Giovanni’s Restaurant & Bar

It pains me to type this. I thought I’d love this place. I thought this would be a place to take my Iranian family for dinner when they’re in town. This was probably one of my worst meals out in a long time.
My friend and I ordered the filet kabob entrée, and we both agreed it was not good. I truly cannot believe that was filet. It tasted like a cheap skirt steak that they tried to make tender. It had no flavor and it was very chewy. I added so much sumac and was thoroughly chewing to get it down. For $ 20 an entrée, I was severely disappointed and felt jipped.
Very rarely do I leave a restaurant feeling like I just had a disgusting meal, but I felt this way leaving.
Do yourself a favor and if you’re in the area, I would suggest Shiraz instead. The food is better, cheaper, and the restaurant is nicer.

I attended a private party at Giovanni’s so I can’t really comment on what the service and atmosphere would typically be like, but I can definitely vouch for the great food!
Typically at these rented-​out-​Mediterranean-​restaurant functions, I’m not a fan of the food because I’m spoiled by good home cooking; however, Giovanni’s really impressed me. They had a number of options in the buffet for the party, but I only tried the koobideh and chicken kabob. The koobideh was some of the best I’ve ever had. It was incredibly juicy and seasoned perfectly. The chicken kabob was good, but not quite a standout like the koobideh.
I’ll definitely be back to experience Giovanni’s during normal operation (especially since I have a voucher for 30% off my meal from the Unilocal check in). I’ll attempt to try something new, but I doubt I’ll be able to resist the koobideh!

Won’t go there ever again. Customer service is very bad, which explains why the restaurant is always empty. I’ve been there several times (for bday, and just dinner) always bad experience, and after the last time I told myself I wouldn’t go there again. There are no changing tables for babies, and the owner of the restaurant told me to change my baby on the back seat of my car, she always has a bad attitude and the way she speaks just rubs me the wrong way. Waitresses don’t know what they doing. We wanted to order juice, the waitress told us they didn’t have any king of juice and then it turned out that they had juice but in the bar area.
Slow service even though the restaurant wasn’t busy
Food wasn’t not bad but def not worth all the trouble.

Bad attitude of the Restaurant owner, food was good. Italian name is misleading. It was actually Persian food.
Would not go back even if they offer free!

Truly a fantastic meal. I had the Lamb Kabob with several appetizers and every component delivered. If you are in the area, don’t miss this place.
A+ service
A+ food
A+ atmosphere

I’ve been here many times. Never had a bad dish. I usually get the spicy chicken kabob. I’m from Los Angeles, born in Tehran. I know my Persian food and this place’s food is top tier and the price is reasonable.

Awesome kabob! Great atmosphere and great music! Top notch service too, will be coming back soon :)

Best kabob in dallas hands down. The owner has been changed for some time now, but they are very passionate about consistently making (positive) changes to the place.
We always order 2 Koobidehs and they are cooked to perfection — definitely was not like this in the past since the changes.
Environment is very open (could benefit from a water fountain or something since it can get a bit quiet) — also would like if the lighting was a bit more romantic, settling.
This is technically a 4 ½ but I am rounding to 5 because they deserve it.

The food and entertainment is always great here. The staff is friendly and efficient. Love the kebabs and basmati rice.
Oh and last thing, try the Persian ice cream: saffron-​pistachio is amazing.

