I Giardini di Tasso

Well I’d give this place an overall 3.5 stars. I really wanted to like this place a lot more because the owner is super nice, but based on my overall experience including the most important thing, the food, just didn’t cut it.
At this point I was traveling alone in Italy and the great thing about that is you get to meet new people and strike up conversations and really learn about the culture. Dinner in Italy usually starts very late, my tummy was not used to it, I was hungry and came early like right when it opened haha. I was seated outside without thinking twice about it, just because it was pretty and a nice day out. The next day I had bug bites the size of quarters :(I didn’t get bug bites anywhere else on my trip just here, it was definitely the garden and all the trees around that attracted so many of them.
The owner was nice enough to give me some spray, had I known they would be that severe the next day I would have just sat inside. There are now a lot of complaints of people getting bitten inside those caves and outside– shame.
Anyways I had wine, he came to chat with me, at the end of dinner insisted I try some limoncello (vodka infused with lemon) on him which is some pretty strong stuff haha. He pulled up a chair & we talked for the longest time and it was great getting to know him.
Now for the food:
Had some bread which was good, and he also brang out another complimentary stuffed item.
Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta (3 stars) — I’ve had better in CA, it wasn’t bad just no wow factor which was just OK to me. Better fried squash blossoms before. I can’t put my finger on it, but it was lacking something and just a tad soggy.
Lemon Ravioli with Shrimp (4 stars) — This was pretty good, unique flavor with the lemon and the shrimp, not mind blowing either but a solid dish.
Overall the service was great, the owner was great, the bug bites were horrible for the entire trip, the food was OK.

The best beef, best salads and desserts ever in all of Italy. The setting is equisite. Mario, the owner rents ppty from Vatican, a garden full of fruit trees. They grow their own veggies too. Beautiful, quiet, with a solo guitar in evenings away from noise of city, a truly quintessential Italian experience. Mario and his wife Johanna, who has her own shop in the main square, are warm and wonderful. If you must go here once, you will come back. We did.

Amazing dinner. Many of the ingredients are grown locally and the wine is great and also local. I had the special which was a lobster pasta which was amazing. My wife had the fish which was fresh caught and also amazing according to her. Fresh mozzarella and tomatoes in the caprese salad. Afterwards we enjoyed some homemade limoncello and Mario, the owner showed us around his garden. We loved this restaurant and hope to be back someday.

I had the beef fillet which was a fine cut of meat in a very nice pink peppercorn sauce. It came with zucchini which I normally don’t like, but somehow it tasted good. I’m not sure how they managed that trick since the preparation seemed like a simple grilled one.
I also had an insalata mista. The dressing was a bit salty to my taste, but the greens were really top notch. The bread and olive oil were also excellent
My girl had the caprese salad. The tomatoes were incredibly fresh and tasty, but she also reported they were a bit too salty. She also had the eggplant parmigiano which she said was «very, very good».
Mario, who was both the main waiter and the owner, was funny and fun to chat with. We expressed interest in his garden and he took us outside to see his nearly 300 year old lemon tree in the garden and taught us a few more Italian words.
On the side of the garden are some Roman aqueduct arches you can reserve for dinner. We saw couples eating there. It looked very romantic — although a bit chilly since it’s October.
We were given a free appetizer of these little cheese-​filled, fried puffs. They were light and tasty. We were also given gratis this amazing little after-​dinner drink of «mela e lemon» liquor that Mario makes himself. I don’t think you order it, but Mario seemed to like us as much as we liked him.
Overall: We had a really good meal and a memorable experience for a reasonble price.
I should mention that the restaurant is a little hard to find. It’s at the end of an alley, but there is a sign hanging above the entrance to the alley — so look up. Also, the alley itself is not off Courso Italia, but off the next street south and parallel to Courso Italia. Curse you, Google Maps!

This meal was a great end to our stay in Sorrento. The garden is tucked away, and very serene. The restaurant had a guitarist named Francesco that added to the ambiance, and we also had nice conversation with him throughout the evening. The meal started with a complimentary glass of prosecco and fried cheese app, and then we ordered the liter of house red (light, but tasty and got the job done) stuffed zuchinni flowers grown on premises, followed by our entrees: prawns in a fra Diablo sauce and sea bass. Everything, was very good– our only complaint was that there were quite a few pin bones in the fish filet. They are very difficult to clean, unfortunately. They finished with complimentary glasses of limoncello. Lovely experience.

