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A local established Italian joint where the namesake still runs the kitchen.

540 State St
Madison, WI

608-257-9022

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11-11, Friday-Saturday 11-12am

Keywords: local, Italian, pizza, delivery

Price: ~$10/person for lunch

February 2005

written by Brian and Kathleen

Chosen on a whim like many of our State Street lunch choices, or perhaps just because it was cold out and we hadn't been there before, Gino's is a seemingly small Italian place with a cute little bar area in the front. But it turned out that its narrow appearance belies a deep, well-appointed sit-down restaurant with a sizable private room upstairs.

We were seated promptly. While the main room was still bright from the large front picture windows, we were seated in a dark yet cozy looking small booth. The combination of a relatively short seat and the right angle between the seatback and seat itself made the booth not somewhere I would like to sit for a longer meal than lunch.

We got several pieces of garlic bread before our entrees. It was hot (mouth burning hot), garlicky, and heavily buttered. Kathleen ordered the Chicken Charmaine, a penne dish with garlic, spinach, and olive oil, while I had the Spaghetti and Meatballs. Her dish had such promise but unfortunately was made inedible by an overpowering taste of burnt garlic. My dish was actually Spaghetti and Meatball (singular), but that was fine as it was a tasty, good-sized one. The marinara sauce was wonderful; even Kathleen liked it and she does not normally like marinara.

Gino himself greeted and seated us, and our waitress was cheery and pleasant. But the service definitely could have been better, as the waitress was so busy it took a while to inform her that the Chicken Charmaine was not acceptable. In the end it was fine, as the spaghetti and bread was enough for the two of us.

While not wowed, we would go back for a second chance most definitely.