Gigi’s Cucina Povera

Arrived early without reservations, reservations are strongly suggested. The food was outstanding. The veal dishes are top notch, with the great side greens. Service was friendly and attentive. Cocktails, generous pours, all around good value, highly recommended

Horrible service and food. Asked if I can receive a Caesar salad instead of soup or house salad with my entrée and I was told «we don’t do that» So I paid for caesar salad and asked for soup. Caesar salad came out with brown wilted lettuce. I almost lost my mind. When I showed the waitress she said the owner was furious and they would remake the salad and remove it from the bill. Also was told girl who made my salad was new and wouldn’t be working there anymore. I never received my soup and when the bill came I was still charged for Caesar Salad. Owner walked by my table several times and didnt say anything. Maybe that’s why place was empty on Saturday night. Waitress was rude and inattentive. Never refilled our drinks. In addition the hostess and her were arguing over who was gonna close that night. Terrible Experience.

I have only dined in here once, and I sat at the bar with boyfriend and some of his friends. We all had drinks, and only a few of us ordered food. I ordered the fig pizza, which came highly recommended from boyfriend. What he neglected to tell me was that I should have ordered the crust lightly done, because it did come a little crispy. However, I still ate it and it was delectable! It comes with olive oil rather than red sauce, rosemary, dried figs, caramelized onions, and gorgonzola, topped with arugula and balsamic drizzle.
I ordered this pizza again for takeout, and again I forgot to order it lightly done. I partially blame myself for neglecting this detail, but I do think that the kitchen should know not to burn the pizza. I hate returning food that is already served, so when I realized that this pizza was burned to a crisp, I felt too bad to bring it to the kitchen’s attention. I ate it anyway, and each bite was like biting into burned cardboard with some flavor on top of it. I MUST remember to order it with a lightly done crust next time, and I know this will make it more enjoyable.
I am still giving them ⁴⁄₅ stars because the ambiance is nice and the workers are pleasant, but I do hope that they can work on not burning their thin crust pizzas!

Had a fantastic dinner experience last night. We made reservations. The hostess, at the request of the other couple we were dining with, seated us instead in the main room. It is like all the wonderful photos Unilocal reviewers shared. Bobby Millitello’s band was playing, which made for s great atmosphere. We ordered a bottle of wine that our wonderful waitress recommended. We each ordered different dinners. Everyone else at the table had salad as a starter, which looked good/​but I ordered the soup special which was a lentil sausage. It was delicious and to my pleasure, homemade tasting, fresh and not salty. Everyone also ordered different dinners, which all looked and people said were good. My eyes were only on my very simple, yet so delicious Mezzanote — garlic, olive oil, parsley, Parmesan goodness. Of course we ordered Sfingi, which were the best I have had in Buffalo… Or anywhere in the States, really. We will be back. Can’t believe it was our first time. It was great.

You know how it is when you feel comfortable in a place, and this was just that feeling.
We were at Gigi’s to both hear Bobby Jones trio w/​Bobby Militello, and have a nice year-​end dinner. Both were exceptional. The service deserves a shout-​out to Joseph our waiter– he is attentive, helpful, and sincere as a representative of the kitchen.
As for the food, the appetizer, eggs poached in pomodoro with garlic crostini, was simple and exceptional at the same time. Please try it. For dinner, I had the Roast Cod with romano cheese and vine ripened tomatoes. It presented a delicious mix of complementary flavors that I’d recommend to anyone – my sister later told me that it never disappoints from her view.
We love the feeling of this neighborhood place, with great food that also has such a great calendar of events.

First time here with our neighbors as we live right around the corner. We tried the fig pizza which was amazing along with entrees which were sub-​par. We will be back to try again.

Stopped in at GiGi’s last night on a whim. Probably our 4^th time here, first time reviewing. We sat at the bar, ordered a couple Stella drafts. Bartender was super friendly, 2 thumbs up. 3 piece band was the entertainment, going on and absolutely fantastic. Its a smallish type place and the music was at the perfect sound level for this atmosphere. We ordered the Panzarella salad, stuffed hot peppers and a margarita pizza. All 3 were outstanding. Bread service was also fantastic. This is a great place to go if you are looking for a couple drinks and some good food where you can sit at the bar, which is usually our MO. Great stuff, keep it up GIGI.

