Il Genovese is a small, cozy two-story spot that feels very local -- mostly locals eating here, which is always a good sign. It's also an easy walk from the cruise port, making it perfect for a port-day meal. We had the gnocchi, which was really good -- soft, comforting, and full of flavor. For dessert, the fried sweet milk was such a treat and totally worth ordering. The complimentary bread was perfect too, which always sets the tone. The menu has lots of options, and prices for both food and wine are very reasonable. Simple, relaxed, and satisfying -- a great stop if you want good food without anything fancy or touristy. read more

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Had some really stellar pesto here at the spot where Stanley Tucci came in Genoa and ate pesto. Despite this, it is not as touristy as you would imagine, as a matter of fact, 70% of the folks in the restaurant when we were there were Italian native speakers. The restaurant isn't fancy, but it is a local spot that does solid pesto and other dishes. You will get some pesto for your bread, but you should certainly get the trofie al pesto - it's really quite wonderful. By far the best dish we had. If you don't get pasta with pesto, then you're making a very silly decision. We got the fried cheese as an appetizer and then the Pansoti with salsa di noci - it was good, but not even close to the Trofie al Pesto. I realize Pansoti with walnut sauce is a traditional food of Liguria, and you should try it - but especially during the summer the pesto is just to die for! House wine was good. Service was as expected, prices were perfect! read more

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Nice place super coffee. I like that I had recommended. Service excellent. Real friendly place.

Incredible. I was somewhat skeptical coming in just based on this being such a popular media/tourist attraction but it really blew us away. We loved the fried zucchini blossoms to start, and were truly blown away by their cheese selection -- I can't remember having a better cheese board in Italy. Then their pesto pastas (gnocchi and trenette) were absolute perfection. We also loved their minestrone, and my son crushed their meatballs. We'd skip the cheesecake next time, but their deconstructed tiramisu was excellent (and kind of brilliant). My kids also enjoyed their lemon sorbet. But most of all, I'll be thinking of the pesto here until next time we're in Genoa. read more

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We had the panissa, trofie al pesto, caponadda and the polpette to share between two people. The food was tasty and their pesto was definitely good. I really liked the cold pesto they bring to the table with the bread, even dipped the panissa into it and it was delicious. Prices were reasonable. read more

Delicious! We found this spot in a magazine and made sure to try. Thankfully they have menus in English now. Obv be sure to try the pesto it is delicious. Even coming from New York where we've had/made good pesto. The pasta and the pesto were perfect together. Everyone else also enjoyed their dishes. Prices and fair and the wine is too. Be sure to make a reservation! read more

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We stumbled upon this location and glad we did. It's located very close to a lot of the towns shopping but slightly off the main path. We arrived around 7pm and since we're American we fully expected the restaurant to be quiet as it's quite typically for Italians to eat later. To our surprise it was quite full. It's a smaller place but it is two stories so if you go in and it looks full it might not be. We went up the spiral staircases to the second floor to our table. Both dining rooms are quite small but they do fit quite a bit of people in with the limited space. I didn't feel crowded but definitely not the place to bring strollers or anything big like that. We ordered the pesto, anchovies, bread, wine, and the meatballs. The pesto was AMAZING, we absolutely loved it. It had more cheese than a lot of them and it tasted as of it was more of an aged cheese vs younger. For me, that aged cheese is what made it taste better than the others to me. The anchovies were stuffed and fried. We were not a fan, it just was so bland and really just tasted like a breading mixture. We were trying hard to taste the anchovies and just couldn't. It was simply lacking flavor but big bad. I was so excited for the meatballs, we eat a high protein diet and frankly Genoa is not the best place for this type of diet. Genoa is known for pesto, you will see people eating a giant bowl of pasta for lunch. So when we found a protein on any menu we got excited, we love pasta but it's hard to eat only pasta for more than a couple days. The meatballs tasted quite gamey. It was almost like blood was added to the meat or something. I'm not sure if it's just us having a different pallet since we are not from there or if it was Restaurant specific with a special recipe but it was definitely a unique flavor. I'm glad we ordered it but I would stick to just the pesto if we went back because it was definitely the star of the meal. read more

We made a reservation for this restaurant on 1 April from the U.S.A. for dinner at 7:00 PM tonight, 21 April. We arrived at 7:05 PM. Even though we told them we were seniors, they tried to have us go upstairs via a spiral staircase. We told them we could not do that so they sat us at the table by the front door. The restaurant was virtually empty at this time. We ordered a 1/2 liter of their house red wine and 1/2 liter of their house white wine - along with natural water. When they brought the wine, they were going to take the wine glasses back and leave us with what we would consider water glasses. When I asked them to leave the wine glasses, they said they are not normally used for house wines.....WHAT! We ordered a primi and secondi. When I asked them to split the meals as we were sharing, they said that was not possible. REALLY! How hard is it for a restaurant to split meals? We did not dine tonight. The food came out in less than 10 minutes. Of course, they bought the first course and the second course at the same time. I had to ask for additional plates so that I could split the meals for us. The food was average at best. We were out of the restaurant before 8:00 PM. This is a restaurant that has zero ambience, smelled of fresh paint, very noisy, mediocre food and service - pass on this one! read more

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Delicious pesto!! I read on a blog that this area is a must for pesto so we had to try. They provide you homemade pesto as a spread for the bread. The pesto was tasty and fresh, I ordered mine with gnocchi. The gnocchi was really soft and the paired well with the pesto. My husband ordered the meat ravioli, he was okay with it but not enough meat for his taste, they were pretty much mini raviolis. We also ordered the fried tripe, which didn't taste like it. Had consistency of tortilla chips. If you have a large party make a reservation because this place is small. We came when it just opened so it wasn't an issue but as the night went on more people came and became packed. They provide an English Menu which is nice. read more

