Giovanni's Brooklyn Eats — Restaurant in New York

First time attending here and possibly the worst family dinner and I'm not even kidding, don't waste your hard earned money here, when you see a casual Italian restaurant with exceptional reviews you expect high quality traditional Italian food, this isn't a pizzeria, this isn't olive garden but somewhere where you have high expectations due to the name and area which is south slope Brooklyn. I was here for my brothers birthday with a table of 9 on a Wednesday night, the place wasn't crowded at all but It felt like to me that the food was rushed rather than being made to quality. Let's start with the service the music was so loud that when the waitress presented the specials to us my parents couldn't hear at all as they were at the end of the table but thankfully we didn't order them. The appetizers were not appetizing at all, we ordered the fried calamari and the baked clams, The Calamari wasn't up to par $14 for only 6 pieces of chewy calamari? And the baked clams were the worst They served us watery tiny little neck clams they were not baked at all! Not to mention they were so little, that literally some of us only had 1 tiny clam (as there were only 6). The clam that I ate didn't have no clam at all but watery bread crumbs. Who serves baked quarter sized clams? Of all my years of eating in an assortment of Italian restaurants if I order baked clams I get decent sized ones that are nicely baked! I've had better baked clams at a Mexican pizzeria. But here's what gets me, the waiter clearly heard me say that I want to order appetizers for the family without recommending an appropriate sized appetizer for our party of 9 ! The menu didn't describe how many pieces are included at all. The Pasta is horrendous! All the portions were small as if I was dining at "Madison 11" The penne dishes were undercooked definitely not al dente! But it was hard as a rubber band ball (We never asked for al dente). The spaghetti and linguine was bland like literally no salt at all It was just boiled pasta with no sauce at all and didn't even taste the olive oil. Last but the least the "la Romana". The salad was presented so horribly it describes romaine hearts in the menu but instead of giving me the lettuce chopped They gave me a whole head of grilled Romaine lettuce topped with dried grilled chicken, barely no boiled egg with no egg white just the egg yolk, not only that but they forgot to add the croutons! Barely any Caesar dressing at all. You ever seen that episode on "kitchen nightmares" where the chef is served "grilled lettuce" it was exactly that except it had Caesar dressing. The salad was served on a small cramped rectangle plate, so I had to separate it on my small dinner plate to eat it that's how cramped it was, you would expect a salad in a bowl or decent sized plate not a appetizer plate that's best suited for small hor dourves. All and all the pictures of the food online looked better than in person for example the clams were Alot bigger on the website than what we got in person so we got catfished. Mind you the restaurant wasn't crowded at all so just imagine if it was a full house, you would expect the food to be the highest quality. Back of house needs a revamp asap! $350 is not it at all. Even though we were charged a 20 percent service charge fee they tried to make you select an additional 20 percent by recommending it on the receipt which is like a slap in the face as we have payed the tip already and that's not including the credit card fee which is an...

I’ve lived around the corner on 17th Street all of my life, I’ve been to Giovanni’s a few times and my parents go at least once per week for lunch.

I took my mom and mother-in-law to Giovanni’s on Saturday for brunch because I had not yet been to their new location. I’ve never been for brunch before, but in the past they had been accommodating with my food allergies (eggs and tree nuts) by offering me dry pasta for their pasta dishes instead of their handmade pasta that contains egg.

I booked the reservation at least 2 days in advance via Resy and indicated an egg and tree nut allergy. This is not something I would ordinarily expect a restaurant to remember about my reservation, but given what happened, I’m a little surprised they didn’t take note of it.

Initially, I ordered a panini with mozzarella and tomato - I requested the pesto be removed, the server told me it was nut free. I asked what they use instead of pine nuts, she told me she wasn’t sure. I decided to err on the side of caution and requested the sandwich be made without pesto.

The server returned and told me that a sandwich was not an option for me because all of their bread contains egg. This came as a little bit of a surprise for an Italian restaurant, to my knowledge (as someone who regularly eats Italian bread) bread is not always made with eggs. I figured maybe someone in the kitchen was mistaken as A LOT of people automatically assume bread is made with eggs, but I digress.

I went back and forth with the server for awhile, I sympathized with her - she was being thrown into a situation meant for a manager. I requested to speak with one and was informed that the manager, Giovanni himself, was not present and would not be able to speak with me. Kitchen staff was also unable/unwilling to speak with me directly. Management, essentially, was willing to let their server take the fall for this situation which really sends a message to me as someone who worked in the service industry for almost 7 years. To not be present at a brunch shift, especially on a holiday weekend such as Mother’s Day, speaks volumes.

The kitchen was unwilling to let me order off of a different menu, insisting that my only choices would come from the brunch menu - I was given the clear to order a piece of grilled chicken breast with a side of potatoes and a salad. They seemed to expect me to be grateful.

What REALLY speaks volumes is Giovanni’s response to my mother in law’s review. She generously offered 4 stars while stating they were not accommodating for egg allergies. His response? “We were accommodating but you were not satisfied.” What a wonderful business practice.

I’m shocked to encounter this as someone who has not ever had this issue dining in this neighborhood. All of my regular spots have happily accommodated me, speaking with me directly to ensure I was able to participate in whatever meal with everyone else at the table.

So...

Mr. Giovanni,

While on paper you may indeed be a restaurant owner, you seem to lack a few traits of a person who "wears" that title, (I guess, e vero che l'abito non fa il monaco); such as the ability to read patiently, logically, objectively so you can PROPERLY and ACCURATELY comprehend what has been written by the other party; such as appropriate (professional) communication skills while speaking to a customer. (LOL? Really? Internet slang language?). I'd give a lecture on professionalism, but ...

Nowhere in my review did I ever claim that I/my family were Italian. I specifically, repeatedly said my guests; from the beginning I've said we are all EUROPEANS.

I recommend you look up Istria; read books, learn more about the geography and history of "your" own country, before letting pride get the best of you and giving false/inaccurate comments.

Ciao e buona fortuna! :)

REVIEW EDIT, given I cannot reply to owner's reply

Mr. Giovanni, it would have been professional from you to at least reply with facts and not what conveniences your tale. No one expected the appetizers to come at the same time as the entrees, nor did anyone complain about your "policy" of ordering appetizers and main dishes all at once. We were asked to order them at the same time IN ORDER TO AVOID the long waiting period, which ended up happening anyway. Had the food started getting prepared in a timely manner, the one additional appetizer wouldn't have impacted the serving of the main dishes by as much as it did. I didn't come to you, my brother did. And you told him/us that the meal was still being prepared and then proceeded with the "this is not a fast food restaurant" comment. That was quite unprofessional. All it would have taken was an apology, like ANY OTHER restaurant owner/manager would have done because facts are facts : the food took too long to be served.

It is true that it would take about 2 hours or so for a table of 9 to dine, but not when you have them waiting for long periods of time for food to be served (appetizers too). The evening fails to be as pleasurable.

As far as my guests go, had you approached us/them even once during the dinner, you would have had the chance to appropriately interact with them and you would have learned that they are from Istria, a fully Italian region located in Croatia. They weren't introduced to Italian cuisine as you were introduced to it while being born and raised in Brooklyn; they were born in it and are surrounded by it 24/7. Rest assured, I and my guests know "a thing or two about dining" , therefore, given that we've dined all over the world, we logically deemed the experience quite unpleasant.

An apology (instead of an insult) for the food being late would have sufficed.

The food might have been somewhat Italian, but the service was far from it.

All the...