I’m going to be honest, being that I’m 100% Italian, I’m not a huge fan of getting Italian food out at restaurants, however, Gigi’s is one of my few exceptions. I went the other night with a couple of girlfriends and everything was wonderful! Our waitress was so friendly, helpful, and attentive to refilling our water glasses. The restaurant is small on the inside, but decorated so cutely. You feel like you’re in a little house in Italy.
The food was absolutely delicious. We started with glasses of Riesling, and they give you a nice sized glass of it for what they charge. For our appetizers we ordered the artichoke fritters which came with a aioli dipping sauce and stuffed hot banana peppers. Both were absolutely delicious and the perfect amount for the three of us. The filling in the banana peppers was one of the best I’ve tasted, however they do leave the seeds in the peppers, so be prepared for them to be a little spicier than usual. We then got a house salads and as weird as this sounds, it was one of the best house salads that I’ve ever had. They pickle the red onion which gives the salad a little something extra and they use a white balsamic dressing, which I almost prefer more than regular balsamic. For my entrée I got the gondola cheese ravioli with pomodoro sauce. I got the entrée portion instead of the half portion, which I was expecting to be too much but it was actually the perfect portion size. The other girls got the penne con vodka sauce and that was delicious as well. We did not get dessert because of how full we were but that’s something that I need to try when I go back!
The prices on the menu were reasonable as well. For all of that food plus drinks, the bill came to 90 $…so divided by 3 people, that is pretty cheap for a 3 course meal plus wine (you can do the math!) My only complaint was that they had a singer performing in the restaurant that night and although her voice was amazing and the entertainment was enjoyable, it was so loud that it made it hard to have conversations. But overall, very delicious food and friendly staff! Can’t wait to be back!

The ravioli in butter sauce with prosciutto and sage reminds me of a favorite dish of mine from Northern Italy. Great patio space as well.

The ambiance was great. The hostess and waitress was great and very attentive. The food did not equate to them. The bread served with the bean type dip and olive oil with spices was a good start. I ordered chicken marsala. With pasta and my partner ordered the ribeye steak with the potatoes. My entrée started with the bean and ham soup. My partners started with a salad. The soup was quite fragrant and flavorful. My partners salad was ok according to him. The chicken marsala was dissapointing and my partners steak contained approximately half of fat. When one pays 28 dollars plus tax for a steak one would think it would be a decent cut and sadly it was not. The chicken marsala was skimpy on the chicken and the sauce was not appealing at all with being too thin and watery. Summing this review up; the service by the wait staff was wonderful. The food however was not.

From other reviews it seems like maybe I just ordered the wrong things? I had the carbonara and the saltimboca as takeout. Couldn’t believe I spent that much money on that food.
Place looked cute, owner was really kind.
Saltimboca was two pieces of dried out, colorless chicken breast. No sauce or cheese (which I’m used to as a traditional saltimboca) just wrapped in the proccutio with sage underneath. The side of pasta had no sauce, just oil and the side of broccoli I could have and should have just prepared at home. Go to Tappo for a real saltimboca for a fraction of the price.
I’m used to my carbonara having some peas and this one did not. Pretty all around bland, not enough cured bacon IMO.

First of all the staff here was fantastic. They were helpful, very attentive and really the highlight of our experience.
However the food was just mediocre at best. The salads, soups and bread were good, but other than that we were pretty disappointed. Everything was fine, but there was nothing you couldn’t easily cook yourself.
If you are looking for a relaxing night out at a place with great ambiance and simple food give it a try.

We visit Gigi’s during 2015 local restaurant week because their menu looked promising. I have been wanting to give this place a shot since it opened but just never had the opportunity. Anyway, I started with the polenta with mushrooms. The plate was beautifully presented but the food was lukewarm. My wife had the arancini which was tasty but, compared with other arancini, it wasn’t anything special. For our entrées — I had the seafood couscous and my wife had the pasta with eggplant. Both were presented very nice; however, both dishes were bland. I liked how neither were ruined with globs of melted cheese (ala Chefs) and used good, fresh ingredients but it lacked flavor. The highlight of the meal was the gelato and the cannoli.
Additionally, the service was slow and our waitress was inattentive to our table.
Overall, the décor was nice, the food was beautiful but bland and the service was friendly but a bit slow.
I am going to give them a pass because it was restaurant week and hope to go back when the food won’t be mass produced and the waitresses won’t be so overwhelmed.

