La Ginestra

Been eating here for 40 yrs. Still the best place to eat in Mill Valley! Sal's salad and calamari dore is my go to. Pizza La Ginestra is great.

Centrally located in Mill Valley, nearby parking abundant. Home style cooking, (at least as far as my MIL was concerned!) large portions, reasonable prices and excellent service.

The food was exceptional, really delicious and the service was amazing as well! We will definitely come back sometime!!!

Exceptional quality, low key atmosphere, traditional Italian vibes 👌🏽

The best restaurant in downtown Mill Valley!

By far the best Italian restaurant in town. I would recommend the spaghetti bolognese. Everyone here is very friendly and I love the atmosphere. I love going here for celebrations and would recommend for anyone.

The staff, Paolo and the hostess were so lovely and the food was quick and delicious! 10/10 dining experience and they have delicious mocktails too!

Very attentive service and good advice from Paolo. Specials were seasonally appropriate and delicious. Orecchiette Pugliese, on the full-time menu, was great. Best cheesecake I have had in years. I was taking a break from alcohol when I went, but the wine list looked full of gems at all price points, and the bartender sounded like he knew what he was doing. I’ll have to go back to take advantage of both soon.

Authentic Italian restaurant. A family owned restaurant with good food and service. I had the linguine tutti mare and my husband had veal piccata. Both well prepared. The good is reasonably priced and a good wine list. I highly recommend the restaurant.

Perfect calamari, spinach salad, and spaghetti bolognese! Service was excellent, especially because staff was really busy, literally running to serve everyone.

If we could give this restaurant more stars we would. It's local owned and operated by an adorable family. The food is spectacular and the service is amazing. We had wine and calamari, ravioli, pizzas, pomodoro...super yummy! Will definitely be returning!

The food was amazing. Our server was okay, he was taking orders at our table and would get distracted and look away to other things every 10 seconds. He was not very present when serving. That being said, ambuance & esthetic were on point.

An incredible Italian gem dating back to 1964 in Mill Valley. Innovative simple salads with fresh ingredients; amazing Pinza flatbread appetizer; and homemade pastas. Warm wood, candles, and an overall charming ambience.

Amazing food! Real, generous and high quality ingredients. The canelone was the best thing I’ve tried recently

The place is in beautiful Mill Valley and was one of the best dinning experience I have ever had, our waiter was very friendly and the owner greeted us at the door. The food was excellent.

The food and service were excellent!

Lance L

An incredible Italian gem dating back to 1964 in Mill Valley. Innovative simple salads with fresh ingredients; amazing Pinza flatbread appetizer; and homemade pastas. Warm wood, candles, and an overall charming ambience.

Jim Ginestra

The place is in beautiful Mill Valley and was one of the best dinning experience I have ever had, our waiter was very friendly and the owner greeted us at the door. The food was excellent.

Chris Pence

The food and service were excellent!

A totally great experience! We’re visiting family in Mill Valley, and ate here with them. Our group of eight had a wonderful dining experience at La Ginestra in Mill Valley. We started by sharing some appetizers, including a refreshing cæsar salad, squid, and an outstanding Italian cheese (the name escapes me). Each dish was flavorful, fresh, and beautifully presented. For the main courses, we each tried something different, and everyone was thoroughly satisfied. The flavors were spot on, and the dishes were well-prepared and served with great care. The atmosphere of the restaurant was warm and inviting, complemented by attentive service. I personally ordered the pasta carbonara, a dish I often try in various restaurants and countries. This version was superb, rich, and delicious. It was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Overall, it was a fantastic meal, and I highly recommend this place. Thanks for the great experience!

Nice family owned restaurant located in Mill Valley. The food was good and the pricing is reasonable. The wait time for the food was a little long though.

I miss this place. My parents started eating here regularly in the mid 80's before I was born. They brought me here often while I was growing up, and to this day I have never found better pizza. The family who owns it are all lovely people. When the original owner passed the restaurant on to his son, it was so amazing that he kept up the tradition and didn't change anything. Even the light up harlequins in bar have been there forever. I was just remembering how good this place is, telling my husband all about it and my mouth still waters at the thought. Too bad I live 500 miles away, otherwise I would go there tonight.

Delicious food, welcoming and friendly, great service!!

Delicious the swordfish and ravioli was out of this world! They have gluten-free pasta, which was amazing for my sister!

Awesome food and service. The ravioli are to die for. Been going here for years and quality is always great, highly recommend.

It was amazing such a nice family owned business everyone we met there was absolutely lovely!! The food was unbelievable!

Wonderful restaurant- fantastic food and love that it's family owned. We will be back!

