True shrimp fried rice tasted off... but they do have a deal for the clam chowder if you check in! The clam chowder was pretty good! The tartar sauce was also a bit off, but the fried calamari was pretty good! read more

I eat a fair amount of Poki bowls. And they did a really good job. Had a few add-ons and their Wassabi mayonnaise.I got there just after 11 AM on a weekday and I was super quick read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Poki bowl. Salmon and tuna combo with avocado, seaweed, salad, crab salad, and Wassabi mayonnaise. - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

This place usually has a line but it is worth the wait! If you are looking for the freshest fish you can buy other than straight from the boat itself you're going to find it here. Inside the store there is smoked fish, fresh fish, bottom feeders and outside you can purchase meals. I would have to say my favorite thing is their 'surf and turf burrito'. I had a temporary obsession where at least once a week I would have to have one! Is there a downside to sitting by the ocean eating and watching the mammals play? Maybe just the birds eyeballing your food plotting their trajectory for any crumbs you may drop! Your a short walk or drive from morro rock where you can look at otters working hard to crack open their food. read more

I don't think I ordered the right things. I had seen a few reviews just raving about the foid at Giovanni's. That said, what we had was alright. The clam chowder was good. Getting it in the bread bowl was much fresher than the non-bread bowl. For starters, the chowder was just warm. In the bread bowl, it was piping hot. The sourdough was tasty. The fish was just not very flavorful. It really needed the tarter sauce. Even with the tarter sauce, it was just "OK." One of the kids got chicken and chips. The chicken tasted like it was a frozen, mass produced product that was kept around for picky little kids. It was served with some bbq sauce that tasted like Kraft basic. For the money we paid, we expected much better food. read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - It's Aight. Thinking we somehow missed what all the hype was about. - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

Dang. This place serves up some outstanding fish and chips. Came by on the recommendation of some friends who had spent time in Morro Bay before. When I arrived in the parking lot, the local cops were there getting takeout. That alone is a strong recommendation for any restaurant, so I felt confident dropping $25 on halibut fish and chips. I'm happy to say that while this might not have been the best fish and chips I've ever had, it's probably some of the best I've ever had outside of the UK. The halibut is light and flaky, and the fries are dipped in a bit of cornmeal before frying, giving them that jenes se qua that distinguishes merely "decent" fries from outstanding ones. $25 is a lot to spend on a mess of deep fried food, mind you, but this is dang good fish and chips. It's a take out window, and the eating area is not particularly clean or comfortable, but the food is well worth it. My recommendation would be to get your food to go, jump in the car, and take it down to the state park to eat by the lapping shoreline and calm waters of gorgeous, laid back Morro Bay. And to complete the central coast experience, perhaps pack along a couple of cold 805s to wash down all that tartary goodness. read more

Line was much longer in front, so we turned the corner and found the express. Menu is much smaller but still had very good options. We ordered two poke bowls. One aloha and one grilled salmon. Both were pretty flavorful and plentiful. Avocado was fresh fish was perfect. Rice was cooked well. No complaints. Their fries are pretty tasty as well! Crispy and potatoe-y. read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

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We really enjoyed this place! The food was fresh and delicious! I got the grilled salmon bowl and the flavor was great. The fish and chips were good too. I'll definitely visit again when in the area. read more

Always delicious!! Combo Poke bowl, spicy and make it "magic" is the best!! Have to get one every time I'm in town.

Express window for the win! Got our meal relatively quickly and waited while shopping in the shirt shop attached and on the side of the building in the market. Skipped the fountain drinks and got cheaper soda and local brews (canned) in the market. Fried fish (in the tacos) was pretty bland, but fresh. Needs a kick of something. Fries were delicious and my kids first time tasting clam chowder .... Fans! Fun after a day finding clams in the bay. A worthwhile stop tho I can't compare it to anything else around. Was recommended to us by a stranger on the beach in pismo. It's got a following for sure! read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Enjoying her first bowl of chowder - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

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The food was delicious and the cashier was very nice an friendly. The outside was pretty an nice.

