Girasole Restaurant

Owned by an alcoholic who is belligerent to customers. We made a reservation and when we arrived my girlfriend and her sister were yelled at by the drunk owner who insisted we sit outside ITS JANUARY and then proceeded to drop glasses off the table during his fumbling attempts to bus it. I dont understand who could possibly give this man their money to be insulted and disrespected. This place should be reported its a stain on the city of pittsburgh we will NEVER go back.

I have had 3 wonderful meals here however, you should be prepared for the smallest venue in the city. The servers also have no bartender, so those hand crafted cocktails are their additional responsibility. So take it easy on them. Food is always delicious but the space is incredibly tight.

I was able to come to Girasole for Pittsburgh restaurant week. My friend had called earlier and made a pseudo-​reservation with the owner and he told us to come in around 9. When we arrived, several patrons had still not been seated even though the owner had verbally told them a certain time. Some of the customers had «reservations» at 8 and we still not seated. I don’t know if Girasole was overwhelmed that night because of Pittsburgh restaurant week but it was difficult to find the hostess/​host.
On the food side, I ended up not getting any of the dishes offered during Pittsburgh restaurant week because I wanted to try their traditional Italian dishes. I got the white clam sauce which was delicious. However, my favorite part of the meal was actually their side salad. I also loved how their olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette dispenser was all in one for their complimentary bread. I also chose to try their Turkish coffee gelato which was the best coffee gelato I’ve had in awhile. I definitely will come back when it’s less busy and hopefully I can change my opinion about the service.

Having lived a short three blocks away from Girasole, this is the perfect date night place! It’s BYOB ($ 7/​person charge) and is romantically quaint, hidden gem of Walnut Street. I have ate here on a number of occasions — whether its been on a date, with family, with girlfriends, or picking up takeout — Girasole ALWAYS delivers. I have yet to come across Italian that beats it in Pittsburgh. The Spinach Ravioli is my go-​to. The salad to start with sunflower dressing and garbanzo beans is amazing.
I’ve tried quite a few ‘fish specials’ as well. Always worth the shot.
Not interested in BYOB? Girasole’s Pinot Grigio is always nice.

Excellent food, great service. I got the short rib special and it was melt in my mouth delicious.

Absolutely loved my dinner at Girasole last night! I moved to Pittsburgh about two months ago, and Girasole has been my favorite dining experience in the city so far. I had read that reservations are sometimes hard to secure, but my boyfriend and I walked in around 6:30 and were seated immediately by the owner.
The atmosphere is great — definitely a little loud, but we had no issue hearing each other over the chatter. Really cool copper dining tables and stone walls. The highlight of our meal was the polpette appetizer — meatballs with tomatoes, chick peas, creamy tomato sauce and topped with marscapone. Absolutely delicious and tastes unlike any other Italian dish I’ve had. We also really enjoyed our entrees (chicken special of the night — stuffed chicken over risotto and brussel sprout hash) and our cocktails. Word to the wise — the «Stormy Root» cocktail is delicious but the Jamaica’s finest ginger beer is harsh! Only order if you’re ready for a strong drink with a real bite.
We will definitely be back — our total was just over $ 100 for four cocktails, an appetizer and two entrees and our server, Kristen, was wonderful. Great experience overall!

My significant other and I went last year for our anniversary and it was amazing. Truly. Service, food, everything. As it is a couple of days before Christmas Eve and we have found ourselves with no plans, I thought we would dine out somewhere nice. We both have worked in the service industry, so we are aware that not a lot of places are open.
Anyways, Girasole came to mind because it had left such a good impression on us. I called just to simply see if they were open on Christmas Eve. A man answered the phone and when I asked if they would be open his response was, «No, we are a very, very holy family. Holy holy family.» THEN HANGS UP ON ME. Needless to say, we will NEVER dine at Girasole again. So extremely rude. Cannot justify giving money to someone who runs their business in that manner.

A very nice small Italian place! The salads are very good and the gnocchi with mozzarella cheese is wonderful. A nice light red sauce that is just right.
On Tuesdays they have a singer who walks around. It’s a very nice place to go and gets very crowded since it’s a tiny place. Sitting outside when it’s nice out with a glass of wine is the way to go.

Amazing food, and authentic Italian. Definitely the best in Pittsburgh! It even gives my mom’s Italian red sauce serious competition, and I’ve never said that before about any other sauce!

