Best Contemporary Italian Restaurants in St. James

We were celebrating a special occasion and had a wonderful time. The hostess brought us 2 champagne flutes which we felt was very thoughtful. Our server, Reina was an absolute joy. In fact everyone who serviced our table was friendly. The food was delicious as always, from appetizer to dessert. We tried new menu items this time and they did not disappoint.

Spectacular dinner with our brother and sister in law at Gioia in Oyster Bay tonight. It was our fourth time there and their first. We split appetizers of grilled cauliflower with ricotta and pistachios and warm mozzarella with prosciutto de Parma. Normally, I hate cauliflower but can’t imagine not ordering it there as it is just so good. Everyone enjoyed it. The prosciutto in the mozzarella with prosciutto de Parma tastes a cut above from other restaurants I’ve been to and melts in your mouth. My husband had the tortellini; his brother had the Gnocchi Bolognese; his wife (a picky eater) had the capellacci; and I I had the gramigna. Throughout the dinner my husband wouldn’t shut up about how he loves that place and how good it was. (So much so I wanted to hit him! 😂). Everything was perfect and our brother and sister in law both said they’ll be back. We had a little bit of a wait for the table (but not that long) so the apologetic manager said our first round of drinks was on the house. The pours are generous. The food portions look small, but they are really all you need. You leave satiated without leftovers and enjoyed a delicious meal. In my visits there I have had the mushroom lasagna, the ravioli, the capellacci, and gramigna and honestly can’t say which I liked best. Cappuccino was perfect too. Excellent wait service. Can’t wait to go back for a fifth time and turn on some more friends. (Not many pictures because background pretty dark.)

Had dinner at Alessandro’s last night to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I’d been wanting to eat here for a long time and we had a great time. The food was fantastic and the service was excellent. My husband is hard to please when it comes to really good Italian food and he was very impressed. Looking forward to enjoying many more meals there.

We have been here to eat twice. Both times were excellent. I have celiac disease and they have gluten free options and the servers check with the chef to confirm if an item is GF. The food is delicious and ther service is excellent. I highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to going back.

This is one of our go to restaurants. The food is always fantastic. In the service is impeccable.