Allow me to reset expectations. This is not a 5 star restaurant — it’s not even a 3 star restaurant. After much hoopla (and which in retrospect appears to be ghost writing) we were eager to try this Sorrento restaurant (we even made the drive from S’Agata). I broke my first rule of travel dining, in that, if you don’t see any locals at said establishment, it’s likely not a good sign.
I’ll start with the ambience (which is well covered in other posts) but which we found seemingly odd (and not hipster, self-​reflective odd, but weird odd). Trees adorned with fluorescent lights, scattered throughout the large property, which was unfortunate because the space has potential. We were seated in the much talked about caves (or caverns) — I could see this being cozy and romantic if perhaps it was lit by candles and not green tinted department store lighting.
A sign touting «live entertainment» proudly was in fact, how one writer put it, a woman singing karaōke. She had a lovely voice though, and bless her for rolling with this ridiculous idea of entertainment. The real gem here however, was when she took a break, a playlist of the same set list took over — it was kind of like going to a double feature where they play the same movie twice, only with different actors in the leading parts.
We ordered the Caprese salad and the meal started with a bang. Despite the odd space and the karaōke lady, I was feeling pretty good about trusting Unilocal.The burrata was amazing, the tomatoes ripe and nicely seasoned, and we devoured the dish. Hard to mess this one up with the right ingredients though.
Next up zucchini flowers. They arrived cold and lathered in marinara sauce — stuffed to the brim with ricotta we chose to dissect one to actually validate the presence of a flower.
Everything thereafter was forgettable. The food, in short, was uninspired, microwaved and overpriced (our meal was 80 euro without wine). The owner, who seems passionate enough, should probably care more about the output of his kitchen than that of his nightly entertainment. This was undoubtedly one of the strangest dining experiences I’ve ever had.
On the plus side, it’s been a long while since I’ve heard Radiohead’s «Creep» three times in one evening, so there’s that.

So this place is absolutely one of my favorite memories I have in Italy. The garden is so beautiful. Where to start, this gentlemen came up to us, he must of been the owner. We started off with a bottle of wine for the table. He said all the wine is made there. It was pretty good. I was on my honey moon and two close friends of ours. We were basically laughing the whole time and having funny convos.
The staff there didn’t speak a word on English, which I guess is fine. All we needed to do is point to the menu and order. The other guy did speak English. We ordered a bunch of things and stayed for about an hour or so. The only bad thing is all the bugs that were eating us. It’s okay though because the more we stayed the more we got drunk. In the back were private grottos. Really pretty and nice. If your going with a group of 5 people of more you should try to reserve one. I wanted to be more in the garden. There were some bats flying around which I couldn’t stop talking about.
It was an over all good time. Oh yeah! Try the raviolis, any pasta and mussels. Just excellent.

The best kept secret in Sorrento!!! Mario and his family are very attentive, service was excellent and it was the first restaurant in 7 days where I felt my presence was actually appreciated.
I asked for many restaurant recommendations from my hotel but didn’t find Giardini di Tasso until I searched Unilocal.This is a tourist town with lots of the same type restaurants, open café’s in town squares and off the main roads.
Once you enter Giardini di Tasso it’s clear you are in Italy and have found a very special place. The tables are scattered amongst trees in a tranquil outdoor setting. You feel as if you have left the town of Sorrento and are miles away in the Italian countryside. If your lucky like we were, you can eat in your own private «room» which is so cool! Its under an arch and is actually a real section of an ancient Roman aqueduct. There was also a young woman singing beautifully all night at just the right sound level, not overpowering but just enough to create the perfect ambiance.
The food was incredible, the zucchini flowers are excellent and is one of their signature items along with their homemade red wine. We had a mussels starter and gnocchi from the main menu, plus a Ravioli and Lobster linguine both off their nightly special menu. The lobster and mussels were as fresh as I’ve has and simply amazing. The ravioli and gnocchi were also top notch, they were cooked to perfection. We ended our meal with chocolate and vanilla profiteroles, both were outstanding!
This is one of those special places that my kids and I will always remember. Thank you Mario, Stella and Mia:) for a terrific experience.
Grazie!

Cadre sublime dans un jardin caché en plein cœur de la ville, romantique à souhait. Excellent repas en vue du rapport qualité prix. Un premier repas de voyage de noces qui s’est vu célébré par un Meloncello en digestif et un succulent dessert, le tout offert par le patron ! Service impeccable et discret.

There is not much to say other than the fact that Mario and his restaurant are a class act.
The service was unforgettable. We were met by Mario as soon as we entered the restaurant and were immediately given water and glasses of prosecco. Following the drinks, Mario brought out an eggplant sampler from the restaurant garden and began our night’s culinary adventure.
We ended up ordering a bottle of the house white and the house specials for the evening, including spinach ravioli with prawns, mussels, and clams. The food was absolutely divine!
As we finished, Mario arrived with sips of limoncello, meloncello, and pistachiocello. Along with this, he gave the men of our group a special sipper which was just wonderful.
To close out the night, Francis came by to serenade our group while we laughed and sipped our drinks.
All in all, one fantastic night in Sorrento.

