Ample parking on the road in front and lots of outdoor seating with heaters!! Loved the patio decor and friendly service :) #musttry In $70 (including tip), we got: - 1 chicken pasta in red sauce 4/5 - 1 calamari appetizer served with white sauce and ketchup 5/5 - 1 chicken pesto flatbread (kind of a pizza feel to it) 5/5 They also give complimentary warm bread freshly baked served with spicy red sauce which was good!! Definitely coming back for calamari and flatbread Tip: they have a clean restroom too! read more

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The food was delicious but the service was VERY slow... We were starving as we waited at least about an hour for our food (only 3 people). There was a larger party that came in after us and they somehow got their food sooner and left before we did. There was no apologies for the delay either... read more

One of my favorite restaurants in Carmel. The staff are always accommodating, the restaurant is great and the food is always delicious. We love this place! read more

Great service and lovely patio. The garlic bread and artichoke were delicious. However the sauce on my sandabs was much to heavy.

Came to Carmel last weekend to escape the valley heat. We brought the doggies this time so I called ahead to order food, and requested that we pick it up in a hour (so wait to put it in with kitchen). The man that answered the phone provided great service but it was loud in the restaurant and I feared he couldn't hear everything. Checked into our hotel and walked to the restaurant with the doggies, and inquired about the order. It was almost done ;) After I paid, I had a nice chat with the sweet owner who seemed so whole hearted and welcoming. Our order came out perfect. We ordered carbonara with a side of chicken (extra charge), lasagna and crab cakes. The lasagna was fantastic, perfect amount of sauce meat and cheese. Hubby loved his carbonara and ate it so fast, then paid the price by the end of the night when he realized he shouldn't have eaten so fast. I would have gotten a picture, but with Togo boxes it's not the same. Will definitely be back to dine in person. read more

Fantastic food, great atmosphere, friendly waitstaff, and lots of gluten free options.

We came with a party of seven. The food was very good. Osso bucco, lamb shanks, paella were excellent. Not sure if the lobster ravioli was homemade though. Service was excellent and we enjoyed our hot entrees! read more

I like the atmosphere. The staff was very very friendly and the food was good. There's only one bathroom for the women and men to share and I waited for six minutes outside the bathroom door while My dates at waiting at the table and she was very concerned but the man in the restroom was in there for six minutes he came out and didn't even flush the toilet read more

Diverse menu. Reliable quality. Good staff. Owner committed to quality with many years of restaurant ownership & management experience. We go here at least one a year with family, often more. read more

Please get servers who actually care about the customer; as your family owned business is based on that reputation all these years.... So sad our experience was a huge fail. read more

The best Italian food in Carmel by far! The Halibut was perfectly cooked and mouthwateringly delicious. The owner and is daughter treated us like family and made our Fathers Day experience one of a kind! We felt like we had been transported to Italy with nice music and an "at home" intimate ambiance. read more

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Theres something about pretending your in Europe for dinner when technically you should if been in hadn't been for covid... Recently we came to this lovely place and had an amazing experience. We spent the day exploring the town and wanted to finally grab a nice dinner to add the finishing touches to our day. We had reservations for 7pm and were sat immediately in this little alley that reminded us of Italy. What was even more awesome was that they had heat lamps which was perfect because I get cold so easily. I was happy that our waitress had a mask when she took our order. I was even happier for the garlic bread that we ordered. It had a crispy outside and a softer inside. The main dishes were just as amazing too. My girlfriend's Grandmas Gnocchi was delicious. The pasta itself was perfectly cooked and it had tons of flavor. As for me, I ordered the Paella and it was quite the experience. Normally when I eat Paella it usually will have a consistently like Risotto. Maybe even like Jamabalaya. Heck. There are even Paella purists around the world that feel that the only true way to make a Paella involves perfectly crisping the bottom of the rice in a pan. Luckily I'm not one of those people. It's 2020. Hasn't anyone seen Shokugeki no Soma? One can be as creative as they want in the world of culinary cuisine. Which brings me back to the Paella. I'll cut to the chase. It reminded me of a cross between Paella and Cioppino...and I loved it! So much flavor and all the seafood was perfectly cooked. And despite the soupy environment, the rice itself wasn't overly soggy. I was kind of shocked but appreciated that. Carmel's Bistro Giovanni definitely gets the job done. Me and my friends came for and out of country experience and with a safe environment, great food and a little imagination. I am happy to say that we achieved what we wanted. With the food, I tasted home cooked meals. Meals that have been crafted for years with sweat and love. This would be the kind of place I would want to go to in Europe. Somewhere authentic but not scared to bend the rules a little bit too. So I just wanted to say thanks to the people at CBG. It was an end to an amazing day in Carmel. read more

