Gio Rana’s Really Really Nice Restaurant

Reviews

• Derek R.

  star star star star star 25 July 2026

  Tried this Leslieville hot spot on a Saturday night and I must say, everything about it was perfect.
  
  Food
  Started with giant meatball and caprese salad. Both delicious, but if I had to pick one, I'd go for the meatball.
  
  For dinner, I had the gnocchi which was pillowy and perfectly seasoned. The sauce was delicious - just wish I had a bit more bread to soak it all up!
  
  Decor
  This place is pretty funky. Chandeliers, a Christmas tree, movies on the back wall. It's got it all! But it really works. It's a cozy, fun place to sit, relax and enjoy a good meal.
  
  Service
  Excellent service. Very relaxed!
  
  Overall, I'd say this is one of the top restaurants on the east end.

• Lily D.

  star star star star star 14 July 2026

  Hello, Hi, if you are thinking of coming here stop reading reviews and just go... This is my all time favourite restaurant in Toronto. The menu is fantastic, the staff are awesome and the restaurant itself has such a good vibe. I highly recommend the oysters, the grilled calamari, the buffala salad, the carpaccio, and MOST OF ALL MY FAVOURITE DISH ON EARTH, the squash crespelle (small size).
  
  I'm serious. The prices are fair the food is GREAT. I Don't recommend going off the menu for their specials unless you're sure it's your thing.
  
  But honestly. This place is the best

• Kevin B.

  star star star star_border star_border 11 July 2026

  We read the mixed reviews on this place, but a friend who went several times highly recommended Gios.
  
  It's a cute place and the staff are very pleasant. Toilets/bathrooms need renovating, an a bathroom in a restaurant normally says a lot about a place.
  
  Small menu is always a good sign, and reasonably priced too. The old movies playing on the big screen is nice ambience, however it's simply too dark, even for an Italian restaurant. We had the Meatball to start, which was huge and delicious. The salmon was not well described and was creamy, something that was not in the description, but very bland and cold. The stuffed chicken....well honestly it was pretty poor. Incredibly oily, and very salty. The chicken was not "stuffed" but rather what tasted like "American cheese" (but obviously was not) under a floppy chicken skin, with some oily pieces of yellow pepper. Very disappointing mains, but we were very hungry, so ate them! We also had the Tuscan fries for a side, which they forgot to put through, but our friend's arrived, which were quite hard and "floppy". We had the Nutella cheesecake, which was pretty delicious. One piece of advice is to ask people for any dietary requirements they may have.
  
  I imagine this place was amazing it its time, but perhaps they have slacked off in recent times. It was not particular busy, being a Tuesday night. Very nice staff, a pleasant dinner, but just not worth 4*. I hope they pick up and become that 5* Gio's that others have described.

• Charles C.

  star star star star star 8 July 2026

  The coveted 5 star. Cinque Stelle. Reserved for only the greatest food - or some other realizzazione that manages to rise above all competition and achieve greatness. Grandezza! The food here was a 3.5-4. Good. Some Very good. But not spectacular. A lot of this 5 star rating is owed to our company that night and the way gios welcomed us. An amazing group of ten (dieci) - the night was destined for greatness from the drop.
  
  Pre-dinner drinks at home to get the conversation flowing and the mood elevated. A gathering of likeminded, good humoured people called for a great location. Loud and boisterous - with a touch of class and culinary know how. Gios really
  Delivered.
  
  Chefs choice for the 10 of us - with wine and cocktails galore. The buffalo mozzarella, ravioli (squash) and bread got things rolling. But I had read reviews and hoped the chef would bless us with his famous balls. In our mouths. And he did. Enormous juicy balls. Everyone had their fill. Those meatballs were damn awesome mama mia. MELT IN YOUR MOUTH.
  
  There was a rappini pasta - my second favourite dish of the night. Salmon. Chicken. Steak. Gnocchi. The chef was feeling generous that night my friend - we could hardly finish the food. Everything was delicious - but the ambience. Ohhhh what a night. Ba ba ba what a night! Have you ever seen the Italian restaurant movie "the big night"? Worth a Watch...
  
  The volume turnt up - and every song seemed to become a sing-a-long. And not just our table. The whole freakin' restaurant was singing and eating! All night! Dancing around the tables! Sinatra, backstreet boys - Queen. It was, how you say, Freddo. Che grande! You know when you've had a few (more than) drinks and start to look around - wondering if you are now the obnoxious hammered table in a quiet, pretentious restaurant? this was not the case. The whole damn crowd were having a ball. Eating drinking and laughing under the twinkle twinkle starlight inside gios.
  
  Waitress was a blonde from UK - bang on service and just the right touch of comradery. Espressos to close and we were spent. 10 people and the total bill with tip was just over a grand. And we drank like fish. Fantastic evening - one I won't forget anytime soon - made possible by the great ambience, food and vibes at gios. This place is actually really really really good. Mille grazie!!

• Lisa S.

  star star star star star 3 July 2026

  We had our wedding at Gio Rana's last weekend and it was absolutely amazing.  My husband and I had our first date on the east side at Gio's several years ago and we fell in love with the food, the atmosphere and the wonderful staff.  We go back all the time.  Our wedding was everything we dreamed of and more.  The staff went above and beyond and the food was melt in your mouth amazing.  All of our guests enjoyed themselves immensely.  A wonderful restaurant made even more amazing by the awesome people who work there.  Thank you!