My boyfriend and I were looking for a pasta dinner near by and stumbled upon this place. At first glance we didn't think much of it, looks like a small diner. Once served our opinions changed. Honestly love this place. It was quite expensive for a casual dinner for us but I crave their garlic knots all the time. We started with calamari, which was great, served with classic sauce. Then we were served house salads, small with a house vinaigrette. I got the ravioli trio and my boyfriend got spaghetti. HUGE portion of spaghetti. I was happy with my portion, felt just enough. You're served garlic knots with your entrees. The service was quick and we were checked on by multiple people. 10/10

Finally got to check this place off our list and it did not disappoint! Service was great and food was delicious. We will be back. Definitely recommend!

Giovanni's is close to home, so I was excited when a friend recommended we meet there for lunch. We arrived at Noon on a Thursday. The place was pretty empty. When we left around 2, it was very busy. There's nothing especially fancy about the restaurant, but it's very comfortable. Trust me, it's much more about the food! Giovanni's has flavor in spades! There seemed to be one person waiting on all the tables. This was not an issue for us until it came time to pay. It took a little time, but it was excusable. Most everyone absolutely LOVED the food. I had Giovanni's Special. I ordered it with penne and it was fantastic! From the very first bite I was in heaven. I was a little nervous about it being topped with feta cheese. My concern was unfounded. I ate until I was comfortably full and had the rest for dinner, cold. It was still delicious. One friend ordered the Chef's Special with chicken. It looked amazing and the serving was huge! She loved it. Another ordered Eggplant Parmigiana. She also raved about the food. Mark ordered the Trio Delight. He said it was good, but he was not as over the moon about his meal as the rest of us were about ours. It's definitely pricey, but worth it. We all took food home; each meal was easily enough for two (meals). We will bring other folks here. I'm already looking forward to it.

Fresh Family Italian come and get it here. Giovanni's is an authentic Italian restaurant, they make everything from scratch and the taste proves it. Everything from our appetizer to entrees were amazing and delicious. Prices are comparable for what you get and we all left full and satisfied. The ambiance is a nice mom and pop feel to it and not very ostentatious. They can accommodate groups with several tables being arranged in the middle for just such a case. The server was both quick and very knowledgeable as to the menu and how things were made. Though busy we treated well and received great service. Tips to make your visit a success: 1) Come early. We came around 5:00PM and it was fine we were seated immediately but soon the place was packed with people. So if don't want to wait then come early. 2) From scratch food takes a while. Our server let us know that the food because it was prepared fresh would take a while. We didn't mind but others might so come knowing this isn't a quick dinner spot. If you're craving Italian come to Giovanni's Family Italian Restaurant today!!

We've been here a few times but this was the first time on a Saturday night and the wait to get a table wasn't too bad. We were warned they were an hour behind on food and we accepted and placed our order. The dinners come with side salads that come out right away so that helped. Pictured is the chicken parm and it included two large chicken breasts, a good portion of spaghetti noodles, and plenty of sauce and cheese. The chicken was juicy and the sauce was so good and authentic. It was a great combination of flavors. My previous orders were the bolognese and that was delicious as well. The meals are large enough for leftovers of one or even two more meals so I believe it's worth the price based on flavor and portions. Garlic knots are included with the meals as well but sometimes it's worth it to order the cheesy garlic bread appetizer in addition. Some things to note...There isn't a hostess station so be patient on being greeted by one of the staff. The wait for food can be long at times due to the made to order dishes so ask if they forget to mention that. And it can be chilly in the restaurant sometimes so bring an extra layer.

The best Italian I've ever eaten. I don't like going out & eating Italian a lot. Most places it's premade & reheated. Not here. It's fresh, it's delicious, it's homemade, the sauce is the best I ever had. I make pasta from scratch at home, but this pasta was the best !!! The ravioli was so good, the green on the spinach ravioli was absolutely beautiful!! It's hard to impress this chef (yes I am) but they outdid themselves!!!! We will be back. I'll be ordering Christmas dinner from here!!

Excellent. I feel the need to qualify myself with that statement. I eat a lot of pasta. My folks are Italian, we've eaten pasta atleast twice every week for my entire life. Giovanni's pasta is excellent. Just as good as some 5-star restaurant with no need for flair or filigree. It is a Mom-and-Pop restaurant to it's core: no fancy seating or setting. Just a room full of people chowing down on big dishes of tomato and noodle. I normally warn people about price. If you're going as a couple, expect to drop about $50. That said, you are not buying a single meal. You are buying atleast two meals worth of food in a single order. You will have leftovers. Great place. Happy it's here, and hoping for many more years of it being here.

Visited at end of August, happy they'd reopened after the family trip to Italy so this eatery had been closed! We've been visiting since my daughter was a freshman at UC so wanted to celebrate her start of Senior year with a family lunch visit! Giovanni's never disappoints, always delights! I tried the stuffed eggplant this time and... wow! I could only eat maybe half of it despite how delicious it was! Our son finished every bite of the huge portion of fettuccine as it's the 'best anywhere'. Daughter ordered tortellini and we my husband ordered a huge calzone. I forgot to snag a photo of what my stepdaughter ordered but we all five enjoyed our meals and the friendly service! When our daughter graduates we may still trek to Cinci just to eat here on occasion, it's that good!

This is an authentic Italian restaurant on North Bend Road in Cincinnati. It has all of the Italian favourites that you would expect and Giovanni himself always very present and a joy to talk to whenever we visit (while this was my first visit my wife and daughter have been here many times.) I tried one of my favourite Italian dishes, the Manicotti. It's shells that were stuffed with a cheese mixture (parm and ricotta?) and covered with a red sauce. The cheeses were plentiful and top notch and the sauce was a very good one too. A simple but perfectly executed version of this dish. They also served some garlic rolls that were delish as well. The food is great, the atmosphere of the restaurant is awesome, and the prices are extremely reasonable. Add in great service and there's no reason not to come here. Thumbs way up.