Gina's Italian Kitchen - Friendswood

They were off to a GREAT start....then "Boom" ! The Italian guy is apparently "gone" and left in his wake are non-English speaking "cooks" who apparently not only speak Spanish but also have corrupted the basic cooking techniques of Italian food & turned it into "TV Dinners"...these guys could probably make excellent tamales however they have no concept of what true "Italian" tastes like. Our first time here we would've given it 5+ stars! This was when it first opened (no liquor license). Our second visit shortly after also happened to be valentines day & the wait for a table (at lunchtime) was unfortunately too long for us, however we vowed to return! Just did last week & WOW !! What a difference! We ordered & watched as what appeared to be three managers seated at a table (and 1 behind the bar) in the front room ...just sitting & chatting...while what looked like a "High School football player" (in street clothes) came in, made a big "to do" about picking up his paycheck...and then amazingly walked into the kitchen & shook hands & BS'd with the two Hispanic cooks for a while...all the while leaning over pre-cooked pots of pasta & sauces! This went on SO LONG that I took out my iPhone & actually recorded the "yuck-yuck session" ....then was COMPLETELY GROSSED OUT when he left & I watched the "cook" stick his "freshly shook hand" into a container & pull out a handful of pasta (spaghetti?) and dump it into a vat of boiling water (OMG)...then he "wiped his hands" on his uniform & proceeded to "cook" what turned out to be .........slop.

Great food,mediocre survice. Will go back