Girardi's Osteria

11/18/08

great drinks by Tammy K. at InsiderPages

Contributor at Insider Pages

I've had awesome meals here, but whenever I take company, it's not as good. I think they have one good chef, and one so so chef. I still want to go, because when it's good, it's excellent. It was hard to give it 4 or 6 stars though.

06/20/09

Comfortable, romantic Italian

by katiecat18 at Citysearch

We stopped at Girardi's just as we were heading out of Edmonds after the artfair. We'd circled around, looking at other places to eat, but nothing in the area seemed all that appealing. We're so glad Girardi's caught our eye, and we made the stop!

We were cold and drenched from the rain. Even though Girardi's has the feel of a nicer restaurant, we felt perfectly comfortable in our fleece and boots. The atmosphere inside reminded me of places I've visited in Carmel and La Jolla- Airy cottage, with a fireplace in the center, and a comfortable yet slightly upscale feel - The kind of place where you feel settled in to your seat no matter what type of chair.

We both ordered wine = The pours were generous, and the wine was delicious.

Bread to accompany olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping was fresh.

I ordered a salad with a unique combination of ingredients (baby spinach, tuna, lobster bits)- It was very flavorful - to the point that it barely needed dressing (and I'm a dressing person).

My husband ordered ravioli that was stuffed with cheese and spinach, and the sauce was made with fresh tomatoes and rock crab = He cleaned his plate.

The most fabulous part of the meal was the Tiramisu= Out of this world delicious!! = Disappeared from the plate in less than 5 minutes.

Price wise, we thought we got our money's worth for all that we ate. We'll definitely be back!

• Pros: Delicious food, attentive and efficient service
• Cons: None

01/15/09

Perfect romantic evening

by callmesweetheart at Citysearch

What a beautiful little spot!

One thing that deserves to be mentioned immediately: the lighting. They definitely use candle-yellow bulbs. This is wonderful -- it is incredibly flattering light and creates a beauful warm glow. The consistency of this lighting throughout the restaurant is inspiring. The restrooms even have the same warm glow -- no harsh transfer into whiter light here. Such attention to detail is refreshing. The only white light in the whole restaurant came from the paintig spotlights on the walls -- but one needs white light to see what the artist actually intended one to see, and the lights shine only on the paintings, nothing else.

I was having a bad night when we arrived, but soon after arriving, I was on cloud nine. My date and I were never rushed, never ran out of water, and were more than well taken care of. We sat, talked, and drank (I really needed a drink) for close to an hour, and our waiter just checked in with us from time to time, tending to our needs without hovering. When we were finally ready to order, he was right there to take it.

The food was spectacular. We ordered a bruchetta appetizer, and it was the best bruchetta I've ever had: large asiago shavings atop a wonderful conglomeration of vegetables, with a crisp round of bread underneath. We shared an entree of duck with the most delightful amaretto-brownsugar-butter reduction. Tender, succulent, juicy little rounds of meat beautifully arranged and sitting in a decadent-yet-subtle sweet sauce. A great sauce is the difference between a good meal and a great meal. The duck was served with zucchini and carrot slices, perfectly cooked (there are few things worse than overdone zucchini), and delightfully comforting polenta, perfectly crisp on the outside and soft inside.

After spending close to two hours slowly enjoying our evening, I almost felt like our waiter would miss us once we were gone ... he was that delightful. Overall, a perfect evening.

11/02/08

Our local favorite!

by seattle36 at Citysearch

We've been to Girardi's over a dozen times. We love how we can have a great meal without having to drive into Seattle.

The service here is outstanding. The bartender is very generous with her pours : ) The staff here is always willing to do substitutions, even created a dish that wasn't on the menu for a out of town friend who was craving Shrimp Scampi.

We've had many things on their menu and have never been dissapointed. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and romantic.

This remains to be our favorite local restaurant!

