Ristorante Giovanni — Restaurant in Rome

The main reason why I'm giving this 1 star is simple: I strongly suspect that the waiter/restaurant was dishonest with us (apparently not a first for them, judging by the other reviews). The situation: we decided to go in because at the door they had a cardboard ad stating (in english) that we could get the lunch menu (starter+pasta/pizza+drink+coffee) for 12€. We sat down and when the waiter came we asked for the lunch menu, to which he replied (half mumbling) "That menu is not for today.". Now, this was a regular Friday, no holiday or anything like that. Pretty sure it qualified as lunchtime too (12:45). Above all, it was a cardboard ad: if it was not for that day, why keep it there, next to the door for everyone to see? So yeah, I'm pretty sure we were scammed (we ended up paying 25€ for two of the cheapest pasta dishes on the menu - no starters, drinks or coffees). Besides, the waiter was somewhat rude throughout the whole meal (maybe he took offence at my earlier question?). The food was OK. If my rating was based solely on that, it would have been 3...

Rude waiter, spilled cold drinks on all over on my wife, destroying her clothes and designer bag. And you know how they (the waiter and the owner) chose to resolve the situation? They asked us to go wash it ourselves and comeback with the bill? They told us it’s only 20 Euro job, and not a big deal, just an accident, not their faults. Is it a joke? The worst part is that the owner was right there at the scene and said nothing. He kept saying that it was the waiter’s fault, not his fault, and we had to deal with the waiter alone. Another worst part is right after he spilled the cold coffee all over my wife, he did not say sorry at all! He yelled in Italian, which meant “oh my god, dang it!” rushed right into the kitchen, and only 5 minutes later coming out with just a small piece of paper towel. What a joke! What a bad place, extremely rude to customers. And another part is that at the end, he came out yelling at my wife’s face as if it was our fault, until the point we threatened to call the police. Avoid at all cost if you want to have a nice...

It's a trap! Beware. As it is conveniently located on a busy corner, we were drawn in by the misting fans on a very hot day. The food was not good. Risotto was undercooked. Chicken was overcooked. Lasagna and pizza tasted like pre-frozen then microwaved. Actually that would be an insult to frozen food. We also asked for simple bruschetta for an appetizer and ended up getting a huge platter of every appetizer they had. I could chalk this up to miscommunication but I can't help but wonder if this was an intentional mistake. It ended up doubling the cost of our meal for four people. We were largely ignored while at least two groups were served and left at the table next to us. We were not in a hurry but this indicates the level of substandard service. Finally, the bill had a 10% service charge added in addition to a note saying "top not included". When I finally got up and tracked someone down to pay he tried to get me to add a tip which I politely declined to do. Lesson learned here is to always check the reviews first to avoid...