Gio Bistro & Wine Bar - La Belle

It was cold, it was rainy and a friend and I was jonest for lunch before I dived into the hordes of Christmas buyers in a nearby shopping mall. We huddled at the corner of Allison and La Mesa Blvd. try to make a choice between Gio and Johnny B. Gio won by default because we don't have to cross the road and get any weter than we already have. Hmm... the Hostess – please wait for space – the station was on the sidewalk. A novel placement for a restaurant in La Mesa, maybe we had made a mistake. We were immediately greeted and immediately guided through a small part of stands to the right of the entrance and to a enclosed terrace. Maybe we were lost in our selection. We were cold, we were wet, we were not exactly sure sitting on the terrace was the best option. Covered and worried views were exchanged. The Hostess immediately parked us at a table under an outdoor heating that radiated gobs of soothing heat. Since the tables were taken outside the fireplace, this would have to be done. And do it, within minutes we were warm and toasty and scrubbed out of our jackets. Our waitress showed up, took our drinks orders and disappeared. That was her pattern during our meal. The menu consisted of breakfast and lunch and the usual (egg dishes and pancakes or waffles and burgers, sandwiches and salads) selection on each. I chose a Patty melt and my friend a Cheeseburger. The table next to us had decided for breakfast – omelets and pancakes – and their plates looked rather tempting, and in fact they left nothing and even ended with an evil looking brownie sun song. Our food took a long time, fortunately we were not disappointed. While neither Burger was really excellent, they were certainly better than average. The waitress had asked me how I wanted my burger to cook. My choice was medium rare what I got somewhere between medium and well done. There was no trace or **** of Rosa somewhere in the flesh, but neither was it burned and dry. There was a generous amount of golden roasted onions and oozy melted cheese more than for the meat done better than ordered. The only mistake in the patty melt was that, like most sandwiches at Gio, it came between 2 slices of Parmesan encrusted sourded bread. Parmbrot was good, but I would have preferred the more traditional rye bread. The patty melt was large and I did not end up able to eat the whole thing, nor could I get through the pile of decent, though frozen, french french fries that came with it. The cheeseburger my friend ordered came with the same Hamburgerpatty on a soft roll and frits. He made short work of his burger, said it “not bad” but was made by the mountain of the Pommes. No brownie sun for us! It took too long to settle the bill... Our waitress dropped the check and disappeared. The food was somewhat above average decent, the ambience was quite good, although I think the terrace would be much more pleasant on a warm, sunny day than a cold storm. Service was a little too casual for a place that tries to project an image that is more than casual. On the way out of the door we thought into the bar (beautiful and welcoming) and in the dinner menu (a lot of tapas). Prices for breakfast and lunch are moderate, $7 – $15, prices for dinner (Shrimp, Steak, Lamb) are high, $20, especially for Gio location. La Mesa Blvd. is a picturesque street with a small town feeling. It is with more than its share of antique and bric-a-brac shops. It needs a respectable place to eat, that is not a coffee shop or a Mexican joint. Gio could stand out as this place. The potential is there, Gio has not yet reached it.

Wonderful Thanksgiving meal, delicious food, excellent service with flawless execution.

Ate here last night with my familyI'd been here before, but never wrote a reviewAll the food we've had has always been great.

I think the food was very fresh and deliciousSadly, we had to wait for coffee multiple times because it was brewing.