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    Giovanni's Restaurant

    3.6 (43 reviews)
    ModerateItalian
    Closed 11:30 am - 11:00 pm

    Giovanni's Restaurant Photos

    Business Info

    GIOVANNI'S RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Giovanni's Restaurant

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    Chicken Caesar salad
    Jill S.

    This now seems to be our official weekly go too. This time we tried the highly rated Arancini

    Inside the restaurant.
    Jennifer P.

    My first meal ever in Sault Ste Marie was at Giovanni's! Service was very friendly, the decor was nice, but the food was very run-of-the-mill Italian food, at least in my opinion. The quality was reminiscent of big chain family restaurants. I went here with my husband and two people from his work. We were staying at the Fairfield Inn and wanted to dine somewhere within walking distance, so it was Giovanni's or Boston Pizza. I didn't want to have bought a plane ticket to The Soo to accompany my husband on a business trip to eat at a chain restaurant that I could eat at anytime back home, so I voted for Giovanni's. Turns out it was probably 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. So I had the "Tour of Italy" ($19.95), which sounded really promising as it had tortellini, ravioli, gnocchi and meatballs. It also came with a garden salad. The garden salad came out and the dressing on the side was in a little Solo plastic container (you know, the ones you get sauce in when you order a meal to go). I would expect that from a diner off the highway, but not a restaurant that touts itself as a real Italian restaurant. And the salad was, you guessed it, mostly iceberg lettuce (or as I like to call it "cheapie filler not real lettuce"). Then my meal came and visually it was not that appetizing. It was a pile of white covered by a sauce of red. At least the colours were patriotic I guess, lol. Sometimes looks can be deceiving, so maybe the taste was awesome, right? Well, it wasn't exactly awesome. It was not dissimilar from what I've had at say an East Side Mario's. The pasta was al dente, at least, but lacking in that true Italian pasta deliciousness. The meat balls were too soft and tasted more of filler to me than meat. So yeah, I was kind of bummed by the food. However, service was really sweet and friendly (as it usually is in small towns). The decor was warm and welcoming. Now maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but hey, I ordered a pasta sampler at an Italian Restaurant, if anything that should be the right thing to order. I should mention that others at the table said they enjoyed their meal, but maybe they were saying that to be polite. I don't know. I did taste some of my husband's mushroom risotto and it was creamy and mushroomy and while I don't really like risotto, I have to admit that I think the quality of his dish was better than mine. There's free parking in their private lot. And if you are staying at the Marriott Fairfield Inn you get 10% off your bill if you show them your hotel key card (I knew this but we totally forgot when it was time to pay - silly us!). They also own Fratelli's Kitchen, which is next door, and The Burger Don (further south on Great Northern). I would recommend going to The Burger Don. We enjoyed it there much more than we did at Giovanni's (although it's a different type of food).

    Pasta primavera, veggies only!

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    10 years ago

    Food was great! Service was even better! We liked it so much we ate there 2 times in 1 day.

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    7 years ago

    The price is high but the server was great and careful. The food was ordinary and it was not valuable in compare with price.

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    13 years ago

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    16 years ago

    Food is OK, portion sizes are smaller than before. Good family dining, but overrated.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Review Highlights - Giovanni's Restaurant

    We had the Arancini as well as Tour of Italy and an order of Gnocchi.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Nonna Lisa's Italian Ristorante - Breadstick  Soggy, wet, and can't tell you what it tasted like because I can't eat nasty bread.

    Nonna Lisa's Italian Ristorante

    2.5(506 reviews)
    90.5 km
    $$

    The front of the restaurant was cool, but they were not using it the night we were there. They had…read morea huge fireplace in the back, but they said no one knew how to lite it. It was a cold night, and a fire would have been nice. I ordered the sampler and it was very good. I asked if they had complementary bread and they said no. I joked with the waitress about it not being a real Italian Restaurant if they did not have complementary bread. 5 minutes later she came out with a basket of bread sticks. They were very good and I was very happy until I received my bill and realized that they charged me $10 for what I thought was complementary bread. I am not sure if the food and atmosphere warrants another trip.