This is the absolute best meal I had during my time in Italy, and I say it ranks as pretty much the most memorable meal of my life. I came to Sorrento with a small tour group, and my friend and I were told over breakfast at the hotel with a couple from our group about the «fabulous» place they had dinner at the night before. They described wandering through the winding streets of Sorrento and coming upon an entrance to a restaurant, which was incredibly misleading (it looked pretty standard inside, like a normal Italian restaurant). But when they were lead to the garden in the back, it was a whole other story! Luckily in their wine-​drunk giddiness, they remembered to take some brochures from the restaurant, so we were able to track down the mythical Giardini di Tasso that night.
We arrived early for dinner (around 6:30 or 7 — in Italy everyone eats much later!), and we were brought into the gorgeous garden in the back. The small tables were surrounded by orange trees, sculptures, and fountains. However, my friend and I wanted to sit in this incredible old aqueduct/​enclave, and although they’re usually reserved for bigger groups, the owner was happy to seat us there.
We enjoyed some complimentary prosecco and bruschetta to start. The bruschetta was fresh and flavorful. We had red wine and each ordered an appetizer: my friend had the mozzarella and proscuitto, while I had the stuffed zucchini flowers — they were so light and melted in my mouth!
We both chose a seafood ravioli dish that was on special, and they were incredible. And a very generous portion!
The generosity continued as we were given limoncello shots at the end of our meal. We had also heard that the owner makes his own red wine with a distinct peachy flavor, and he opened a bottle and gave us some for free. It was absolutely delicious, and so smooth.
We were beaming and stumbling a bit at the end of the night, totally blissed-​out on the incredible experience. I made sure to bring a brochure or two back to the states with me, because whenever I hear about someone visiting Sorrento, I know I need to share this place with them!

Perfectly delicious food, stunning ambiance, and wonderful service.
I’m a bit of a foodie from the San Francisco Bay Area, so I’m picky about my restaurants when traveling. I’m never going to get that meal back, after all!
I loved this restaurant. The food was skilfully prepared, scrumptious, and flavoursome. My mother ordered the parmigiana melanzane and the pesce acqua pazza (fish in «crazy» water sauce). The portions were generous and so delectable. I ordered the Insalata Caprese and the special for the evening, lobster with linguine in tomato sauce. The lobster was succulent, and cooked to perfection. It should be mentioned that a lot of the dishes use fresh ingredients grown right in the garden in which the diners sit.
The service was amazing: always attentive and friendly without being intrusive. I particularly liked the owner of the restaurant who took the time to chat with us. The restaurant sits within the oldest garden in Sorrento: there is a lemon tree that is 397 years old (it produced one lemon this year), and a tree that mixed oranges and lemons together (age 220)! I love the quiet joy and pride the owner has in his restaurant and how well he treats his own staff.
For being in a garden, the tables, chairs and dinnerware are exceptionally clean, as are the restrooms. You may need bug spray if you go in the summer. I definitely wore bug spray, and didn’t have any problems, but it is outdoors. You can sit in the garden, under the 8^th century arches (part of the original aqueduct), or in a small dining room (made of glass, but entirely sheltered from the elements).
Enjoy!!! I would definitely return.

This is single-​handedly the strangest dining experience I have ever had. I’m still baffled by the Unilocal reviews that I have read, proclaiming this to be «the best meal» someone has ever had?
While the idea of eating outside is always a welcome one, and even more interesting was eating in what sounded like a wooded park, it felt more like a cemetery to me. It was dark and a little creepy. We chose one of the «caves», which was really cool in theory, but our table was full of ants and I walked away with bug bites all over my body.
They advertise that they have «live entertainment», but that is actually a lady with a karaōke machine set up in the middle of the park. A karaōke machine using «synthesized» music. When she started belting out Dionne Warwick’s «That’s What Friends Are For», I suddenly felt the need to find a lighter to wave.
The food of course is the most important topic. The breakdown:
Bread: Out of a solid week of breadbaskets at every meal, theirs was by far my least favorite bread. It had a strange texture and did not seem freshly made.
Salad: I had an excellent arugula and pear salad. The peppery taste of the arugula paired with the sweetness of the pears and topped with parmesan shavings and walnuts… absolutely perfect.
Sea Bass: Good flavor BUT I had at least 10 bones in my fish. I spent so much time trying to fish bones out of my mouth that it was making my husband positively gag. It brought me back to when I was a child eating my dad’s fish that was never deboned properly (and always overcooked, but I digress). The bones though… Ugh. a huge reason why I grew up believing that I hated fish.
The owners were very pleasant. I quite enjoyed them. But, with the lady singing karaōke, the bugs eating me alive, and the food that was lackluster, I could not wait to exit the restaurant. I had to hold myself back from jogging out the door. I got back to my hotel and immediately filled the tub, feeling as though I was still covered in ants.
The best meal? Really?

