Giovanni’s Trattoria

The food is great! The owners are great. Unfortunately they had to close b/​c they raised the rent soooooo much that they couldn’t afford it any longer. What a waste! Now… where did they move to?

This is one of those amazing hole-​in-​the-​wall places I found through Unilocal and I am so happy for that!
Had an Italian food craving and didn’t want to go to the overpriced fancy establishments in the area.
Walked into Giovanni’s, which is in a strip mall that also holds a great Indian food restaurant, and could tell just from the smell that I was going to like this place.
The dishes are a great size for the price and they let you bring in your own wine for a very low corkage fee.
We ordered:
–meatballs
–mascarpone pizza
–portobello ravioli in pink sauce
The meatballs were okay. I was happy they were all beef but they weren’t anything special. The sauce on them was very fresh
The pizza was delicious!!! Thin crust, fresh toppings, very authentic tasting pizza sauce
The ravioli blew my mind. The sauce was so good we almost licked the plate clean!
The bad news? They’re moving :(.
Hopefully somewhere close since I need more of Giovanni’s delicious food in my life

The funniest thing about this place is that it says «Authentic Italian Food» outside. «I Knew You Were Trouble When I Walked In».
They have a lot of options on the menu, nothing too fancy. We had a few people and I recall a Penne Arabbiata, Chicken Ravioli, and I forget the other dishes. In a nut shell, it was obvious that they take frozen pasta from Costco and recook it. This pasta was garbage, the sauce was barely warm and tasteful, and lacked any freshness.
This is one of the few places I wish I had just asked for a refund because it was just a shit show.

Husband’s friend highly recommended this place but it was a bit disappointing. I ordered the red sauce spaghetti. The spaghetti itself was cooked very well and the portion was HUGE but the red sauce lacks depth and flavor. It was decent but nothing special. Husband ordered chicken marsala. Again, decent flavor but it was a little salty. It was overall a good meal but i wouldn’t say it’s great. This is a very homey place so if you are close by and want to enjoy lunch or dinner in a relaxed and casual place, you could check it out. Not a place you should visit with high expectation though.

Sweet find not too far from my apartment!
No frills Italian place.
We ordered the chicken ravioli and the rigatoni. Both were good, rigatoni was better though
I read through reviews about the $ 3 corkage fee so we brought our own bottle. Oddly enough our corkage fee was $ 4.75 though… So that was a bit weird to us, but it’s still a lot cheaper than other restaurants corkage fee. So can’t complain too much about that

The Order: (1) Spaghetti Al Scampi, (1) Fettucine Alfredo, (1) Margherita Pizza via Eat24
The Verdict: Probably the most bland Italian food I’ve ever eaten. I’m not sure if the food was left out too long or if they ran out of decent ingredients to cook with, but my tastebuds were sorely disappointed. The shrimps were rubbery with a slightly fishy taste, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a jar. I took about 3 bites hoping it would get better, but I eventually succumbed and put it to the side. My brother shared a similar lackluster experience with his Fettucine Alfredo that was reminiscent of a microwaveable version (but somehow worse). The pizza was the least disappointing element of the meal, but even tomatoes and basil couldn’t save this overall disaster.
On a positive note, my brother ate the majority of the food saving me from the gastrointestinal atrocity he went through later! :)

Let me start by saying bring your own wine because they don’t serve alcohol (I ran across the street to Smart&Final for a bottle). The best pet of the experience was our server, Mario. Thanks to Unilocal,our family found this after my son’s baseball game. Quaint, quiet, and tasty. We enjoyed tasting each other’s meals which included pepperoni pizza, calzone, rigatoni (with peas, mushrooms and sausage in pink sauce), and farfalle (with salmon and capers in pink sauce.)

Giovanni’s is the perfect place for a delicious and reasonably priced dinner, especially if you’re looking authentic Italian food. The menu items are simple and yummy, I had the rigatoni bolognese and my boyfriend had the thin crust pizza with mozzarella, pepperoni, and Italian sausage.
I’ll definitely be back soon!

