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    Giovanni's Italian Eatery

    4.1 (76 reviews)
    ModerateItalian, Pizza, Thai
    Closed 12:00 pm - 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM - 8:30 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Giovanni's Italian Eatery Italian Restaurant Photos

    Business Info

    GIOVANNI'S ITALIAN EATERY ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Giovanni's Italian Eatery

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    Reviews With Photos

    Pineapple Fried Rice
    Bess B.

    A diamond in the rough. That's what comes to mind when I pulled up to this hidden gem in the city of Shafter. I've heard of Giovanni's from coworkers who stopped by when they were in town. Told me it was a fantastic Italian joint. But, you get a two-fer here. Not only does Giovanni's specialize in Italian food, but Thai food, as well! And no, it's not a fusion-type grill. They sell each type of food separately. When you walk inside, it's still got all the Italian-esque decor. It's got lots of seating. The lighting is not too bright, so it could provide some level of intimacy for dates. Today, I tried the Pineapple Fried Rice to go. Drove all the way back to Bakersfield and it was still piping hot! So delicious! It was a good portion that saved me some for tomorrow's lunch. It came with several shrimps, sliced carrots, chicken, pineapple, and fried egg. The next time I visit Shafter, I'm thinking of trying the Baked Mostaccioli!

    Stuffed mushrooms.

    Had Giovanni's last night and it was delicious. The stuffed mushrooms were delicious. We had the garlic chicken fettuccine alfredo with broccoli, lasagna and the tortellini alfredo. Everything was served hot and delicious. Noy and Angel are great. Angel was waiting by himself and the service was great.

    Pizza bread appetizer
    Linda W.

    If you have cravings for Italian and Thai food then you have to travel to Shafter! A gem down the street from the DMV on walker street. Celebrated a birthday with family and the food was great! The bread rolls were excellent with just a little butter dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My son ate two of them and I wanted to save my stomach for other things but I still ate 3/4 of the bread! We started with stuffed mushrooms and pepperoni cheese bread. Couldn't get a picture of the stuffed mushrooms because it was devoured before I could get my phone out. The pepperoni garlic cheese bread was delicious (the French bread was light and airy). I was told the pizzas and calzone was great. I didn't get a picture of the already devoured tortellini in alfredo sauce because I was eating the delicious fried pineapple rice and panaeng chicken curry! The best pineapple fried rice I had so far. The panaeng chicken curry was on point!

    Dinner time is from 4-8pm!
    Kelly S.

    One of the great gems of Shafter! I did not expect such good service and food from this place. It just shows that the owner really does care about their customer base. I was on a travel assignment from Los Angeles to the Bakersfield area for work and came across this small Italian restaurant on Yelp. It had the best reviews and everyone was chiming on how amazing the owner and the Thai food was. So naturally, I had to give it a chance! I arrived a few minutes before opening and saw multiple cars waiting outside too. Unlike me, they already knew to call in and place the order as he is very attentive to the phone. I walked in and was greeted by the owner, a local man originally from LA area too, he explained the menu and his best seller and offered the local Thai menu too, as many stated that this is the best Thai food in town. I ended up ordering the shrimp pad thai with tiramisu as he seemed very proud of it. He told me to wait in my car as he would hand-deliver each order to their individual while making small talk about their day. I can genuinely see the connection that he made with the locals thoroughly. The Thai food was very good but not great compared to some of the places I visited in Thai Town in Los Angeles, but it fills a niche in Shafter which people needed, a real authentic Thai location which has the best service hands down of any place I visited in Shafter during my week stay. The price was very reasonable at $12ish for the pad thai and $4ish for my slice of tiramisu. I would come back just for the service and to actually try their Italian cuisine haha! tl:dr Great personalized service with good food at a little small town. A gem of Shafter indeed!

    Wall hanging
    Christina E.