Such a wonderful place with great foods and warm service. The ambiance is romantic, but also livery. We had a great time!

Delicious!
Let me echo the sentiments of the other Unilocalers … not just the best meal I have had in my four-​weeks in Italy, but in the last five-​years as well.
I ordered a special … Linguini with Lobster. Spectacular. I have no other words to describe it. You have got to try it. I do recommend you give yourself some extra time for this meal … you will want to savor the meal, the entertainment, and Mario.
Truly a Five-​Star dining experience. I recommend I Giardini di Tasso wholeheartedly and without reservation.

This was my most enjoyable dinner during this trip to Italy. I’m so glad we found this on Unilocal.Mario and his wife are a very friendly and nice couple. We were the first table to be seated. Guests would trickle in slowly — one visitor was returning for the second time that week.
The place is a little hard to find when you are starving and tired. From the main road, you need to divert off the road — opposite of the tourist shops– but still parallel to the main road — and look for a double door that opens and leads to two restaurants. Walk down a alley and find two doors at the end — one to I Giardini di Tasso, and one to another restaurant. I Giardini di Tasso is on the left — go up the stairs and through the dining room toward the back garden. Then you will be waved in by Mario. Each dinner starts with a complimentary prosecco, which is a nice welcoming touch.
The garden is tucked away behind all the noise from the streets. It is romantically lit, and such a quiet nice evening to enjoy dinner in Italy. I don’t think you can go wrong with anything you order — but make sure you ask Mario what is fresh today, and he will let you know what to order.

Probably our favorite meal on this trip to southern Italy. Ask for Mario the owner. Service was superb and the food was absolutely delicious. Best Caprese salad and the creamiest mozzarella which I highly recommend. The spinach ravioli with shrimp and clams was wonderful. To find the restaurant, just head to the cathedral and seminary near the main piazza and it’s down an alley to the left of the cathedral. Enjoy!

Wow!!! What a refreshing place to come for dinner! The owner is amazing– he is soooo personable and is willing to please. Everything comes fresh right from his garden. Fresh is an understatement.
Our appetizers were mouth watering from our zucchini blossoms to the Capri salad.
The owner had us try his brothers red wine and it was delicious.
His orange and lemon trees were beautiful and we felt right at home with his gardens.
To make a spectacular night even better, the owner brought us outside to his gardens to show us his 400 year old lemon tree and the outside corridors.
If you don’t eat here you’re missing out!!!

In a town full of restaurants, this one really stood out. This restaurant was amazing. It is located down an alley off of the Piazza Tasso. The glass dining room was surrounded by a surreal outdoor dining space among orange and lemon trees. The host was warm and welcoming. He kindly recommended the freshest dishes and gave us a little background about each one. We were pretty hungry, so we indulged in a antipasti, a primi, and a secondi. The antipasti was a caprese salad made with an amazing Buffalo mozzarella that had the creamiest cheese in the center. In addition to all the food we ate, we also got a complimentary glass of proseco and a shot of Lemoncello. Skip the touristy joints offering pizza and try this place for a fresh, seasonal, and memorable dinner.

I was overdue for this review!
4 and a half stars!
We were in Sorrento and thanks to trusty Unilocal,i had already book marked this restaurant.
My husband and i were looking for an authentic Italian place and according to reviews, this seemed to fit that bill.
We walked from Piazza Tasso and found the restaurant. I did not see outdoor seating, as other reviewers photos suggested. However, the place was intimate, romantic and inviting.
The restaurant was closed when we arrived (too early for dinner) however, the chef and owner were seating outside talking and living la Dolce Vita, as Italians do and they immediately greeted us with a smile and invited us inside. With my rusty Italian, i told them we were looking to have dinner and with a smile, they let us in.
We were seated inside and ordered a bottle of wine, the service was impeccable and friendly. We had the restaurant all to ourselves, which was nice, but after our first bottle the place got more and more crowded and finally it was packed!
The food was really nice, tasty, fresh and well prepared. Everything was good.
The highlight, however, was the atmosphere. So lively!, so Italian and so happy!
The owner started singing and we were all having a great time. What a blast!
One of those unforgettable experiences in a beautiful place like Sorrento. If you are in Sorrento, you must visit.

I think this is one of my first 5 star reviews.
Service superb
Owner on site and gracious
Atmosphere superb, we sat in a small stone enclosure, which was part of a thousand year old or more aqueduct. See photo.
Food wonderful. My fish was deboned at the table and came with potatoes, olives, tomatoes sauce which was great.
The wine was the owners very own, from his vineyard. Very good and a good buy.
Must have the stuffed zucchini flowers. Excellent.