The great: BYOB!
The good: The food is good, and comforting; nothing that will change your world, but perfectly priced for what it is. It’s a fun, affordable night out if you want to have a cute date but not break the bank. There were a lot of young couples there when we went and we loved the relaxing atmosphere.

Lovely, romantic, cute authentic Italian hidden gem!
A friend who lived nearby chose this spot for dinner. We were a party of 4 and it was a lovely experience! I’d say it’s a really great spot for a date night as well. A pretty small intimate setting that is nice and clean. We were warmly greeted by the waiter who seemed to be Italian and were seated quickly. We brought our own wine and took advantage of their $ 3 corkage fee (I’ve never seen a fee so low and should’ve brought 3 more bottles!!! :P)
We started with a few appetizers: garlic bread and calamari. Not a huge fan of their calamari, however, I highly recommend their garlic bread. They also provide complimentary sourdough bread to dip in olive oil and vinaigarette. As main dishes I decided to try their spicy chicken ravioli. Normally, I don’t order ravioli because I’m usually still hungry after, but their portions are really huge so it was good for me! Couldn’t even finish it. I tried some of the salmon bow tie pasta w/​pink sauce and that was pretty good, too!
Prices are reasonable and so worth it!
Thanks for the wonderful experience and food. Will definitely come back to try the other items on your menu! :)

Oh man. We have tried a few Italian spots in culver city with varying degrees of success, but I think this one wins.
It’s a hole in the wall, but you will do better here than with those other «authentic» places. This is the real deal.

We just went to Giovannis once again for Valentines Day dinner. What can I say that I haven’t said already except that each and every time we go there, the food is fantastic, inexpensive.
I had the Portobello ravioli in pink sauce, YUMMY… I used the fresh warm artisan bread they serve to dip into the sauce. !!!
Mario is a gracious host as always and we will keep going back and sending our friends !!!

I really don’t understand the negative comments. I’ve been to Giovanni’s at least a dozen times and have gotten delivery dozens more and I can say the food is consistently good and the service is always friendly.
Between my girlfriend and I and various people we’ve brought there, we’ve had at least 7 or 8 different dishes from the menu and they’ve all been excellent. They’re actually Italian people that cook authentic Italian food and it really is delicious. Seriously, I’ve eaten in Italy (Rome, Florence, and Venice) and the food here is just as good.
To address some of the other reviews. We get the cesar salad every time and it’s excellent — the dressing is good and there’s enough of it. The cheese is fresh and the croutons are never stale. No «plate of wet leaves» here. I’ve had the meatballs and they were excellent. Same for the meat sauce — not watery, not tangy, not bitter, not sweet — just really good Italian sauce. Oh and the tiramisu is phenomenal!
As for the service, Mario and Giovanni are always very nice — they remember your name and always have a smile. As for waitresses — I’ve seen several come and go. What can you do? Some of them have been great some have been a little spacey. But if Mario server you, you will definitely be treated like the most important customer in the place.

Food: I had the Rigatoni Boscaiola and I enjoyed the sauce. I asked for extra mushrooms and somehow, they took that to mean, no mushrooms. When the waitress put the dish down, she even said, extra mushrooms. I was pretty bummed but it wasn’t worth sending back.
Service: The waitress was nice but I can’t say I was super impressed. I’m not a fan of restaurants where I have to wave the waitress down to refill my water.
I’d probably go back at some point because I actually liked the sauce. Maybe this time they’ll remember my shrooms.

I have not eaten here in over 6 years so we thought we would give them a try again.
We both felt the food was average at best (probably a 2 ½ stars). I had the Chicken Marsala. It tasted like a pieces of poorly cut (not even and thin) boiled chicken with some mushroom sauce poured over it. I also had the penne with meat sauce. The penne was OK but the meat sauce was watery, lacked flavor but did have a decent amount of meat in it. My wife had Spaghetti with meatballs. We asked the waitress if they had it because it was not on the menu. She stated or yes we have it. So we ordered Spaghetti. These were literally the worst meatballs we have ever tasted. They were hard, lacked moisture, and no flavor at all.
We will not be visiting Giovanni’s anytime soon. I can only suggest getting a real chef that know how to cook Italian food as it does not seem like you have a qualified person now.

