And it’s next to a karate joint that was in full swing of kicks and chops.
Of course we filled up on the bread and dips so had to get to go boxes. But not before getting offered desserts. Tempting but chose another glass of wine instead… Priorities!
Sammie was super sweet and hung like a champ thru all my questions about the wines. She kept a positive attitude and went to ask questions to find out what o was inquiring.
We will definitely be back and also to the Round Rock location to see Liddy! Both locations are fantastic!
If you are looking for authentic Italian, Come to Ginos! You won’t regret it!