My friend and I had a terrible experience, so brace yourself if you plan to read this – it will be long.
Here’s some context: it’s restaurant week. I go out for restaurant week at least twice a week twice a year. This year isn’t any different. I also try not to post reviews after only one visit, unless it’s absolutely spectacular or absolutely awful. I had an absolutely awful experience at this place; I can’t recall a worse experience at a local restaurant.
They’re completely booked. My friend and I expected to wait a while despite having reservations. Well, waiting is what we did a lot of…
Since it was a full house, we knew we would wait despite being on time for our reservations so we ordered a glass of wine at the bar. After our wine was poured, we were promptly handed our bill. It was a strange interaction with the bartender only because he didn’t say anything after he poured the drinks, he just slid the bill. Which is fine – busy night. He was conversational with other patrons and maybe that’s why he didn’t ask us if we wanted anything else or made small talk with us.
Once we are seated our server comes over to us, gives us water and takes our order. Then the waiting begins.
We finish our water and wine and we wait.
A few tables are bussed, and we’re still waiting. So much to the point that we stopped another staff member to ask for our server for more water.
We wait.
She comes back and apologizes, which we understand – there’s only so much she can do. It’s a full house and they clearly could benefit by having more people on staff. She pours the water and we order another drink.
We wait.
Wine arrives.
Food comes out. Not for us.
I notice that those who were seated before us seem to finally be getting their appetizers, so I make a mental note: they’ve been waiting longer than usual and so will we.
In no time it seems like there’s more of a rhythm: food is coming out and being served. Which is great. Except that tables that were seated after us begin to eat and we are still waiting.
So we wait.
We wait a bit more before our food arrives.
I ordred the Arancini and my friend ordered the Polenta con Fungi. My arancini is smaller than I expected, hot on the outside, but tepid on the inside… which is strange. The mozzarella inside wasn’t even warm and it was solid. My friend’s Polenta con Fungi was delicious – the textures and the flavors were just right. (I should have ordered that instead.)
We wait some more.
I ordered the breaded chicken cutlet and my friend ordered the cous cous alla trapanese. Here’s what it’s like when we finally get our meal:
The chicken was crisp and the pasta was okay, but it lacked flavor. It tasted like the tomato sauce didn’t have anything but tomatoes and the chicken wasn’t seasoned with anything. It was the blandest meal I’ve paid for in a while.
The cous cous alla trapenese was more broth than cous cous, but it did have flavor. My friend wins again.
We finish our dinner and then we wait.
We wait some more and then get our limoncello, which is made in-​house. This was delicious. We get our bill before we even finish it, which is to be expected especially since diners are starting to leave and it’s dying down.
We take out our cards to pay, finish our limoncello, and we wait.
As we finish our limoncello, we notice the restaurant has cleared up significantly; there’s only one other table in the main area and a few guests at the bar. All of the other tables, including large parties that were seated after us, are all gone. The tables all around us are cleared. New tablecloths go on the tables around us and we are still waiting. (Fun fact, the round tables are not the kind of tables you can eat on without a tablecloth – they are unfinished and look like something my father-​in-​law has in his garage. Who cares, right? It still holds the food).
So we wait.
I’m getting anxious because the restaurant is empty, it’s getting late, I’m thirsty, and I’d like to leave – but I have to wait for the server so we can pay.
We waited at least 15 minutes before I noticed the server walking in from outside – she clearly was taking a smoke break. After two and a half hours, we were finally able to pay and leave.
This was an awful experience. It was a waste of time. Dinner failed to meet expectations and the service got worse as the night went on. Despite some subtle micro-​aggressions, the staff was not blatantly rude to us. They were cordial in a minimal and obligatory way.
It was clear that we were not the customers they wanted to impress. There were two of us and we did not have any special requests. There were multiple tables around us – couples, double dates, and parties of five or more who were seated after us and were able to leave before us.
I desperately tried to like this place, but I’m appalled and do not plan to return.

Overall, we enjoyed our post-Valentine’s dinner at Gigi’s. There was a little bit of a discord as it is touted as a Sicilian Bistro, but they were playing Zydeco music in the background. The colors and paintings were rustic and welcoming, as was our waitress who proved to be knowledgeable and patient. While waiting for our meal she brought a plank with fresh bread, with olive oil and herbs for dipping as well as fava beans. For some reason I kept hearing Hannibal Lector’s voice saying we needed to accompany this with a nice Chianti … LOL. My husband chose the Midnight pasta. He said it was nicely seasoned and the heat built up and lingered, and would definitely order it again. I had the linguini in red clam sauce which was meh. It lacked seasoning, and was watery. I wish I had ordered the midnight pasta. For desert, we shared a salted caramel gelato. While it wasn’t made in house, it was the perfect end to a great evening out.

Lovely restaurant! Went for restaurant week (appie, entrée & dessert for $ 20.14.) Very nice options for each course. Food was all of good quality & well-​prepared. Service was prompt & attentive, and bartender was knowledgeable about wines.
I had the caponata dipping plate (tasty), seafood couscous (could have done with less broth & more couscous; I’ve also decided that I don’t like fennel), and salted caramel gelato (YUM!)

