Giovanni's Snack Bar & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Ottawa

Over the past several months I’ve been walking over to this hidden gem... I very much like that it is less than two blocks away. I always get my purchase to go. Ive tried several of their pizzas, and they are very good! Traditional Italian thin crust in an old school oven. Be aware that they are not the tasteless “ Ottawa pizza”, overloaded with cheese, undercooked and sugary sweet! This is the real deal! Now, I can’t give them 5 stars tonight because I tried their “Panini”... Their basic sandwich is $10, and I’ve had a few that were excellent, however tonight I ordered the simple Ham sandwich with the works, plus two bottles of beer to go. I did not realize a small bottle of beer is $7.50... so I’m $25 in before tax and tip. I’m ok with this, but the sandwich would have to be amazing! Sadly, tonight’s was not! Real skimpy on the Ham, ( One of the cheapest cold cuts), as for the lettuce, tomatoes, onion and cheese, I had to pull it apart just to see if it even had any! I am disappointed tonight, but will give them one more chance... Edit: I did end up going back, and the sandwich was beyond excellent! You can tell this is a family business that cares about their customers. Update July 2023. Ordered a pizza for pickup and upon arrival was told by the chef due to oven issues the pizza was not up to his usual high standards. He insisted I take it for free and added a free pop! Cannot say enough good things about this level of customer service...Bravo...

We ordered 6 different pizzas for a work social event. They recommended that we put in the order a day in advance to make sure it would be ready for noon the next day. We did that, and the pick-up went smoothly.

The pizzas were good (texture and quality of ingredients - e.g. the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms were delicious), but everyone commented on how salty all the pizzas were. Even the dough by itself was very salty. I didn’t try it but the people who had the Verdura said the olives were super salty.

Reasonable prices and generous toppings. Good service. But probably will not return because the pizzas were too salty.

Note: I acknowledge that Asians tend to complain about food being salty, and I admit I do that in other instances, but this time, all my coworkers (none of them Asian), said it was “very salty” before I said anything, so this review is not...

oMG!! This place is fabulous! Cash only, but there's a cash machine inside. So good. You'll hear Italian spoken here. The pizzas are fresh made in the tiny kitchen you can see from your table. Perfect crust, not too doughy or tough. Soft inside with a nice toasty crunch. Pizzas are fairly large, good for two hungry people, a family might want a couple. You'll want a couple anyway. Don't be afraid of the smoked salmon and mushroom pizza, it's so good! The hot peppers (pickled and in oil) bring some good heat, so if you order the pizza with the hot peppers be aware that you will have some good burn, but not super hot. This is a family operation and there are just a few tables. There's wine, beer, and liquor available at the bar, along with espresso drinks. I've been here a couple of times now and have tried a few of the pizzas. They have all been...