da Giovanni

5 star service from the time we walked in the door and was greeted by the sweetest, bubbliest hostest! To our lovely, sweet and smiling server who gave amazing suggestions to our group of 4. Even the young man bussing our table was sweet as could be!
Now about the food… STELLAR! Great portions, beautiful presentation, and just melt in your mouth DELISH! We all enjoyed our dishes amd shared with huge smiles on our faces! Thank you guys soo much!

We were there on Saturday night and Wendy gave us the best service ever! The sauce with the complimentary bread is just amazing. We ordered Mama’s Spicy Pasta Piccata, which was very well made and just right for two of us. The ambience is excellent. the place wasn’t crowded, and we pretty much had the main area all to ourselves. I’d definitely go back!!!

good and nice place to eat exelente service

Very flavorful pasta, a bit on the rich side.

A Solid spot & if it’s consistent then I can see this being a great 3.5 4.0.
*Location — between 5^th and 6^th, UPSTAIRS! Look for the Flags towards the middle of the block.
*Service — friendly and attentive. Big ups for consistently refilling water.
*Opening — Table side olive oil, balsamic vinegar, complimentary marinated olives are really good and the warm, crunchy bread was awesome.
*Appetizer — ½ order of the meatballs with a red sauce. Forgot what it is called but the curry flavor is clearly evident. I love curry and they should call this a curry dish, just call a spade a spade.
Bottom line is the red sauce was AWESOME, I could seriously eat a loaf of their bread and this sauce as a meal. The filet mignon meatballs were dense, tasted okay — nothing special but the star is the sauce.
*Main Course — On the Menu — Seafood Pasta, tons of muscles, a number of clams, prawn, delicate white fish, baby aka small scallops, al dente linguine all in a very nice, light broth. Everything was fresh, cooked well and tasted great.
*Main Course — Special — 2 Cannelloni stuffed with ground filet mignon, surrounded with a more traditional tasting tomato/​marinara sauce. NO curry flavor. I only had enough room to eat one as I had the meatball app. Overall, the cannelloni didn’t stand out like everything else did.
*Dessert — None — Italian hard candy that came with bill were delicious!
*Overheard some staff seeking Spanish in dining area at least 4 Times to one another (Not to customers). I can understand how some may be irritated by this as it clearly takes away from the European restaurant, Carmel charm.
*Would like to come back and if it’s a similar or better experience, Boom 4 stars it will be!

It was mine and my wife’s 25^th anniversary and we came up to Carmel for 3 days. We stayed across the street from da Giovanni and were in the mood for Italian, so we tried it out. We were greeted by a nice lady that turned out to be our waitress and asked if we wanted to sit in an intimate place or in the general population? Being it was our 25^th, we chose intimate in the back ALL by ourselves. It was awesome! Her name was Lisa and was one of the best servers we have ever had! She started by bringing us free bruschetta that was off the chart. We went with her recommendations of Dijon Mustard Salmon for my wife and Chicken Cacciatore for me that was as good as it gets! House Chianti and Tiramisu for desert. Can’t wait to go back in February. Great restaurant! Lisa, you made our night!!! See you soon

Best spaghetti carbonara I’ve ever had! This place, like many others in the area, is dog friendly as well. The service was excellent, despite the fact that we could have warily been overlooked since we were the only table outside.
They provide complimentary bread and delicious olives. The dish portions are very generous too.
At the end of our meal, we were contemplating dessert, but decided against it. Then to our surprise our waiter brought out a plate of tiramisu with our check! Literally the sweetest!

Great service, delicious food, nice environment and dog friendly.
We had the Carbonara, Veal and New York strip steak. All were very good and cooked perfect.
I’d come back again when in the area!

Just had over 40 people there for a rehearsal dinner. The staff were excellent, very friendly and attentive. The food was spectacular and they had a very good wine selection. The restaurant has a great ambiance, even with our noisy group. The GM, Jennifer arranged everything for us and there was not one broken promise. Thank you so much. It was a huge hit with all my guests. I highly recommend this place & I hope to go back soon for a table for 2.

Unfortunately we didn’t have luck with our dining experiences while in Carmel. Da Giovanni is a perfect example. The restaurant was almost empty on Saturday night. Although it was cute inside I just had a feeling when I walked in it wasn’t the fine dining restaurant we were hoping for.
After we were seated a waiter came by and explained the specials. Never offered to take our drink order as we wanted wine. Usually a «hello, can I start you off with a cocktail or glass of wine?» Is a great start.
Another waitress then came by and asked if we were ready to order. She was very friendly and gave us some recommendations. I went with the salad Blanca rossa and the halibut special which was wrapped in phyllo dough and baked.
The salad was pretty good, basically a caprese salad served on romaine. The mozzarella was good as well as the tomatoes. My dining companion ordered the green minestrone which was served luke warm.
The halibut was severely overcooked and totally dried out. As you can see in my photo the phyllo was burned and the sauce did not look appetizing. It was also «fishy» smelling which fresh fish should not do. I also did not care for the sauce either, I couldn’t figure out what it was but it didn’t pair with the fish well. I did like the scalloped potatoes that it was served with.
On a good note the warm chocolate tart was excellent. We just felt it was a very average dining experience and with the entrée ruined I can’t give more than 2 stars.

