Giada's Restaurant at the Cromwell REVIEW

Before going to Giada's I read nothing but glowing reports here from those who enjoyed her restaurant. So if you looking for another glowing report, stop reading here.

Went there and surprised my bride for her birthday last Monday.....she got all dress up and had no idea where I was taking her. Her eyes lit up like a school girl when I told her we had to climb the stairs to dine at Giada's as she's a huge fan of her TV cooking shows.

Beautiful dinning area but we were place on the west window wall and the sun was relentless for our eyes. But they had the appropriate blinds to shield us from the sun, however when they were in place you really couldn't take advantage of our window seats and watch people walking the strip.

We ordered for starters Prosciutto di Parma buttery, salty & sweet, pork $18...this was the only dish we got a LOT of. But it wasn't buttery, salty or sweet....just fatty has all hell.

Wife ordered a cream roasted cauliflower soup $12 that she really enjoyed......I tasted it and didn't care for it.

THE WINE.........can't remember the name of it but it was the cheapest bottle of Chardonnay they had at $75.......was expecting a spectacular chardonnay but to our surprise the waiter showed me the label and then cracked open the bottle by unscrewing the cap....usually screw top wines are the cheap crap that can be found in the discount isle of any liquor store. Now we have tired way more wines that I'm willing to admit and have found our favorite chardonnay is Kendall Jackson that can be had here from $9.99 to 16.99 per bottle. The crap we were served couldn't hold a candle to KJ. This was our biggest disappointment at Giada's.

Main Dish : wife ordered Risotto (ree-ZOHT-oh) crab & scallops $32 which she enjoyed but thought for that money she would have received more then 2 scallops and even less crab.

I ordered Surf & Turf 7oz filet with crab raviolo, port wine butter sauce, roasted brussels sprouts $56. I ordered it med rare and in the middle of the fillet it was RAW not rare. I ate around the middle and that part was very tender and tasty. However the crab raviolo was a huge disappointment as it was just one raviolo filled with VERY little crab. The 2 roasted brussels sprouts were very good.

For dessert we orded the daily special that was a apple tart thing that was suppose to include two different kinds of gelato. it came with two VERY small slices of apples and some kind of cream sauce over it and on the side on SUPER SMALL ONE scoop of gelato at $8....nothing special here.....should of been $1.99

So there you have it........we had a great time there and would of even ordered another bottle of wine if it was a better wine. But we already ran the bill up to $262.00 including the tip. Would we recommend Giada's....NO...not at these prices and NOTHING.....I repeat NOTHING blew us away that we ate or drank that night.

Now on a much HAPPIER NOTE......we decended down the stairs and before leaving I need to use the men's room so the wifey said she would wait right there.......came out of the men's room and she was not insight AGAIN....LOL.....So I thought she was in the ladies room and decided to wait right there because I could see the Duke/Wis game on TV.....but after only 2 minutes or less I heard all these women screaming just a little ways from me. So I walked over there to see what was what only to find my wife in the middle of it HIGH FIVING three other women. She plopped down $10 on #30 on the roulette table and sure enough it came in paying 35-1.......SWEET......much sweeter then Giada's dessert.

 

So your biggest complaint is that the portions were too small? Did you swing by McD's for a big mac afterwards?

 

This has been changing over the years, actually, and screw-tops even for very good wine are now increasingly common. It prevents the possibility of getting a bad bottle due to the cork going bad, and it's much easier to deal with than synthetic cork. There are also reports occasionally that there are scarcity issues with natural cork (though I'm not clear on how real those issues are).

 

This. Screw tops are a lot more common now and the thought that only cheap wine uses this method is quickly becoming an old wive's tail. Some of our favorites are actually screw tops.

Unfortunate news on the trip otherwise! I wanted to try the spot with my wife but do not feel sad at all that we missed out. Hopefully you get pleasantly surprised by somewhere else in the near future to counter your high expectations

 

So your biggest complaint was something that you TOTALLY had control of? Why didn't you simply order another bottle?

 

I've been as well. I had the risotto and scallops too. Everything was good... not great.

I'm a Scarpetta fan. Much better Italian food, IMO.

I'd go to Giada's again. The dining room is really quite beautiful and the service was good.

Sure it was inflated prices, but every place in Vegas is inflated.

