Giovani's Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Up until last week I will NEVER patronize this place again and I have been coming here for years (I've even given a good review for this place previously on behalf of the food)....I stopped in after doing some light shopping, ordered a quick drink and sat at a table parallel to the bar. One of the guys working at and outside of the bar was also working tables, so he took my drink order, brought it to me and just before I was done I paid my tab with him. There was a server (thick caucasian girl with a jacket tied around her stomach) who had walked past me a million times serving food and drinks to others, not once interacting with me which was okay because I wasn't her customer although she had waited on me on previous occasions. so she had seen me several times before. As I got ready to leave, another lady came up to me asking me was I leaving, so I said yes and proceeded to let her have the table I was sitting at and the next thing I know the the server with the jacket around her stomach who never said one word to me prior stopped and said to me "that'll be $5.50!?!?"....Mind you I had already paid my tab with the guy that served me, so I HAD ALREADY PAID....After I told her that I already paid she briskly walked away. no apology or anything.....I was dumbfounded!!! - A. Because she has seen me on numerous occasions at the establishment B. She never said one word to me the whole time that I was there, so for her to suddenly come ask me to pay my bill was unacceptable ESPECIALLY when I had already paid the person that served me.. I wrote in to management about my experience and to this day haven't received not one apology OR any kind of response at all. Why am I sharing, because this was rude and degrading. How dare her not at least ask the person who waited on me 1st if I paid or not before just assuming I was trying to leave without paying.....It was also embarrassing because she did it right in front of the lady who I was giving my seat to....NO MORE Giovani's for me, I hate prejudice places and to think I had been patronizing these people for years and they can't and won't give a simple response to how their employees treat their customers

UPDATE- I finally received an apology 'after/post' writing reviews on 3 different sites and by reaching out directly to the restaurant for a 2nd time.

In closing of the conversation I was asked to remove my review which is what I really think was far more important to them than my complaint and their employees...

I've been going to this establishment for upwards of 4 years now and I've always had impeccable food and service and the atmosphere is always friendly. Unfortunately, the service I received yesterday left a bad taste in my mouth and I will not be returning. Your bartender, Kristen, started off friendly enough. But about 20 minutes in she became sub par. I asked for another drink and responded, "Who is this for?" as if that question was imperative for the drinking, seeing as did not card either of us for our first round of drinks. Nevertheless, I responded that it was for me to which she nodded and took a few other patrons before handing me my drink. She did not come back at any time to ask how we were but did gesture to us as she was speaking to, who I assume, were other off the clock staff seeing as i recognized a few of them from previous excellent experiences. Meanwhile, the other bartender who I can only assume was Jonathan, as she passed us off at the very end, was noticibly inebriated. Dropping the ice scooper, abruptly multiple times and swaying a bit. All in all this experience was awkward, at best. Your staff (really those two) should be properly friendly and probably shouldn't be drinking while on the clock.

If this were my first time going there, I definitely...

Have done a pickup order from here before, but ended up going here for food & drinks about a week ago. When you first come in, it looks like it's just a pizza place, but there's a bar & dining area with TV's towards the back. We got there early enough to catch the drink specials during happy hour and beat more of the crowd that eventually came in. We decided to sit at the bar.

The bartender was great and a cool guy - good service, personality, just attentive enough and good at stirring up conversation. We ordered a few drinks along with the Buffalo Shrimp and Wings as our apps. I wasn't expecting the buffalo shrimp to come out how they did, but they were really good! Great size shrimp that were sauteed (rather than fried which is probably what I was expecting), drizzled and sitting in buffalo and ranch dressing - you can get blue cheese instead of ranch since they ask which you prefer. The wings were decent size and what you would expect when ordering wings. The drinks were really good too. He mixed both of our drinks with just enough alcohol that they were strong, but not overpowering in taste.

If you're looking for maybe a more low-key spot in Center City for some standard drinks & eats, this could be a...