Gino Marty's - Chicago

TLDR: Solid food, fine cocktails, service and vibe may leave something to be desired. We booked early on NYE. Arrived for a 5:30p reservation and the restaurant was empty except for two other parties. We were sat at the bar, which I honestly find to be fine, but my partner prefers table seating. No stars off for that, but it would have been a nice touch to select the seating type when making a reservation. We ordered two appetizers, two entrees, and a couple rounds of drinks. My partner said her salad was lackluster. I quite enjoyed the oysters they were super fresh, well selected, and well shucked. The vinegar was bright and an excellent touch. She had Sunday sauce I thought it was good, but not amazing. It tasted like a standard but well made meat sauce. I had the lamb ravioli which were outstanding. I haven 't finished a pasta dish in ages, but I inhaled this and would have loved a couple more to take home. The service was lackluster, especially for a holiday. As mentioned, the restaurant was pretty well empty when we arrived. Our appetizers took a good 40 minutes to come out and we had to ask about our entrees the server hadn 't even put them in, despite saying he 'd pace everything to come out. I had a gimlet and whisky sour which were both good, not great, and my partner had two mocktails that she enjoyed. Our server Mark D. was enthusiastic and chummy, but had that over the top River North vibe that didn 't quite align with the atmosphere. He did serve more oysters than ordered and comped those as well as my partner 's mocktails, but it was over a 2.5hr dinner for an appetizer and entree, which made us late for other plans. Honestly, it was more his (I don 't have a better word than) slimy vibe pushed this rating down. I rarely tip less than 25%, and I was disappointed to find 20% was already added to the check. He did thankfully point that out, but this was one of the few times I wouldn 't have tipped that much. I 'm glad we checked this place out, bu

Everything was great except the oysters. Ambiance, service, the branzino was delicious.

All of our protein dishes were dry, the sauce on the meatball appetizer carried the dish. Our calamari was the best dish we were served, and subsequently the only dish that came out the appropriate temperature. Our noodle dishes were far too al dente, all could have used more time boiling. Drinks were great, wonderful wine recommendations from our waiter but his focus was primarily on the large table next to us for the evening so it was far and few times he would check on us, forgot my wife’s wine twice, and evidently forgot about our main courses given the 30 minutes between the last app plate being picked up and dinner being served. Would not recommend.

We decided to try Gino Marty’s for our anniversary and we’ll definitely be back! Mark, Mike and Chris were so attentive and went above beyond to make it a great first experience. We loved the sausage and peppers and the G T Sidecar, can’t wait to try it again!

Fabulous ambiance, great happy hour menu that can be blended with the regular menu and food was delicious!