Avoid ordering the shrimp cocktail, a terrible value for roughly 3/4 cup of pretty blah bay shrimp (including the chopped celery filler). I had higher expectations for the high price. But the garlic bread order for $6 was good. Four garlicy toasted sourdough bread bowl cutouts made up for the shrimp. Overall a 2/5. read more

This was my first time eating here and I chose the quick takeout because the line for the restaurant was long. I didn't order anything fancy because the prices were a bit inflated.. probably due to location. I ordered two fish tacos. Taco's should cost as much as these did but again... location. Thé tacos tasted good but it was mostly filled with cabbage. I had to " fish " for the fish. Again, likely because of prices going up and everywhere the protein is getting smaller and the fillers are getting bigger. The real shocker was that this is a 'take-out' and they charge you an extra $1.00 to take the food out. I was dumbfounded. There are some GREAT local taco places with real Mexican food just up the street if you take the time to look them up on Yelp. Sorry Giovanni I won't be coming back. read more

The best clam chowder so far!!! Rich flavor and the right amount of potatoes and clams. So delicious!! We ended up ordering third bowls.

I only recommend the Take Out Express Window! They are way nicer and faster! The food is delicious no matter what window. But express is your friend. Trust me. Grilled halibut rice bowl with avocado is amazing! Hubby had the clam chowder in a bread bowl. So yummy! Lots of outdoor seating. read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Grilled Halibut Rice Bowl with avocado. - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

If you want fish food, definitely come and try! Personally was very heavy: i got the fish sandwich and my friend got the combo plate. Both tasted good, but since it was all fried, it read more

If you want good food but fast?! Go to Giovanni's Take Out Express. Get the firecracker shrimp, spicy but so yummy. And get the krakken, fries with clam chowder drizzle! read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

Great clam chowder soup, fish tacos and calamari & chips. Great prices and friendly staff.

Overall pretty good service and you can't beat the view. Restrooms needed some attention. Ok so the food. The fried food is very good. They do a solid job on the fries fish. I got the poke bowl and It was not my favorite. The fish was fresh so I will give them a good job on that. I didn't like the sauce and sides. Overall this place is ok! read more

First timer here to Morro Bay and Giovanni's. We had high hopes because of the fact that they have live crab etc here; but needless to say we weren't blown away by the food here. I had the fish tacos and hubby had the fish n chips. We ordered takeout so we could take it back to our RV and enjoy our fresh seafood dinner in the misty ocean air. Well, my hubby didn't get any "chips" with his fish and he said the fish was just okay. They also gave him cocktail sauce (for shrimp he didn't have?) and didn't give him any malt vinegar; which he requested. My tacos we just okay also. They were just pretty dry and had little, to no flavor. They gave a side of salsa that was pretty good but not to go with fish IMO. All in all, I'd probably try this place again but I'd stick to crab or something else. If you do decide to give this place a whirl; I'd suggest checking all of your order to prevent any disappointment or frustration. I will say that the guy that took our order initially, was super friendly. Morro Bay seems to be a wonderful little town with lots of options. I look forward to trying out another restaurant today. read more

Really good. Went here for lunch twice during our visit. Tried the combo poke bowls, fish on a stick, salmon rice bowl, clam chowder in a bread bowl and oysters. Everything was really good. The line was long, but it goes quickly and doesn't take long for the food to come out. read more

Giovanni's Take Out Express - Combo poke bowl with avocado, seaweed and sriracha Mayo. Fish on a stick. - Seafood Near Me - Morro Bay, California

So sad ... they have stopped taking phone orders! Not good. But if you get a chance order the crab quesadilla

Some of the worst food we've ever eaten, EVER. We are locals and thought we would see why tourists wait in line at this restaurant. If there is anything I can do to DISSUADE you from wasting your money or your time, please let me try. We ordered a dozen oysters and a crab cocktail. The oysters were so bad we couldn't eat more than 2. Like spit out of your mouth bad. The $14 crab "cocktail" was a very small scoop of shredded crab with absolutely NO FLAVOR. The scoop was in a SMALL CONDIMENT size plastic container. It did not resemble a cocktail of any kind, more like a small side of crab that you throw on top of your clam chowder. It even gets worse from here. The dispensers were all out of napkins, and I couldn't get anyone to clean a table. The tables and outdoor seating area were so dirty and sticky with food & spills left over from the people who had eaten their prior. We realized that we couldn't stay there to eat our food so we asked them to pack it up to go (this was before we realized we weren't going to be able to eat the food no matter where we were sitting). The tables & seating area were gross and the food is intolerable. Seriously, save yourself from a very disappointing experience and find another place to eat. read more

Skip the express! We went today at lunch, we have been going to the regular one for years. The person at the window was openly complaining about customers questions. We ordered shrimp and chips and a bread bowl of chowder. They handed me a disk to alert me that our food would be ready, it never went off. They ended up calling out our order 30 minutes later and it was completely cold. The two woman in the front didn't look like they even wanted to be there so I did not want to add to their day. I'm going to try the regular Giovanni tomorrow and skip on the express. Hopefully they will come through like before ! read more

