Giovanna’s

A lovely place with wonderful service. The GF pasta was AWESOME! The tiramisu was delicious, the house wine is v. good, and the ambiance is delightful. All four people in our party were v. pleased with our meals. This is my second time visiting this restaurant and I walked in with no reservations and no wait both times.

This place it’s made for NYC Tourist. eat and go don’t care if they will come back to dine. It’s little expensive for the cuisine.

Bad chicken parm — they brought me a replacement order and it was still bad. The chicken was tough and rubbery in texture. I never complain about food, but this was not edible. The margarita pizza was delicious however.

An Italian restaurant in a sea of Italian restaurants located in Little Italy New York. I have been to a few of them and many are better. I am not real sure on the authenticity of the place. The mood was Italian, but the food and the vibe was not.
A fun place to sit outside and watch the crowd go by, as most places on Mulberry. The food was OK, but more like Olive Garden than Italy. All in all it was an average meal and was looking for more in Little Italy.

They cure you in with a ‘real italian’ and ’ hand made pasta’ but the food in all honesty was nothing amazing

I came here two years ago and I was amazed by the authentic Italian cooking! I’m Italian myself, and I would choose this place over any Olive Garden or Johnny Carrino’s.
Btw the staff was marvelous and very attentive.

I know the reviews aren’t all that great, but I actually really enjoyed this place. We ended up choosing this place after walking down the street all hungry and stuff. I had the lobster ravioli and asked them to use their creamy pesto instead of their pink sauce. Holy balls, that shit was good, and I am SO picky about my pesto (I make a pretty damn good version at home). My husband had a margarita pizza that they delivered from next door, which he liked (but not as much as Lombardi’s). My only complaint was the service, which was not the most prompt.
Cool thing: apparently the head chef of this place has been on Chopped a few times.

Terrible service. Ok food. By ok, I mean it reminded me of the Lean Cuisine lasagna that I sometimes eat. They go ahead and give themselves 18% gratuity, so I guess they don’t feel the need to wait on you.

So glad we stopped into this place in Little Italy. This was the best food we had on our trip to NYC.
I had the lobster ravioli. OMG the ravioli was stuffed to capacity with lobster. The sauce was similar to a blush sauce and was so yummy my wife thought I was going to lick the plate clean to make sure I got it all.
She had the pesto dish. It was also wonderful. The pesto sauce was good but not too overpowering so you couldn’t finish the dish. Just the right amount.
The staff was incredibly attentive and we had excellent service.
I highly recommend Giovanna’s.

Two words. Tourist Trap! I read the reviews as I stood in front of the place and it only got two stars. But I was parched, the outdoor seating was great for people watching. But really, I got dragged in by one of their sales waiters working the streets. Ordered the house red and some baked clams. The wine seemed a bit watered down until the clams came out. The size of a teaspoon, undercooked and very pale. The second one I had was very fishy and they didn’t get any better. The people at the table next to us were talking about how they almost went to Angelo’s down the street, but didn’t want to spend $ 30 bucks for pasta! As I was looking at their water logged rigatoni floating in their dish, I asked for the check as I refused to have a bad meal on this trip. They added the gratuity of 15% to our table of two. They must have gotten shanked by their customers in the past. I always give 20% even when I’m not having a good time. But that’s what they wanted and I was pleased to leave!

My husband and I came here for lunch. Good service, lots of loud chattering in Italian by the proprietors, nice ambience and good corner location. We shared cold antipasto to start (it was excellent). My husband had chicken parm with penne. I had insulata caprese (tomato and buffalo mozzarella), which was very good. Delicious cheese! My only real complaints would be that it was a bit overpriced, and has a «his & hers» washroom.

I hate to say it, but I’m really happy I didn’t allow all the mixed reviews and haters on Unilocal convince me not to go here.
After dinner I did I was like wow! This place is amazingBalls! Came here last week with a group of friends and was blown away.
Service: Supper attentive, felt like we had a staff of attentive servers. The owner even came over to tell us the specials and his favorite dishes.
Apps: Mozzarella Caprese: awesome, fresh, nice slices of mozzarella. Fried Calamari: lightly battered, huge pieces, perfectly friend, Stuffed Artichoke –very tasty, but loaded loaded with garlic –do not recommend if you are on a date, or planning a little make-​out action later in the evening.
Mains: Spaghetti & meatballs –huge portion, very tasty meatballs, totellini bolognese –amazing tasting, spaghetti carbonara –awesome, get it spicy! I had the Veal special, it was so tender, fell off the bone –came with very tasty gnocchi –both were incredible.
Nice, inexpensive selection of wines.

