Ristorante Don Giovanni

Went here with my family for a Christmas Day dinner. MIL chose it as there were not many places open on Christmas Day. I think everyone else thought the same thing because the place was VERY busy! We ended up getting seated in their Banquet Room where they host private parties. The walls are decorated with company logos, so I had to ask our hostess what that was about. It turns out that the companies that host private events in that room will get their logo painted if they spend over a certain amount of money (not sure what that amount is). The logos are then painted proportional to the amount of money they spent. Pretty neat!The restaurant was very busy and we ended up waiting a bit to place our order. We decided to place everything at once because we didn't want to wait too long. The food was quite good. I got a breaded veal and it was delightful! It was fried in olive oil, so it was a bit oily, but I was quite happy with the meal. The vegetables were cooked quite well and I did not feel like it was too salty. Paired my meal with the Fruit Honey cocktail for a sweet contrast. The cocktail itself didn't scream "Italian" to me but honestly, I would be very happy to have that cocktail any time regardless of the type of restaurant I go to.

First time here that we recall. We sat outside and had their $19.95 lunch special, which includes soup or salad, main course, and a small dessert.There were two of us and we had the minestrone soup and pumpkin soup, squid ink pasta with salmon and chicken Marsala, and two chocolate mousses.The food and service were very good! Served nice and hot and the portions sizes were very appropriate for lunch.Nice fresh bread basket with an olive/olive oil dip.Nice and peaceful outside, great food, friendly service. We enjoyed it and will come back again!

Calamari Fritti 3 squid, crispy, cocktail and tartar sauce, too sourOyster Rockefeller 5 sautéed spinach, cheese, pork, blanc sauce, flavorfulVegetable Soup 3 carrots, celery, zucchini, light, waterySquid Ink Pasta w/ Seafood 4 pasta slightly hard, juicy fish, small scallops, shrimp, crawfish, mussel, clams, tomato sauce, flavorfulTortellini Michelangelo 5 dumpling pasta stuffed w/ chicken & veal, peas, creamy sauce, flavorfulSaltimbocca di Vitello 2 thin tender slice of veal, salty prosciutto, strong wine flavor, way too saltyFrutti di Mare al Pomodoro 4 prawns, scallops, squid, clams, mussels, mild saffron tomato broth, flavorfulThe Linden Mocktail 3 lemon juice, strawberry puree, orange bitters, sweet, sour

The food exceeded our expectations! The chicken was tender and flavorful, and the vegetables were perfectly cooked. The service was attentive, and the vibrant, colorful atmosphere made the dining experience even more enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the food here! Not sure why the rest of the reviews are so negative, but I actually think the food here was really good and fresh!! I really really enjoyed the complementary bread and sauce that they brought out, additionally, the ravioli and the tortelli were both amazing! Both very flavorful and a good portion! The environment is very cozy and cute, and you can tell that the restaurant has been here for awhile! The service was also pretty good, our waiter was very nice and the food came out pretty fast! Will definitely come back again!

Very good place to eat food was delicious the food was cooked perfect the appetizer was tasty service was really good until the last minute They brought me the bill and when they returned with my pay slip I saw on extra charge on my card I felt like they tried to rep me off with almost 100 dollars So if you are trying to try that place just keep on eye on your bill

I feel bad ripping on all the Castro St restaurants, but I've yet to find any good ones. This was yet another very mediocre (at best) Italian.* Risotto balls - 3 stars: standard* Calamari - 4 stars: The highlight of our starters* Burrata - 3 stars: How do you make burrata mediocre?!* Penne - 4 stars: I will say I was pleasantly surprised by this simple pasta dish.* Steak - 2 stars: So dry I couldn't swallow it.* Brussels Sprouts (Side) - 3 stars: Tasted like cafeteria food.* Tiramisu - 2.5 stars: Just not great....

Still very good Italian food in a more casual setting. I tried the spicy sausage pasta with red sauce and the butter lettuce salad. Also tried the pesto pasta the sauce is very creamy. Everything went well with a glass of wine. Service is great and they also have the payment system to use a QR code on your smartphone. Very good comfort food and value for your money. They don't have the antipasto platter anymore they should bring it back.

We were able to use Don Giovanni's private room for a large celebration ahead of a memorial service. In sum: great selection of wine, delicious (but slightly overpriced?) food, service was confusing at times but we were also a chaotic group.Food: arguably the most important topic. Starting first with the appetizers, we had a selection of calamari, meatballs, bread, and Brussels sprouts. The Brussels sprouts were in a nice balsamic marinade and soft as opposed to crispy. For dinners we had a wide range of entrees which were tasty but slightly overpriced in my opinion. Out of all of the food I think the real winner was the salads, which were delicious with lots of different goodies. As far as dessert: the tiramisu was good but nothing to write home about, but the crème brûlée was the real winner, probably the best crème brûlée that I have had.Wine: we had three bottles opened of which the Cakebread Cellars was my favorite, particularly their Merlot.Service: we were a large group with several young kids. Because of this, there was a decent amount if chaos that presented a challenge for the servers, but they adjusted and adapted well. There was some confusion between language barriers, particularly around the coffee orders and regular versus decaf.

I had the Eggplant Parmigiana. It was tasty but I wouldn't say it's the best I've had. The tiramisu was not bad but a bit watery. I suspect it was taken out of the fridge, not freshly made. On the other hand, the service was excellent.