 

You are right........we should of.......but sometimes a wine will grow on you. Next time I will take your advice.

 

No, but later we went to Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream.

 

There are wines a lot better than KJ that have screw tops.

 

That depends if you like those wines or not.

The following is a general response and not picking anyone out special......

My God, you would of thought I shot Giada and burned down her restaurant. I was just giving my honest opinion of our experience. I thought that was what a internet forum was for, not a cheering section for anyone's restaurant. As I mention early in my original post that this was not another glowing report....Sorry if I ruined anyone's day.

 

If you want big portions for reasonable prices there'd be lots of good options even on the strip, but a hyped up new restaurant fronted by a TV celebrity chef wouldn't be one of them. Your wife sounds like she enjoyed her meal though.

 

The way I read the responses, I didn't get the impression that most of the people were really coming down on you. They were just giving information on wines; I didn't know until recently that screw caps are being used more with wines. One of the nicer wines we drink has a screw cap. You did give some positive comments and the negative ones seemed to show that maybe your expectations were too high? Huge portions don't always correlate with the more expensive restaurants.

 

First, I appreciate your honest opinion on things and even the details you provide, even when I disagree with some of your reasoning.

I will echo what others have said about the wine. Screw top used to equal cheap because it couldnt preserve the wine worth a darn, so you wouldn't put a good wine it in. These days the screw tops have improved to the point that they actually do a better job than corks. Those who stick with cork are mainly doing it for the ambience/tradition and because of the type of bias you showed. That isn't coming down on you, just a suggestion that its not the best way of judging these things.

Portion size not much that can be done about. But fancier places will often have smaller portions, particularly compared to mainstream american restaurants that tend to go way overboard. But in fancy italian places, also bear in mind that the traditional thing was that pasta was actually a COURSE. Thats why a lot of pricier italian places will have pasta dishes listed seperately and sometimes even labeled Primi (with the mains being Secondi). Now, more people than not probably don't order that way these days, but its another reason you might find some portions smaller than you'd think. Always helps to ask if you don't know

Different people have different interpretations of meat temperatures, but if you ask for medium rare, and get rare, in the future I would suggest sending it back. Even if they disagree and tell you that medium rare means a warm red centre with pink throughout, they will most definitely accommodate and cook it a bit more for you. And if it really is rare you might get a break off of your bill.

 

Yes, after reading all the response you are right. My expectations were probably higher then they should of been. However, we have eaten at many restaurants that don't serve large portions, but those meals were higher then what we expected and not something we could of cooked up in our own kitchen. But as always, some restaurants are like by some and some restaurants are not..Giada's was meh to us IMHO.

 

Yes, after reading all the response you are right. My expectations were probably higher then they should of been. However, we have eaten at many restaurants that don't serve large portions, but those meals were higher then what we expected and not something we could of cooked up in our own kitchen. But as always, some restaurants are like by some and some restaurants are not..Giada's was meh to us IMHO.

 

Why so sensitive, no need to get defensive people are just given their opinion and trying to educate you on the subject. So what if you think KJ is the best wine in the world, it doesn't mean you´re wrong, it just means you don't have good taste when it comes to wine.

 

LOL........you are right......and.........

 

I can't agree with if you order med rare you get rare........I didn't get rare I got RAW in the middle.... And I do not want to wait for my dinner to be reheated while my bride dines. I do not consider that dining together and always chalk it up as experience and move on not to ruin our dinning experience.

 

Not sending it back is your choice and I totally understand.

Still, even if I wasn't sending it back I would let them know I was disappointed. Part of what you pay for at a pricier place is better service, and a much higher quality standard. It absolutely kills these places when they don't meet the standard and don't hear about it, and instead just have a customer who won't come back. So even if you say you don't want to wait while they fix it, they might give you dessert or more wine for free, or something off the bill. And that isn't about trying to get something extra, you should expect them to work to make it right.

Just my .02$

 

I was at Giada's for lunch after it first opened. We were trying to decide on an appy and the server highly recommended this particular cheese one. She brought it and we both nearly gagged on a small bite. We left it untouched. The server came back and said, oh- you didn't like it- well, it is a very strong taste that you either like or don't like, do you want something else? We said no and carried on with the rest of lunch. In the end, she still charged full price for everything, including the cheese plate she suggested.