Giovanni's Restaurant — Restaurant in North Township

Lengthy Post. My family and I arrived Friday as Friday is our usual pizza day and we have not been to this location and wanted to give it a try. Upon arriving everything was fine. The first inconsiderate thing that happened was while our waitress was taking our order, she stopped midpoint and leaned over to speak to other customers without excusing herself. She then looked back at us and smiled, still not excusing herself for being rude. We ordered our pizza and appetizer plate that consisted of 4 different items and soft drinks. When the appetizer came, it was very minimal, but we still were optimistic and began to try the food. The chicken nuggets were cold in the center so we waited for our waitress to come in sight and had to call her over. She offered to "take them off" and then asked if we'd like them remade. My husband said they can be remade. We continued to eat the cheesy garlic bread. Then we went to the toast with cheese on top, where my son noticed a piece of hair or fuzz. At this point we no longer want to eat. We again call the waitress over and show her the hair or fuzz whichever it was. I kindly asked her to cancel the order and shared we were leaving. She said that is fine and my family proceeded to leave in a normal fashion. While I was the last one to leave a short brown hair woman began to walk to me and said "you asked to speak with me" I replied no I did not. She said "yes you did." I again responded I did not and asked for my order to be canceled. She said Well if there is an issue you should ask to speak to the manager you don't just "get up and leave that is rude!" (Mind you the way she is speaking at this point is rude to me-the customer). I said I wasn't just leaving I let the waitress know to cancel our order. She then said "well I'm charging you for the appetizer because you consumed all of it" I walked back to my table and grabbed the plate. I said "ma'am all 3 of the mozzarella sticks are here, the chicken was cold and is still here, the bread with cheese had a hair on it. The only item entirely ate is the cheesy garlic bread. Ill pay for that but not the entire thing." She agreed and walked away. I stood at the front for several more minutes before the waitress returned with a receipt for $18 which the item alone was $9. The waitress shared they still charged for the drinks. I said well then I need to go cups because had I stayed, I would have received refills. I technically shouldn't be paying that either because that what not discussed. The waitress walks away for several minutes. Here I am standing again, the brown hair lady returns and asks what the issue was. I shared that I was charged for the drinks, and she said "yes and she is getting you to go cups" I replied yes but I technically do not even want those I only requested them because you're charging me for an order I canceled after getting cold food and finding a hair. She then told me there was no hair on my food. She said they offered to remake the food as if at this point I would want to stay after the way she is even speaking to me. Now I am pretty upset because I've had poor service, am being talked to rudely and am being called a liar. So, at this point I yell and state "I found hair in my food and my chicken was cold. There was hair in my food." She responded and said OKAY you don't have to pay for anything. Just get out and don't come back. I said "gladly" and walked out the door. I have never in all my years of life had to behave in such a manner or out of character. I have never been spoken to so rudely. I have never been approached in an aggressive manner by someone who is supposed to be providing me service. I'm not sure what the issue was but had the manager at the least came out with a positive and respectful attitude things may have turned out a lot different. My family and I ended up going to one of our favorite pizza spots in Crown Point, where the customer service is always great, and the food is tasty and hot. The atmosphere itself appeared to be fine, but everything...

This past weekend (11.9.24), I had the less-than-pleasant experience of dining at Giovanni’s Restaurant. It was, to say the least, both frustrating and disappointing. To give some context, we made reservations for 20 people to celebrate my aunt’s 90th birthday. This detail was shared during the reservation process, I should note. We arrived promptly at 6:30 PM, and by 7 PM, our entire party of around 25 people had gathered.

For a gathering of this size, we had only one server. Initially, she was friendly and accommodating, but she soon became overwhelmed. Her feeling overwhelmed does not indicate a lack of capability on her part, but rather reflects poorly on management for placing that burden on one individual. After that point, the evening took a turn for the worse, with appetizers being served at 8:15 PM and dinner not arriving until 9:30 PM; some menu items had to be changed due to a shortage of baked potatoes. Additionally, food was returned (and comped) because the shrimp tasted like it had freezer burn, and finally, cold dishes were served and sent back.

After going through that ordeal, we finally reached the end of the evening with our bills. Another mess occurred when checks were distributed that didn’t correspond to anyone in our group, and some guests from our party were billed twice, requiring one of them to reach out to the restaurant the following day. We also had to wait nearly 20 minutes for our credit cards to be returned. It was TERRIBLE!

Keep in mind this was a birthday celebration. There wasn’t a Happy Birthday song from the restaurant's staff or even a complimentary dessert for the birthday person. ALL RESTAURANTS DO THAT!! Management did not offer apologies nor remorse for our subpar dining experience. The highlight of the night was spending time with family.

To sum it up, I wish me, and my family had selected another restaurant to celebrate such an...

Been here before and enjoyed it but tonight was just not their night. I will admit it was packed house however to wait an hour for an appetizer was ridiculous! About 30 minutes into the wait we were told it was coming up. I then asked if we could place our dinner order since the food is taking a while to come out of the kitchen anyway. She takes our order. 20 minutes later comes back and says they are out of what I ordered. So at this rate I'm wondering if we will even get to eat before we need to leave to pick up our kids but she says she will rush the order. So I order. Another 15 minutes later and the appetizer finally comes out. I ordered the sautéed calamari. I usually LOVE sautéed calamari but this tasted like absolutely NOTHING! The sauce and the calamari itself was completely bland to the point where I had to send it back once management came over and asked how we liked everything. So, they take the appetizer back and remove it from the bill. 15 minutes later and the entrees arrive. I ordered the stuffed flounder. I get it and the bottom of the plate is covered in the thickest cream sauce I've ever seen! The fish and crab stuffing tasted like nothing! The only thing that did have some flavor was the cream sauce however I do not eat diary! I did my best to pick around the sauce and just eat the fish but it just wasn't good. Being that I am a private chef and have worked in restaurants, I couldn't bring myself to return anything else knowing they are a small business that can only afford to comp so much. I did enjoy my side of vegetables though. I told myself I'd doctor it up when I got home but on the way home I threw up what little bit of the dish I ate due to the cream sauce which was not mentioned on the menu. So after all of that I left with a dish that I couldn't even eat. Won't be back...