My wife and I were looking for a nice place to celebrate our 23rd anniversary. Researched various reviews on Yelp and finally decided to try Girasole. We arrived at around 7:30 on a Saturday evening to find a full restaurant, but our timing was apparently good because we were seated within 5 minutes. The restaurant is small and seating is tight. This is not unusual for Shadyside however and was to be expected. Being a Saturday night there was quite a bit of noise and it was a little hard 2 have a conversation over dinner. On a positive note it was clear that everyone was enjoying their time and the food that we saw being ordered looked terrific.
The menu is simple consisting of a limited number of rustic pasta dishes as well as daily specials. We ordered an appetizer of beans and greens with homemade sausage which was very popular as everyone else around us also was ordering it. For good reason as it was absolutely delicious. For entrees I ordered Gnocchi, which were light and fluffy and came in a delicious tomato sauce with bits of fresh mozzarella cheese infused through it. Simple, but really good, one of the better pasta dishes I have had in a restaurant in some time. My wife ordered a filet mignon special. The steak was cooked to order and was nice and juicy, but a little under seasoned according to my wife. It sat on a base of truffle infused mashed potatoes and was topped with roasted portobello mushrooms. Delicious at $35. Entrees come with a house Salad, dressed with a simple Italian dressing. Fresh and tasty. I would definitely recommend this restaurant, but personally would probably consider coming back on a weeknight when perhaps it was not so busy.