I see poor reviews for bad service here, and we didn’t experience that. I’d say this place actually had four-​star food and three-​or four-​star service. All of our party complimented their meals (and we had a range of things from pasta to chicken). The reason for my three-​star review is the bait and switch they tried to pull with us.
We were walking down the street at lunch time and getting barked at by all the Little Italy restaurant hawkers, and we stopped at Giovanna’s to listen to their sales pitch. The guy out front was holding a lunch menu with everything listed between $ 11.75 and $ 13.50 (if memory serves.) So we walked in, were seated, and they handed us dinner menus with everything being 50% to 100% more expensive. Had we not specifically asked for the lunch menu, they would’ve charged us much more for the same food.
As noted, service was fine and the food was good. Lunch portions were sizable.
I wish they had more than a single bathroom. The line often was so long that people were standing next to our table while waiting for the lone (and not terribly clean) restroom. Perhaps trying to keep the high-​traffic restroom clean is tough – at one point an employee swooped in with Lysol and the lemony disinfectant order was overpowering for several minutes.
I think Giovanna’s is a fine choice on Mulberry, but don’t be lured into paying higher prices than you need to at lunch. I might have given this place four stars, but I think it’s disrespectful of customers to try to pull that sort of bait and switch.

I am surprised at all the terrible reviews. Service is slow, but it’s (little) Italy! It’s a part of the experience.
As an appetizer, I ordered the stuffed artichokes to share with a friend and they were amazing! Garlic and bread crumbs and a delicious dipping sauce… Lip smacking good.
For my main dish, I ordered the Linguini Alle Vongole which was very good; however, if I ever go back, I want to order the Gnocchi Al Pesto which looked so delicious.
The sangria was divine! It’s a bit pricey for the amount they give you, but it is one of the better sangria’s I have tried in this city and well worth the money. My friends and I shared the white and the red. I preferred the white because the fruit (apples) is more edible but both are worth it.
My few complaints, which are barely complaints:
— Typo on the menu under fusilli pasta dish. I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.
— CD repeated in one hour. Normally I wouldn’t notice such a thing but they played songs I know and like, but don’t need to hear more than once in one sitting.
— Be aware that tip is included (we were a party of 5).

Who plays Spanish music in an Italian restaurant? I’m down for diversity but if you’re on Mulberry street I want the touristy experience. Waiter did not fill water until asked. The bartender was chatting up the employees the whole time making the waiter not pay attention to their tables. In addition the bartender was cusing loudly while telling his stories, really unprofessional.
The food was blah and they forgot to add my chicken to my salad, I waited an additional 10 minutes thinking it will come out fast, nope. I cancelled the order.
Very unhappy with the experience, never will return to this place.

Bad bad service!
In my Unilocaling history I’ve only ever given 1 review with a 1 star rating. And that was also because of poor customer service.
A group of my friends were in Little Italy showing some out-​of-​towners around when 1 of my friends really wanted to see the Copa Italia match. We figured since we were in Little Italy we should be able to find a place that would have it on TV. Wrong. It was harder than we thought so when my friend talked to one of the staff and he agreed to put us on the 2^nd level and put the match on the TV there we were happy. So they were off to a great start! Alas, it only went downhill from there.
First, the waiter did not want 6 of us to occupy a table of 8. As if the upstairs were not empty save for us! Then the original guy who works at the front of the house who seated us asked us if we wanted anything from the bar at first so a couple of us ordered beer. I heard him tell the waiter this. Few minutes later the waiter came back to get everyone’s order and when I told him I had asked for Peroni earlier his response literally was ‘I’m taking your order now’ in a rude tone no less! Then one of my friends had her iPhone on top of the menu card. This guy, instead of saying excuse me and asking my friend for the menu, just pulled the menu card from under her phone! Now as if these 3 offenses weren’t bad enough as far as customer service goes, when one of my friend’s sorbet came he found hair on it! And when we told this waiter instead of nicely apologizing on behalf of the restaurant actually had the nerve to say it can’t be the chef or the servers at fault since they don’t make the sorbet in house and it comes pre-​packaged. Ok, but you should still be mortified that this happened in your establishment! After all that they slap us with a 20% gratuity! For what?! Rudely delivering a couple of drinks? Sheesh!
So yea, do not come to this place unless you want horrible service. I was embarrassed to have my visiting friends have to experience this!

