Do you dream of sitting down at a cafe with a view for an espresso and a pastry to start off your vacation mornings, a la a charming Italian holiday? Now you can do just that at Encore Boston Harbor.
North End restaurateurs Frank DePasquale and Nick Varano opened their most recent Encore concept this week: Giardino. The breakfast and lunch spot is the first of its kind at the casino, but marks the third Encore concept for the pair behind Fratelli and Frank & Nick’s.
“What we are doing at Giardino is a fantastic breakfast and lunch dining destination that overlooks the stunning Encore lobby,” DePasquale tells Northshore magazine. “[It’s] a European take on breakfast and lunch options with traditional American favorites also peppered in.”
Open daily for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m., Giardino sits on Encore’s second floor, in the former Garden Café spot, overlooking the colorful, iconic Ferris wheel (if you’ve been to Encore, you know exactly what we’re talking about). While the menu has a definite European bent, it’s full of American favorites, too, and the whole place captures the essence of what the pair calls a sunny Italian day.
Reminiscent of a quaint Italian terrace surrounded by lush gardens, the space is designed to help guests energize their mornings by filling a gap in Encore’s offerings — until Giardino, there were no options for an elevated, table service breakfast.
But just like the space, the restaurant aims to keep breakfast breezy and cheerful. It isn’t stuffy, and its offerings mean there’s something for everyone. Keep breakfast light with berries and granola, avocado toast, or a pastry, or (depending on what the previous night looked like) opt for one of the true American choices like pancakes, steak and eggs, or the lobster Benedict, which Varano says is one of his favorites.
Other menu items he’s especially excited for? The Italian frittata and the chicken and waffles. But some of Giardino’s drink options are the real stars of the breakfast show — lattes and smoothies provide guests “the opportunity to start their day with a boost,” he says.
Giardino’s lunch options are just as varied, too, providing both lighter fare like soups and salads along with traditional entrees. Pretend you’re enjoying a leisurely lunch on the Amalfi Coast with a prosciutto caprese sandwich or a margherita flatbread, or go for the full lunch-as-the-main-meal-of-the-day route with chicken parm or lobster mac and cheese. Giardino’s varied menu of American favorites with an Italian twist makes it a pretty definitive crowd-pleaser.
It serves a much different purpose than DePasquale and Varano’s other Encore dining options, too. Fratelli, which opened with the resort back in 2019, serves an elevated dinner menu of Southern Italian cuisine, pulling all the best dishes from the pair’s North End concepts like veal Milanese, zucchini flowers, zuppa di pesce, risotto, and gnocchi alla Sorrentina. And Frank & Nick’s is a quick service spot inside the WynnBET Sportsbook that’s ideal for grabbing late-night bites like pizza slices, paninis, and wings.
DePasquale and Varano have plenty of other concepts around Boston, too — DePasquale Ventures operates North End spots like Bricco, Trattoria Il Panino, Quattro, and Umbria, while the Varano Group does eateries like Strega and Nico Ristorante.
“It’s an honor for us to have three different dining options in the most prestigious casino in the world,” says Varano. “Our goal is to give Encore the best that we have and this is a combination of what we have and what was needed for their guests to enjoy meals in all three dayparts.”
One more reason not to miss a meal at Giardino the next time you’re at Encore? They also serve up Bricco’s DrinkThat espresso martini, a bottled espresso martini made with just seven ingredients. Talk about starting your day off right!
For more information, head to encorebostonharbor.com/dining-and-nightlife/dining/giardino.