Girasole Ristorante

Our dinner tonight was great. The service was on point. The hostess was prompt and professional ad the waitstaff were friendly and attentive. The bread and bruschetta were both fresh and tasty. Our table started with rigatoni bolognese and stuff zucchini flowers. The rigatoni was al dente and the sauce was delicious. The flowers were also good but a little soggy as they had an accompanying sauce. I had a paparadelle special with shrimp scallops mushrooms and artichokes which was well prepared but a bit jumbled. My husband had a lemon shrimp dish which was very well seasoned and cooked well. Dessert was great. We always choose molten chocolate cake if it is an option on a menu and it did not disappoint! Definitely recommend this resataurant!

Better places out there than this in Philly… I went here on a Saturday night and was extremely disappointed by the food and staff for such a pricey place in center city. Granted it was a busy night, but I did not expect such poor service from a nice looking place like this. The crowd seemed elderly and there were few kids besides our table. We felt ignored for most of the night. I had to ask for my beer and son’s apple juice twice before getting it 20 minutes later. We did not get our order placed for at least 30 – 40 minutes and the staff just seemed very overwhelmed and frazzled. Either they were understaffed or they weren’t giving us much attention. The pasta dishes we tried were so-​so. We were here for almost 2 hours. When the bill came, we had to give the normal tip for tables with more than 8 people. I wish that rule could be changed. On top of that… prior to running the credit cards, the manager came over and said they forgot to charge some additional drinks to our bill. So they added a few more drinks to the bill and reprinted it. I don’t know how you screw that up prior to placing the drink order, but it was hard for us to tell if it was accurate because of the larger group. To me, that is horrible customer service. Either you own up to the mistake before presenting the bill or just forget about it.

Didn’t have the first two items on their menu that we asked for including our wine choice. Service was quite slow. Bread basket was terrible. Not going back. Far too expensive for the quality.

The very best Italian food in Philadelphia. The freshest Bronzino and veal with tagliatelle and eggplant parmigiana and top off dinner with their apple torte. Great wine selection and Franco is a welcoming host with his wife as chef. We eat there at least once a week before concerts, theater or just for the evening
Lynn and Joe

First off we were a party of four and had gotten there a little early. They would not serve us drinks at all but made us wait for our table. They had two heaters going on but that did not matter as the place was freezing cold. The girls had to eat with their coats on.
Drinks were a joke, what they had listed as a specialty drink they did not have the makings. My friend asked for something which he saw at the bar but they said they did not have that either. When we finally received drinks mine was so watered down I wondered if it had any alcohol in it at all.
The appetizers were small portions and cold. The food when it came out was just so so and the serving sizes were proportioned to feed a small child. I could go on and on but you get the general gist of what I am saying.
Definitely NOT recommended at all!

I want to like Girasole, I really do. But every time we go there, they treat us like we are interrupting them. Last night, we wanted to get a drink and a bite to eat. We were seated at the bar and then ignored for fifteen minutes. When we got up to go, the owner (maybe?) tried to stop us by telling us that the bar was not really a bar. (What?) He said it was a place where their diners waited until they were seated for dinner. But there were five other people at the bar and they had all been served drinks… and we were there to drink and eat… it was all so awkward and confusing… but this is not the first time… although it may be our last time…

I have to say it’s never surprising to walk into an Italian restaurant with pompous Italian opera forcing a façade of sophistication and receive terrible food to match.
To start we ordered the buffalo mozzarella which is ‘made fresh’. Our portion came out of a refrigerator and was pure ricotta half way though. That’s two counts against one dish: ice cold mozzarella that turns back into cheese curds when you try to cut into it.
My girlfriend got a salad and asked for oil and vinegar on the side. These guys forgot the vinegar, so the salad was flavored pure olive oil. It’s the small things that lets you know you’re at a restaurant which has given up and not checking to see that both oil and vinegar are represented for a salad is one of those things.
I ordered a spaghetti carbonara with ‘home made’ pasta. I don’t even know why I’d waste everybody’s time describing all the wrong things about this dish so I’ll summarize: it was cooked with soggy store bought pasta and served unapologetically bland.
These guys have to know they are phoning it in, though, as the place was emptier than Donald Trump’s promises. To conclude I have to say I’d have a very different tone if they had charged prices appropriate for their quality– I’ll do research at a local mall food court and see what Sbarro is charging.

