Ristorante Giardino

The service may have been a bit slow at times, but the food is great. These people know how to blend flavor a in sauces and salad dressings. They were very accommodating to the celiac member of our party as well.

We did not have a positive experience with the service here. TripAdvisor also has reviews about the terrible service at this restaurant. I recommend saving your money for one of the many other fine restaurants at Niagara-​on-​the-​Lake which offer excellent food and treat all their guests in a friendly and welcoming manner. Unilocal may consider this a rant by their standards, but quite frankly, this was my experience of the service here and people may want to know about it. In the interest of being completely transparent and fair, I included the blow-​by-​blow details so you can make a determination of this place for yourself.
We were a party of eight visiting Niagara-​on-​the-​Lake after seeing a play at the Shaw Festival. It was approximately 5:30 p.m. on a sunny day when we visited this place, so they had plenty of seats (only two people were on the patio) and it was definitely not their dinner rush. We walked in and requested a seat on the patio for some drinks, like an afternoon tea. The concierge and the staff at the front desk looked at us with surprise and then with a distinct lack of enthusiasm and annoyance. On our way out to the patio, I overheard the waitress ask the concierge how many menus to provide to us and he answered, «No, just give them only one.» They seated us at the biggest table on the patio with only a single copy of the wine menu, no water and no reminder of «Your server will be right with you». The two waitresses did help us move two additional chairs to the big table.
We were seated for about a minute when we realized that our table wasn’t completely shaded due to the sun setting and with the temperature being 38 degrees Celsius that day, it wasn’t exactly comfortable. We asked the only waiter we saw if we could move to a table in the shade since there was no one else on the patio. The waiter told us to check with our server. We asked him if he would ask for us since our server hadn’t appeared. When we walked over to two smaller tables in the shade, two waitresses came back out. We asked if we could combine the two smaller tables so that all eight of us could sit together as a group. The first one indicated «No, four of you can sit there and the other four can sit here. You’ll be next to each other anyway.» The other waitress then asked if we would prefer a table indoors. We declined and then asked if we could just move eight chairs around to one of the smaller tables since it seemed so much trouble for them to move the tables. The second waitress then advised that the two smaller tables are reserved so we can’t do that. This makes absolutely no sense given that they were insisting on seating all of us at the two smaller tables simultaneously, which means we would be using all the chairs anyway. Again, there were only two other guests on the patio during this entire time. Since it felt like the staff were not interested in our business with their strange insistence that we sit apart or sit together at an uncomfortable spot, we decided to leave.
We were a demure group in our early 30’s, so we definitely do not look or act like teenagers and were dressed appropriately from attending the theater. We were not swearing, belligerent or rude when we made our requests and we tried to accommodate them with their rules. My spouse and I had even moved the two chairs back in their original places from the large table to make it less trouble for them.
By the way, I can’t comment on the price range and type of food they offer since they didn’t bother providing us with a copy of the menu (even if we said we didn’t want to eat dinner, they could have taken a chance that we might order something once we saw their offerings). I also want to point out that if you search for «Gate House Hotel» on Unilocal,two reviewers who ate at this place in 2013 and 2014 mentioned feeling «uncomfortable» and «unwelcome» and wondered if it was based on their «looks».

This beautiful Italian restaurant is located in the Gate House Hotel, at the heart of the heritage site of Niagara-​On-​The-​Lake. The street where it’s situated is the most popular tourist spot in the town. The restaurant has a gorgeous patio outside, which is perfect for enjoying a nice lunch while soaking in some sun in the summer!
I had the Spaghetti Pescatore. It’s delicious! The seafood is tender, and the spaghetti is cooked just right. I also tried some of the lobster ravioli as well. It’s very good also! The ravioli is freshly made, and the sauce is so yummy, highly recommended! I thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience here!

I think we have eaten here about eight to ten times over the last twenty or so years. The service has always been great and until last night the food has been wonderfully imagined and executed. However, last night was a complete fail, and we doubt that we will ever return. Every dish was sub par. The lamb shank that I left half eaten was the worst shank I’ve had from any restaurant. Dry, tough, and tasteless. Nothing on my plate, the polenta or the various veggies, tasted any good. In addition, The texture of mussels was unappealing and the broth overly buttered and seasoned, the gnocchi a plate of so what, the salad was overwhelmed by the smoky flavor (again left half eaten). Whether it was merely a lapse or a yearlong descent from last year’s decent (not as great as usual) quality into this year’s offerings, I haven’t a clue. Hopefully the chef and kitchen staff simply had a bad day because it would be sad to think that a restaurant that we have enjoyed so often had deteriorated to this level.

