Giovanni’s Cafe

Their lomo saltado and fish ceviche is SOOOO good! This is definitely my go to place when I’m craving Peruvian food. They also have live music which is really nice :)

Place is alright. Service is good but the food isn’t as great. ⁴⁄₁₀ food. Plates were a bit dirty and food didn’t feel fresh. Wouldn’t recommend.

Lovely hidden place in pines medical plaza, nice ambiance, live entertainment and attentive staff. Food was excellent, we had the fish ceviche and fig risotto as appetizer; according to my brother their ceviche was better the La Mar by Gaton Acurio, specially with their spicy sauce. Then we had the shrimp francese, fish francese, submarine and grilled salmon as our entrée. Everything was really tasty and well portioned a good mix of Peruvian and Italian food. Will definitely recommend this place and come back!

Definetly exceeded my expectations. I have been seeing the name of this restaurant almost every day since it opened. With a name containing the word «Café» and located inside what is mostly a medical plaza I was expecting an establishment catering to the lunch and after work crowd, with the usual light menu and snacks. I was mistaken, this is a terrific full sit down restaurant, serving delicious food, with a plentiful full course menu, and outstanding service. I will be back, many more times.

Great food and service! Had the seafood soup, it was very hardy. My husband ordered the Fish Submarine which was also amazing! The kids were pleased too– oh! And let’s not forget the ceviche

Came here to eat with my boyfriend on a Wednesday night. We were seated right away.
The appetizer: Fish ceviche was great. They gave us a pretty large portion (entrée size), which they should… Given the fact that it cost $ 12.99. Beware of the green sauce that they served it with. It may not look like it, but it was SPICY.
The entrée: Peruvian beef strips was pretty good too. The only thing I would point out about it that may throw you off were the French fries. The beef strips were soaked in a lot of sauce, so if you’re not used to eating soggy French fries, then here’s a heads up. As for the fish fillet Francese… I think I almost gagged. When it first came out, it smelled sweet, almost honey-​like. But when you taste it, it’s a really strange taste. Apparently, «francese» means they cook the fish in eggs first so the flavors of the fish pretty much clashed with the flavor of the eggs. Definitely never getting that again. However, one good thing that came from ordering the fish was that it came with soup. Fish soup, to be exact. And that was so yummy!!!
The dessert: We used the «1 free dessert per table» thing from Unilocal and got ourselves the coconut flan (they were out of regular flan). And it basically tasted like regular flan, but with lots of pieces of coconut in it. Nothing special.
The service: It was okay. I asked for lemon with my water, waiter came back with just the water. He refilled it though. Had to ask for napkins twice before actually getting it. While the waiters themselves were very courteous and friendly, I’ve had much better service elsewhere.
Final verdict: We probably won’t be back anytime soon. While the atmosphere was great, the food just wasn’t anything special. Maybe we just ordered the wrong foods to try? There is better Spanish food being served in Miami…

Great place!
Will be back soon, met the owner Ernesto, he gets an A in my book. I always enjoy visiting an establishment when the owners is present. Fighting day and night to provide good food and service.
the fish and shrimp ceviche is too die for, and the sangria was well prepared and tasty. I will definitely be back to this place, to try the other dishes.

A group of 10 of us wanted dinner after seeing a show at Pembroke Pines Theatre of the Performing Arts, and PPTOPA suggested this place! Luckily they told us it was hidden among some professional buildings, or we may have missed out on this hidden gem! Walking in, we were greated by 4 smiling people who were very happy to accommodate us without a reservation! The décor is very nice, stylish, and inviting! Several of us thought the hanging lights in the back were very creative looking! Patricia was our waitress, and she is a rock star who handled our orders with great ease! We had a variety of different dishes at our table. I had the Peruvian Seafood Fried Rice which was DELICIOUS! It had mussels, shrimp, clams, and rings of calamari, and the rice was seasoned beautifully! Portions are LARGE, so we appreciated being able to enjoy leftovers! Some in our group had pasta, and they really enjoyed the sauce! Prices very reasonable for the portions received! Patricia was very friendly, and attentive in refilling our drinks, and checking to see if we needed anything. The food was amazing, the ambience delightful, and the staff inviting; what more could we ask for?! So glad we found Giovanni’s Café in Pembroke Pines, and I KNOW we will be returning after our next show! Our group visits many restaurants, and this one is at the top of our list now!

Charming spot in west Pembroke Pines has live music on the weekends (the servers have request cards) and the most wonderful staff. We had the cilantro based seafood soup which was a complete meal at like $ 18. It was absolutely amazing. It’s a warm and inviting spot which works great for date nights :-)

3.5 stars actually. Great restaurant very nice atmosphere. My steak was a little fatty did not seem like a great cut. Chicken steak was pretty good. Would recommend for a nice evening prices are a little high but not a bad place.