A friend told me about Girasole. She is Italian and said it’s one of the best Italian restaurants in Pittsburgh. My husband surprised me and took me there for my birthday. It was a beautiful evening so we opted to sit outside. Later we were very glad because the restaurant was packed inside. It’s a small restaurant but it was still a little crazy to see how packed it was on a Tuesday night. That’s a sign of a great restaurant.
I started off by ordering a Bellini. It’s my favorite adult beverage. I think it was 90% champagne, which was fine with me. We ordered our meals and chatted and people watched while we waited on our food. They brought our salads first. The salads had mixed greens, chick peas, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, carrots, and goat cheese. It was delicious!!!
Next our entrees were served. I had ordered one of the specials-​Seafood Risotto. It had lobster, shrimp, scallops, and octopus. All of the pieces of seafood were large. No skimping there! The risotto was cooked perfectly and had an amazing flavor. It was some of the best I have ever had. The octopus was on top and it had been grilled to perfection.
My husband ordered the Linguine with Clams. The noodles were homemade and were also some of the best we ever had. There were so many clams that he had to use two bread plates to hold all of the shells. The sauce-​white wine, garlic, and butter-​was so good that we were dipping our bread from our bread basket into it.
For dessert we shared a piece of coconut cake. There were two layers of the lightest and fluffiest cake I have ever eaten. Between the two layers was a vanilla custard. It was iced with white icing and then covered on coconut. In my world there is no such thing as too much coconut.
I was beyond pleased with the food and the service. It is now on my list as a favorite.

One of the best restaurants I’ve tried in Pittsburgh! My friends and I ordered bruschetta and aioli mussels for appetizer and both were great! For the main course I got the linguine rustic. I imagined the portion to be small, but it turned out to be a good size. It was delicious as well, no surprise there (: the main course also came with either a salad or chickpea & sausage soup. I got the soup and loved it, but if you’re not a fan of tomato-​based soups then it might not be for you.
Overall, I had a great time there. Although the place was a little small and the tables are pretty close to each other, it still felt very cosy and welcoming. Definitely come here if you’re looking for good Italian food!

No I did not bring up potatoes with waitress as she recommended them. When food is as «off» as it was at your restaurant, I make the assumption that if this food is served and offered as high quality, we are not on the same page regarding freshness and quality, and a critique would not be understood and considered rude. The potatoes were not «made to order» as you know. A square was cut from a pan that was stored in your frig overnight. Even if freshly made (they were not) the dish was dry and flavorless. Made worse by reheating.
The steak was more or less cooked to order — it was med rare — but it was not high quality and was flavorless. I didnt think it appropriate to get into a discussion (in a restaurant where one really cannot hear fellow diners anyway) about the rightful expectation that a $ 36 steak would be better than what i might «fry» at home from the corner market. Actually, it wasnt even that good.

A great place for a romantic dinner… Street parking close by… It was a little difficult to find, but I’m so glad we did… I wasn’t aware that it was downstairs… We were seated right away… Got menus and drinks quickly… The menu was short & precise & included a daily special… Our meals were all fabulous… The bean & sausage soup was so flavorful… I ordered the penne pasta with sausage & I’ve never had a better Italian meal… My family ordered the Lobster Ravioli, Gnocchi, and and the Chicken pasta & they all said how fab

How much I miss you, Girasole. It’s me again, the Pittsburgh native living in San Francisco. 3 years later, you are STILL the king when it comes to Italian food, from coast to coast. Speaking of kings, Jimmy Pie is always a welcome sight with his glass of wine and his willingness to make his customers happy.
This trip I brought a team of coworkers for dinner on our first night, and it was so mindblowingly good (I knew that, but it was their first time after all) that they voted to come back again on our second night.
Please keep doing what you are doing – amazingly fresh, authentic, satisfying and creative food served by genuinely sweet people in a welcoming space.
It may be years, but yours are the meals that all others will be judged against, and found lacking.

We had a very very long wait, as we were in a group and the place is small. Not impressive, as we had a reservation. The delay was not handled very graciously.
Once we were seated, though, I totally understood why our hosts chose this place. This meal was simply divine. All the pastas were fresh and toothsome, the table bread had a perfect crust. Seafood was cooked to perfection.
But the steak. OH, THE STEAK. This was one of the top three pieces of beef I’ve ever had the fortune of tasting. It was perfectly and simply prepared, letting the natural flavor shine.
All in all, we adored our meal, and I wish this restaurant luck and fortune in the future.

Came to Girasole with my girlfriend for our two year anniversary after receiving a recommendation from a friend.
For being located in what is basically a basement, the interior of Girasole is special, due to the fact that it is tastefully adorned with interesting art pieces, plenty of sunflowers, and has the feel of many of the restaurants I enjoyed while studying in Italy.
My date and I enjoyed wine by the glass, a cut of incredibly fresh filet mignon which rested on a flavorful bed of risotto, and cheesecake for dessert.
I forget what night of the week we came, but a gentlemen with an acoustic guitar walked around the restaurant, tastefully serenading tables with an interesting blend of music which ranged from the Beatles to James Taylor to Dean Martin.
I will be dreaming about this meal for quite some time and am almost afraid to come back to Girasole for fear of sullying my incredible first impression.
The only downside to Girasole is that you are packed into the small dining area with many other guests which creates a very noisy environment. Probably not ideal for a first date if you’re looking to have conversation, unless you like yelling all night. Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to discuss much with my doll and seeing her beautiful face enjoy a great meal and music on our anniversary was more than satisfying for me.