    The Worst Dining Experience We Have Ever Had…read more My entire family went to this restaurant on Mackinac Island, and this was, without a doubt, one of the worst restaurant experiences we have ever had. We were seated and waited approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes without receiving our food. Eventually, I got up and approached the manager because we had been sitting there for over an hour with no food. His response and attitude were extremely dismissive. Rather than trying to resolve the situation, he essentially acted as though I was unreasonable for asking what was going on. Shortly afterward, our waitress came over and questioned why I had spoken to the manager instead of her. She told us she would bring our food out, but that the orders were not coming out together. Three meals came out first. Then the pizza came. Then the children's spaghetti finally came out -- with a hair in it. When I brought the hair to our waitress's attention, her response was essentially, "What do you want me to do about it? I'll replace it." She then walked away. We were STILL missing two meals -- including the replacement children's spaghetti -- while one of the adults at our table sat there watching everyone else eat. Our waitress disappeared and never came back. Eventually, I had to find her and remind her that we were still waiting. Her response was, "I'm one person. What do you want me to do? We're very busy here. I don't get paid enough for this." She then walked away. At that point, the manager came over and placed a bill on our table, telling us we could pay it and leave. I explained that I was not going to pay for food we had never received, especially after we had already waited over an hour and had received food containing a hair. The manager then told me, "I don't care. You're paying your bill or you're trespassing." He threatened to call the police. I explained that we were not trespassing , we were still sitting at the table trying to resolve the situation. Then things escalated even further when a chef came out and got directly in my brother's face in an extremely aggressive manner, to the point that it appeared he was about to become physically confrontational. While all of this was happening, another employee standing near the manager made an incredibly disturbing comment along the lines of "You people come here and want free food." Given the circumstances and the way we were being treated, we found this comment deeply offensive and discriminatory. The police eventually arrived and were able to help de-escalate the situation and resolve the issue. We were not looking for free food. We were asking for the food we ordered, reasonable service, and basic respect. We certainly were not going to pay for meals that we never received. Things can get busy. Kitchens can get backed up. Mistakes happen. That is not what this review is about. What made this experience so unacceptable was the complete lack of professionalism, the disrespect from management and staff, the food safety issue, the refusal to properly address missing meals, the aggressive behavior, the threat of trespassing, and the discriminatory comment made toward our family.

    Photos
    Nonna Lisa's Italian Ristorante - Nonna atmosphere and more beer

    Nonna atmosphere and more beer

    Nonna Lisa's Italian Ristorante - Meat lovers Stromboli

    Meat lovers Stromboli

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    Aurora's - This is takeout and delivery only - employees at both locations verified take out only.

    Aurora's

    3.3(23 reviews)
    3.6 km
    $$

    I've had Aurora's pizza many times. I like it, but I don't love it. I've also eaten in the…read morerestaurant. The food tastes very good. Pricing is typical for Italian restaurants in this area. Seating is tight but the decor is pretty, modern. Typical restaurant ambiance, nothing stands out. Servers are friendly. They make their own desserts and also have a walk-in area where you can pickup orders or even get single slices of pizza.

    Went to Aurora's for my birthday dinner and would say had an Average experience. Overall this place…read moreis super cute on the inside, but that day there was definitely alot of people and staff was short. I felt bad for my server as she was running around trying to get things to everyone (but she was a big superstar)! Once here we ended up ordering: *Holiday Sangria - this was okay, yummy and well presented but could barely taste any alcohol *Fettucine Alfredo - this was decent, I liked the sauce but do wish there was more sauce on here *2 Meatballs - these were okay, I really enjoyed the marinara sauce they were in but I think the meatballs weren't as well seasoned as I'd like them to be. Usually meatballs I really enjoy are made of beef but I think these were pork (which I don't enjoy as much) *Large hot mexican pizza - this was pretty good and had jalapenos, tomatoes and bell peppers on it which was yummy Overall it was decent enough food, but our food came out so late we weren't really hungry once we got it. Guess that means lots of leftovers which we are still eating through!

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    Aurora's
    Aurora's
    Aurora's - Blackened Cajun Chicken

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    Blackened Cajun Chicken

    Giovanni's Restaurant - italian - Updated September 2026

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