Carmel's Bistro Giovanni — Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Want to start by saying that I never ever write reviews even though often times I relay on them to select a restaurant or hotel when traveling. Last night 4 of us had a chance to go to Giovanni's for dinner. I would also say that the server (Hispanic guy with an accent) did a good job through the night. But the overall expirince has changed at the very end when it came a time to pay for dinner. Since it was my birthday I did not pick up the check even though I was the one selecting wine. After the credit card went out for processing and back at some point the waiter came back and started talking to my friend. I was not paying attention as the remaining group was ingageed in conversation. But at some point when I looked at my friend and observed his motionless/confuseed/embarrassed facial expression and at that very moment I overheated "have I done anything wrong?" comming from the waiter. Within seconds I gathered that according to the waiter the tip seemed to be low and he returned to table to let him know that and left the credit card slip for correction. At this point I grabbed the reciot and asked to look at the check. To my surprise the bill for the dinner was for$735 and total charges including tip were $1,035. Therefore my friend has given this guy $300 tip but wrote in the TIP portion $75 only. And that is what he was disputing. My friend calculated tip to be 20% of entire bill which should have been $150 but when he added up his tip he doubled that amount up to $300. Waiter thought he recived $75 as he did nit pay attention to the bottom line final # and person paying for dinner overpaid on his tip. There comes the best part; when I got hold of the printout I could not belive that dinner for 2 adults and 2 teenagers was over $1000! After quick review I realized that the wine ordered was not the one that was brought to table which was twice the price and yes we did drink that wine ($210 vs $425). Because that was an Italian wine that I was not familiar with I did not catch the label and both wines were from the same year and from the same winery. All in all thanks to the writer's initial complaint we realized that we paid $200 more for the wine and the tip was over the top as well ($300). Therefore the dinner was double the price. I am all for supporting local businesses during Covid 19 and while I am often visitor here my friend is local and leaves at Pebble Beach I think it is time to reevaluate how we tip these people and what they are expecting in the end. This guy while soft spoken was rude and with no merit. He had more than one table and if one removes the wine cost even at written tip amout of $70 he recived 20% tip but in this case he made a $200 mistake plus recived in the end over 50% tip and the kicker was at the end of the night noone would have known since I ordered wine and my friend did not know which wine I ordered but simply paid for it and noone would talk about the tip amount as my friend has given enormous tip. In the end I should have deducted $200 off wine cost and leave him nothing as one should not have to pay for others mistake therefore the bill would have been $$550. Since the owner seemed confused and did not volunteer to adjust the price I wanted to leave as my friend had emotionless and pale face. In the end we paid $850 and left forgetting leftovers and than learned that dessert for one of the youngsters was delivered what he did not order. As a rule I don't pay tip on top of the cost of wine that usually is marked up by to to 4 times from its original price. And in my opinion this particular waiter who serviced 4 or 5 tables during 1.5 hr we were there even at the $70 tip each plus whatever he makes per hour in the end he makes $300 to $500 per hour which is more than most customers at that restaurant. He made more than one mistake, did not pay attention to the bottom line in terms of money, desert and wine where the tip left for such service and arrogance was to generous to begin with at $70 written, $300 after addition and in the end $100. Hopefully he reads...

What an unexpectedly special dinner.

Arrived without reservations on a Wednesday night. The hostess (whose name I unfortunately did not get - it was her first night and she was fabulous) sat me at the "single diner table" - you know the one: under the spotlight, next to the hostess stand, just outside the door.

15 minutes without water or introduction and I was considering going elsewhere, but then the magic started.

The server (who said her name but I failed to write it down and thus had no chance of remembering) recommended her favorite Cabernet and, being more in the mood to drink wine than to be picky, I quickly agreed to it.

I ordered one of the specials for an app and the beef ravioli along with the hastily agreed upon vino.

This wine. Ladies and gentlemen (and anyone in between or outside of gender duality). It is something special. It is Block 57, and produced by the owner of the bistro. I'll let you look up the cheeky story behind it for yourselves, as I did. It's, as Firok (said owner) put it and I agree, "something special." I ended up needing a bottle to take home. And I really will save it for something special, not drink it alone in quarantine with Netflix. It deserves better than that.

I tried another wine - the Sirah, I believe it was - which I exclaimed to be "as if someone deftly shook out a lightweight velvet blanket and settled it gently over the tongue". More specialness.

The food was spectacular. (And I'm one of those annoying restaurant industry people.) Scallops cooked perfectly, their sauce just rich enough to warrant soup sized spoonfuls but not so rich as to eclipse the lightness of the tender medallions themselves. The ravioli was PERFECTION. I won't gross you out with all the times I've had pasta in Italy blah blah blah. Just ORDER IT. And get, as Firok rightly suggested, more parmesan grated on top than you feel is proper. I scraped the dish as clean as I could get it.

It's always special when the owner is present and their presence ADDS to the experience (you know what it's like when it's the opposite... shudder). This was a fantastic experience. I left feeling happy to be alive.

Thank you Firok and staff. Can't wait...

My wife and I finally had the chance to try Bistro Giovanni in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea—something we’d been meaning to do for quite a while.

The restaurant is located on San Carlos Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues. If you’re unfamiliar, downtown Carmel doesn’t use standard street addresses—instead, everything is routed through a central post office (which, ironically, does have an address, ha!).

We started with a bottle of Liberty School Cabernet and an appetizer: the Burrata Prosciutto. The dish came with a generous portion of burrata (about 3 to 4 ounces), tomatoes, a portion of prosciutto, crostinis, and a basil-balsamic vinaigrette. It was very tasty overall, though I had one minor critique: the dish only came with four crostinis—definitely not enough, so we had to ask for more. Still, a flavorful and satisfying start.

For our entrées, my wife ordered the seabass special, which came with a nicely portioned filet, mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables. I went with the lasagna, which featured traditional Italian sausage. Both dishes were very good—hearty and satisfying. My lasagna was flavorful, though I felt it could’ve used just a bit more seasoning or punch. While the portions looked modest (see pics), they were surprisingly filling.

For dessert, we shared the panna cotta—a lemon-vanilla custard topped with raspberry sauce. The texture was somewhere between flan and crème brûlée. I really enjoyed both the flavor and consistency, though my wife wasn’t quite as into it.

Service was attentive without being overbearing, and the atmosphere was warm and inviting. Overall, we really enjoyed our evening and would definitely return. The menu offers a wide range of options, so we’re already thinking about what to try next...