The meatballs are fantastic, the pasta and scallops are spectacular and their chocolate torte was incredible! A must if you’re in the area!

Absolutely phenomenal and FIVE stars all the way! Attractive storefront, warm, inviting staff, fabulous food, outstanding wine, and excellent service! From the h’orderves to the main course, to the expresso and port at the end of the meal, nothing short of SUPERB in Carmel by the Sea!

What a cozy and warm atmosphere, but little did I know how my palate was about to be double dipped in comfort.
My appetite was light so I went for a mozzerella and tomato salad with an entrée order of meatballs for the table.
THE MEATBALLS. Swoon! I remember when I thought I had the best meatballs once, at Mario Batali’s Mozza in LA. Damn good they were, but very traditional and expected. These meatballs, however, gave me a surprise as they were Morrocan spiced and had the insane comfort of a tikka masala curry. I am salivating as I type. Basically this is a soulmate dish for me. Once I met this meatball, I forgot all the others names.
The steak, pasta and chicken dishes ordered at our table were also divine as I sampled, which is why I feel confident in 5 stars and will be back often.
Also the owners were in and the daughter was taking care of us. I was able to sing my graces in person so it was extra special. Also extra points for smiling warmly as I carried my screaming tired 3 year old away from the table to calm her.
This meatball maniac has met its umami dream dish.

We had dinner at Da Giovanni last night and truly enjoyed it. Our family of 4 visited the restaurant on a Monday night, so the dining room was fairly quiet. Service was warm and gracious. The ambiance was romantic and formal with white tablecloths. But we didn’t feel out of place at all with our 10 and 11-​year old kids. We started off with a carrot ginger soup and jumbo scallops in a white wine sauce — unbelievably delicious. I had an amazing cannelloni with ground filet mignon and marinara/​bechamel sauce. My husband had the osso bucco which he said was meltingly tender, and our kids had various pastas which they knocked back with gusto. (for kids, they offer small-​sized portions of the pasta dishes — I wish restaurants in SF would do this!!!)
With so many incredible restaurants in Carmel, it can be hard to stand out, but Da Giovanni is remarkable and is certainly the crème de la crème. We are fans and will definitely come back on our next visit to Carmel!

AMAZING place! Great service and delicious food! Highly recommend the pasta! Gnocchi is decadent and the classic flan superb

What a nice surprise! The Caesar salads were delicious and a nice portion at a good price — additional Parmesan cheese and fresh-​ground black pepper offered by the server table side. I ordered the veal and sage ravioli which was served with a light piccata sauce — a nice light pairing. We also ordered a few glasses of a nice French wine on the recommendation of the server and it was a great choice! The Pasta Momma Mia was excellent — the sauce contains 13 spices — not hot, just very flavorful and delicious. The service was prompt and friendly.
And, of course, being a restaurant in Carmel, the chef was happy to make a dish especially for our dogs who joined us on the outdoor patio (and there are heaters, although we didn’t need to use them tonight).
Overall, a very nice meal to end the day.

What a pleasant surprise! I have walked past Da Giavonni many times and was often curious about whether it was any good or not. Next to a quiet street sort of tucked away on the 2^nd floor of a commercial building, it is the type of place where if you blink you miss it. I showed up at the restaurant at around 7 and became concerned when I saw that the place was nearly empty but by the time I finished my meal it was almost full.
The menu is very extensive offering a bounty of every kind of classic Italian food. I had a caesar salad which was perfectly dressed and contained very fresh romaine lettuce. For a main I had blue crab ravioli which was absolutely incredible. Stuffed with fresh tasting blue-​crab and topped with a delectable cream sauce, this was one of the most delicious pasta dishes I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy.
On top of the food, the service was very friendly and efficient and I was amazed at the ability of one waiter and one busboy to handle an almost full restaurant.
I’ve definitely added yet another fine restaurant to the already extensive list of quality eateries in downtown Carmel.

Our first restaurant in Carmel and we could not have been happier!!! The food was amazing! the interior was fantastic! The service was great! The atmosphere was really nice. But best of all, was the Choclate Tarte, it was pure delicious chocolate.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Beautiful place and food was great ! Very gracious owner, Firok, who owns 3 restaurants in Carmel, spent
lots of time with us; he insisted we have the Greek salad and it was so tasty and light. And then his niece, Stella, came over and explained the spices in my husband’s chicken pasta dish and in my meatball dish which were Mediterranean, their family dishes being a combination of their heritage, Sicilian, Greek, and Turkish!
We loved the music and told Stella, and since we were the last to leave, she added my some great Italian singers to our iPhones! It was a lovely evening and very special!

What an incredible place! At first I saw apprehensive because it was pretty busy– but sat down anyways and it seemed to settle down moments after
I started out with the Greek salad, and it was made to perfection. The vinaigrette was incredible!
I ordered the lobster ravioli as an entrée and was just blown away. The lemon/​wine sauce was not heavy at all– and complimented the meal perfectly.
I would highly recommend this as a nice romantic dinner. It’s as good as it gets!