It was my fault that I even bothered to check out a 3 star restaurant. Upon arriving, it took me 3 tries to find the right door. Just unlock all the doors or have signs so that a diner can find the correct door immediately. Otherwise you just look stupid silly pulling on door handles. Menu was smaller than what was displayed online. Probably ²⁄₃ smaller. I ordered veal. Waiter didn’t even apologize he just said NO. NO VEAL. Thanks. I may look young but I don’t need to be scolded for your short comings. Bread was served ice cold and olive oil was tasteless. Please save your time and don’t even come here. I’m writing this review before my food even comes out.
EDIT
now that the food has arrived im more than willing to give this place a 0. Beef carpaccio didn’t taste like beef. Bland flavorless. Beef lacked the quality of a beef used for carpaccio. Tuna carpaccio was a complete crime. Fishy tuna was disgusting. Again low grade low quality. So disappointing.
EDIT EDIT
got my entré. You can look at my picture. Looks like a kids meal. Lol. Also since they didn’t want to turn on the heat for 2 peopl, they had outdoor heat lamps indoor which was held together my duct tape (see picture). Talk about safety.

I will definitely not be back here and do not recommend it to anyone.
We came here for restaurant week lunch, the reservation was unable to be increased online to four people and the restaurant was empty except for one other couple… The first thing I noticed was that several of the dishes I came here for on the online restaurant week menu was not being offered on the menu.
We got the beef carpaccio and tuna carpaccio to start. The tuna carpaccio was incredibly fishy and made me suspicious that it was not even raw grade fish. The beef carpaccio was mostly flavorless.
I had the farfalle with a salmon rose sauce for my entrée. It was edible but tasted similar to a lazy pasta dinner at home with a jar of pasta sauce and dried pasta from the grocery store.
The dessert was a watered down grainy cheese cake that probably came from the freezer that morning. Yikes.

The food was good, got the gnocci. However nothing stellar and the wine list is pretty short. Honestly, nothing great to say but also nothing bad. For the price you may as well go to another similarly priced resturant elsewhere.

This small Italian place on the corner of Broad and Pine is definitely the place to go… if you have no other options. Today was my first day going here, and it was basically empty. My friends and I were a party of 15, and everywhere in the city was booked besides here.
Ambiance: Essentially the place is very nice, rather small however. But nothing to complain about here.
Staff: Everyone was very friendly. I don’t think they spoke good English, but they tried their best and they were all very kind!
Food: First of all everything is over priced. Well to a college student anyways. For a plate of anything. You’re looking to average $ 25 a plate. Yes I said $ 25 a plate. This wouldn’t normally be a problem if their was a lot of food. However, I finished my food in literally 5 bites. Okay I’m being dramatic I actually finished it in about 8 bites. The serving sizes are not that much at all. However the food was delicious and fresh. Still I don’t think they should charge that much.
Overall, this is a nice place to go maybe on a date with a longtime significant other. But I doubt I’ll be going back here just because of the prices. They also have a bar with a TV that had the playoff game on it. Also, the bathroom was really really nice. But pretty dark.

There are those places you try out once and never again. Unfortunately this is one of them. When we arrived we thought the restaurant was very pleasant. This, however, is one of the only positive things I can say about our experience.
We were a big party and ordered a variety of food. Overall we ALL agreed the food was bland and overpriced. No amount of alcohol could have saved us.

This was the worst dining experience I have ever had in Philadelphia. We had a 6:00 reservation and got our food at 8:00. Friends who had a performance had to leave without eating. My parpadelle with mushrooms contained four slices of shiitake and about a pinch of tomatoes and water at the bottom of the bowl. No seasoning. We ordered a Pinot on their list but they were out so the waiter just brought another inferior bottle (same price) and poured. They comped us the wine and did not charge for our friend’s food after we complained but so what! We wanted a good Saturday night pre performance dinner not bad food and aggravation.

