Giana Bakery & Provisions — Restaurant in Dana Point

The 4 of us were excited to try this restaurant for dinner. We went to the bar and ordered a bottle of wine for three of us and before we could order a beer for the 4th person, our table was ready. Once seated, quite a long while passed before a server briefly stopped by. 3 of us had drinks but not the 4th. Ordered his and our appetizer. Far too much time passed again; the appetizer came before the beer - had to request it again. Have to say the stracciatella was excellent as was the Primitivo wine.

Ana stopped by again, we ordered. Now, she is fully aware of the size of the salads, we ordered 2 radicchio salads, one for each couple. They are ginormous - she could have easily mentioned its size and let us make an informed decision. After we ate our salad, the busser took away our plates, but did something pretty odd (not going into details).

We get our entrees and Ana doesn’t grace us with her presence to see if we needed anything until most of us are over half way through the meal. Yes, we wanted parmesan for what was left of our meals. In passing, we mentioned to Ana the odd thing the busser did and apparently she chose to tell the manager (wasn’t necessary). As a side note, we travel to Italy annually, and this was the worst pomodoro pasta I’ve ever had, very bitter and tasteless.

Shortly thereafter, the brunette manager (assuming she is the manager), came over, gave us a few minute presentation about Giana’s beliefs and mission (no one cared) and actually told the 4 of us that he didn’t do what we saw him do! Then she says she’ll comp our appetizer.

Another thing to note, it’s obvious the restaurant is short staffed. So, why not remove some of the tables so the servers could actually do their job well, instead of having so many tables to handle that service is basically non-existent. Case in point, we were so close to a couple of women that one just leaned over and asked me what salad we had..

Guess what, the bill came, the chatty manager failed to remove the appetizer as she stated. We just paid and left.

All in all, this was just a miserable experience, we all...

I'm sorry I don't have photos to support what I'm about to offer, but trust me, Giana may be the BEST restaurant in the South OC. Here me out. The pastries and breads taste fresh out the oven every day. And a sandwich or salad will make your lunch special. But, for me, what makes Giana - GIANA - is their dinner service. The atmosphere is cozy and the vibe is chill. The warm lighting and chill playlist are as comfortable as home. Solo or with friends, you will tend to linger. The service is outstanding. Friendly, authentic and engaging. You always feel seen and cared for. Like fam. With those two boxes boldly checked, let's talk about the real star - the food. The best italian in the south OC, hands down. Arguably the best food, regardless of type of cuisine. Each dish tastes carefully hand-prepared and ingredients are top-notch. SO much goodness. Pollo Pizzetta has more ingredients on ONE piece than entire flatbreads at some establishments. The Funghi is absolutely loaded. It's fun, guy. (I'm sorry) They do not short you on the Short Rib.(OK, I'll stop) And the pasta. Ahh maa gahd! Mamma mia! Bolognese is divine. The Cavatelli with the most flavorful and abundant sausage and creamy red sauce is literally impossible to stop eating. I could go on, but I think you get the point. When you consider the food, service and atmosphere, Giana is hard to beat. You will not be...

The food here is excellent quality and worth the price. But after our sweet, kind waitress attempted to open my bottle of wine I brought, the cork unfortunately broke into pieces because of the stainless steel corkscrews they employ here. They tried blaming the vintage (2013 not old enough for that sorry) but I was polite enough and when the manager said that that is just what happens with older corks, and they proceeded to run it through a bleached coffee filter which destroys vintage wines but I digress..I explained that the corkscrews they use are not the best for REAL cork oak. She tells me “ well next time bring your own opener and you can open it “. Despite this advice that was delivered in a challenging tone of voice(a little unprofessional and unwarranted really) I was respectful and said I would. They waived the corkage ($15) and brought us some complementary bubbles which was nice but the bottles retail value is $50 and I felt they could have maybe waived our $6 appetizer or something but all in all the food is excellent and the waitress was professional, I guess next time I will take the managers advice and open it...