Very nice little find out here in the west side of town. The ceviche is authentic fresh and delicious. No farm raised fish just local grouper. We shared the ceviche as an appetizer and ordered more fish for dinner. The livornese and franchais were both excellent. Service was very good and the ambiance is nicely decorated, dimly lit with nice music. Live music in the weekends. We’ll be back. No room for desert tonight.

Where do I even start…
The service:
Service is not good, not the waitress fault just one person for 7 tables and 3 of them had 10 people.
Waited 20 mins for the order to be taken, water was never refilled.
The food came all at different times not a couple of minutes apart, like 5 minutes apart.
The food:
Some of the food came out cold, I had to send it back. Some food didn’t even arrive. We had to stand up and ask for drinks because the waitress never came.
The ravioli for adults cost twice as much as the same as the ravioli for kids for the same exact amount (5 pieces).
The owner:
I would have been ok with all of this if the owner when I approached him with constructive criticism would have told me, we are sorry, we’ll do better next time and reassured that our next experience would be better but his response was «what do you want me to do about it?» Very defensive, and ignored a lot of what I told him.
When the bill came they charged me for food that never came, I had to get it corrected.
I will never return to this place or recommended it to anyone.
I gave it one stars because some of the food was good according to my other family members

Giovanni’s is not really worth the effort. Their food is OK but falls quite short of being good. The ceviche is excellent. If I just ordered that, It would have been a great meal. The salad was very small but tasted all right. The new york strip steak was tough, too fatty, and overcooked. I should have sent it back. I tasted the salmon that a friend of mine had – it was very fishy tasting. The mashed potatoes were quite good– one of the best things they have if not the very best. I tasted a few of their desserts and didn’t like any of them particularly. The coffee was OK. All in all the meal wasn’t something I would want to repeat. The service was fair and the place was nice and clean. I couldn’t in good conscience recommend Giovanni’s.

Finally got to check this place out and it didn’t disappoint! Portions are large and satisfying and prices are very fair.
Giovanni’s Café is so close to my house but I’ve never been able to stop by because they’re closed on Mondays and Monday is the only day my family goes out to eat. Fortunately, my parents took off work 4^th of July weekend and we were able pay a visit.
The inside is very spacious and nicely decorated. Very chic vibe. There’s live music on Friday and Saturday nights too! We ordered the fish ceviche to start off but the kitchen accidentally made the MIXED ceviche and the restaurant was courteous enough to let us keep the mixed ceviche at the fish ceviche price. Lucky us! While it was good, it wasn’t the best mixed ceviche I’ve ever had and they didn’t use Peruvian corn. Regardless, we were hungry and licked the plate clean.
My dad, brother, and I each ordered a pasta dish for our entrees and they each came with our choice of soup (chicken or fish) or salad (house or caesar). While the caesar salad was pretty basic, the portion was very generous. The fish soup, however, was really good! I got the chicken piccata, my brother got the penne vodka, and my dad got the chicken cannelloni. All were tasty. My sister got the grilled skirt steak with mashed potatoes and tostones instead of rice and fries, and she loved it. The tostones were probably some of the best we’ve ever had. My mom got the grilled pork chops and actually devoured it. My mom is a very fickle eater and pork chops are usually very hit or miss, but she thought they were flavorful and juicy and went well with the rice and beans.
As other Unilocalers have said, the portion sizes are huge! We have quite the appetite but we still had to pack up some of our food to take home. That’s not a bad thing at all considering the prices are so affordable. You really get your money’s worth here! Service was efficient as they kept refilling our waters and the food came out in a timely manner. It only took a little long towards the end to get our server’s attention. However, we definitely had a good experience and will be back if we ever get the chance again.

This review is for takeout only! Although, I feel I will be back to dine in pretty soon. I had been looking for restaurants for Friday night takeout and had been recommended Giovanni’s a while back by a friend. I was excited to finally try them because I love me some lomo saltado. We called and were told it would be 15 minutes, we showed up 10 minutes later and the food was ready.
I had ordered the lomo saltado and my partner had the chicken parm. I agree with the review about Giovanni’s having big portions!!! This chicken was huge! It was smothered in melted cheese and drizzled with sauce. It was sooooo good and still hot! I could have ate the chicken by itself and not have felt like I needed any sides to go along with it.
My lomo was delicious and a generous portion as well. You can taste the seasonings all come together in the meat and the veggies/​fries accompanying the meat weren’t soggy yet. I wasn’t able to eat it all but the following day I had leftovers AND the day after that I made myself an egg and lomo quesadilla for breakfast (Yes! That is how big the plates are). Not bad for a dinner takeout that tastes just as good the following day. Next time I hope to be back for the live music!

Good Peruvian food. For appetizer the fried mixed seafood is a must. But a warning it is huge, the fish soup is excellent.