Kenmore Gem! Very nice and cozy and pretty good place overall. Nice place for a romantic evening out. I’m not a huge Italian food lover but I enjoyed my meal. Another cool aspect are meal sizes, you can order small or large portions. Bar didn’t seem to have many option. Bartender and waitress were great though

Came here for dinner after a day of cross border shopping in the vicinity thanks to the Unilocal app since my wife wanted Italian food for a change.
We ordered several pasta dishes. The only disappointment was the carbonara which was very dry. We are used to it being more creamy.
I had the steak and it was excellent!
The atmosphere in the restaurant was very homely and quiet.
It would be a good place for a date!
I would return to Gigi’s to try some of the other dishes in the future.

It really gives me great pleasure to give this restaurant 5 huge stars.
Not everyone will agree with me on this one for sure, because not everyone had Italian food cooked by my Grammy. Therefore, not everyone will appreciate both the way the food is cooked and the way the staff treat you.
It wasn’t long after walking in to this place with my wife and son (Jonathan) when I felt a certain family or home type feeling — almost as if my grandmother was present too! The selection both on the regular menu and the special menu were extensive with something that would suite any appetite and taste — if you really know good Sicilian food — yes there can be quite a big difference between the two!
We had two amazing appetizers — one was Cardoon — OMG — for it NOT being in season it sure did help with the craving I’ve had ALL winter long. We also tried — and I won’t even attempt to spell it — these fried balls of oh so goodness inside of them — almost like rice and cheese, but better! Then we each tried a different entrée — of course I had to get the steak — I always do, but this had such great flavor it was hard to pinpoint where all the goodness came from. Jon had a pasta dish with duck I believe — OMG I am sure my Grammy had a hand in that sauce. And finally, Barb had the scrumptious scallop entrée and the risotto was heavenly.
You’d think after all that food that would have been the end of it, but when Lauren came out and asked about deserts — one of the reasons I went was for the Sfinge — no one has ever come close to my Grammy’s, but I assure you that Mary’s was spot on — terrific — amazing! I allowed Barb and Jon to split one of the four I had and it hurt sharing. However, they were gracious enough to share their deserts too — Barb had the amazing Tiramisu, which incidentally was the closest match to my son’s as any place has ever gotten — even famous chef Lidia’s didn’t compare! Jon had to try the Orange Blossom Honey Ricotta Cheesecake and if you like cheesecake — I’d expect to only hear some moans coming from you while eating this.
The service — shout out again to Lauren — was excellent — though we were there for a long time — things were delivered just when you wanted or needed something and you didn’t have to ask for anything — Lauren was right there making sure everything was good. We even had Mary come out of the kitchen for a bit to chat with us — I brought her some of MY homemade modeeca (still not sure how to spell it) and she did comment on it — maybe she will hire me :)
The price was reasonable, the atmosphere was pleasant and the place was clean including the bathrooms — though the cleanliness wasn’t a top priority this time for me because everything was so amazing.
Yes — I did buy the book and yes she did sign it and in fact — she added a personal note explaining how to make the dressing, which I swear was my Grammy’s once again.
Again — this might not be a 5 star for everyone, but I am certain — for me — it simply doesn’t get any better then this place and I know we will be back. I also will not miss her St. Joseph’s Day Table — but now I have the secrets in her book and will start trying to duplicate them. My Grammy never had many recipes — so the cookbook will become a must have!
Thanks for giving us a wonderful evening, great food and memories of a terrific night out in Buffalo!

Buon Appetito!!!
A special anniversary dinner requires some high expectations Gigi did not disappoint.
First of all the service was wonderful it was one girl’s first day and she was training and they were nothing but nice. They took their time and help us pick out a wine we both enjoyed and I was really picky that day I think I tasted 2 at least until I found a match made in heaven.
Next in any Italian family you bring out the bread and might I say this was the most delicious bread and hummus I’ve had. I even come from a Lebanese background so that’s saying something. They also brought out delicious dipping oil that the fresh homemade bread soaked up and melted in your mouth.
Aranicini was our appetizer it was delicious. Fried risotto with mozzarella cheese in the middle Yum!!! I tried the beans and greens as well. I was expecting something different so I didn’t love this, the flavors were there but I expected more greens then beans but I’ve only really had southern style so maybe it’s the Italian way.
There were a lot of wonderful selections but I couldn’t get over trying the spaghetti and meatballs. I subconsciously needed compare every meatball to my mothers. It was a good size not too big not too small the entrée I split with my boyfriend so it was nice it came with 2 meatballs. Homemade sauce was soooo good!!! I best sauce I’ve had in forever it feels like. But I did still put hot pepper flakes and cheese on top We also tried the pork chops. Very well cooked still juicy and crispy on the outside.
Gigi I will be back, especially since you are so close to me!!!