Our waiter and hostess were very helpful and the food was fine. The steak was tasty but it was on the tough side. Cesar was fresh but the balsamic served with the baguette was medium to lower quality as was the bread itself.
The ambiance was lacking eg music, lighting and the décor seemed out of date and somewhat confused.
We debated 2 vs 3 stars but the people were very gracious.
Thx

The food was absolutely fantastic.
Beautiful atmosphere and the fact that everything was made from scratch here is amazing.
The only reason I had to take 1 star off is because of the fact that despite our request to not have cheese in one of the dishes, as we are lactose intolerant, it actually contained cheese.
I hate being the picky person, but after having it redone, I still notice the cheese strings and smell in the dish.
The waiter first told us there may be some «sprinkles» of cheese which is kind of strange but after being redone he was so convinced that there was absolutely 0 cheese and told us that it was our «imagination.» But I had others try it and they said the same thing so I don’t know why he would blame us, the customer and I don’t know why I had to feel bad about it.
But that dish was taken off the bill so all good I guess.
To the chef, please don’t hate us lactose intolerant people. Despite not being able to eat cheese we still love Italian food and all of your dishes (minus the cheese issue) was AMAZING.
Will recommend. :)

Beautiful dining room overlooking Queen Street. Impeccable service. Great Italian food at very reasonable prices!
We were planning to go to Treadwell’s nearby for their farm-​to-​table fare but they were closed for Thanksgiving while the voice recording wasn’t updated. Thanks to fellow Unilocalers for the recommendation!
Note that there’s almost too much food for the 4-​course Thanksgiving prix fixe lunch menu. And I can eat a lot! Great value though, as it’s the same menu at $ 10 less for lunch (@$ 29.99 vs $ 39.99 for dinner).

When we walked up to the front of this restaurant, I wasn’t sure of what to make of the interior — its like Norman Rockwell meets Donatella Versace. Regardless of the confusing motif, our food was excellent and the service is spectacular. My scallops were perfectly cooked and the roasted tomatos, which came with my dish, were cooked to perfection. Our waiter was very attentive and the chef even came around to ensure that everyone was enjoying their meals. This was a great place for dinner!

We were in town on our way to Niagara Falls and wanted to stop by for a nice meal at an Italian restaurant. We ordered 3 dishes and all lacked in either quality or portion size.
In the case of Spaghetti alla Napoletana, the tomato sauce was too acidic unlike a proper Italian tomato sauce and the portion was way too small, even for lunch size. The Ravioli ($ 16 Lunch Menu) were equally unimpressive, with only a handful of them on the plate. I wanted penni with creamy sauce and chicken, but they did not have it on the menu. Our waitress was kind enough to modify Gramigna alla Salsiccia to accommodate my request. However, what I got ($ 15 Lunch Menu) was not impressive at all. The penni were not penni at all. They served gramigna noodles, which felt tasteless. The creamy sauce was non existent. It seemed like they skimped on the ingredients and made that sauce with butter and flour instead of cream. The chicken breast was pretty good though. Properly cooked and not dry at all. I’m sorry, guys, but next time I’m in town, I’ll be going to a different restaurant where I won’t be disappointed at the end of my meal.

We were there for dinner during on the eve of Canada day. Ordered the lamb shank with saffron risotto, while my wife had the seafood pasta.
THe lamb was really nice and the sauce was full flavored — very delicious. The risotto fell short though — saffron did not come through and texture wise it was «crunchy».
The pasta was served with scallops & large shrimp. The scallops and shrimp was cooked to perfection and the sauce worked harmoniusly. The draw back was the pasta — which was rather cakey, and it did not taste like it was dressed in the sauce.
Maybe it was a long day and because I was a late customer (9.30pm), …willing to visit it again.

The best gnocchi ever. Anywhere.
I still dream of it.

Nice restaurant in NOTL. You can find comparable quality food in Toronto at similar prices, but it’s hard to find such a nice space — this restaurant is big, with huge windows. It’s a really pleasant place to eat.