Review of Giada's from July 24th

We made a reservation about 1 month in advance for our dinner at Giada's. My husband and I were celebrating our 10 year anniversary and my mother joined us for our meal (her treat which was awesome). Our seating time was @5:15, and we arrived a few mins early so we stood and looked at the different pictures and such on the walls before being seated. We were given a tour of the stations and explained what each person was doing. We were seated in the corner, kind of like a little private space, it was really nice. The windows were shut and blinds pulled because the sun just pounds that space from about 5:00-7:00. Once 7:00 hit, they raised the shades so you could look outside. Upon being seated, we were greeted by our server who was very very very knowledgeable about everything. He showed us the I-pad with the drinks and such. Also, we had a lady who would fill our waters and give new plates and such for courses. She was so kind, we warned her we were extremely thirsty as we had played tennis at The Cosmo that day and she sure made her promise of never leaving us with an empty water glass. The general manager also came by to introduce us and to wish us a happy anniversary.

We choose the following 3 drinks to kind of "share" and "try"........

#1 Hannibal: Botran Reserve Rum, Maurin Quina, fresh lime, blood orange and mint syrup, Chianti float. It was served in a giant goblet glass with crushed ice. The Chianti float was served in a lime turned inside out.

#2 La Strada: Campari, homemade lemon sorbeto, Bertagnolli Limoncello, Proseco. This was the lightest of the drinks. Very refreshing.

#3 The Destroyer (Conan the Destroyer)
Clase Azul Tequila Reposado, fresh tangerine, orange and basil, basil ice sphere. This was the strongest and my husbands favorite.

We then choose 3 apps to share:

#1 Wood Roasted Mushrooms w/ toasted marcona almonds & ricotta salata. Very good, great assortment of different mushrooms.

#2 *Rollatini – ricotta stuffed Eggplant & pomodoro. Very small but very good.

#3 Calabrese, spicy calabrian chili, the original pepperoni, pork. When ordered, this was my least favorite but ended up being very very good.

#4 (just my husband) Pasta e Fagioli w/ creste di gallo, cannellini & parmigiano-reggiano (soup)

My husband and mother shared the assortment of breads and breadsticks as I cannot eat them because of wheat allergy. They were very kind in asking if it was ok if they brought the bread out as I could not have it.

We then choose 2 pasta courses to share. I am gluten free, so the knowledge the server had about it was wonderful.

#1 *Spaghetti (Spah-geh-tee) shrimp, lemon & basil made with their house made gluten free pasta. It was excellent. I always get worried ordering gluten free pasta as its usually just an afterthought. The server assured me that Giada would not put something on the menu she was not confident was the best. Let me tell you this was the best gluten free pasta I have ever had. I could tell the time and perfectiont that went into it. That night, the gluten free pasta was a bucatini.

#2 Risotto (ree-ZOHT-oh) crab & scallops. The scallops were amazing. I could of eaten a meal just on that. Risotto perfectly cooked.

We then choose 2 mains to share. Honestly, if I went again, I would just order more apps and pasta courses and skip mains. Don't get me wrong, the mains were very good but I just really loved the apps and pastas.

#1 Branzino, w/ tangerine vinaigrette. Very good and very fresh.

#2 Whole Roasted Chicken for two, cacciatore style. Beautiful presentation before actually cutting it up and serving. Chicken had a spicy rub and the sauce made from the veggies roasted with the chicken were good.


All night we watched this poor desert guy push his cart around trying to not to take people out. Its a cool idea but really seems like it gets in the way. His cart was parked by us and they switched the cookies out 3 times during our 2 hours. Kind of seems like a waste, I hope they give those cookies to the food pantry or something. They presented us with a plate that said happy anniversary written in chocolate and we choose a very good strawberry sorbet to share.

All in all I would say Giada's was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget. It was a very beautiful place and classy yet I never felt out of place. It still had a very casual feel and I love how they encourage you to share with your group. It really makes dining fun and allows you try new things. We all decided this would have to add this to our yearly trip each year (we travel from Kansas City). Let me know if you have any ??'s. Take care everyone!!!

 

Sounds like a great anniversary dinner (congrats). Thanks for the review.

(Sorry about your wheat allergy. That really sucks!)

 

Congrats on the anniversary and the great dinner!

I also really enjoyed the Destroyer. Tequila and I'm sold!

 

Thanks for the review. Giada's is on my list for my next strip trip.

 

Perfect timing! I'm considering making a reservation to surprise my wife, cut had a few questions.

There was no meat in the Pasta e Fagioli, correct?

For the chicken, you mentioned a spicy rub. How spicy was it and what type? I have a limited diet and sensitive stomach, and the chicken was what I was planning on.

I really appreciate the help.

 

I asked my husband and he said he didn't think the soup had meat. I didn't eat it because it had pasta in it, but I don't recall seeing meat. Just ask your server, they know exactly what is in everything.

As far as the chicken, it appeared to have a rub on it when cooked. I am not sure what was in the rub, but it was slightly spicy. It was nothing overbearing, but was evident. They bake the chicken and then flash fry it which makes the skin crispy and kind of intensifies the rub.

I would tell your server your dietary restrictions. Our server knew everything that was in our dishes. I can in vision them being quizzed by Giada and fearing for their lives if they got it wrong, LOL. I would say I had the best experience out of all of the strip restaurants with them being to accommodate my needs.

Like I said before, next time, I am going to skip the mains and just do more apps and pasta courses. If I were to try another main, I would try the porterhouse as I saw a few people order it and it looked really good.

 

Thanks for the great review. Have reservations in a couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for posting the review.

We are looking forward to dinner there on our next trip as well.

 

Thanks for the info. Helpful.

 

Thanks for the review! It's nice to know the place is still holding up. I have not been back since the grand opening, but I've been thinking about going there for lunch. Your review motivated me to see about booking a table for lunch sometime soon.

Is the bucatini always gluten free? Or does the gluten free pasta change? And they used the gluten-free bucatini to make your spaghetti dish? I love that spaghetti/shrimp dish!

The soup itself may not have had meat, but I'd bet the soup base has meat in it. I imagine they'd cook down some bacon or pancetta with the aromatics and then poured in tons of chicken stock to form the base of the soup.

 

Congratulations on the anniversary and a wonderful dinner, and thank you for sharing with me. Plan to try this place out next time I visit Vegas.

 

-I am not sure about the gluten free pasta always being the same type but he said "the offering tonight" so it makes it sound its different.

-Yes, the used the gluten free to make the spaghetti dish and it was amazing!!!! I didn't even care about those huge shrimp being in there because the pasta was so good!

-Yeah I would agree I am sure its chicken stock for the soup. I would just encourage anyone to ask because they know everything thats on that menu.

 

Lots of good reviews about this place.
We have our lunch reservations made and really looking forward to indulging.

 

Thanks for the review!

We have lunch reservations there a week from Monday. I'm super excited.

 

I was in recently for dinner. The Lobster Ravioli was incredible...I still think about it. I've never had a sauce like that before.

 

Ditto!

 

Thanks so much for the post. We have dinner reservations this Thursday at 5:30 and I'm really looking forward to it. Did you happen to notice if they did anything special for birthdays? One person in our group has a birthday less than a week after our dinner at Giada. Thanks again.

 

I was there for my birthday. I think they comped one of the desserts (it looked that way on the receipt, anyways), and they wrote happy birthday in chocolate on a platter. That was it though.

 

Was there for our anniversary. They wrote happy anniversary on ours.

 

I just might have to add this to my never-ending list of places to eat.