Gitlo's
Stopped in today at 11:30 AM for take-out. I had not been since their great Boston Globe review and subsequent fall-out and criticisms (almost all about service and wait times) due to being overwhelmed and not being really prepared for it. Very glad to say that it appears that they have survived and perhaps have found a balance from having gone from virtually no business to lines out the door. Things seem to have calmed down. I spoke to Gitlo and even though I had not been there for several months, he recognized me immediately. He seemed very satisfied the way things have leveled off, however, he did mention in passing that he found it peculiar that most diners will wait hours for good italian, french, and other cuisines, but he found that most people feel differently about Chinese food and they want everything immediately and fast. Can't speak to the food yet as I will be eating it later today but it smells great and I can't wait! I am just glad that they survived.
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Went for the first time today. Like others, we really, really enjoyed the Cantonese dumpling and the har gau. The ingredients seemed so fresh and the execution perfect. The XO Daikon Cake was tasty, but I found it a bit on the greasy side and not that crisp. I would prefer, like avial, if they were pan fried instead of deep fried. The crispy vegetable rolls were mushy inside and very oily, and not something I will order again. There were so many other things on the menu that I would like to try, we will definitely be back. I also noticed that the owner was passing out a sheet with the regular menus that listed new items. Unfortunately, our waitress didn't give us one. Next time...
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Stopped by last night with the family for dinner because we were in the neighborhood. Greeted with a big smile and a handshake by the man himself.
Food as always was excellent - my kids had 3 orders of the shrimp dumplings themselves. Loved the unique rainbow noodles. Daikon and spicy XO sauce great - Also had some Yu Choy in abalone sauce - a daily special. Imagine that - FRESH VEGGIES. We were brought an ameuse bouche of shrimp paste stuffed into long hot peppers. Not as spicy as I would have liked, but the gesture was worth it, so we asked for a real order of it -was better than I thought - the peppers were fried to a great crispy texture.
Can't walk away without custard buns. I made the guys at the table next to us order some too - that's how good they are!!!! -
We just returned from a 2-hour dumplingfest at Gitlo's, and MAN are we happy! The dim sum is as as good as I've ever had anywhere, and that includes HK, Singapore, and KL as well as Chinatowns from NY to SF. We brought my Chinese-American parents, who are tough critics when it comes to Chinese food, and they LOVED Gitlo's.
The peapod stem "flowers" were a real stand-out, but everything was delicious and obviously freshly prepared. The service was great, and I was very pleased that the waitresses took the care to confirm ingredients so that my son with food allergies could have a "safe" meal. We will be back! -
I've turned Gitlo's into the place to have Sunday brunch for my friends and I. I do wish they would pan fry their XO Daikon Cake instead of deep frying it, but I guess since it's no longer called XO Crispy Daikon Cake, I'll let them off the hook. What it comes down to is that the quality of food is decent, the price is right and parking is easier there than in Chinatown. And I can walk over to Deep Ellum later for a bloody mary after.
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I went last week with my mother. We grabbed an early dinner at around 5 pm and unfortunately interrupted a staff dinner. Another customer came 15 minutes later. I didn't notice a significant difference from the previous four visits before the Boston Globe review. We enjoyed a great selection of items. The new items for us were the chicken dumplings (perhaps a little doughy) and the deep-fried shrimp dumplings. We also had scallop shiu mai, two orders of shrimp dumplings, Cantonese dumplings, fried sesame pork bun, and rainbow clear noodles with sea shrimp. Our favorites remain the last four items. Our waitress expressed a little surprise at the absence of any leftovers. I also picked up an order of char siu bao and custard buns as a snack for my wife, who was working. We'll be back, definitely.
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