Authentic, tasty Genoese food. Fritto misto appetizer, mezzelune with walnuts and chard(?), tripe main dish, splendid pudding dessert. Good selection of wines. Make a reservation to sit inside, otherwise the piazza is pleasant. read more

Oh my gosh you can do so much better. I've travelled to Italy at least ten times and have had an array of restaurant experiences, but this is the only truly bad meal I've ever had in the country. Two stars for the charming outdoor fountain-side setting and friendly, if slow, service. Food comes in take-out containers (yes, you read that right) and two courses arrived before our wine ever did. Wine took nearly an hour to arrive. Fried zucchini blossoms were not what you might be expecting, and were instead simply threadbare individual leafs clad in the thickest, oiliest and coldest batter imaginable. I had a Ligurian meat dish that was inedible: meat so tough and bony I could barely find a few mouthfuls -- served with another take-out container of plain chopped carrots, cauliflower and green beans that had a level of culinary nuance you'd expect from a freezer aisle). There's more but I'll spare you, though I'll say that relative to other restaurants in this city, their pesto is far from remarkable. Seatings are set for 7pm and 9pm. Arriving for 9pm we found a chaotic cluster out the door of frustrated patrons waiting for their tables because the 7pm were still eating. The reason is evident: service is so slow that even the simplest meal takes two hours to ever materialize. Genoa has so many great restaurants that celebrate the cuisine of the region (some we liked: Trattoria Rosemarino, Ombre Rosse, Al Giardino Degli Indoratori). I'd recommend literally anything you can find above this one. read more

Excellent little risto that specializes in Ligurian food, and does a good job of it. Waiters were friendly, service was good, and their limited English was matched by my incipient Italian to make things manageable. Had the fried dough balls stuffed w/ herbs, but wouldn't recommend them as too greasy; that's not a critique of their preparation, the dish is just inherently that way. Pesto gnocchi were very good, and yes, the pesto here IS excellent. read more

Il Genovese - Andiamo e mangiamo la buona cucina genovese! - Ligurian Near Me - Genova, GE

Best pesto ever !! Razonable price and good service . Ravioli was better then gnocchi!!! read more

Il Genovese - Ravioli - Ligurian Near Me - Genova, GE

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Typical italian restaurant. Doesn't look fancy and kind of small from the outside, but if you dare to walk in, you will be surprised about the really good food they serve on 2 floors. The waiter explained everything you need to know about the dishes, spoke perfectly english and took his time for the guests. The menu isn't too big but the food which you can order is simply delicious. They have a good local beer and a good selection of wine. You have to taste the Pesto .. it's the best I ever had. We were the only foreigners in the restaurant which also makes it a special place. Hint: If you want to try a lot of different food, order it as a plate and you can share it with your friends. If you are around, this one is a must to visit. read more

This is literally the best pesto I've ever had! I didn't even know pesto could be so delicious. So good in fact, I would fly back to Genova just for the trofie in pesto! I really regret not buying more jars of pesto to bring home... read more

Limited English when I went 29 May, 2017. The food was both great and just okay, I really enjoyed the pasta course (spaghetti nero with a ragù made with fish). The meat course and my appetizer (Fritos misto - ordered because another reviewer raved about it but it wasn't as great as they made it out to be and an octopus dish that was one flavor away from being amazing) was just okay. Their pesto bumped up their rating from a 3.5 to a 4, so much Parmigiano Reggiano but a delicate balance between all the flavors and oils. I believe they sell small jars of it by I didn't ask. House white wine wasn't the greatest, I wasn't offered a wine menu because of my American-ness. Place was packed with people mainly ordering pasta and then leaving which I recommend any other people doing. read more

Visiting from Florida this was our first stop on our cruise and we were looking for somewhere to eat lunch. Genova is known for their pesto so we researched where to go. Definitely the freshest, creamiest, BEST pesto ever!! We tried The gnocchi pesto and their version of minestrone stew - so yummy! read more

Il Genovese - Pesto and bread - Ligurian Near Me - Genova, GE

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This restaurant seems to cater more to tourists, the pesto gnocchi was not bad but we've had some pretty good pesto pasta in Genova. We took the train 3 stops to get here and didn't feel like it was worth the trip. Warning: this may be our fault, we ordered pesto chips thinking its homemade chips.. it costed 3 euros and was just a small bag of chips we can find at the supermarket haha read more

PHENOMENAL! Delicious fresh pesto (award winning...I think. If not, it should be!) Great house wine, fresh bread, and all at an affordable PRICE! My husband and I enjoyed a starter of chick-pea sticks aka Panisse (fried chick pea) and we shared the gnocchi with pesto, meatballs in classic Genoa sauce, and a side of roasted potatoes. Oh, and a liter of the house red wine. All of it was incredibly delicious, fresh, and exciting! Skip the tourist traps and EAT HERE! YUM! read more

This is kinda touristy but the food is extremely good (and I'm a original Genovese!). Try anything with pesto and you will love it!

If you want to eat good local dishes for a good price, this is the one! The waiter takes time to explain all the dishes in English (thank you Francesco!) and the atmosphere is typical Italian cantina style. That means no frivolities, just good food! Take the fritto misto as a starter (mixed fried bites) or pick one of the great foccacia's. Meatballs or the white fish are highly recommended! read more

Il Genovese is a perfect little Ligurian restaurant, with delicious, authentic, reasonably priced Genoese dishes. Although they cater to the tastes of a local clientele, they are also kindly and helpful to English speakers - best of both worlds for a linguistically challenged person like me who nonetheless wants the real local deal. The place is small and fills up quickly, so either go early or make a reservation. If you want Genoa on a plate, this is the place. read more

Really nice classic dishes with 0 kilometer dining. Really good bottle list, however only table wine by the glass.