    It's been a really long time since I walked into this place. When we arrived the place was empty and our service was great. Our drinks were always being filled. When our dinner bread came out, I was in awe, I don't think I have ever seen more prettier looking bread. It was hot and buttery. My only negative was that we were given country crock instead of real butter. But we did get some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip our bread into. The menu was decent but looked like it could use a few more pasta choices. Maybe like some linguini and clams or eggplant parmesan. We finally decided on what we wanted. I ordered the mushroom and olive lasagna, he got the Portabello mushroom ravioli with their pink sauce and our daughter got a pizza. We weren't disappointed when our plates arrived. I was a little shocked to see my lasagna in a bowl but once I paid attention to my dish I understood why. It was hot and oh that cheese was smothering my dish. The sauce was poured on generously and I had a generous amount of olives and mushrooms. There were more than eight - ten ravioli on that plate. It was a real dinner serving and that sauce looked delicious. The pizza, you could tell that was hand made. The crust was a pretty golden brown, the pepperoni was a gorgeous looking brick red and black olives to top it off. Again, oh that cheese. One thing I always wondered was why doesn't anyone ever season the dough. That's just me. Service was great and so was our meal. I'm glad no one cooked today since it gave us the chance to dine out. I'd say this was a successful dine outing.

    Ribeyes, shrimp scampi, fresh roll, portobello mushroom ravioli.

    Food was absolutely amazing. Ribeye's, shrimp scampi, calzone, took a pizza to go. Small town gem. Jacob the server is very personable and attentive. Love this place. Thank you for a wonderful meal. Don't forget to grab a piece of carrot cake before you leave!

    The Pad Thai
    Ronald Q.

    Was a bit hesistant to order from here but a friend said that their thai food was good so i gave it a go and im glad i did. The pad thai was tasty just a slight salty but other then that it jad good flavor. I believe they do free delivery if u live within 3 miles of the restaurant so thats a plus all in all ive only had the thai food so i can only recommend that at the moment

    Chicken calzone

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    22 days ago

    Their food is always fresh and authentic! Large portions! We order their calzons. We order to go.

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    6 months ago

    His personal pizzas and his Baked Turkey sandwiches are amazing!! Love this little hidden gem of Shafter!!

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    2 years ago

    Love the Thai food not a huge fan of the pasta nah more though! Over all it was a nice experience with the grandkids

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    4 years ago

    Good food, great customer service and family owned. Thai & Italian food, I recommend it.

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    14 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    5 years ago

    Was looking for chocolate cake and tiramisu and stumbled upon this wonderful gem in shafter amazing pasta calzones and desserts

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    11 years ago

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    5 years ago

    I love the Giovanni's special sandwich and cheesecake! I always order to go so I'll have to try the dine in one of these days.

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    4 years ago

    41/2 stars good service good food. I have eaten at the eatery for the past 2 decades and intend to continue. I happily recommend.

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    Zeppo's Pizza

    Zeppo's Pizza

    4.5(562 reviews)
    12.1 mi
    $$

    Love this place! I don't know why it took us so long to finally order from here. We only decided to…read moregive it a try while browsing Uber Eats and noticed they had a great deal going on...free zeppoles plus 20% off a $25 order. For our most recent order, we got a large combination pizza with pink sauce, a large garden salad with ranch, and an order of zeppoles with chocolate caramel dipping sauce. Let me just say, the pizza with pink sauce was amazing. It may not sound like the most enticing combo, but it was so good. The salad was pretty standard, but the zeppoles were dangerously addictive. They reminded me of beignets, and that dipping sauce was absolutely fire. I will say that sometimes the order doesn't come exactly right, although that could just as easily be an Uber Eats issue rather than the restaurant itself. Either way, the flavor and the deals have more than made up for it. We'll definitely be ordering from here again, and hopefully dining in sometime too... depending on how well the kids behave

    I moved to Bakersfield from Huntington Beach. I'm on the hunt for quality pizza. Zeppo's Pizza has…read morea 4.5 star review and is less than 2 miles from my home, so I decided to give it a try. The Good: the price is reasonable. It's on the cheaper side and not much more than fast food delivery pizza. Staff was cordial and it was ready for pick up in record time. I ordered garlic on my pizza and they had fresh garlic. That's a huge plus considering many pizza establishments put minced pickled garlic from a jar on the pizza. The Bad: The pizza tasted like fast food pizza. The dough has a certain texture and doughiness reminiscent of Pizza Hut while the cheese tasted like it came from Costco. The spaghetti was the most disappointing part of the meal. There were only three meatballs in the spaghetti with meatballs and it had a weird taste and kick to it that reminded me of jarred Mexican salsa. It wasn't arrabiata. Inexcusably, there was so little sauce in the pasta that not a single plate could cover the noodles. It may have earned a higher score if my expectations were fast food, low quality pizza