Went here last night and the experience was WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD.
I’m going to do my best to write a balanced review.
To start, I should confess that we had gone to an Italian restaurant in the area only to find it closed, and when I Unilocaled «Italian» this place came up. Italian food, as you’ll see, is not in their wheelhouse. It’s not even something they should put on the menu, frankly. Mea culpa that I ever tried to fit the round peg in the square hole — I can only pray that their Mediterranean food is way better. But the food wasn’t the only issue…
We walked in and we were the only people there at six o’clock. After we were seated, and some initial confusion when asking for the wine list, Boyfriend ordered a beer and I ordered the house chardonnay. We also started with a young man as our server, but then I think an owner (? a very nice woman) served us… Except that we had to keep her from running away so that we could order our calamari appetizer. We sat for at least 25 minutes before our entrée orders were taken, which is insane, because we were there ALONE that whole time, until one other couple finally walked in. We finally got our orders in just ahead of this couple.
Meanwhile, my wine glass sat empty for a stupidly long time. It was just bizarre that no one seemed to give too much of a crap about how things were going. Finally, Boyfriend flagged down the young server and asked for another wine for me, another beer for him — and the server took and THREW OUT the rest of boyfriend’s beer before serving him a new one.
In the meantime, the woman came back to our table with two bowls of their barley soup, which she said was on the house. It was probably the best part of the meal, as it was very tasty, and I appreciate that kindness. Again, I think Mediterranean food is the way to go here at all costs. Because when the calamari came out it was disgusting. This was calamari that sat in the freezer — it was hard and over-​cooked and had little flavor. And it was highway robbery charging us $ 10 for the weenie portion we were served, soup or no soup. Sauce was okay.
When ordering our meal, Boyfriend asked if the rollatini could be made with veal instead of chicken and we were informed that they couldn’t because it was pre-​made. Big red flag!!!
Our entrées were veal picatta ($ 17.99) and veal carciofi (also $ 17.99). The carciofi was advertised on the menu as such: «Sautéed chicken breast or veal with portabella mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes in a brandy cream sauce.» After a little bit, the woman came to tell me that they had run out of capers for the veal picatta. I was starving and really getting fed up, so I told her to just make it without the capers. Surprise! I ended up getting capers, but Boyfriend’s carciofi had NO artichoke hearts, which was half the reason he ordered in the first place. For both our dishes, the meat was tougher than it should have been. The picatta sauce was flavorful, however. Probably because it was made with magic capers.
Here’s what really infuriated me – the couple who was seated well after us got their food before we did. While the woman was very nice, we were never really asked how things were until we were basically done with the meal. Bread hit the table at the end of the meal. When the check came, I was clearly the one paying for it but they kept giving it to Boyfriend who would then hand it across the table to me. It’s 2016. Women pay for things. Don’t insult me like that.
And this crap experience cost about $ 75 before tip. THEN!!! a man who I think was another owner or manager came over as I was calculating my tip to say, «Is everything okay?» Too little, too late, dude. Couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
TL;DR — Overpriced, bad service experience, bad food experience. I wanted to like it here, because the woman who served us seemed so genuinely nice, but it was just awful and I can’t fathom a situation where I’d ever come back again. TAKE ITALIAN FOOD OFF OF YOUR MENU IF YOU CAN’T COOK ITALIAN FOOD

Great place. Me and my wife went on a Saturday night and they had a table ready so no wait time. I had an Italian appetizer and Chicken kebabs. Service was amazing and the environment in itself was great too!!!

I’ve been here on a weeknight twice and love it! The first time we were here, we ordered the mixed grill platter and some chicken kebab platter. Everything was juicy and flavorful. I love that the give you complementary pita with cucumbers, some feta, and herbs to munch on.
The second time we were there, we had their special menu with appetizer, entrée and bottle of wine. I had the veal piccatta and an eggplant appetizer and everything was perfect. The service here is phenomenal. I forgot the name of the waiter, but he’s Morroccan and he was the best waiter we ever had. Extremely professional, courteous, and friendly it makes you feel like you are in a 5-​star restaurant. The experience, food and service were so memorable we gave our waiter a 25% tip!

This place was okay. We gave it a try based On other positive reviews. The food was good, but not flavorful. We didn’t try their pizza’s. The décor could be updated as well. Staff was friendly, but not where we will go back for that «wow» experience.

How does this have good ratings? Quite possibly my worst Mediterranean experience! The hummus wasn’t good and came with cold chewy pita. The salad was cheaply done and only soaked in oil as the dressing… couldn’t eat it… yet they charged me $ 7 for it. I recommend Afrah in Richardson if you want to experience REAL good food.

This place has excellent Mediterranean food, and mediocre Italian food. I was in the mood for Italian and ordered the chicken picatta, foolishly ignoring the waitress’s subtle hint that their Italian food isn’t up to par. The sauce was excellent and almost made up for the fact that the chicken was puny and a pathetic piece of meat. Also the pasta was not angel hair, which is what was advertised. It came with one cold, raw carrot.
My dad ordered the combo kebab (chicken and ground beef) with rice and a grilled tomato. it was SO GOOD. Amazing flavor. I can’t wait to go back and order my own.