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We found this restaurant reviews on yelp. This was our first night of vacation and we were understandably nervous traveling during a pandemic. This place is doing everything right. They have a very cute outdoor patio and tables were spaced far enough apart. The food was fantastic. It's nice to be able to get real Italian food sometimes and this place really nails that niche. Service was excellent as well. Highly highly recommend this place! read more

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Old school style restaurant with great food and drinks. The garlic dip is tasty; comes as an olive oil base with soft ciabatta bread. Grandma's Gnocchi was excellent with a white cream base (as it should be but not everyone does it that way). They have a TON of dairy-free and gluten-free options. We scored a last minute reservation on the Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend through Open Table, so check them out. You can sit indoors or outdoors. read more

Ordered to go from here. Had the chicken piccata and lasagna plus crème brûlée and the apple crisp for dessert. Food was fine, but definitely should have been better for the price. Vegetables were undercooked and the mashed potatoes were mealy on the chicken piccata and the sauce lacked flavor. Lasagna was also fine. The highlight was the desserts though we did have to heat the apple crisp up by the fireplace in our room for two hours since it was given to us straight from the refrigerator which wouldn't have been the ideal way to eat it. read more

Who would have thought we would run into a celeb here!? We were in the mood for Italian food, chicken parm to be exact and stumbled upon Carmel's Bistro Giovanni on Yelp and so we decided to give it a try. It was days leading up to the 4th of July so Carmel in general was super busy. We decided to take the risk to see if we could get seating but they were taking reservations only. Upon arrival, Molly Shannon was waiting to be seated. We could instantly tell it was her, even more so when she spoke. We overheard her talking to the hostess about how it was so good she had to come back for the second day in a row. When we heard that, we were excited to try the food. Service was okay. An older gentleman, whom seemed to be the owner was not entirely helpful when we tried to get their attention. He just quickly responded to us and walked off and treated us as an inconvenience. It took awhile to flag someone else down to take our order. Food took 15-20 minutes to come out and was hot when we picked it up. We ordered the mama's bolognese, garlic bread and chicken parm. The portions were great, especially to share. However, food was decent, it definitely needed a little more salt and pepper for seasoning as it didn't have much flavor (esp the bolognese). read more

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This place had it all during Covid outside seating just like a European courtyard with Italian music playing and great looking food. We had to beg for reservation, since they were totally sold out. We were lucky enough to get a great table, and the dinner worth begging for. I had the Salmon in linguine and it was so tasty and had capers, mushrooms and tomatoes with a piccata sauce, we had the rigatoni with meatballs, and veal piccata, which was also excellent. We all ate in silence gobbling down our dishes, they were so good. We yelled at our hotel clerk when we got back, asking why he didn't recommend this restaurant, and he said, "I never thought you'd get in, they are always so busy." My suggestion is make a reservation before you head up to Carmel, they were turning people away like crazy without reservations. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

Had reservations, old man at front did not act welcoming, we are from out of town and were looking forward to authentic Italian cuisine, food was bland, ranch served with rubbery calamari, macaroni in minestrone was all broken and mushy, pasta dish I had was bland. Was super disappointed. read more

We had our sons welcome wedding reception recently at Bistro Giovanni's. The entire staff could not have been more hospitable. The prep and organization prior to arriving, the food, the wine, the ambiance all were 10/10. While there are many options in the beautiful city of Carmel, we undoubtedly made the right decision in choosing Bistro Giovanni. We will definitely be back on our next trip read more

Let's start with our arrival. We purposely visited the night before to confirm our outdoor reservation was under the built in overhead heaters. When they were seating us they said they were not available due to reservations. Apparently ours was not that important. Okay fine, we will take the small table. Standard corkage fee of $25. We ordered the steamers for an appetizer, they were mostly mussels and a few clams. The sauce was yummy, but no bread to dip in it. We asked for bread and that appetizer cost us $26. ($18 for the steamers and $8 for the bread ). We ordered two pasta dishes. Butternut Raviolis with basil cream sauce (okay more like Alfredo sauce). I'm willing to try again since it might have been an off night since a lot of regulars were there saying it's their favorite place. The outdoor patio is dog friendly but a bit tight is you have a larger dog. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - A bit of a squeeze for a large dog. - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

Great service food was yum clean bathroom outside nice but cold out wind 20 Mph 70.66 cold all day. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

The food here was delicious! My wife had a pasta dish and I had the Chicken Parm. We both loved our meals. The Calamari was also good and the Garlic bread was way better than expected. We sat on the patio that had heaters. My wife mentioned it reminded her of one of the meals we had when we were in Rome. That was enough for me to know I did good choosing a new dinner spot for date night. The service was not amazing, not really bad at all, just a little slow. The food was worth the wait. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - Beer on the patio - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

