Giacomo’s Ristorante & Pizzeria

Our family has been coming here since early 90s. Best pizza in town, excellent service. Love the feel of this place and the décor. If you’re looking for a good Italian meal with a friendly atmosphere this is the place.

Greater than 4 ½ stars
Highly Recommended
Food: wonderful appetizers, beautifully prepared entrees, fantastic flavors
Service: hurried, but attentive, prices are quite reasonable
Ambiance: classy, open,
Retractions: food can be slow at peak times

Friendly staff, good floor space etc. Should have been better for the price. Wife’s veal seemed tougher and sliced thicker than it should have been but tasted good. My spaghetti with white clam sauce said «baby» clams on the menu but it was obviously chopped canned clams. Again, good flavor but way too many chopped clams. The marinara was good and the pasta and veggies cooked right. I’m only giving 2 stars due to the wait time for the check (and above) and when we got it they had added it up all wrong and it took an extra 10 mins to figure it out. I’d give the food 3 stars for fairness. They were not busy at 7:30pm on a Friday. The baby clam thing is deceptive and to claim that on the menu is wrong.

This recipe has an impressive menu — if you can order from it. Unfortunately, we could not. We sat at our table for 20 minutes without service. I made eye contact with the sole waitress, who breezed by saying there was one table ahead of us. That was ten minutes before we finally left in frustration. We had been warned the service was poor here, but this was worse than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Once again a delicious meal all the way around from the warm bread two delicious Caesar salad to my veal piccata which was perfect
My sons chicken Parmesan delicious and my husband had the lasagna which was perfect as well not to mention the delicious profiteroles dessert
Great service we had to sit outside because it was so busy but the lamps on and we were warm and cozy

In the continual pursuit of good Italian food, I finally stopped in to Giacomo’s. I read some other Unilocaler’s reviews and so was a little skeptical. It seemed that there was a good mix of those who love it and those who had issues. Well I’m going to add to the love.
My wife and I came in on a Friday evening around 5. There wasn’t much going on two other tables were being occupied. We got seated upon arriving and had our drink orders taken. Our waitress also brought over some bread and butter. We started digging into the menu. On first glance the prices might give you a little shock. Remember though you have to pay for quality. You’re not here to pay for something that comes out of a can or plastic bag. After a few minutes of looking over the menu we decided to start with the fried calamari. My wife ordered the gnocchi with meat sauce while I decided to go with spaghetti carbonara.
The calamari came out and I was pleasantly surprised to see a whole plate of calamari fried perfectly. We quickly dug in and it was quite tasty. There was only the two of us but it was enough for at least 4. Our food came out next, my wife’s gnocchi and my carbonara. Both were huge portions and both had great flavor. My wife really loved the gnocchi in meat sauce. She is particular about her meat sauce and she said this was very good. She also raved about how light and pillowy the gnocchi were. My pasta was just as delicious, rich and creamy and a little salty. The perfect mix of peas, prosciutto, and pasta. It was also way more than I could eat. Needless to say we both took home extra. Next time we’ll probably end up splitting a plate, just know there is a $ 3 plate splitting fee. Which makes whatever you get a heck of a deal.
We were getting ready to pay and they bring the dessert plate around, usually we don’t go for dessert. However, triple chocolate mousse sounded like the best way to end our evening out. It was a great choice, light airy and not overly sweet.
I read some people had issues with service, not us though. Our waitress was kind and checked on us throughout our meal to makes sure we were pleased with our meal. I was just as pleased with the service. Good food, good service, and reasonable prices will keep me coming back.

Day after Thanksgiving– Was not very busy, I assume everyone else is eating left overs. Best pizza dough I’ve ever had. Minus one star for trying to take my plate three times while I was still eating.

How have I never written a review of this place? I have been a long time customer and fan dating back to the 90s. I like the goofy décor.
The pasta with chicken livers is still one of the best things on the menu. The fried calamari is also delish. I like the linguini with clams and the carbonara too. Tortalini in Brodo is a yummy choice on a cold winter day with a side of breadsticks. Most of the chicken dishes are good too. I am not a big fan of veal, but the couple who we dined with recently said it’s tasty and gave the two thumbs up.
I think the prices are a bit ridiculous, yes the portions are a decent size, but the pastas are ala carte. (and even homemade pasta is cheap to make.) Give a cup of soup, or a small salad as part of the meal — it would go a long way towards making your restaurant more approachable.
The wine selection could use an overhaul, it looks like they buy whatever is cheapest through the distributor and toss it on the menu. We live in wine country, a little consideration of what you are serving would go a long long way.