The food and incredibly friendly service keep us coming back for more! In my case that “more” has been for over 30 years.

Absolutely love this restaurant! The food is exceptional and the service is wonderful.

Great staff and great food! This charming Italian restaurant keeps me coming back. Every dish I have had has been delicious. If it’s your first time dining here I recommend the spinach and cheese ravioli.

Joe Agnese

Awesome food and service. The ravioli are to die for. Been going here for years and quality is always great, highly recommend.

Jenifer Hartwell

The best restaurant in downtown Mill Valley!

Alexis Bagdasarian

Great staff and great food! This charming Italian restaurant keeps me coming back. Every dish I have had has been delicious. If it’s your first time dining here I recommend the spinach and cheese ravioli.

Patrick Leveque

The food and incredibly friendly service keep us coming back for more! In my case that “more” has been for over 30 years.

J

Delicious food, welcoming and friendly, great service!!

Kevin Kerr

Absolutely love this restaurant! The food is exceptional and the service is wonderful.

Sol G

Exceptional quality, low key atmosphere, traditional Italian vibes 👌🏽

Hank Fanhui Zeng

Nice family owned restaurant located in Mill Valley. The food was good and the pricing is reasonable. The wait time for the food was a little long though.

Deborah Joyce Windisch

Perfect calamari, spinach salad, and spaghetti bolognese! Service was excellent, especially because staff was really busy, literally running to serve everyone.

Audrey Steimer

The staff, Paolo and the hostess were so lovely and the food was quick and delicious! 10/10 dining experience and they have delicious mocktails too!

Frankie Foster

By far the best Italian restaurant in town. I would recommend the spaghetti bolognese. Everyone here is very friendly and I love the atmosphere. I love going here for celebrations and would recommend for anyone.

Audun Kvitland Røstad

A totally great experience! We’re visiting family in Mill Valley, and ate here with them. Our group of eight had a wonderful dining experience at La Ginestra in Mill Valley. We started by sharing some appetizers, including a refreshing cæsar salad, squid, and an outstanding Italian cheese (the name escapes me). Each dish was flavorful, fresh, and beautifully presented. For the main courses, we each tried something different, and everyone was thoroughly satisfied. The flavors were spot on, and the dishes were well-prepared and served with great care. The atmosphere of the restaurant was warm and inviting, complemented by attentive service. I personally ordered the pasta carbonara, a dish I often try in various restaurants and countries. This version was superb, rich, and delicious. It was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Overall, it was a fantastic meal, and I highly recommend this place. Thanks for the great experience!

Lainey F

I miss this place. My parents started eating here regularly in the mid 80's before I was born. They brought me here often while I was growing up, and to this day I have never found better pizza. The family who owns it are all lovely people. When the original owner passed the restaurant on to his son, it was so amazing that he kept up the tradition and didn't change anything. Even the light up harlequins in bar have been there forever. I was just remembering how good this place is, telling my husband all about it and my mouth still waters at the thought. Too bad I live 500 miles away, otherwise I would go there tonight.

I've been going to La Ginestra since it opened in 1964. Forget about all the up scale Italian restaurants and come here instead. While I've sampled most of the entree's, (all excellent), I usually order the Cheese and Spinach ravioli. Homemade by the owner these are the best raviolis I've ever had. Combined with an order of the calamari salad and a glass of your favorite wine or beer and your taste buds will be very happy! Family owned and run this is the real deal.

Great spot don’t sit behind a big plant on the bar though. Food is awesome.

Food, was cold, but flavorful. Looked pretty busy. I will admit, wasn't a fan of the seating, nor having to wait for my party to be there before getting a seat but, which wasn't a seat after all. Having owned and worked at restaurants for over 20 years, that line of " we need your party to be here before seating you" is BS. There's no reason to not seat a party, especially if one of the party is your waitresses 🙄

We ordered pickup online which was super easy and ready very quickly. However, the food was just ok. The meatball appetizer and cannelloni were good! The pizza and cannoli are probably better eaten right away vs take out. The outside looks cute and there’s parking right by the restaurant.

Tasha Fenske

We ordered pickup online which was super easy and ready very quickly. However, the food was just ok. The meatball appetizer and cannelloni were good! The pizza and cannoli are probably better eaten right away vs take out. The outside looks cute and there’s parking right by the restaurant.

Very good food, classic Italian restaurant. Feels a little old school in terms of atmosphere -- staff is lovely. I like this place, but I never seem to love it.

Restaurant is beautiful. Food quality wasn't there for the cost of the plate. Service was decent since the waiter knew the wine selection, otherwise not really impressive.

