Don Giovanni — Restaurant in Paris

My January 20, 2024 response to the restaurant owner's note. I just received a semi apologetic reply from the owner. However, he also basically doubled down and called me a liar!

I repeat: the dish was inedible (the line cook himself nodded, from behind the argumentative nephew of the owner when I said the food had merely been reheated).

The veal looked & tasted like a dry old shoe sole AND WAS NOT cooked upon order, the truffle had no taste whatsoever and I DID NOT have more than 2 small bites before calling THE GREAT WAITER, LORENZO to ask if we could have another dish. PLUS: note the speed at which a dish is delivered to your table. We had the salad in 30 seconds and the main dishes came in 2 minutes later. Enough said!

So, I will stand by my words and label this as a terrible experience! Only made better by the professionalism, politeness and positive behavior of Lorenzo.

I travel all the time and eat out at places ranging from holes in the wall to high-end restaurants and to me, as long as the ingredients are fresh and the cook skillful, the food served is always delicious.

So, I shall repeat that this is a tourist trap and unless the owner si willing to be a tad more honest and holds himself accountable for the bad food, there is no going back.

MORE, the fact that he has the nerve to write to me that we ate the food is truly unnerving! I should have taken pictures. I never take pictures of the food I order.

Had you just stopped at: "We are sorry you had a bad experience and hope to see you again at our establishment." We would've returned and given it another try. We all have bad days and I am not one to try to bring a business down. Honest reviews necessary. I did nothing more than post a honest review and give credit where credit was due. Once again, Lorenzo is the type of person you want working at your restaurant. The other belligerent and entitled young man (nephew of the owner) has to leave!!! Awaiting the restaurant owner's response, if he has more to say about this matter

My October 2023 Review: The good reviews are most likely fake ones written by friends of the owner. Go to the restaurant next door: Pamela Popo. It's great food, great staff, great atmosphere.

The one and only redeeming point of Don Giovani is the amazing waiter, name unknown. I wish I had asked him for his name. "Unknown", if you read this, you know who I am talking about: you wore a white linen shirt tonight and I heard you mention to other patrons that you were of Portuguese and Italian descent. Your demeanor, calm, poise, professionalism and decency are priceless!~

We ordered drinks and appetizers. The beef carpaccio was good and most likely the only good item on the menu. The salad was ok. The pasta with truffle was made with Chinese truffle, rubbery and not fragrant. My dish, the veal dish... was HORRID! When I nicely told the manager (the restaurant owner's nephew) that the meat was spoiled, he went berserk. Note: any good restaurateur knows that when a customer sends something back, the magic words are: " We am sorry; let us make this right." Most of the time, the problem is resolved. I was ready, willing and able to pay for the dish AND order & pay for another one. The manager chose to argue with me. I can argue until the dawn of times. I told him that it was ok and that I just wanted to order something else. He would not let up. He was extremely aggressive and when White Linen Shirt repeatedly steeped in to resolve the matter, he would not let him speak

He insisted on charging us for the inedible main courses, while still berating us about our remarks about the spoiled veal. He explained to us that we did not know anything about food in general and Italian food in particular. We will not even address that matter 😉

To make a long story short: It was a terrible experience. The food was NOT good. The place is not really nice, the street tables are uncomfortable. The waiter saved the day. I left a 50 Euros bill and was out the door. Ended up right next door at Pamela Popo and our evening...

Don Giovanni saved Paris for us. And the best pasta my wife has ever had.

We arrived late in Paris after multiple delays from the airport, got off on the wrong metro stop and then got lost when our GPS became disoriented. Tired and hungry, we wandered the beautiful streets of Paris for an hour when we finally decided to stop and eat, only to find that the restaurant we planned on eating at had closed early, and everyone else's kitchens were closing (10pm). But Don Giovanni welcomed us in and we enjoyed some of the best Italian we've ever had (I say that having worked for years in American-Italian restaurants).

My Mediterranean Sea Bass was perfect and my wife's Linguine allo Scoglio delighted the senses.

The food was amazing, the ambiance was "all things Paris at night," the service was grand. Staff welcomed us (in spite of no reservation and a kitchen that I'm pretty sure was closing), they were patient with my broken French, and then the owner visited with us after our meal and gave us some great tips for our upcoming trip to Italy.

Dinner was finished off with the most delightful tiramisu I've ever experienced. A perfect balance of everything a tiramisu should be.

What started as an evening lost in Paris ended up being the highlight of our 24-hour stop in the...

Absolutely fabulous❤️🤌🏻 This place has my heart! I haven’t tried the mains on the menu yet! I always go for pastas and they are irresistibly gorgeous! So delicious and Al dente just the way it should be! Nice, cute, tiny and cozy place. You must really be stupid if you have leftovers in your plate by the end of your meal😌 Staff is super friendly! Service 10/10 Ambience 10/10 (I personally love it) Food 11/10 Oh, and make sure you don’t leave the restaurant without having any desserts (even if you have diabetes or not😉) Panna Cotta is your love at first sight and it should be illegal to leave without having tiramisu! They are pretty generous with their portions. After all, its an Italian restaurant💁🏼‍♂️ Can’t wait for my next pasta day🥰🥰 This is my favourite Italian...