Great breadsticks! Good ice water! If I’d just gotten out of prison, this would have been the best meal I could have imagined. Unfortunately we also had the Fettuccini Alfredo which was a little better than inedible. Perhaps if I had been enjoying a glass of wine I may have had the wool pulled over my eyes but not this time! Not recommended.
Edited: I thought it may be useful if I added some other issues we had with the service and food and my sarcastic tone may have been perceived as ridicule without clear reason.
The service was average. I have had worse but anytime anything was brought to the table, with the exception of our entrees, the basket, glasses or platter, was in passing as if we were out of the way, no eye contact and just short of tossing the items on the table. The fettuccini in the past was great. This time the shrimp tasted fishy and boarder line inedible. The chicken in the fettuccini my boyfriend had was full of fat, gristle, and tendons making his meal unpleasant. I was asked at the end of our meal how it was and I told the waitress that the shrimp was fishy and the chicken wasn’t good. She repeatedly claimed that we should have spoken up so it could be fixed. In my experience, if shrimp smells fishy, don’t serve it, don’t blame it on the customer. Maybe the chef should have checked and the waitress should have double checked.
I do not want a lame excuse from Gina R. That puts blame on me or a vague excuse that makes the customer feel like the bad experience is their fault so please save your energy on a response and focus on the quality of your food, customer service and fix your problem areas because at this rate, you’re going to have an empty restaurant.

great service but the food was kinda meh! lots of other said the opposite and we saw others that had service issues and loved the food… our server Nick was awesome and did his job well even though he had a lot of tables. I had the spaghetti n meatballs and thought they were good! but my friends had a lot of complaints… my GF had a fish special which was oversauced and totally overpriced $ 33…we didn’t ask what the «special price» was… another had a penne pasta that tasted bad and was replaced… the last person had a salad that was ok… so overall the place was ok but there are too many really good italian restaurants out there…

This restaurant has the WORST SERVICE I have every experienced at a supposed «fine dining ristorante». The waitress was complaining behind the counter about who knows what and the two owners (I presume sisters), we more interested in looking at cash receipt tapes. When we were in the restaurant there was only one other couple, yet we were continually ignored by our waitress. Then when she very infrequently came by, she gave us a passing word, no eye contact, and she lacked the feel-​at-​home «Italian family atmosphere». This place was the polar opposite of going to a great family Italian restaurant, like being at Dinucci’s in Valley Ford. Great food, great atmosphere, great wait-​staff.
I am usually an easy reviewer, I want to have fun, I want to engage the waiter/​waitress, but there was no chance at this place. Stay away, there are way too many other options, in Petaluma, and surrounding, to have a delicious meal… and to feel like they want you, to take care of you, and make you happy!
Lastly, the food was good, but far from superb.

The food here is superb! Although the prices may seem a little higher than average, the quality of the food more than makes up for it. I don’t mind paying more when I feel like I’m getting excellent food!

This is our FAVORITE Italian restaurant and have been going there for over 15 years! The food is fantastic, with savory selections, good service and moderate prices. The ambience is low keyed and quiet, and has a wonderful «Italian» motif. Although it’s not a huge place, the menu is most certainly worth going for, and we travel an hour or more to get there. For the first time today, we finally had one of there pizzas, and it had to be one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had! Wow, WAS SO IMPRESSED! Don’t be confused, cause Giacomos is NOT a pizza parlor, but an extremely good full service Italian restaurant, with unbelievably tasty and creative meals! They also offer some waist expanding and wonderfully delicious desserts! I would highly recommend this restaurant to any Italian food lovers, cause it is an Italian family owned and run business. I can’t wait for my next trip back!

4 stars for great-​tasting food, but only a 2.5 or so for service. We were greeted, but not very warmly (no smiles at all, no «How ya doing?») the busboy immediately brought bread, but wasn’t really friendly either (typical teenager). It took 10 minutes for someone to come take our drink order, and another 10 for the drinks to show up. That was a long 20-​minutes without beverages with three thirsty kids. Was disappointed my daughter couldn’t get white sauce on the noodles that came with her kids’ chicken parmigiana (she got fries instead). But the food was delicious!!! I ordered the fettuccine cape sante and it was amazing!!!

