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Giovanni's Ristorante

3.7 (21 reviews)
Ultra High-EndItalian, Desserts, Pizza
Closed 5:00 pm - 9:00 PM

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This is all I could manage to choke down.
Daniel B.

I haven't been to this restaurant in over a year until last night. Wow things have changed. I remember getting authentic Italian food and service, rare for the rural mid island area. I understand the original owner has retired and the restaurant has changed hands. The service was nothing special. The other patrons all looked over 80, half of them needed walkers to get in the door. It looked like a retirement home cafeteria. And unfortunately the food tasted worse. I ordered the veal special (veal osso bucco). And my date ordered the veal piccata of the menu. Both tasted the same!!! Almost like the the chef bought microwave veal dinner and boiled it. Plates were covered in watery sauce. Which may have been from the penne side that came with it not drained enough before plating. Which also tasted bland and life less. I attached a picture of my Veal Osso Bucco. For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, just google veal osso bucco and take a look at the difference!! Poor ingredients, poorly executed dishes, no one is checking platings going out of the kitchen. Either this restaurants new owner is incompetent in how to run a restaurant or doesn't care! I don't normally write bad reviews, I'll generally blame myself for not picking a good establishment and not return. But at $25-$30 per entrée, I hope I can save someone else a $125 meal. Go to Cuckoo's in Coombs, even if it's just for the stone oven focaccia bread!

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3 years ago

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8 years ago

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4 years ago

Tasty deep dish vegetarian pizza. Good location in town near many nice shops. Enjoy a glass of wine or beer while waiting for your pizza.

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16 years ago

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7 years ago

Great Italian mid-Island spot. Lounge has great atmosphere but menu is limited. Great 'full-bodied' pizza.

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9 years ago

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Review Highlights - Giovanni's Ristorante

The lounge is a great spot to stop in for a pint of IPA and their excellent pizza.

Mentioned in 4 reviews

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Red's Bakery - Nanaimo Bar

Red's Bakery

4.4(49 reviews)
42.1 km

The best Nanaimo Bar we ever had. It was delicious and to die for!…read moreMy sister bought some extra take back home (Toronoto). They are still delish after couple of days.

I heard from multiple sources that Red's Bakery serves the most mediocre Nanaimo Bars in Nanaimo,…read morebut since we were in the area (and a couple of other places were closed the day we were in town), we decided to walk on over. Red's has a kind of small town bakery feel, with old-fashioned almost eclectic decor, perhaps 60s/70s retro. Unlike some of the other bakeries, they prepackage some of their desserts in plastic, so it's difficult to tell how fresh they are. I suppose Nanaimo Bars keep well in the first place. We ended up trying Nanaimo bars from three different places, with my notes for Red's as below: Nanaimo Bar ($6) - This Nanaimo bar is much taller than the other two, probably around 50% taller than bar 3 and a full double of bar 2. It cuts very smoothly without much flaking off. The crumb base underneath is smooth, indicating that the coconut fibers are well blended to reduce strand length. It's almost like an Oreo base, with heavy Dutch processed cocoa flavor. There should be nuts mixed in, but they are crushed so finely that I can't really tell what nut is used. People on social media complain about the bottom layer, but I actually love it. For the other layers, the top icing is really sweet. It has a heavily roasted chocolate flavor and by far the darkest in color. The middle layer just tastes like standard icing. It's sweet but I think less so than the other bars. (4/5) Interestingly enough, I enjoyed the Nanaimo Bar from Red's more than both other bakeries. I think it's pretty good in quality and while sweet, has the heavy cocoa elements of the cookie base to help balance things out a bit. Washroom - I didn't see any available for customers.

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Red's Bakery - 2023 first place awards

2023 first place awards

Red's Bakery
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Giovanni's Ristorante - italian - Updated May 2026

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