Had an amazing holiday party. Food was hot and well prepared and staff was super friendly!!! Book a corporate event here!!!

Went for our first time not knowing Thursday nights are Jazz nights. They have live music playing and a special menu you can order from — $ 39.99 for an appetizer, 2 entrees, and a bottle of wine. (You can order from the regular menu but this is a great deal). Has an upscale, intimate vibe. Service was great and I really enjoyed the music. The only thing that wasn’t excellent is the hummus but I am pretty picky on hummus — it was good, not great.
Our server said Friday and Saturday nights they have belly dancers and stay open until midnight. They serve hookah on the patio.

Actually, it’s quite a nice looking restaurant from the outside and inside. When you walk, you get a full view of the whole interior. Tables and chairs are neatly arranged to provide a comfortable and homey dining atmosphere. There is a nice little bar at the far corner with a decent selection of wine and beer. We didn’t come here to drink (not tonight), but for a Mediterranean dinner. It was on a weekday around 7:00. We saw only a couple of patrons sitting at the bar, which was good. No wait time!
To start with, we ordered a Shirazi salad and the kashk-​e-​bademjan (eggplant purée) appetizer. The menu says the salad has chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and herbs in fresh lime juice. But it got to the table, I saw mostly tomatoes and unions, and I didn’t see much cucumber at all. It tasted quite fresh though with the lime juice and some herb sprinkles. But I wouldn’t eat it plain like a regular salad. Luckily, it came with pita bread (my favorite), so we ate it together with the bread. The eggplant dip was wonderful! It was well-​baked with a nice purée texture. It went pretty well with the pita bread.
We ordered two entrees: my favorite lamb kabob and the spicy chicken kabob. The lamb meat on a skewer was tender and flavorful, nicely seasoned and grilled. The meat didn’t have a strong taste of lamb, which may scare off some people who want to try lamb for the first time. It was just good enough to enjoy the flavor of the meat. The chicken was delicious — tender and mildly spicy. (We eat very spicy food, so «mildly spicy» may be potent enough to many people.) Each entrée came with a generous bed of bastmati rice, which was fluffy and lightly salted. The saffron added a beautiful bright yellow color to the rice. I put some butter on the rice, which I don’t normally do with rice. But it did add some buttery taste to the rice. Nice try.
The service was fine. Since there were not too many customers, probably we got some extra attention from the server and even the manager. I think they have belly dance on the weekend. May come visit again to see how it goes.
By the way, the men’s room is nice and clean in case you need it.

I live in Atlanta and was taken here by a friend; IT WAS OUTSTANDING!
We ate at the buffet, which is often not very good a lot of places, but this was fresh, bountiful, and delicious. I’d never tasted rice pudding like that before and loved it. All the meat dished, rice and zucchini was truly excellent. I had their house hot tea after lunch and it was fresh, unique and the perfect end to a great lunch
Great, friendly and professional service and a very good value
I highly recommend this restaurant

Okay, where do I start! Service… non-​existent. If they aren’t bringing out food get ready to send up the arm waving signals to get someone’s attention. Seems everyone’s is new at serving, maybe all part of the family owned business, maybe not. However when you have to tell the guy behind the bar how to open a bottle of wine you know something’s amiss.
Don’t be confused by the name. This is not an Italian restaurant in the least. There isn’t an Italian in the place to be found. Chicken Parm with no red sauce??? Bruschetta with Feta cheese??? The only Italian thing is the name. It’s more Persian and Med. I’m not into Med or Persian food so I didn’t order it and can’t comment on how good it is.
Prices are too high for the atmosphere. Come on, flashing red, blue, white, Eric lights under the bar like the top of a police car??? It was blinding and had to ask them to turn it off.
I believe it is Persian owned, so if your Persian I you’ll get good service and possibly good food too. A couple big Persian parties came in and you could tell they were getting all the attention. That must be their bread and butter clientele, the local Texas Persian crowd, because it’s definitely not the Italian/​American Texas crowd. lol!
Verdict — Never going back!