Trattoria Da Giovanni — Restaurant in Trieste

Opened in 1961 this small family-owned restaurant has to be on your “must-go” list if you ever visit Trieste.

It’s located on a pedestrian zone right in the heart of the city, and it’s best reachable via public transportation (finding a parking spot for your car is going to be more difficult than “Mission Impossible”). It’s open for both lunch and dinner, but be ready to have to wait for a table because the restaurant is always packed, mostly by locals. They have a few tables inside and more on their outside patio

Here you will have the opportunity to try out various dishes of the typical cuisine of Trieste. If some items on the menu may not be available, don’t get upset: it happens to restaurants offering food that is mostly homemade (including the desserts) and always fresh!

If you are a tourist, the first thing that you will need to try is the “panino with prosciutto cotto (ham)”, which is also typical of Trieste: they will cut the prosciutto from the by hand in front of you (actually, their “cutting station” is right by the entrance, so you may be able to see it also if you’re sitting outside).

Their menu is usually very various: you can eat pasta, vegetables, meat and fish. I particularly love their “pesci fritti” (fried fish), above all the sardoni (from the anchovies family and typical of Trieste and the Northern Adriatic Sea). However, I have tried several of their dishes by now and never had any complain; in fact, we pay them a visit every time we are in Trieste.

Prices are very reasonable and the service is very good.

I look...

Rustic, local vibe, okay food - Unwelcoming! Not worth the poor front of house processes and dismissive behaviours. Ask where to sit "Anywhere you like!" (Sorry, cannot replicate the off-hand tone in print) Ask for a menu "The restaurant doesn't open until 7" NOT "Our restaurant doesn't start until 7, would you like a drink?" Departing customers leave bread on table - pidgeons come - eventually customers at another table shooed the birds and took the bread away. Food quite nice, reasonable quality for the price Ask how to pay - "Alla cassa" - fine, but make sure you know your table number otherwise you will be sent back like a naughty child to find out.....only to be told you need to pay at the other cassa! If you try to let them know you have an issue they don't seem to see the problem. "It's okay.." Need to improve - imagine Gordon Ramsay working with Faulty Towers....left a very poor initial impression of Trieste. Been to Italy four times now - I can't think of a worse...

We dropped in for a meal (9.30pm) last night at the recommendation of our hotel. Given the number of smokers outside we asked for a table inside. The restaurant was quite busy so the waitress asked us if we would mind if we sat in the Russian Bar next door where we could order from T. Da Giovanni’s menu. We ordered from the English-Italian menus. A short time later, the first two meals arrived (Gnocchi con Goulash and Swordfish) which looked and tasted great accompanied by a sloppy over cooked plated of salty vegetables and a bowl of mixed salad when we ordered a Caprese Salad. My cousin was told his meal (steak) could not made as there was not steak. The waitress returned with my meal, crumbed veal which turned out to be chicken. When I raised this, the waitress simply agreed and said, “yes, there is no veal”. If you cannot or do not wish to serve your customers, simply say so. What a horrible restaurant experience when Trieste offers so much more on...