Giovanni's Restaurant — Restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie

Have you ever read a review of a place and thought, “yes, this is going to be great”…. Well, this is exactly what happened tonight. As we are passing through the Sault, we were excited to find a “non-chain” restaurant and seeing the reviews and scores, we figured it was going to be great. Well….the service was great…full credit there. Unfortunately the Veal Parmesan was anything but - in fact the only reason I gave one star is because of the salad and the bread (the bread was great). But, the Veal Parmesan and Penne Pasta…was absolutely not worth anywhere close to $34.99. The pasta had obviously been cooked much earlier and had been either sitting in water or been washed after cooking as there was no starch at all. Further to this, I found the penne pasta to be extremely “thin” and was far overcooked (most of it was “broken”). Now the sauce on the pasta was super…great flavour. The Veal Parmesan - I was with three others and we were hungry or I would have sent it back and just ordered another salad…but I pushed through. I told the waitress about my disappointment with the veal and the overcooked pasta. While she was extremely apologetic and very kind I insisted I only wanted the “chef - ahem” to be notified. Our waitress returned to explain that the manager wanted to discount my dinner by $10 to which I clearly stated, “This is not what I was looking for at all and definitely do not do that. The cook should be told this is unacceptable and learn to cook the pasta properly.” As for the Veal - I am convinced it was reheated; it was a poor quality, deep fried, dried out piece of something that may at one time had been in the beef family with some sauce and cheese on top (trust me, the “on top” ingredients did not hide the poor taste and quality.) The manager then came to our table; extremely kind and a wonderful exchange but again, I insisted that this was about the chef being told that this quality was completely off the mark. We paid our complete bill. I am not sure there are many options in this city, but I definitely would not return based on this experience - sometimes a chain is better than the unpredictability of an independent restaurant, but I’m not giving up yet! Excellent front of the...

I have been a loyal customer at Giovanni’s for over 30 years, which makes it especially disappointing to write this review.

Upon my arrival, I was surprised to find the women’s restroom in an unclean condition, with a non-functioning toilet. Fortunately, our server quickly made up for the initial setback, arriving promptly, and displaying a high level of knowledge, attentiveness, and friendliness throughout our visit.

I ordered the ribs and jumbo shrimp special, while my dining companion chose the veal chop special. However, after a 35-minute wait, our server returned to apologize for the delay, explaining that the kitchen was busy handling a large party in the private room. After another 20 minutes, our meals finally arrived.

Unfortunately, the shrimp I received was cold and undercooked, a serious concern. Our server apologized and removed my plate, but by that point, I had lost my appetite for the shrimp and requested it not be remade. A new meal was brought after another 15-minute wait.

What disappointed me most was that, despite the situation, no manager or supervisor approached our table to offer any kind of quality check or reassurance. When the bill arrived, I was surprised to see that I was charged the full price for my meal, including my sparkling water, cappuccino, and wine. Given the circumstances, I had expected at least a gesture, such as a complimentary item, to acknowledge the inconvenience.

I quietly paid the bill, tipping 20% as the service from our server had been exemplary, but regrettably, I left feeling let down by the management’s lack of attentiveness and basic customer care. Serving undercooked seafood is a serious issue, and I would have appreciated some form of acknowledgment from the management. Sadly, this experience has caused you to lose a...

My family and I have been going to Giovannis for a decade or more now, the service has always been top notch and friendly and the food satisfactory, though I have to say my last dining experience was easily the most disapponted Ive been spending nearly 100 dollars on a meal. My chicken caesar was under dressed and the letttuce was warm and lacking crunch.My mussels came to the table, i removed the top plate and not one bit of steam wafted over my senses. The bowl had next to nothing in it for broth to dip in, and even at that it was fairly bland. Next up for disappointment was my "veal piccata".. Literally 3 of the tiniest thinnest trims of veal . my educated guess is to say they were no more than an ounce a piece or say about 3 little nibbles per cut. On top of that, i had at the verrrry most, 1 and a half mushrooms on plate sliced up and last but not least the flavor of the piccata was soo incredibly flat that i had to fight back a tear in my eye, seeing as a truely well made veal piccata is one of my absolute favorite dishes. Massicve disappointment . This was at a large event for a family dinner, so ii managed to try a bite of this and a nibble of that, and sadly I have to say time and time again, i was let down by either the quality of ingredient, or the ability it was prepared with. Highly doubt, my family or I will ever be back, especially in such mass numbers as usual. Sorry Giovannis but i feel its time we move on to somewhere thats growing with the times and actually dry ages their steaks in house for the price youre trying to value your "experience" at. R.I.P baby Veal, may whoever wasted your sweet tenderness pay dearly for their sins. Signed Sincerely, a...