Giovanni's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sylacauga

Upon walking in I thought that it was going to be the worst dining experience ever. I was truly afraid of ordering. The atmosphere reminded me of a flea market eatery (not sure how else to describe it and it had nothing to do with the attached vendor mall). We were sat in the back right corner and the TV had blown speakers which were grating to listen to but we got it turned down to a tolerable level.

The kid that waited on us was a little slow on the uptake and after asking if we were ready to order, had to go get the electronic order pad. We had to keep prompting to get more bread. My drink was empty and stayed empty until I asked for more.

As for the food: I was astounded to say the least... It was actually pretty good.

The salad bar doesn't appear to exist anymore.

I had the grilled chicken orecchettie. The chicken looked like the precooked strips in the cooler section at the grocery and the pasta was done a little more than al dente but not super overcooked, but the sauce! It says it's romesco sauce, it's not. I'm not entirely sure WHAT sauce it is, but it's awesome! It could have used a little bit more spice, but not much. It was delicious.

My daughter got the kids spaghetti with a giant meatball. The giant meatball was a little unwieldy for a child but she liked it.

My wife got the fried chicken Alfredo and the chicken was delicious. Alfredo sauce seemed like it was dosed with salt twice but it wasn't inedible. The pasta in hers was so so.

In the end I was pleasantly surprised and never would have guessed the food was that good, I will visit here again when the mood for Italian strikes and I need to...

Tonight we went for dinner. The waitress offered us an appetizer and told us what the special was for the night. Wings, mozzarella moons and fried pickles. We opted to get it just because of the fried pickles and mozzarella moons. They brought us out wings and fries and said the appetizer special had been changed. Literally, put it on the table and left without even asking us if that was okay. Another waitress came over and my husband told her what was going on, and that we didn't want the fries. She had a bad attitude and took the fries back. When we went to pay my husband realized they were trying to charge us full price even though we sent the items back. The waitress said they wouldn't fix it. We waited almost an hour for our food and it wasn't even that busy. When we did receive our food everyone at our table except for me got their food. I waited another 10 minutes while everyone ate before my food came out. Completely awful experience. Painfully slow, not willing to fix their own mistakes. Definitely won't be back 👎

UPDATE: A few nights ago my toddler begged for spaghetti. We reluctantly went back to Giovannis. I want to say that the service was much better this time. Our waitress checked on us often and was very kind. We ordered kids noodles, a meatball sub and a mufalatta. The food came out in a very timely manner and it was actually excellent. I found myself audibly commenting on how good it was throughout the meal. I wanted to update my review because it is apparent to me that they are trying (and succeeding) in bettering their service and I appreciate that. We will come back here for...

Too bad there’s not a zero option! I spoke to two different employees when ordering food for 4 ADULTS and 2 CHILDREN for our daughter’s birthday on 1/7. I reiterated several times the number of people that would be eating. The chef was super nice but failed to communicate effectively. The sweet girl answering the phone failed to communicate the price etc. My husband got there to pick the food up and there was enough to feed at least 16 plus people! My husband had no idea what I’d ordered so he just picked it up at the tune of 153.00! The lasagna was $75 and chicken Alfredo $50. We also got an order of cheese bread and small bruschetta which was the normal price for appetizers. I immediately told him that could’ve be correct the 4 adults and two children, then called to speak to the chef. He was not very accommodating. He said if I brought the food back that he couldn’t adjust price nor could I order anything else. He eventually said he’s send a $30 gift certificate. We could have eaten at an upscale Italian eatery for that price . Amore’, Bellinis.. The chicken alfredo was very dry, no flavor, and only a few pieces of unseasoned chicken !! The lasagna was just “ok”.. very runny. Never again! Worst experience we’ve had in years, and we frequently dine in and order...