The weather has been beautiful and to celebrate I chose to have a lovely filet of grilled salmon. It was the perfect accent to the wonderful weather. Unfortunately for dinner they do not take reservations. I would say that fact is the businesses biggest downfall. Also there is no area to wait comfortably. You are then forced to Impinge on others dinner experience since there is no removed place to sit and wait.

I was looking for a spot for my coworkers and I to have lunch in Shadyside and came across Girasole. I had never heard anything about it before, but it was close to our office and had decent reviews, so we decided to check it out!
Upon arriving, I realized that I had walked past this charming little place many times without noticing it! It is directly next to Eden, and is right off of Walnut. I LOVED the entire feel of this cozy little place. The sunflower door handles, the stone walls, charming art work and unique bronze colored tables all made me feel like I was stepping into a little corner restaurant in Italy! It is very tiny inside– I felt lucky to be visiting during a non-​busy time of 11:30 am and not a Friday night at 7pm.
Our server was friendly but did not give EXTRAordinary service. I felt as if she was a little rushed with us as she took our orders and did not speak entirely clear. My co-​worker had to ask for clarification a couple times when it came to the question, «Soup or salad?» because she had asked it so quickly. My other co-​worker also wasn’t impressed when she reached over one of our plates in order to retrieve another plate. I, on the other hand, am pretty forgiving with minor mistakes and did not take offense to that at all. She was attentive to our table, refilled our waters when needed and cleared the table of our dirty plates as soon as we finished our salads/​meals.
I ordered the spinach and ricotta ravioli. We had the option of soup or salad with our lunch and I chose the salad. The salad wasn’t very large, but consisted of spring greens, thin slices of red onions, pine nuts, chickpeas, one baby tomato, an olive and shredded carrots. I found the vinaigrette to be wonderful– light but packed with flavor. The pine nuts really added a much needed crunch to the salad as well. Our table was also served a small basket of bread. The bread was fresh and fluffy and very good, but nothing spectacular.
The spinach and ricotta ravioli was delicious! The ravioli were rather large and only came with 4 for the lunch portion. It was plenty though! raviolis were filled with spinach and ricotta and were cooked perfectly. The sauce was creamy and packed with delicious flavor. As many other Unilocalers mentioned, they were heavy on the sauce, which I LOVED. I really enjoyed dipping my bread in the sauce and eating forkfuls of it– very tasty!
Was this the best Italian I ever had? No, but it was very good! I am already thinking of inviting my mom for lunch here sometime in the near future!

While Girasole serves delicious and authentic italian food, it is not for the faint of heart! The owner here can be very intimidating and if you’re here during peak hours like Friday or Saturday night without a reservation? Forget about it.
The owner is the one who seats guests, but from what I observed, he doesn’t have a very official seating system. I wasn’t very confident that he was truly seating guests without reservations in the order in which they arrived. I understand that certain party sizes will be seated before others, regardless of arrival time, but even still, it didn’t seem very legit. They’d benefit greatly from an experienced hostess. We had a reservation and were seated 45 minutes after our time. There was a group of 5 that arrived without a reservation a few minutes after we arrived and they were still waiting for a table after we finished eating and left nearly 2 hours later. God bless their patience!
The restaurant is very small and they cram as many tables and seats into this place as possible, making it very difficult to get around everybody to get to your table and exit. You cant get in and out of this place without at least a half dozen excuse me’s. I know that more tables = more money, but they could definitely stand to remove a few tables to improve the comfort of their customers. But maybe this kind of atmosphere is their goal? A loud restaurant with close seating… very family like. Either way, I’m not sure it’s for me.
The food here is very good and worth returning for. I had a garlic sauce pasta that was cooked to perfection. My husband had pasta with meat sauce that he said he really enjoyed. My friend and I shared a chocolate cake that was rich, moist and perfectly sweet.
In the summer, this place is likely more tolerable as they have outdoor seating, so I might give it a try again come summer. But as for winter, if you want a place where you can have a conversation, good luck being heard over all the noise. If you like your personal space when dining, this joint is not for you! If those things don’t bother you, enjoy!

I have been to Girasole 3 times now, once in June, August and today. Here are my thoughts over all three of my visits.
The atmosphere is inherently romantic, except that the popularity of the restaurant combined with the small space makes it difficult for it to be an intimate outing on a weekend (I’ve been there on Friday and Sunday evenings for dinner, not sure the situation on weekdays). Sometimes it can get pretty loud.
However, the food makes up for what lacks in terms of atmosphere. I love that they give unlimited table bread with your choice of butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Their entrees come with a house salad that is exquisite: sometimes I look forward to it more than the pasta! It has this great tart dressing with gorgonzola cheese and roasted pine nuts. Absolutely divine.
I’ve tried three entrees:
1) Cavatelli with lamb sausage — light sauce, very flavorful meatballs. Loved trying a new pasta
2) Penne with grilled chicken — a constant on an otherwise seasonal menu; this is my BF’s staple order but was a bit too safe for me
3) The famous cheese and spinach ravioli in a tomato cream sauce — THE BEST RAVIOLI I’ve ever had. Dipped the bread in the extra sauce, this will definitely be my order moving forward!