Giovanni’s Ristorante & Pizzeria

Had dinner there while visiting my parents. The atmosphere is authentic and smells delicious. Unfortunately, the rolls were the best part. I had the chicken parm and it was tender and had good flavor but I wouldn’t rank it in my top 5. The pizza looked good.

Ok so I lived in lady lake 10 years ago and this was our place. We came all the time and loved it. First time back since then and I got to say something is very different in not a good way. I hate chain restaurants and want to support local businesses but I don’t think I will be back.

This place is terrible — went on the waitress suggestions, and ordered the lobster with clams, and oysters– 6– 8 oz she stated– It came out, the lobster still had green gunk in it, where it was not cleaned and further if there was 3 oz of lobster meat I would be surprised, Called the chef over and he stated that was the way, and could not understand where the lobster meat was, we were a party of 6, I did not eat anything and they were all there — the place if bull — Further I stated you could take this back, and he stated no I want you to enjoy — my mistake he charged me full price, further I did not leave a tip, the waitress came out of the restaurant as we left out the door, and said to me, you did not leave me a tip was my service bad– I said let your
manager pay your tip as you geared me to this meal, and it was bad let him pay your tip.
I took videos of this bad food and I would love to put them out if the site would allow.
Do not go to this restaurant…

Good food, good prices, good portions, and the staff was friendly. Close to the beach and perfect for an after-​swim meal. I’ll be visiting more often since I just happened across this place. Oh, and the garlic knots were awesome!

Just finished eating lunch. We were one of three tables at 3:30. Service was so bad. Waitress was snappy and never returned for anything. Dropped off food and left. We had to hunt her down for refills and even the bill. Food is just OK, not sure why all the 5 stars. I guess they feel they are in The Villages, they can treat us poorly. Will never go back.

Large portions, most everything is made from scratch, bread knots fantastic, friendly staff, get here early as it is popular, Greek Salad, Veal Parmesan & Calzones excellent

I love Giovanni’s! They are one of the few mom and pop businesses in the villages and they treat everyone like family.

Didn’t get a chance to eat there because the hostess was so rude to the family in front of me ready to get seated. Then when she came back to seat me she was so rude and thru a child like fit because she had to clear off a table or booth for me. I just turned around and walked out. Very disappointed!

I went again on my yearly visit to TV. Our waitress Kimberly was great, and so was the food. I am adding a star because the friendly and well-​timed service is by far the best I have received on my visit this year.

I think you will find the place gets high ratings from those who go in to eat and very poor ratings from the people who are TRYING to do take-​out. The place always seems to be packed and they have little to no system for their take-​out… You are crammed in in a small area way in the back of the restaurant, where one overly stressed woman tries to handle incoming calls, people placing walk-​up orders (such as myself) and people picking up their food. She can’t do it… at all, it’s a miserable fail. Instead of being mad at her (as I watched her take 4 phone orders instead of taking mine while I had already been standing there for at least 5 minutes… and by the time she got me, the pizza wait time had gone up from 45 minutes to 1 hour, no doubt because of the 4 phone calls that got to «cut» me in line) I felt bad for her. She was overwhelmed and overmatched. They need to get her some help. I didn’t bother to wait the hour for the pizza…
My 2^nd try (after all, the place was packed, it must be amazing, right?) was a little better. I ate in. I saw a lot of people hanging out with friends, milling around and having a good time. The atmosphere was good…
Now, here is the problem… The food (which I expected to be amazing) was just better than average. The pizza was good but not great, the pasta dishes were very very average and I felt a bit over priced for what we got and the service was still quite slow.
So here is my question… Why is this place always so packed???

The reception women on phone for take-​out was a nasty b — ch. She was even nastier when we arrived to pick up the order apparently under pressure from a decent crowd. Would not answer a simple question about our order, told me she didn’t say what she said that was incorrectly in the order, slammed the invoice onto the spike, took our money to then find the house salads that were supposed to be included with dinners were forgotten. My customer experience was very disappointing to be made wrong when simply trying to enjoy myself in the Villages. The service totally ruined a special dinner with my parents after traveling from New Jersey. Food was average after all the aggravation.

Went on Friday and was told by the waiter that it would take an hour to get pizza. They say it’s like this on Friday and Saturday. So if you want to get a pizza you might want to try somewhere else. The pizza is not that great but there are few options in the area. It would be nice if there was a good pizza place around.
We had a salad and left.

Mediocre food and sauces. The pasta sauce (tomatoe) on the eggplant parmasian tastes like a can of Chef Boy-​ardee. Pasta Fagoul soup was like cardboard… no taste. I over heard the waitress tell an other customer that all the sauces were «home made». I hope not if that is the best they can do. $ 32 for 2 beers, bowl of soup, clams with linguni and a side order of eggpant. Poor value and poor taste.
Take a pass on this place.

I ordered takeout because the place is rather small and you always have to wait. It’s also very noisy and the outside brightness shines thru the front window. I ordered a large Giovanni calzone and a large chef salad Italian antipasto and it was more than enough for four persons. It included sauce and garlic bread. It doesn’t get any better as far as taste and serving goes. Will do it again soon.

Average. Small place and not quite worth the wait.

First to time here but it won’t be the last. Had pizza tonight and it was outstanding! Will be looking forward to full dinners. Service was very good. Only negative — they are supposed to be open til 9pm but closed about 8:30pm. Second restaurant to do that while we were there! I consider that inconsiderate! Posted hours should be honored. A couple was turned away before 9pm and that is not fair.

Recommend you go at lunch as the prices increase at dinner. Since they increase the prices at dinner, they should upscale by using linen tablecloths & napkins.

The placed is packed and rather amusing as people seemed to mingle and chat while waiting for tables, which is the occasion more often than not.
Really good old fashioned thin crust pizza with a real good sauce. I found this to be the most affordible pizza in «The Villages» as well, so I dying to go back and try their other offerings which looked liked they’ve been doing this long before they came here!
Also received our pizza in 20 min. both times we’ve ordered!

Came in for lunch and had a prosciutto and capicolla sandwich with mozzarella cheese on the normal bread with some fries. I found the sandwich very good. The ham and cheese with the capicolla was very good. The fries were great, for some reason I wanted a very specific type of fry and Giovanni’s had those so I was really happy. Wait staff was less than enthused, the one waitress seemed bored or something I dunno. and it was 1130am so not sure but I felt like I was getting almost a cold shoulder. Over all good experience

Giovanni’s is one of the most consistently good Italian restaurants in The Villages. Nothing to scream about, but WAY better than most of the pizza places in the area. The dining area is small, and there is almost always a wait, but if you are in a hurry I would recommend ordering takeout.