Good restaurant with special menu and good foods especialy poke bowl salmon/tuna/shrimp

Fish and chips were extremely greasy. I don't intend to go back. Last time the fish was over cooked. I've eating at this restaurant since it opened. read more

Heard this was THE must go place, but to be honest it was meh. We ordered fish & chips and a cup of clam chowder. Chowder was watery and fish & chips were pretty standard. Overhyped. But at least wait time was relatively short during the lunch rush compared to the main line or compared to other restaurants read more

We ordered a crab salad sandwich and likely our fault got a blue crab sandwich. The very kind helpful staff with no argument at all made it right. Hooray! I love this place!! read more

Food was great but the size of the fish has definitely suffered with price increases. Clam chowder was good and garlic fries were great.

So, first off, I'm a local but haven't been to Giovanni's TAKE OUT Express before today. I ordered a side of fried halibut, to go. Didn't realize until I looked at my reciept, they charged me $1.50 for to go??? It's called TAKE OUT express!! My fish was $4.50 with an added charge of $1.50 for to go?? I asked the cashier about it and where it was posted so you would be aware of the charge and she said it isn't? Guess they hope you don't notice the extra charge, what a bait and switch rip off. I will not be returning, but with all the tourists, they won't miss my business. Just wanted all to be aware of a charge that they don't tell you about up front. read more

It was our first time in Morro Bay and we got a recommendation to go to Giovanni's. I'm glad we decided to try it. Because we had eaten not too long before, my bf and I shared the combo and chips. It was so good. We ordered at the take out window and the gal was super cheerful and friendly. It was very busy, but we were able to get a table next to the pick up window. Our order took about 10 minutes which I think was very good since the place was packed. I recommend coming here. read more

"Express" YA RIGHT so slow I am so hungry ahhhhhh please I am starving. Food better be good. But I might die from starvation before it comes out. I'll let you guys know read more

Had a hamburger big enough to keep for lunch today! My husband always has shrimp and chips ‼We had to wait a while to get our order-it was freezing waiting in line to place our order, but waiting on the patio was lots warmer-if you fish, go here for a lunch/dinner that is very family priced read more

I got a Fish and Chips and Garlic Bread. When my order was called I noticed they gave me Garlic Fries. I informed girl at take out window it was suppose to be Garlic Bread not Garlic Fries, she said let me see your receipt. I provide her receipt and she told me well your receipt says Garlic Fries and pushed food towards me. When ordering they must of heard wrong but instead of resolving issue, I was given an attitude. This is NOT how you do business with customers you want to come back. Do better read more

The food is good but unfortunately the customer service is awful. I understand being busy but being rude is not okay. First they were grumpy that I asked for a straw for our third drink when she gave them without being asked for the other two. Then I did not hear the number called. I asked if it was 156 or 166 to which she didn't respond and just told me the items on the tray. I said "Sorry. That isn't my order." Instead of replying to me, she yelled "Order 166" into the microphone. When they finally called my number, our order was missing an item. Rather than apologize they snapped at me that things are all messed up and tried giving me several different poke bowls that did not match our order and took back the 3 items that were ready while continuing to look for our other item. When I asked for the completed items so they didn't get cold, they snapped at me yet again. I won't be returning any time soon. read more

Went here for first time yesterday. The line for the express side of their business was much shorter than the regular menu line, so that was why I went here instead of the other side. I ordered 5 items TO GO. It seemed like most of the other people were waiting a really long time to get their food. After 36 minutes, I finally had enough of waiting and asked what was happening with my order. They said they were waiting on the final (5th) item (firecracker shrimp rice bowl). I was irritated and just ask if I could have the 4 items that were ready because we were all getting so hungry. So we started eating the now cold food on site (which was NOT our preference) because it was already a super long wait and the food was getting cold (eating calamari and chips that sat around for over 30 minutes tasted pretty blah). After 41 minutes after placing our order, we finally got our 5th and final item. Given that we traveled 3 1/2 hrs to visit Morro Bay for the day, it sucked that they wasted so much of our limited time waiting for food. Would have been really helpful if they warned us about the extra long wait time before we placed our order so we could have gone elsewhere. Most real restaurants that make you wait that long usually will comp you part of your order. The food was OK but not exceptional (especially after sitting for 30+ minutes). Service and the wait was TERRIBLE. read more