Gitan Bistro Cru

The service here is beyond horrible! We waited for almost an hour for our food on a Wednesday night and our waitress forgot our order of bread.
I gave it 2 stars because the food is good. It just took an inexplicably long time!

Lovely local spot with lots of wine options and delicious food (I usually get cheese & apps but dinner is great too). Tucked away in Canton — perfect for a date or a low key friends dinner. The owners are sweet. Has outdoor seating when the weather is nice. Definitely recommend!

We love this place. The food is fresh — not pretentious — and worth the wait. If you’re in a hurry, this isn’t the place for you. If you like über upscale, this isn’t for you. This is down home cooking in a relaxed and comfortable place. It’s like visiting family – you can’t rush the visit. Grab a glass of wine, order an app, then sit back, nibble, sip, chat and wait for your food to be freshly prepared.
Great prices, solid wine list, friendly/​attentive staff and Pauline (owner) is a complete joy. I don’t know what she puts in her baba ganoush, but I think it has magical powers. And the hummus is the creamiest I’ve ever had! Order a «split plate» and sample both for yourself.
Simply put, it’s honest food at a good price prepared by a charming woman who enjoys cooking for friends. And once you visit, you’re bound to leave feeling like you’re part of the family. That’s as good as it gets (for me).
See you at Gitan!

I have been here many times and it is quickly turning into one of my favorite local spots especially for brunch! The food is amazing. The combination of French and Lebanese influence makes for unique and flavorful dishes. The service is great. The bartenders are very friendly as is the owner who will be sure to come say hello. I will be definitely continue to frequent Gitan.

I’m starting to think there’s a conspiracy here that all Groupon purchasers (for the «wine and cheese tasting») only receive a certain kind of cheese and fruit that requires a minimum of 30+ minutes of preparation. Does it really take that long to put 3 slices of cheese, some grapes, strawberries, bread, and fig jam on a plate? I always judge restaurants by how quickly and easily I could do something at home, and in this case I would likely have spent less energy buying a bottle from a nearby liquor store and throwing the plate together myself in 5 minutes.
I don’t necessarily think the issue here is bad service, just bad management. I say this after seeing the grumpy-​looking manager walk in and then sit down at the bar and drink wine with friends loudly chatting while the lone waitress had to deal with all the customers and a problematic takeout order on the phone. The manager should have been helping her and making sure all the tables were being served, while instead we waited up to 10 minutes for the menu and water glasses, and then 30 minutes for the damn cheese. The menu looked interesting (though weird mix of French and Middle Eastern) and I really liked the sound of the Croque Madame but couldn’t imagine how long that would take to come out.
Do businesses that launch a Groupon not understand that this is their chance to build their PR, and that the «no such thing as bad PR» does NOT apply here? Probably shouldn’t sign up for a bevy of new customers if you’re not on your game yet.

Would not recommend. We had a groupon for this place and were extremely disappointed by their cheese course which was three individual slices of cheese which was suppose to provide for two people. The slices were so thin that they weren’t even shareable between two people. We then ordered the olive dish which looked like it came out of a can. Lastly, we tried the cheese and spinach dip, which was nothing special and could have easily been made at home. To say the least I’m glad we had a groupon. The wine was good at least.

Just left this gem of a place and I enjoyed every second of my visit. I went due to purchasing a groupon but will be going back even without a deal. The groupon just stated a cheese plate and wine. I had no clue it meant individual plates and a whole bottle of wine from pre-​selected choices from he wine list. I wanted to try something different than you can get from american chain restaurants. I got baba ghanoush and falafel for appetizers and could not put a dent in it after taking in our cheese plate. My husband is an American food/​meat and potato type guy. He ordered the cheese steak and I got the Turkish sausage omelette (Courtney). He absolutely loved his dish and I the same. We had a ton of bread that we collected from our various dishes and this carb addict can’t wait to ration the leftovers out for the rest of the week. The service was attentive without being overbearing. We met the owner and chef whom informed they have more of a schwarma and sandwich geared shop in Hampden which we will be sure to take the kids to doing. I loved the atmosphere and it reminded of my wonderful trip to France years ago. We were highly impressed and I will be going back to try more dishes.

We went in based on reviews from Unilocal and were very pleasantly surprised. The food was great, service better — an overall great meal. The owner seemed to know half of those entering and leaving, and clearly took care to ensure an enjoyable dining experience.

First, this place has no TVs, a must for a wine bar (Silo.5% fails this test, btw). The food is simple for the most part, but done very well. The crocque madame was delicious, with fresh bread and quality meat and cheese. They have a brunch special on mimosas and a great selection of wines. Plus, the service is very friendly. I definitely recommend this place highly.

Great Bottomless Mimosa Brunch. You have the option of mimosas or blood marys, they do close at 3 PM on Sunday so get there early. Did not get a chance to try the food, but there wasn’t a huge selection for brunch. Looking forward to going back.

Gitan is a Lebanese influenced French bistro, which by itself makes it unique among so many variations on the Canton bar food theme. This is a restaurant where the owner personally selects the ingredients for freshness and quality, and you can tell. Bistro standards like the croque madame are excellent, as are more American influenced sandwiches like the cheesesteak.
Where Gitan really shines is in traditional Mediteranean food like the shawarma and the haloumi. The shawarma in particular is outstanding.
One area that has improved greatly over the year I have been regularly eating at Gitan (and one that was admittedly a problem) is food wait times. There have been occasions where I have had to wait a considerable time for my food. The owner is no longer the only person in the kitchen, and this seems to have fixed the problem. I haven’t had any issues in the last 5 – 6 times I have eaten there, and honestly the food was good enough to keep me coming back even if I had to wait a bit. I just like it better now that I know I won’t have to.