Food was very fresh and tasted wonderful. They made a gluten free dish with shrimp — I would definitely order again.
We were surprised when we walked in at 7pm on a Saturday night and there was one couple and lots of empty tables — so don’t worry about reservations.
I tasted the cheesecake (not sure if it’s gluten-​free or not) and it was light and fluffy. I am used to a heavy, creamy cheesecake, but this was very good.

I came here with a big group for a birthday dinner. As some of the other reviews said we were basically the only people there and it was a Saturday night… in downtown philly? kind of weird. The service was slow. We kept having to ask for water refills and more oil for the bread which isnt a big deal– except there were no other patrons AND we are paying over $ 20 a plate. The food itself was pretty delicious. The caprese was fresh and delicious. We shared 2 pastas but I forgot the names. One was great the other was good. I liked the food but with a $ 20+ price tag on a smallish plate of homemade pasta, well…

I went here with a friend for restaurant week and was thoroughly disappointed. The anticipation that I felt leading up to go here, had my pallet waiting to be overjoyed however; it was the complete opposite. First of all, we walked into the restaurant and it was virtually empty. Seeing as though it was pretty empty you would think that service would be swift, not so. I ended up being late going back to work because of the slothfulness of the staff.
My gf ordered a pasta dish that was served luke worm, again, have no idea how that happened when we literally were the only people in the restaurant. I ordered a chicken dish which was bland.
I was completely disappointed and after expressing such to the staff, we got a simple, oh, sorry. I won’t be returning here.

This place is deaaaaaaaaaad. Wow. I mean not surprised when I read about it being on deal sites but it didn’t seem like there was really any reason to be that level of deathbed awful.
I came here for dinner with a bunch of family members. I never had any clue what I could order alcohol-​wise so I had to sort of guess my way into a bourbon and ginger ale. Never got asked if I wanted another, whatever. Never really got my water refilled either.
We started off with a mixed seafood/​veggie misto plate and burrata. The burrata was amazing, I was not really a fan of the calamari. It was just there, really.
I shared a caprese salad with my cousin which was decent, but for the price you wouldn’t catch me actually eating it on my own. (Then again if it was up to me we wouldn’t have eaten here but that’s another story.)
It took an awfully long time to get our food for such a dead restaurant on a Saturday night.
I had farfalle and smoked salmon in a tomato cream sauce. It was alright. Supposedly they make their own pasta but there was absolutely nothing to me that differentiated it from a $ 1 box of pasta I could buy at the grocery store. The smoked salmon was in such small pieces you couldn’t really get the flavor of it. At least the sauce was good. But not $ 19 good.
Everyone seemed to enjoy what they had but holy shit for how much it cost I would rather have been goddamn content on my food. Maybe this is why I live in Atlanta and don’t spend $ 8 on 4 slices of tomatoes, 4 slices of mozzarella, some balsamic and arugula.
And the server… soooo weird.
2.5, rounding up because I feel bad for them.

We were a bit skeptical after reading the reviews but dinner exceeded our expectations. The staff was inviting, accommodating and very friendly. The restaurant was a bit loud but I believe the party of 6 that we were was causing most of that loudness. Our meals were well prepared and very tasty, the pasta was incredible. The gravy was fantastic and very authentic with chunks of tomato, basil and garlic.
Overall we had a great experience and we will return.

I don’t know that I necessarily would have sought this place out had I not had a Groupon, but I’m glad that I did.
Came on a Tuesday night and no joke, it was completely empty. A friend and I ordered:
Insalata Formaggi: arugula salad with walnuts, pears and cheese
Pappardelle: with olive oil, garlic and porcini mushrooms
Penne: with a creamy tomato sauce, spinach and salmon
Everything was fantastic, although the salad portion was on the small side. The pasta doubled as lunch for the next day too, which is always a win in my book.
Not sure what it is about the location/​vibe of this place that makes me feel like I don’t reaaaaally wanna go back, but I probably will because the pasta was exceptional.

This place was AMAZING
Food was great and the service was even better. Appetizers were great, entrée’s were great and our server Rob was the best part, he was the most professional server I’ve ever had.
We are def heading back to this place.