The Caesar Salad was not tasting or appetizing at all. The Pizza Napolitana was really delicious, nice crust. The tiramisu was good!

We had a terrible service related experience here that resulted in only one of us even ordering something to eat. The waiter imposed his preference on my husband and refused to put in an order with Alfredo sauce because he insisted red sauce was more appropriate. My husband couldn't handle the acidity of red sauce, which we even explained to the waiter. He still refused to even ask the kitchen if the substitution could be done. My choice was the gnocchi of the day. Only recall that I couldn't finish it because it was too rich.

My family and I were looking for a pizza place and this place demonstrated great reviews but I'd say we were not pleased. The pizza was great, it had the Italian flavor one looks for in Italian food (although a TRUE Italian place would offer quattro formaggi pizza ) The service was horrible, and the fast paced waiter ignored us for about 10 minutes after we were seated, then took plates away when were not completely finished. When my mother asked if a certain door was usable (to exit) the waiter told her "I don't know, why don't you try it and find out." Some of our family members speak Spanish, and the waiter (heavy accent and spoke Spanish with his co workers) didn't even attempt to make the communication easier and only spoke english. We had a bad experience, because of the personnel, but were happy to eat some pizza at 9pm.

We ordered Eggplant Parmesan and veggie pizza. Food was anything but authentic Italian..quite bland. Veggies were fresh but neither dish had much flavor.

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for about 50 years- as a kid and an adult we lived close by and dined regularly but we moved away about 14 years ago and only eat here a few times a year now. Tonight, for the first time ever when my husband asked to sub buttered noodles for the Swiss chard and potato on the veal piccata we were told it would be $15. Confused - we asked for clarification - we didn’t want a full side order of pasta- just a sub for the potatoes and chard- about the size of your hand without fingers. The waiter reiterated in an annoying way that it was certainly $15. Then we asked if he could just have more potatoes and omit the chard. Success- but funny that they brought us a giant bowl of potatoes. Nevertheless - food was good. Service pretty average with a waiter we weren’t familiar with. It’s a nice restaurant but one I wouldn’t go out of my way for again. Too bad.

chris hause

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for about 50 years- as a kid and an adult we lived close by and dined regularly but we moved away about 14 years ago and only eat here a few times a year now. Tonight, for the first time ever when my husband asked to sub buttered noodles for the Swiss chard and potato on the veal piccata we were told it would be $15. Confused - we asked for clarification - we didn’t want a full side order of pasta- just a sub for the potatoes and chard- about the size of your hand without fingers. The waiter reiterated in an annoying way that it was certainly $15. Then we asked if he could just have more potatoes and omit the chard. Success- but funny that they brought us a giant bowl of potatoes. Nevertheless - food was good. Service pretty average with a waiter we weren’t familiar with. It’s a nice restaurant but one I wouldn’t go out of my way for again. Too bad.

We were so unhappy with this place. The prices are high for what you get. The Italian dishes were tiny and only came with bread no soup or salad or anything extra. You could count the Gnocchi on your plate, not many, and the sauce tasted like something out of a bottle. The Scampi was good, but it came with like six small potato slices. Our bill was $174.00 for five people. When you have to go home and eat something after going out to dinner, well, that's pretty bad!! The waiter had an attitude too. Won't ever go there again!! 😒

I ordered a “bowl” of minestrone for my meal. What a joke! The bowl was filled one-third of the way. Maybe a cup of soup. Maybe. If I’m being generous. In my 50 years of life I’ve never seen anything like this. Fill the freakin bowl. I left starving. Am home eating a bowl of Cheerios. I had a beet salad first that was also basically 8 pieces of lettuce and 4 pieces of beet. Cheap. Underwhelming. Sucked. I will never go back.

Stephanie Hopkins

I ordered a “bowl” of minestrone for my meal. What a joke! The bowl was filled one-third of the way. Maybe a cup of soup. Maybe. If I’m being generous. In my 50 years of life I’ve never seen anything like this. Fill the freakin bowl. I left starving. Am home eating a bowl of Cheerios. I had a beet salad first that was also basically 8 pieces of lettuce and 4 pieces of beet. Cheap. Underwhelming. Sucked. I will never go back.

Diane Zimpel

We were so unhappy with this place. The prices are high for what you get. The Italian dishes were tiny and only came with bread no soup or salad or anything extra. You could count the Gnocchi on your plate, not many, and the sauce tasted like something out of a bottle. The Scampi was good, but it came with like six small potato slices. Our bill was $174.00 for five people. When you have to go home and eat something after going out to dinner, well, that's pretty bad!! The waiter had an attitude too. Won't ever go there again!! 😒