Giuseppe's

Easily the best place I've eaten in my trip to Minneapolis. The bread and house salad are absolute perfection.

The star rating here is an incredible head scratcher. The food is marginal at best. I can only assume something has changed between all of those 5-star reviews and today. Hubby and I have a shared birthday weekend. Craving Italian, I said - Guiseppes, let's try it!To start - the sangria was super popular and highly recommended by other reviewers. It tasted of cheap red wine masked by a sweet fruit flavored syrup. Definitely not "sangria". Strike 1.Caesar salad - large enough to share, tasted as though the dressing was homemade. No croutons. Consists of romaine, cucumbers (odd) Parmesan cheese and dressing. 2.5 stars.Sausage di Sicilia - the pasta was over cooked to the point that when you pick it up with a fork the penne tore apart. Mushy pasta is never a great way to start your first bite. The meatballs were squishy, definitely premade frozen meatballs. Disappointing as we had heard they make their dishes from scratch. Strike 2.Carbonara is a cross between carbonara (it has ham not pancetta) and Alfredo. The creamy sauce was full of garlic. Very very creamy. Not your traditional carbonara and they say as much in the menu but this was just laden with cream, super heavy and lacked depth of flavor as all you can taste is cheese. Strike 3.Cherry on top (aka strike 4) - the bread and oil are raved about. Why?? The dipping sauce reeks of cumin which is not what you'd expect at Italian. There definitely seems to be an Indian influence in their dishes. Just not my thing. When I want Italian food, I want Italian. Not some fusion style cuisine. The worst part of this disappointing culinary experience was what I saw after the meal. Glad it was after and not before, although we didn't eat much as over half of our entrees were left on the plate and refused boxes. The decor is abundant which is fine, but the thick layer of dust covering each and every picture frame, banjo hanging in the wall, grapevine leaf, etc made my stomach turn. Perhaps health dept requirements are only kitchen bound but someone really needs to do a deep clean here. It's like going into your grandmothers house who hasn't dusted since the 1990's. Definitely put a damper on our overall dismal experience and grossed me out enough to say we will never be back.I hate leaving low-star reviews on small businesses. I really do. Having been a Google guide for several years, I rely on the experiences of others to guide me. As such, I felt compelled to share this experience with others to help them make an informed decision before choosing to dine here. At least you'll know what to expect.

I don't know if I would rave about this place as one of the best but I did leave with a full stomach and then some of some pretty decent Italian fare. What I really like about this place is the small-town charm it gives off, even though it is located in a strip mall off a pretty busy thoroughfare. This place is kind of small so getting a table can be a little tricky but it seemed like they do a lot of take-out orders and the parking lot was bustling with activity. So a good thing, right? Service was a bit hit-and-miss but it looked like they were a bit understaffed so we just kept on being polite and patient. Bread and an oil mixture is served before the meal and that held us over until the main course came out. I think were were supposed to get a salad but that never came out, not 100% sure on that one. We tried a couple different things from the menu, a mixture of red and white sauced dishes to give us a good sampling of the menu. Portion sizes were very generous and could easily feed a couple of adults per plate. We liked that we could enjoy the meal family-style and sample a little bit of everything.Prices are pretty fair for the amount of food that you get and service is nice, albeit a little slow. I don't know if I would travel a far distance to come back but I'm a local and so probably will go back when I have a hankering for Italian food. Bonus - they are right next door to an amazing candy store. Stop in there too and grab something sweet to enjoy for the ride home.

Beware. Their website has one price and then you go in and there is a different price. I tried it a second time but the pasta is over cooked. I had the bolognese and this was nothing close to the real deal. It was just a salty thick sauce and the cheese was in one corner. Should have taken more pictures.

Wow, this place is a hidden gem.It's tiny - I've driven by 100 times and never noticed it, but a friend recommended it and I'm so glad she did!First of all, walking in, there's a sign on the door that they are short staffed and to please be patient. Sure enough, the same man was the host, the bartender, waiter cook and bus boy - woah! In spite of all this, he was kind and efficient.The food was outstanding.I started with a Caesar salad - very good!You also get amazing warm bread that's crusty on the outside and warm in the middle - with seasoned oil to dip it in. Yum!The house sangria was some of the best sangria I've ever tasted!For dinner I got the fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp. It was amazing and a HUGE portion. I could spread this out for at least three meals.The ambiance is simple. They have a faux brick wall and they allow patrons to sign the bricks - that was fun!Next door is a delicious candy and chocolate store.I'm already looking forward to coming back to try new things at Giuseppe's!!

Totally depends on the sophistication of your pallet. Ingredients in most of the dishes seem as though they are there to create quick, easy flavor vs taking the time to make more complex sauces that can hold their own. Adding artichokes and sun dried tomato to dishes that wouldn't normally have them ( capellini pomodoro for one) isn't necessary if the sauce is robust and flavorful on its own. However, cute, very friendly, old school decor with decent food, reasonable wine list. If nothing they are consistent. The bread and dipping oil is very good. Unsophisticated, solid, Italian.

Ok for the price. First time so May have been an isolated experience. Cute restaurant. Our server was nice but new, so she made that excuse MANY times during our experience as to what she didn't know the menu, know about the wine and couldn't answer our questions--if the answer is unknown just ask. Our wine came out half way into the meal after we asked a second time. Ordered tiramisu to find out later they were out. Alfredo had good flavor but was chunky not creamy. Marinara had an odd flavor of plastic or preservatives? We liked the garlic bread and oil. My son loved the lobster ravioli. My pet peeve is having dirty dishes left on the table when the meal is done, and our table was so full of dishes the whole time we didn't have enough room, but the dishes just sat. I guess it's a sign of an inexperienced server but there are certain basics servers should know.

We had a reservation set for 6:00 . We weren't seated until 6:25. A server didn't come to our table and take our order us until nearly 7:00 even though we stopped the 2 that were working and asked to be served numerous times. We believe it was the cook that finally came out from the kitchen to take our order (and he wasn't pleasant). We should have gotten up and left but we were with another couple, and she had made the reservation, so my husband and I felt that we couldn't leave. The food was not as described on the menu. The mild sausage was NOT mild. Due to the terrible service I would not recommend this restaurant !

Very good food and good service The restaurant is easy to locate and has good parking. The ziti is excellent I think this is one of the best Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities.

WORST restaurant experience I've had in my life - and I'm a restaurateur! I ventured into this restaurant for dinner, alone - since I'm a widow and just here in MN on business. Walked in to see several tables open, but was told I'd have to "wait about 1/2 an hour as there were reservations" for those open tables, one of which was the server table next to the kitchen which was not set to use during their Saturday night rush! I sat at what appeared to be a bar, but wasn't offered anything - I had to ask. While seated, 2 separate couples walked in and were immediately seated at the open tables - without any "reservations" I asked BOTH of them. Of the few tables this 'restaurant' has, there are a handful of 2-tops and they were not going to sit me at anything else. It was okay for them to use 4-tops to sit a couple, but I'd have to wait for a 2-top. This is DISCRIMINATION and very poor and unethical business practice - the likes of which I've never seen, and that's hard to do. They should ALL BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES - those servers running the front who were all clearly inept and unkept. I hope this place is put out of its misery, and soon! I"ll be watching....