Been meaning to try out this place for a while now. I usually don’t Unilocal but this needs to be Unilocaled. Ordered the simple beef ravioli with spaghetti and chicken. I got a bland sauceless disgusting plate of slop looking back at me for $ 20. How do you mess up spaghetti and ravioli? Hubby ordered veal and it too was inedible. I should have known food was below par when there were just 2 other tables with patrons and they have the nerve to charge what they do. Waitress also looked like she did not want to be there. Not very friendly.
Waste of money and did not enjoy our evening out. Perhaps other things on their over loaded and busy menu were a better choice. Will never know.

Food is authentic and delicious. Portions are very good. I love the meat lasagne and the tiramisu was fabulous.
Although this isn’t the kind of restaurant that I would normally order pizza from… We got a to go pizza the other night and it was likely the best I have had in Petaluma. The slight hint of garlic brushed onto the crust made it flavorful and delicious.

I’ve never been treated more poorly in a restaurant. Our waitress was so annoyed and never, not ONCE, even REMOTELY friendly. I don’t think she ever smiled! HELLO! WE’RE PAYING CUSTOMERS! We could hear them complaining in the back about our party, too! When my friend asked for lemons for the water, she curtly gave an excuse that she had to take our order first. Really? Talking back to customers? And don’t think we’re needy, we aren’t. We are very friendly people, excited to go out to a nice dinner. Afterwards, my friend was actually scared to ask for more ice water. This woman was scary. We felt so awkward and out of place. She picked up our plates hastily, clanging around. Never heard a thank you. This is NOT a family restaurant for a good time, AND my stomach was killing me by 10 pm.
I still can’t believe how rude the staff was! How crappy our dinner was overall! I will never be back.

Such a disappointment.
Our waitress was inattentive, surly, and unprofessional. She made rude, sarcastic comments to us, and, at one point, told us all to be quiet. We were a party of 12, so we were naturally the loudest group in there, but we were very conscious of the people around us and were already making an effort not to be disruptive. After she fussed at us, everyone was so embarrassed that my entire party just ceased talking altogether. It was so uncomfortable.
Once our food arrived, we ate quickly so we could get the heck out of there. The food was greasy and heavy, and over salted. I am now in bed with a stomach ache.
In summary, go to Cucina Paradiso. The prices are comparable, but the food and service at Cucina is far superior.

Serviceable basic Italian. Nothing fancy. And not on the same level as Cucina Paradiso or Caffe Giostra, also in Petaluma. But good for what it is.
It’s been years since I ate at Giacomo’s. Used to live in Petaluma and ate there several times.
Was in Petaluma last weekend and decided to eat here again.
Basic Italian. And good. Had a house salad. Nothing special — leaf lettuce, shredded carrots, garbanzo beans — fine. Had eggplant Parmigiana with spaghetti. This was good. Portion was big, and I took half the spaghetti home. Tasty red sauce. Dining partner had spaghetti and meatballs. Meatballs were just okay, but spaghetti was good. No room for dessert.
In the past, I’ve had calamari, which I really liked. Didn’t feel that I had room for it this time.
Interior looks more like a diner — black and white checked floor with green accents. It was very clean. Kind of in an out-​of-​the-​way place next to a tractor supply store.
Service was friendly and efficient. Food arrived in a standard amount of time.
Reasonable prices.
I’d go back, as I’ve yet to try the pizza.

Just getting started. But it has been 30 minutes since we sat done and no drink orders have been taken. Kids meals are 10 – 15 dollars. Salads do not come with most meals and are 750 each. Not impressed or pleased. Yet. Seafood linguine on the way
Ok had to order the Caesar salad. It is great. But the staff rudeness continues. Our waitress just told us that a couple sitting next to us asked her to hurry because they have concert tickets. Her response was tough you should not have come to a busy restaurant
The table behind us that came on after us is leaving before their entrees arrived. Complained that it has been over an hour and they can’t wait any longer
Seafood linguine came. It was bland. Needed pepper flakes to spice it up. Tried a slice of pizza. It is soooo salty I can’t taste anything else
Maybe it was the attitude of the server or that it took 1.5 hrs to get our food. But I do not recommend this for anyone looking for a fairly priced meal served in a timely fashion with a cordial attitude.