Went here for the first time last night, with my main (okay, only) squeeze. I wanted to check out a place I’d not been, that had good reviews, had dishes both she and I would appreciate, and was nearby. Check, check, check, check… thanks, Unilocal!Oh, and the special of a free hot wassail for checking in was a nice inducement as well!
I’d been by Gitan numerous times previously, and was usually convinced to keep walking by when I saw the cloth tablecloths and few patrons.
I’m generally not one for dressy, fancier restaurants, especially when so many excellent casual options are available near where I live. I was relieved to see numerous smiling, laughing, casually clad folks at the bar when we arrived, as well as a table of four occupied by folks dressed no better than us. We were greeted warmly when we arrived, and thoroughly appreciated how sweet and nice the lady that helped us was throughout our visit. When I mentioned the free wassail offer, she indicated that they don’t really have it! However, after I described it to her, she readily offered to have a hot mulled wine whipped up for me, and it was indeed free — and wonderfully tasty and warming on a cold Baltimore night.
My lady and I ordered a number of small plates to share, and pretty much enjoyed the heck out of them. She’s a big soup fan, and really dug the lentil lemon soup with spinach, carrots and celery. It came with a grilled cheese on a small baguette, which I found tasty. Other good stuff included the peasant classic (dried, crushed wheat in tomato, with a crisp small salad), stuffed grape leaves and baba ganoush.
The price was right for what we ordered and the experience, and I was rather charmed by the seeming contradictory nature of the place, which looks like a classic, classy wine bar, yet had classic rock playing softly in the background. The smiling, friendly ladies that were working added to that charm, and compelled me to give a well-​earned 5-​star rating!

I had dinner here on a Thursday with a friend. The restaurant was about 60% full and everyone except us was a couple (hint: great date spot).
We ordered the tomato and cucumber salad for an appetizer which was good but nothing special. They do give you a TON of bread. I also ordered a glass of red wine (can’t remember what) and it was the weakest pour I’ve seen in a long time. I’m pretty sure I paid about $ 8 for 3 oz of wine… ugh.
My friend and I decided to take the egg route for dinner. I got the Turkish sausage and my friend got the Shokshouka. Both we’re pretty tasty but not anything out of this world, although the bread portions we’re exceptionally huge. And yes, I drank red wine with eggs, don’t judge me.

Food was delicious. Great wine options. sangria was definitely the highlight but be prepared– SERVICE IS INSANELY SLOW!
Do NOT go to Gitan if you are in any type for hurry. There is no way you could get out in less than an hour. With appetizers and dinner it took about 2 hours for 3 people. Waitstaff disappears often. They claim its part of their French charm. Food is good but be prepared it will take time to eat.

Came here with a group of girls for a wine night, my first time at the restaurant, and we had a great experience! Cute wine bar! Food is mediterranean type small plates, but a big menu, lots of choices, and everything we ate was very good! You can BYO wine, and they charge you a $ 10 corking fee, or you can buy wine/​liquor/​beer from them. Their wine menu was nicer bottles of wine, so for the $ 10 corking fee we thought it was a good deal. The service was great, and I definitely can’t wait to come back here!

The bartenders and owner are awesome, they’ll remeber your name like a great neighborhood place. The foods delcious and the owner cooks it upstairs herself.
It’s a gem for brunch too. They have an all you can drink special you can order plus an option for all you can eat waffles. And theres never a wait like some places in Canton.

Great restaurant. We went for dinner and sat outside. The food was delicious and the prices were very reasonable. As noted by some other reviews, they have a wide range of items for every level of hunger and budget. They also have great house cocktails. The service was a little slow, but we appreciated that it’s more of a place to leisurely dine, not a place to go in a rush.
We were very happy with everything we got — the stuffed grape leaves are great. They came with some fresh made hummus that was delicious. The french onion soup and Ful (fava bean dish) were also very good, as was the Lamb Shawarma sandwich. Definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys Mediterranean cuisine. We will definitely be going back!

Fabulous. A great, classy joint perfect for date night or bringing acquaintances with unknown budget/​food preferences! The menu has items for everyone and is exceptionally well-​priced for the neighborhood, the ambiance, and the food.
DON’T MISS: the baba ganoush, served with little crostini — delicious! Very well-​balanced and the perfect texture (not too lumpy, not a yogurt). Also, soup/​grilled cheese combo is FANTASTIC. The Lemon-​Lentil soup was hearty, fresh, and complemented the baguette-​style grilled chees very well.
All in all, so glad we found this little gem! Easy parking on a Friday night, very friendly crew, and quality food.

We sat outside and was immediately greeted by a server. We ordered a bottle of wine and a cheese plate. We wanted the Cava, but they were out, so we got the chardonnay. It came out right away, but came with nothing to keep it cold, so we had a bottle sitting on our table getting warm. The server came out and said, let me get something to keep that cold, and then disappeared and never came back. The cheese plate took 45 minutes to come out! Literally. By that time, we only had a little bit left of the bottle that we wanted to enjoy with the cheese. The worst part was that another couple came abut 20 minutes after us and also sat outside, and the server brought out our cheese plate with theirs. So we waited 45 minutes, and they got theirs right away. Would not go back here.

We went here with a groupon type deal even though the menu is a bit all over the place. Overall, they were quite accommodating with our baby but the food was really all over the place. I personally thought all of their food was very very salty especially my lamb shwarma which I could not finish because of how salty it was. The service was good but they didn’t ask us for dessert which is my mind is always a faux pas for a restaurant. Always ask about dessert! It’s a nice neighborhood bar, quiet and solid but probably won’t venture out there again as it was nothing special.