Giovanni's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in South Carolina

We'd heard good things about this restaurant, Unfortunately highly disappointed,

My party arrived on a Thursday evening just as they opened, we were seated promptly. it was 15 minutes before anyone came and checked on us, other that the girl that poured our water, Finally, an elderly gentleman came to our table, Seemed to be in a bad mood. meanwhile, several other obvious regulars came in, He greeted them as if they were long lost friends. It appears if you're Italian or from up North somewhere, you get far better service, First time non Italian visitors don't receive that type of warm reception. Anyway, i digress, The elderly gentleman finally brought us a free brucetta appetizer, that was nice. The quality was good, meanwhile, it took another 30 minutes for our order to be taken. The elderly gentlemen, took our order and didn't write anything down. I ordered my favorite italian meal, Fettuccine Alfredo, with NO protein. Just the pasta & Alfredo sauce, which is simple enough to understand. Several others ordered the lobster.Ravioli, one other ordered the lasagna. The salads arrived in less than 15 minutes, Then another 30 minutes for our main course to arrive. Sadly the order was incorrect. I didn't send it back, as the elderly gentleman was already in a bad mood, I didn't want anyone tampering with my food in the back because I'd returned it, we simply kept our mouth shut, ate our food, paid our bill & left.

So based on the sub par service and the order not being correct, We will not be returning. Nor can I recommend it.

I'm sure they'll not be too overly concerned about that, as it's just a very small hole in the wall restaurant, in a strip mall, beside the railroad tracks, with probably around 10 tables. There's more than enough Italians from New York, & New Jersey.In.G-ville currently to keep this business afloat, for just how long remains the question,

However with the large number of Italian restaurants in G-ville, This is not one I'd pick for a return visit, I'm sure I'd have a much better culinary experience at Capris...

I hate we were so disappointed. We had such high hopes for this little restaurant we'd heard good...

Edit (3 star): I went here a couple weeks ago with my girlfriend and unfortunately did not have the same experience. When we were seated the owner came over to us and told us the 3-4 specials of the day. He goes over the specials very fast and can be a bit hard to understand though. When he came back to get our order, my girlfriend asked him to repeat the specials as nether of us could hear all of the details the first time (and the specials are not written down on the menu or on a chalkboard anywhere).

He seemed agitated and asked my girlfriend "why are you asking me to repeat them" and said "if it is because of my accent nothing is going to change in those 5 minutes". He did repeat the specials for us, but was noticeably frustrated. While I understand what he was getting at, it came across extremely rude and cold. The rest of the meal was fine and he tried to be conversational later, but the damage was done at that point.

The food is amazing, but we won't be going back. Of the other low ratings for Giovanni's I would expect a response from the owner, but there are none which makes me question customer service a bit.

Original Review (5 star): Great authentic italian/european experience! Food was some of the best Italian I’ve ever had in Greenville. Very attentive and professional service. Seems to get busy quick. Def visit for...

The food here is spectacular. The appetizer Jamacan beef patty (similar to an empañada) was a really good start to our meal. It was shared between my wife and I and we both agree it was worth trying and we would order again. Now, definitely try the chicken marsala it is much different than I expected based on all the other marsalas I have had in the past prepared at different restaurants. Even though it's different it was incredible, I usually have leftovers and sadly it was so good, I overate and even wanted to lick the plate. I didn't because my wife would have smacked me, lol jk. My wife had the chicken parm and it was pretty darn good as well. Oh, last but not least the garlic knot rolls alone will have you coming back for more. I really liked everything here and glad we decided to try them out. It's a nice quaint dining area , clean and kid friendly. I highly recommend supporting this small yet fantastic locally owned and operated family oriented establishment. I am certain you won't be disappointed. I know that while we dined in they had a steady stream of carry out orders being picked up. Quite busy yet efficient. I myself will be looking forward to returning and trying other menu items in the future. The traffic in and out tells me they are a prized part of the community and I...