Giovanni's Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Newton

Giovanni’s “used” to be the best restaurant in town.Then around the time Maytag shuttered, Gio’s decided to try to reinvent the wheel. Gone were the long hours where a person could enjoy a good warm pi after a Newton home game. Also out was the buffet that many often enjoyed. Soon to follow was the quality of food everyone enjoyed and could anticipate on after a long worthwhile wait.

To further ruin things, Giovanni’s prices went way up, and the quality of the food hit a downhill slope. Instead of a (meh) par-fried pizza crust like they make today, Gio’s was well known for the overly scrumptious, hand tossed, thin, baked crust in the old fashioned ovens. That was the days when quality meant more than quantity.

Recently we ordered onion rings that were limp and not very flavorful. The price for a full order of soggy yellow O’s (not the golden crispy 0’s of yesteryear) cost $8.55 after tax for a full(?) order that was barely enough for two people to enjoy. The question mark behind the “full” lends to the fact the order seemed quite small for the price of a supposedly full order.

It is no wonder their operating hours have been reduced drastically. When you take away quality while also over inflating the prices, one can expect the loss of clientele from what was once known to be one of the best pizzerias around.

Now Gio’s is going to sell pizzas out of a mobile facility? . . .

I think going back to the drawing board might be a better idea. Adding a mobile pizzeria is only a good idea for a business that is already successful, not one that currently appears to be operating on life support. If only they would go back to original ways.

Crispy hand tossed pizza after a home game . . . Golden O’s . . . buffet . . . It is always...

I hate that I feel like I need to do this. I don't know if they went through new management, ownership, or whatever but I used to order a few years back on occasion so it's been a while.

The person taking my order charged my card wrong. Then there was the issue of the person taking my order not hearing anything I was saying I guess. I asked for delivery, she said okay what would you like? Then I made my order. I asked for one root beer, two sprite. (I received one sprite) I explained this to the manager/owner. She says I'll have to charge you for them. I said that's fine, I asked.for it in the first place and she didn't put it down. Mind you at that point, I was already irritated with the card thing.

Then I asked.for.10oz. fry. When I came to pick up,.I asked where the fries were. She said we don't sell fries. I said ok that's fine but why did the lady not.tell me that because I requested 5 ranches and I wouldn't have asked for the few extra ranches. Turns out she didn't even put 5 ranches down. She wrote down two.

I expressed my frustration from the order process. She offered no apology and that's why this review is here. A simple "I apologize, we will work on that", would suffice but she lacked empathy and professionalism.

The honey Garlic Chicken Alfredo pizza was to die...

Nice slice of pie! Crust, toppings, and sauce were fantastic. Crisp crust, snapped when cut. Toppings were cooked, but not browned, and correct. Green peppers still had crunch, I like that. You could tell the ingredients were fresh and appropriate in a fine manner. There's nothing better than going to a restaurant that closes on Monday. The weekend trashes fryers. Clean, crisp, onionrings on Tuesday are hard to best. (I have no idea how often they use new fryer oil, but I've seen it thrash rings too many times. I'm not a Regular there.) Rings were top notch. Add a hit of salt when they hit your table, good as gold. :) I also like a clean 80 seater. Clean booths and tables. Yes, the outside has history, been around since the 70's perhaps the late 60's. You would never know it inside. Clean floors, not a speck of dust on fans, or trim. I truly wanted to hit 5 stars. Not that 4 is bad by any means. The staff was friendly, well greeted and received. However, the lack of check back. Drinks going dry, lack napkins, and pre-buss. Again, a good crew. The "keep smiling" stickers on the point of sale tablets, made me smile too. You've got an awesome thing going. Thanks! Cool fish tank too. We will be back, and I will recommend this fine pie to...