Giovanni Restaurant

01/08/09

getting worse with time

by anabris at Citysearch

My boyfriend & I have been coming here for years. It started off as a fairly good restaurant, but lately the food has gotten consistently worse. The service is fine, but anything we ordered was substandard for the prices they charge. On our last visit (last ever!!!) my boyfriend got sick from his meal. If you go here, it should be for the bar, which serves great drinks. Pass on the food!!!

• Pros: great drinks, friendly staff
• Cons: THE FOOD!!

06/23/08

absolutely disgusting

by hungryinsf1 at Citysearch

First off, I would like to say that I eat out regularly, and I have never posted a review online before. I started an account with citysearch just to post this review. This restaurant is absolutely terrible. If the prices had been more reasonable I would have just written it off as a bad dining experience, but unfortunately that is not the case here. I ordered the Jambalaya calzone for $16.00. The presentation was non-existent and the ingredients seemed to be well beyond their expiration date. I don't think that all of the ingredients listed on the menu were even included, which may be a good thing considering the quality. I can't remember the last meal I genuinely regretted eating, even Jack in the Box. Nothing could wash the taste of spoiled shrimp out of my mouth for nearly an hour after the meal. My girlfriend ordered the veal marsala, which seemed like it might not make you violently ill, but it looked like a TV dinner. Between the two of us the meal (with one glass of wine and after tip) was nearly sixty dollars. The wait staff did their job, nothing special though. Do not eat at this restaurant unless you are some kind of masochist.

• Pros: Hasn't been shut down by the health inspector.
• Cons: Hasn't been shut down by the health inspector.

07/23/07

Bad aftertaste

by rayhana at Citysearch

What use to be a great Italian restaurant is now owned by Chinese owners who totally ran the place down. Food tasted horrible. I ordered Scampi - tasted like chinese rice & shrimp. My husband ordered clams with pasta in a red sauce. That dish not only was nasty to taste but sick to look at. Clams came from a can & were minced. Sauce was brown & tasted like i don't know what.....Ever few minutes one of the owners would haul boxes right pass the tables... , 2 times he dragged a trash can!???

07/24/06

Best bread you'll ever be served

by kgarg at Citysearch

I mean it... Their bread (with butter of course) is THE MOST increible bread I have ever had. Go there even if you're just goin' for the bread. Trust me, it's worth it.

• Pros: Good for dinner parties (for a large group), Nice ambience, nice crowd
• Cons: Expensive for Berkeley, the waiters are usually in their own worlds

05/08/06

Great Value for Great Food!

by sk818 at Citysearch

The decor is like you're in the streets of Italy. There's a nice seating area in the front where you can people watch, or you can go in the back and sit near the huge fireplace. I got the chicken marsala, and my wife got the NY steak. Chicken was very tender and tasted great! Even the side veggies where good (I don't usually eat veggies), it was very fresh. My wife got the NY steak and it was delicious (had to take some home, very good portions). But, the fresh foccacia bread they serve you before the meal was SOO good. I could just go and eat that all day, they make it daily and you can definitely taste it. Our bill was under $40 with drinks, what a deal! I'm definitely going back to try the pizza next, saw someone order it and it looked really good.

• Pros: Price, Food, Atmosphere