A big thank you goes out to Giovanni’s for making my best friend’s graduation dinner so memorable.
Located in a quaint medical plaza, you’ll find this Peruvian/​Italian gem. We came in yesterday around 6:30 PM with a private room in the back reserved for about 15 – 17 of us. My best friend’s family is like my second family to me no lie. I grew up with them with a good portion of my life, so was hoping this night would go smooth to celebrate her big day. From the moment we both walked in to meet the rest of the family already sitting down, we were treated so kind and they catered to our parties need throughout our long stay there. If you have a special event and need a restaurant in the Broward area to cater and host something in a private room, I highly suggest Giovanni’s! The sangria, we had a choice of white and red, was flowing non-​stop all night. No one had a cup empty for longer than 3 minutes. Which in turn was a direct result of why there was so many funny/​weird/​emotional toasts going on all night. Haha.
They gave our whole party huge plates of mozzarella sticks, fried calamari, and fresh fish ceviche for our appetizers. The ceviche went fast! I think we all went though about 5 – 6 giant plates of those. THAT GOOD. Then we had salads and bread to go along as well, pretty standard. For the main entrees the catering service let my best friend choose a few items to place on the custom menus they made us. She decided a few days before on the chicken piccata, chicken parm with the pasta, skirt steak with chimi churri and rice and beans. Everyone in the party enjoyed their plates very much. Especially with their spicy picante verde sauce they passed around. In the end we all got a little tipsy and shared amazing stories about the guest of honor, and cracked up all evening. This was such a smooth night with the hospitality of Giovanni’s staff.

BIG SERVING, MEETS EXPECTATIONS.
I thought it was quite funny at first that this place is located at a medical business plaza. But I bet all of those doctors are coming in and enjoying their lunch at this amazing place.
As you walk in the door, you’re immediately welcomed with the cool and stylish décor. Whoever designed this place should design my house, it’s very classy and definitely made a good impression for first-​timers like me. My whole party of 20 (big post-​mass lunch) was then seated in the restaurant. The waiters and the owner were amiable and very attentive to us.
Our whole party ordered a variety of food, the menu offered Italian and Peruvian delicacies. Here’s some of the run-​down that I tasted and ate:
Fried Seafood Mix: This was HUGE. I mean it can feed maybe 5 – 6 people. It had a variety of friend seafood like mussels, fish, calamari and shrimp. The whole plate was lightly battered and fried to perfection. I mean that fish was fluffy, sweet and fresh. The calamari didn’t turn into rubber and just melts in your mouth. The spicy cilantro sauce was pretty good too (just watch out for that kick). It’s topped with pickled red onions as well, which adds another acidity to the food.
Peruvian Style Beef Strips: My cousin had this one. ANOTHER BIG PLATE. The beef can be more tender, but he said it was perfect. Maybe the aroma of the red wine in the sauce really got to him. I think it tasted good, the sauce is great, but the meat can be cooked in a little bit more.
Yellow Chicken Rice: I think this is a must get. I tasted this and it was delicious. Rice was done very nicely and you can taste that chicken broth that they cooked the rice in. It’s a yum!
Chicken Picatta: This is the one I ordered, I think that the sauce was too thick for my liking. The chicken was done nicely, you can substitute the pasta with mashed potatoes (which we’re done well and well flavored). But the cooked artichoke in it was a little off putting. I wish I ordered something else, but this one isn’t my favorite of the bunch that we have ordered.
Chicken Marsala: My other cousin had this one and it was good. It comes in a huge plate. I’ve had so many types of chicken marsala, I don’t know how to feel about this dish anymore, to be honest. But I think the flavors were done right and it was all cooked well in a thick mushroom sauce.
Penne Vodka: THIS IS MY FAVORITE. I think I ended up eating half of my other cousin’s plate. I MEAN WOW. I think what increased their stars for me with this place is definitely this penne vodka. Thick creamy vodka sauce that’s done right and with BACON? If you’re coming here or coming back, definitely get this. I really can lick the plate, it’s that delicious.
Overall, good job Giovanni’s you’ve earned a fan because of your amazing penne vodka. But tighten up on that house salad though, it’s too basic for my taste.

Very good and fresh ceviche. The service is very good. We all had different fish plates and as all were really good
They gave life jazz music Fridays and Saturdays night.
I will come back

We were super surprised to find this gem of a restaurant in the middle of a medical office building. Honestly I do not know how anyone would know about it if it were not for Unilocal!
Once you go inside, Giovanni’s is surprisingly large — there is a private room in the back, a full bar area, a small space for live music, and ample seating. We came here for lunch and although the lunch specials were a great deal — all less than $ 9.99, we opted for some regular menu items.
The cuisine here is mixed — Italian and Peruvian. I am used to seeing Italian — Argentinian restaurants but this is a new combo.
We started with the Salmon carpaccio which was HUGE. This is an app that can be shared by 3 people. I found it to be delicious with onions, tomatoes, and capers on thinly sliced salmon. My wife found it to be a bit lemon-​y for her but I loved it. I had the lomo saltado and it was pretty tasty. Not as good as some of the ones I have had at pure Peruvian joints but definitely good. My wife had the grilled fish with veggies which was also good.
Overall this is definitely a find in Pembroke Pines, we’ll be visiting again perhaps when they have some music for dinner.