Giovanni Ristorante & Bar Italiano — Restaurant in Florida

Where do I begin? I gave one star, but it required I choose. I rather give a negative number. We got to Giovanni's and were told we wouldn't get a table until 730 to 745 pm; we arrived around 6 PM. My husband went up to the bar to order a drink. The bartender/manager on duty told him she would not serve him unless he was already sat a table. The hostesses were amazing; they gave us a table right away as they apologized for the manager's behavior towards my husband. Our waitress was very kind and professional; however, my husband reordered a drink from the bar and it was brought to him about 30 minutes later. The muscles appetizer was delicious but with a small amt of muscles even though we ordered the larger size. Definitely enough for one person, certainly not for 2. We had to request bread, which came out after we finished our appetizer. The main course took far too long to reach our table. I ordered to veal chop. Not only was it the smallest veal chop I have ever seen, but it was cooked rare when I ordered it to be cooked medium and there was far too much fat in the veal chop. Waitress brought back to kitchen and returned it medium. My husband's dish came with pasta. He ordered penne but received linguine. The waitress offered to bring penne, but my husband declined for he likes to eat his entire meal hot. I had a side of spaghetti with pomadoro sauce which was sweet and very bland. Horrible. Waitress offered to get the manager, which I declined for the manager/bartender already showed her lack of customer service. In the end, the waitress took 10% off the bill and gave me a free dessert. I took it home. I took two bites of cheesecake then tossed it. The worst cheesecake I have ever tried. We live here year round and we will never eat there again. Plus, a table of four across from us stated they were sitting at table for a half hour and nobody came by, not even the waitress (same as ours) to greet them. I would have left after 10 minutes. Save your money and time. Olive Garden, Carrabba's and Noodles are all superior...

If you want to eat where the owner does not care about your experience and would rather spend his time at the bar drinking then this is the place for you. It is evident there is no training of staff whatsoever. Once seated after 10 minutes we flagged a server who was unaware we were at one of her tables. No water served, no bread, no drink order taken. once things finally got rolling the rolls served were stale. My veal parm was not edible, could not cut with the knife and once cut could not chew. I sent back and just asked for a cup of lobster bisque so I had something to eat while others dined. This was asking too much as it took 15 minutes to get the soup ( server said they heat it to order) I received it after the other diners dishes were cleared and there was not 1 piece of lobster in it. The server also informed me that the owner said there was nothing wrong with the veal and it was not tough. Best part was when check came they were charging me for the veal parm. I had to argue to have it removed. I did not eat the lobster bisque but still paid for it. I would challenge the owner to provide invoices to prove they actually buy veal. Veal is not tough even if over cooked. He stopped by several tables to inquire about meals but would not stop and address a table that sent a meal back. Not any offer to correct and still wanted to charge for it. Way too many quality restaurants in Naples than to deal with an owner who thinks he is doing you a favor to serve you. Should spend more time training staff and less time at the bar. Stay away and spend your...

We had reservations for a table of 3 and chose to sit outside. The restaurant was moderately busy on the inside and we were the only table outside.

It took 10 minutes to have a server to ask for drinks. We knew what we wanted so ordered at that time. Drinks were loudly placed on the table.

The food was brought to the table by someone else. We asked for refills and never saw anyone again. I went inside to get ketchup for the steak fries but I couldn't get anyone's attention. I stood by the host area at the entrance, but could not get their attention before they walked away.

Drinks were never brought to the table until we went inside again. By then, one in the party went next door to Dominos and bought a soda. I didn't get my second drink until after I was done eating.

Before another at our table was done eating - clearly still working on his plate - the server asked if we wanted a dessert menu. It was like they wanted us to leave.

The only time we saw our server was 10 minutes into sitting down, and well after we had mostly completed our meal.

The Linguine Alle Vongole tasted like the wine wasn't reduced and someone just poured wine into the linguine. The lamb chops were medium-well and they were asked to be medium rare. The Fruite de Mer was fine.

Giovanni's overall quality and experience has significantly decreased over the years and tonight was another...