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    Zeppo's Pizza - Seating and decor

    Seating and decor

    Zeppo's Pizza - That's how pizza should be done

    That's how pizza should be done

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    Clean dining area

    Flame’s Pizza - Pepperoni, mushroom, garlic

    Flame’s Pizza

    4.5(212 reviews)
    14.7 mi

    Flame's continues to be my go-to place when I want delicious pizza. The place continues to be clean…read moreincluding the restrooms. The woman who took my order was nice. I do have other pizza places to try in Bakersfield, although when I know I'll be satisfied, Flame's is my place.

    From top tier wings to mouthwatering pizza, Flame's Pizza is setting the bar high…read more The bone-in wings practically stole the show and are a MUST. They have the perfect crunch and fall off the bone while melting in your mouth. I added the wings to my order on a whim and will be back very soon specifically for the wings. Their pizza is delicious and filling. On my most recent trip I ordered the spicy chicken pizza with pineapple. I know, controversial additional topping. But what's not controversial is how delicious and filling every pizza from Flame's Pizza always is. Even the crust is noteworthily scrumptious. From their classic pizzas to their "Flamelicious Pizzas", all are worth trying. Especially their Indian style pizzas. I've been having fun working through their menu. Their portion sizes are strong and I always end up having plenty of leftovers, which I am always hoping for when grabbing pizza and wings. They have great ranch and do not skimp. I went with the small ranch that came with my chicken wings and was very impressed with the amount of ranch provided, an important metric for true wing and pizza lovers. (Though I'll probably get their large next time ) The folks behind the counter and running the place are super kind. You can tell there is a lot of love put into this spot. Very clean and well taken care of. I am impressed with how much Flame's Pizza continues to impress me. Be sure to check them out!

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    Flame’s Pizza
    Flame’s Pizza - Garlic Combination Pizza

    Garlic Combination Pizza

    Flame’s Pizza - Half is Creamy Garlic Combination Pizza and Combination Pizza

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    Half is Creamy Garlic Combination Pizza and Combination Pizza

    Woodstone Pizzeria - Large Pizza

    Woodstone Pizzeria

    4.3(362 reviews)
    15.9 mi
    $$

    Great pizza. Yes they have draft beer…read more Perroni Birra on the list amongst others. Interesting that yelp makes you have a character limit on reviews, some don't need an explanation.

    I have to start this review by letting you know that no matter what, I love pizza. From Lean…read moreCuisine, to a warmed up 7-11 pepperoni, to the Margherita at Frugatti's, I've enjoyed them all. My philosophy is that pizza is like only one other thing in life - even if its not that great, its still pretty good. Thats why it pains me to report that Woodstone, once ranked as one of the best pizzas in Kern County, completely missed the mark tonight. Uber Eats offered a 50% off promo at Domino's this evening, but my wife and I opted to drop $70 on a medium Hawaiian and a "Woodstone" (combination), with a side of boneless buffalo wings instead. Upon arrival, we noticed both medium pizzas were delivered in large size boxes, leaving a wide berth between the crust and the edge of the box. While the pies were delivered in good condition and warm to the touch, they were not as visually striking as one would expect. It was clear that too small pizzas were placed in too big boxes. I dove into the combination first, and immediately noticed a bland lack of flavor. I tried to add some pizzaz with the provided pepper flakes and parm, but no dice. I had to dip my slice in ranch just to choke it down. Unfortunately, the Hawaiian pizza was no better. The crust on both pizzas was hard, almost as if it was stale, and each of the toppings were congealed together in the melted cheese so there was just an amalgam of bland flavor throughout each bite. Both pizzas tasted the same, in fact (not good). I moved on to the wings and they had an off flavor and gummy texture as well. Truly, everything tasted like it was left out from the lunch buffet a day or two ago and someone brushed some garlic butter on everything, nuked it for half a minute, and half assedly packaged it all up for us tonight. The good news is the City of Bakersfield announced that it is acceptable to dispose of pizza boxes in the green waste can now. Sadly that's where this entire meal wound up.