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We had a wonderful experience at Giovanni. We went to Dametra prior to that and we were treated poorly, so not that we had very high expectations, however, they exceeded them anyways. We ordered Bolognese and Picatta and they were excellent. Bolognese was one of the best we've ever had. Margarita was quite strong too. We also had affogato and tiramisu along with cognac to end the dinner and suffice to say everything tasted great, service was wonderful as well. The owner came and grabbed the credit card, made a joke and also sent us a sample of their Moscato! We showed up without reservation but we were seated immediately and we had a very enjoyable dinner with romantic music playing in the background. read more

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I had dinner with my kiddos after driving from San Francisco. Everything was excellent, very attentive server, tasty food, there are options for GF and Vegan, I highly recommend Cauliflower gnocchi bolognese GF, simply delicious! read more

You know when you see a Movie and you wonder is that place real? Well it is. First let's start with the staff. The most beautiful people work here. The owner came by to talk to us and I asked him where he found them all. Most of them were his relatives. This is located at the Village in Carmel right in the middle of town. We sat outside by the fountain. It's located right next to my Cousins Interior Design Studio. Now for the food. I had French Onion Soup and a salad. They were good but my Cousin and I also ordered the Spring rolls. It's been two weeks ago and I still can't get them off my mind. The wrapper was perfectly cooked. It melted in your mouth. The vegetables so crisp they crunched as the touched your lips. It was so nice to eat great food in a beautiful location with beautiful people. I can't wait to go back read more

This is a small location, however there is a great selection of food. The food was delicious and we had excellent service by Jack. This being our first time going, he recommended certain dishes that were excellent! read more

The four of us enjoyed great pasta dinners and excellent service. Kelly was gracious and attentive, the atmosphere was both joyful and private. A great evening. Thank you! read more

Beautiful building with such a quaint patio nestled between two buildings. Owner & staff are VERY attentive and personable. If I lived closer I would frequent this restaurant weekly not only for the superior authentic Italian food, classy ambience, wonderful employee's and they allow pets in the patio area. It doesn't get anybody than this read more

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Was just perfect. Lots of gluten-free options across the whole menu - garlic bread, pastas, gnocchi, and most importantly - lots of dessert options too! With celiacs in the family, this is now our go-to place in the area. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni came highly recommended by a local! I was hesitant based on the name but I was blown away. Buratta - large plate generously seasoned with balsamic with prosciutto, and perfect buttery, garlicky, crunchy pieces of bread. Crab cakes - this was the only under par item we ordered, I could go without ordering this again. Calamari - very good! Caught me by surprise cause they were not the traditional rings or strips, they were more like mini steaks which made dipping a lot more pleasant. Garlic bread - highlight of the menu, honestly! MUST ORDER! Again, generously buttered with garlic and Parmesan cheese. My biggest pet peeve is when the top is buttered more than the bottom. All pieces created equal here :) Cioppino - not as brothy as I am used to, still very pleasant with a nice assortment of seafood. I never realized what a long way a bowl for shells and a small cocktail fork went. *could have used a bib but it forced me not to be sloppy This menu is LARGE, so I look forward to coming back knock out the rest of the menu! read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

Service was excellent , the menu called out allergies so someone with a food allergy was very comfortable and so many choices. It was very warm and inviting and the food was so good! read more

3.5 stars! We didn't have a reservation and the host wasn't really helpful... We sat late so wanted something light. Our waitress was really good & the food came fast. - Complimentary Bread: YUM! Warm & nice. The tomato garlic sauce next to it was good just too oily. - Caesar Salad w/anchovies: it's appetizer portion. It was pretty standard. - Steamers: clams & muscles, had great flavor. Small amount of broth, but was very flavorful. - Apple Crisp: Not a fan. The crisp was weird & hard to break into, got stuck in your teeth. The Apple felt pre-made like a container. The ice cream was good with fresh fruit on top. - They have a good selection of wine by the glass. read more

Carmel's Bistro Giovanni - Caesar Salad with anchovies - pretty good - Italian Near Me - Carmel, California

my friend and I came here for lunch on Saturday. It's kind of small parkings hard to find on the street. I got some sort of pasta and so did she. No bread was served. We did get waters, and the waiter was really attentive. Food was good. Portion size was really small. Ambiance was okay too except they seated us behind the wine thing right when you walk in so we literally couldn't see anything really... next time in Carmel we will try elsewhere but this place wasn't bad. read more