Descent food at a decent price. Not many Italian restaurants in the area so it’s worth a try. But service is below average which makes the whole experience less enjoyable. Do yourself a favor and just order take out.

It is really 3.5 stars.
Giovanni is located in an unassuming strip mall that has a good selection of restaurants (aka competition). It holds its own by offering authentic Italian bistro flare. We ordered a salad and a Sausage Pizza. The salad was loaded with spinach that seemed to be right from a package salad bag/​box. The Sausage Pizza was delightfully flavourful. It tasted so rich with tomato sauce that my taste buds felt like bursting in joy. There were small chunks of sausage on every slice. The portion was very good as we were full. The complimentary bread and olive oil with minced garlic was fresh and yummy as well.
Giovanni is quite a good neighbourhood bistro. The services are effective and friendly.

Cute mom and pop Italian place! I had gotten delivery here once or twice many years ago. Today was the first time I ate here. Debated between the salmon filet and the salmon bowtie pasta with pink sauce which is my usual. Opted to go for the filet since it came with potatoes and spinach! Such a good choice! I should get that delivered a lot! We also got the rigatoni sausage pasta which is a big portion and ate about 2 baskets of bread. Tho, I only ate one slice of like all ten. LOL They open at 530pm and have a tiny parking lot at the strip mall.

I love Italian food, but I almost never go to Italian restaurants. In my experience, they’re too often synonymous with expensive and pretentious (not) fine dining. I love fine dining as much as the next person, but… please, at least live up to the hype. So now that all that’s out of the way…
Giovanii’s is family owned, and it is the only Italian restaurant that I’ve consistently gone back to. In fact, I come every time I’m in town. They have a whole bunch of veggie options, all of which are delicious. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also create your own dish, and the chef is happy to accommodate. In fact, my go-​to dish is one of my sister’s creation: capellini with pink sauce, eggplant, onions, Parmesan and basil. Their marinara is SPECTACTLAR, as is the vodka sauce. And, you can never go wrong with any of their specials. Finish off your meal with an affogato, and you’ve got yourself one deeeelicious Italian dinner. Best part? It’s actually affordable, with entrees ranging from 11 – 18 (higher prices for the specials).
I highly, highly recommend this restaurant, especially if you love your Italian!

This Italian restaurant has been flying under my radar but I’m so glad for the opportunity to try it. Fellow Unilocaler Fia R. found it on Unilocal and decided to organize a group of twelve to come for dinner. The strip mall was understated but offered plenty of parking spots. Once inside, the vibe was casually homey and nicely put together with warm lighting, tiled floors, and small tables arranged along the walls.
The Frutti di Mare ($ 15) came with shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, olive oil, and fresh parsley sitting on top of semi-​sweet tomato sauce and plenty of linguini. The seafood were fresh, and the sauce was not too sweet, sour, or overwhelmingly heavy. The linguini was good too, but the texture could be more al dente. Overall, it was a tasty pasta dish that I’d like to have again.
The thin-​crusted Pizza Al Mascarpone ($ 12.95) came with mozzarella, garlic, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, and mushrooms. The crust was deliciously crispy. The mozzarella was not the equivalent of Iowa cheese, but the combination was garlicky with bites of other subtle flavors to finesse the taste buds.
The Chocolate Mousse Cake was very thick and richly loaded with chocolate flavor. The Tiramisu was fluffy with hints of cocoa and wine. It was overall a very good home cooked meal. Nothing fancy, but the food was clearly made with care and thoughtfulness.
Service was personalized, friendly, and attentive. We didn’t have to ask for much and our water was constantly refilled. I was very thankful to learn that desserts were on the house and every phase of our meal was nicely orchestrated. Overlooked by many, I would recommend this place for families and small groups looking for a relaxed atmosphere. I’d be very interested in coming back.