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    Woodstone Pizzeria - Panoramic view inside Woodstone

    Panoramic view inside Woodstone

    Woodstone Pizzeria - Hand Prep Pepperoni Pizza

    Hand Prep Pepperoni Pizza

    Woodstone Pizzeria - Lunch Special

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    Lunch Special

    Slice of Italy

    Slice of Italy

    3.6(523 reviews)
    11.6 mi
    $$

    One of our very first Bakersfield meals, taken as a much-needed break from house hunting chaos was…read moreat Slice of Italy (Rosedale), and honestly, it still holds a soft spot for us. After a long day of "Is this the house?" and "Why is everything beige?", sitting down to a comforting plate of pasta felt like exactly what we needed. As someone plant-based, I was genuinely happy to find a rich, spicy, savory red sauce that didn't feel like an afterthought and even better, it could be customized. Small win, big flavor. The service has always been warm, cozy and welcoming, which is probably why this has quietly become one of my husband and my go-to spots when cooking at home feels like just a little too much effort. Is it fancy? No. Is it reliable, tasty, and tied to one of our first memories here? Absolutely. And sometimes, that's exactly what you want. My husband is a fan of their Combination pizza!

    I have been ordering from Slice of Italy for years and have recommended this place to plenty of…read morefamily and friends. Unfortunately, after this experience, I will not be ordering from them again. We placed an online order for two large pizzas with pepperoni and olives. When the order was delivered, both pizzas were plain cheese. Mistakes happen, and this has happened a few times over the years, but in the past they corrected the issue and delivered the correct pizzas. This time was completely different. When we called to explain the problem, the woman on the phone argued with my wife instead of trying to help. She kept saying their system showed that we ordered cheese pizzas, so that is what we received. There was no attempt to listen, verify the receipt, or resolve the issue professionally. We ended up bringing the receipt and the pizzas back to the restaurant, and even then they continued to insist they were right. The staff was rude, dismissive, and unwilling to take responsibility for the mistake. After several back-and-forth comments, they finally issued a refund, but the entire situation was handled terribly. I understand that order mistakes happen. What is unacceptable is arguing with a customer, refusing to look at the actual receipt, and treating long-time customers like they are the problem. After years of supporting this business, this experience completely changed my opinion of Slice of Italy. I will not be returning, and I will make sure others know how poorly this situation was handled.

    Photos
    Slice of Italy - Nice place to watch games, good food and drinks

    Nice place to watch games, good food and drinks

    Slice of Italy - Chicken Picatta

    Chicken Picatta

    Slice of Italy - Seasonal pumpkin cheesecake

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    Seasonal pumpkin cheesecake

    Straw Hat Pizza - Salad bar

    Straw Hat Pizza

    3.0(36 reviews)
    11.9 mi

    I went to Straw Hat Pizza with friends to watch the MLB Opening Day game. When we first arrived, it…read morewasn't very crowded, but by game time the place had become lively and energetic. The venue itself is spacious and has a fun, vibrant atmosphere and is great for watching sports since there are several TVs throughout the restaurant. I ordered a small classic veggie pizza and asked if they could substitute olive oil for the red sauce, but unfortunately they weren't able to accommodate that request. That was a bit disappointing since it's something I usually get at other pizza spots. That said, the pizza itself was still good, and the amount of toppings was just right. I also ordered fried pickles, and those were a highlight. They were fresh, warm, and perfectly crispy. Service was pretty quick and the server was friendly. Overall, I'd definitely come back to watch another game.

    The kids got a free personal pizza as a valentine this year. So we decided to stop in and give them…read morea try before their coupons expired. This was our first time here, the girl taking orders wasn't overly friendly..but was informative. We ordered 3 of the personal pizzas and a small white sauce chicken pizza. They definitely do not skimp on the toppings, but they threw a lot of bacon on it and not very spread out. The restaurant was clean and the noise level wasn't bad. Today was wing Wednesday, each wing is only $0.89 each, so we ordered 10 and they were the star of the show! Cooked to perfection, perfect crisp on the skin and they were very evenly sauced. I wasn't a huge fan of the pizza, but would definitely go back for the wings. Overall good experience.

    Photos
    Straw Hat Pizza - Arcade area

    Arcade area

    Straw Hat Pizza - White sauce chicken pizza, Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, and wings.

    White sauce chicken pizza, Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, and wings.

    Straw Hat Pizza - Menu

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    Menu

    Giovanni's Italian Eatery - italian - Updated May 2026

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