• Pros: Great food and service
• Cons: none

09/15/08

Wonderful ambience!

by SuandLarry at Citysearch

We chose Girardi's as the place to hold our son's Groom's Dinner and we turned out to be thrilled with our choice. Because we live quite a distance away, we had to do a lot of planning via the telephone and even so, everything turned out perfect. Every course that was served was delicious, the wine was wonderful, and the service excelled any we have ever had. I think our son and his new bride will be coming back often for the special occasions in their lives. And the next time we are in the area, you can be sure we will enjoy a meal their too. We highly recommend Girardi's.

• Pros: excellent service, accomodated a large group with no problems
• Cons: we avoided parking by walking over from our hotel

03/01/08

Best romantic date ever!!

by adamko84 at Citysearch

My husband and I went there tonight for our delayed Valentine's dinner. Oh my goodness, my taste buds thought they died and went to heaven!! Put it this way. Our dishes came with carrots and zucchini as the vegetables. I hate cooked carrots and hate zucchini even more. But they were DELICIOUS!! I don't know what they did to them but wow. And of course the rest of the food was to die for. The atmosphere was incredibly romantic, complete with a fireplace in the middle and candles at every table, draperies on the ceiling, and several chandeliers. It did an amazing job of keeping the noise level reasonable, we didn't even realize the place was packed until we saw everyone when we went to leave. Definitely not one of those places you have to concentrate to hear what your date is saying. It is pricey, but not too bad, for both of us with a glass of wine each and an appetizer and chicken and duck it was 81 w/ tip. You definitely get what you pay for though. The service was slightly slow, but once we got the food we didn't care. It's such a romantic place the only slightly slow service just gives you more time to hold hands with your loved one across the table! : ) Definitely a must for anyone looking for a romantic date in the Edmonds area.

12/26/06

A Must Miss

by cmarlow at Citysearch

Girardi's tries very hard to be taken seriously, but it just fails on every level with its menu. I've eaten many times there before, and I've never been too impressed, but tonight was the last straw. We were seated by a very nice waiter (all the staff are great people), but it took them 10 minutes to take our drink order. When the bread arrived it was stale, yep they served us two-day old bread since yesterday was Christmas and I doubt the restaurant was receiving shipments that day.

I ordered Pollo Putenesca with roasted potatoes, broccoli and carrots. What I received was an extremely salty putenesca sauce, cold vegetables (they actually served me a pile of cold shredded carrots! Boogles the mind.), and very soggy, very burnt, very cold potatoes. I ate most of my chicken and called it a night. My apetite was a goner. All that for $17.00. I mean, guys, this is what you expect from a Sodexho cafeteria at, say, Harborview Hospital, not what claims to be an upper crust Italian restaurant.

Avoid Girardi's at all costs. Want good Italian? Run to Mama Melina's in the U-District or Barolo in Downtown Seattle.

• Pros: Nice staff. Ambience isn't bad.
• Cons: The food.

12/01/06

Normally it's great but...

by llxx411 at Citysearch

On my last visit, we went in expecting the normal upscale experience. We can't afford it every night so we were really looking forward to something better than fast food. The hostest and staff were friendly but I couldn't believe she was wearing a zip up sweatshirt with "Hollister" pressed across her chest in white letters. Even a black tshirt would've been better and more elegant.

When you're buying wine, appetizers, and dinner at the cost of $25 per person, don't you expect more? I do.

11/18/06

Fine Dining. Recommend

by kctab at Citysearch

Exceptional. Good wine selection. The staff is very accomodating. Northern Italian. Romantic and affordable.

• Pros: No waiting, easy.

Editorial Review by Citysearch Editors

by Contributor at Citysearch

Upscale Italian dining in a former cottage, from pasta primis to meaty segundis.

02/28/06

The best restaurant you've never visited

by lexicondiner at Citysearch

Probably one of the best restaurants I've been to in Seattle. Having travelled extensively in Europe, Girardi's can compete with some of the best both in service, graciousness but especially food. The food was prepared beautifully and not masked by overspicing.

• Pros: Romantic, Great Food
• Cons: Pricey, Location