Rudeness and poor service beyond belief. Mamma mia, are you for real??? I feel so embarassed for you for your lack of professionalism and respect for customers, che vergogna!!! Those who are familiar with my reviews know that I’m fairly generous when it comes to rating and for me to give only 1 star means it’s inexcusably horrible.
The only reason why I picked this place to have a group coffee break was because none of the other restaurants in Little Italy was showing La Coppa Italia final. You would think it should be relatively easy to find a place in Little Italy that is playing live football match but these restaurants are so Americanized that I had to actually beg and negotiate with the maitre D to change the channel for us instead of showing basketball game. Since we were 10 people, he agreed to let us watch the match on a smaller TV upstairs. Everything was going well until the nice maitre D disappeared and this rude waiter came to wait our table. He committed countless offenses in such a short period of time that I don’t even know where to begin!!!
Strike 1: No manners and so aggressive!!! Don’t talk to the customer in such a commanding and rude tone! You should say «Excuse me» before you pull the menu under my friend’s iphone so fast, you need to respect customer’s properties!
Strike 2: My friend had ordered a beer a while ago but he completely forgot. When my friend asked where is his beer, instead of apologizing he replied «I am talking your order now». What about «Sorry» instead???
Strike 3: We found a piece of hair in my friend’s sorbet!!! Again, instead of apologizing, our waiter showed no sign of apology and said it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault. Whaaaaaaat??? Are you kidding me? Total denial of responsibility! Unprofessional to the max!
Strike 4: He not only had the nerve to charge for the sorbet with the hair in it but also automatically added 20% tip on our bill after all the poor customer service and mediocre drinks we got. If you don’t know how to be nice to your customers, then you are in the wrong business!!!
What’s really sad is that I was with 5 friends from out of town, and I feel so embarassed that they received such a horrible service. And to make everything even worse, Juve lost the final of La Coppa Italia 2−0… uff, che peccato!!! It was my hero Alessandro Del Piero’s last Juve game, and I felt like I jinxed it by coming here!!! Strike 5!!! I’m never coming back again!!! Fate schifo!!!

I admit that I don’t eat in this area often so this was a random stop. Place is cozy and I like the fact you have real Italians talking/​screaming at each other in a friendly manner. Made me feel right at home.
Now onto the food:
Appetizer: Stuffed Artichoke was the BOMB. I wish I ordered 2
Main: Fresh Bronzino grilled with lemon and a side of mixed veggies couldn’t have been better.
It’s sad this area gets a lot of dirt from NY’s the food here is good.

best dish? their gnocchi in marinara sauce– these little potato dumplings are the best! They come swimming in a «just right-​not watery-​not too thick» sauce with melted stringy cheese. Follow up with a peach/​tangerine sorbet.
no to the salad… unless you like soggy salad.

This place does not belong in Little Italy. Against our better judgement, because it was cold out and we were eager to sit down and eat somewhere, we risked Giovannas on a Saturday night. Big, big mistake. While, the prices seem reasonable, you soon discover that you get what you pay for. We had the hot antipasti as a starter — overpriced for what it was: mushy, overly sauced mix of mushy mushrooms and over breaded clams. My main entrée, the linguini with clam sauce had way too much garlic and was quite oily. Our bread basket came after we had already received our main course. The service was spotty and unapologetic.
Really, go elsewhere. Perhaps to Ferrara where the Italian Cheesecake is fantastic!

Wir waren letztes Wochenende im Giovannas (128 Mulberry St) ein kleiner Italiener in Little Italy, der eher mit niedrigen Preisen und leckerem Essen, als mit entspannter Atmosphäre und italienischer Lebensart glänzt.
Aber ich denke für ca 15 $ wirklich leckere (!!) Spaghetti in NY zu bekommen, dürfte eher die Ausnahme sein. Für Essen&Preise hätte ich wirklich gerne fünf Sterne gegeben, aber im Vergleich zu den anderen angrenzenden Restaurants vor Ort ist es einfach viel zu unruhig in dem Laden.
Giovannas ist auch nichts für Pizzaliebhaber, grade mal drei Pizzen stehen ca 30 Nudelgerichten gegenüber.
Meiner Meinung nach bislang bestes von vier getesteten Restaurant in Little Italy, ist das Casa Bella, ebenfalls Mulberry St, jedoch teuerer, dafür ruhiger und ebenso lecker! (erfahrung aus 2010)