Giannini's Italian Dinners

*First time review* Super cute entrance and interior, very cozy. As others stated, it is a slower paced meal. Polenta came out (insanely good), then the soup, then the salad, then food. Time in between each dish we are looking at 20 minutes or so. If you don't want to wait, maybe you can let them know.Polenta - 5/5 insanely good! I'd honestly come back and just order that. Salad - 3.5/5 big salad, fully loaded, a tad too vinegary but good.Soup - 4/5 delicious! Tasty and a lot of soup. Wasn't expecting a big bowl. Nice portion!Raviolis - meat raviolis and marinara, good! My mom liked them. I did tooCarbonara - a little rough if I'm being honest. This was not a carbonara-- it was more like an Alfredo sauce with pieces of bacon. I wouldn't get it again. Overall, best place! Excited to come back for the nice service and polenta.

Our go to Italian. It's not trendy, but the food is very much old school. Always feels like home.

Peeps..Peeps! After receiving a recommendation from an Italian friend who owns a winery in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, I had to try this place. What provoked his recommendation was my complaint that, since COVID I haven't been able to find any old family style restaurants that serve creamy polenta and a great Bolognese.. and without hesitation he said, "Giannini's in Pine Grove!" So, the next night I was there.Walking through the door into this softly lit old nostalgic Italian diner almost floored me. Now this is what a family style old school Italian restaurant should look like! The only item missing was Pacino sitting in the corner table. The staff was so pleasant as they sat me down at that "corner table"!On this occasion I ordered the baked ribeye (nightly special main course), but I could see on the menu that it included a polenta (creamy) appetizer with a beautifully soft rustic bread. I had brought my own wine (Barbera from Cooper Vineyards) corkage fee included (typical), which would pair nicely with the polenta that was accompanied by a great (smooth low acidic) bolognese. The polenta was like my mom used to make it, not too spicy yet creamy and... with the Bolognese and wine I was in another universe and for me I could have walked out of the restaurant totally pleased...but...I wasn't finished yet...So then came the "chilled" dinner salad with various Italian style veggies along with the only dressing fit for and "old school Italian", wine vinegar and oil, what else? Pretty satisfied at that point! But....as I finished the salad and looked up there was the sweet waitress standing there in front of me with a bowl of minestrone soup, which I needed to make room for in my already full and happy stomach. I've been to a lot of Italian restaurants over the years and this soup was perfection which included zucchini, carrots, celery, potatoes, small portion of tomatoes and spices with a wonderful stock. After couple of sips of wine, I proceeded to dip my airy Italian bread in the soup, OMG. I could have left the restaurant at that point totally satisfied, but the best was yet to come (except for the polenta) and that was the special which was a baked ribeye in an au Jus (perfectly seasoned) with peas and onions. The ribeye was tender and cut fairly thin, which I appreciated. At that point I was so so full I had to box the remainder of the ribeye with the last of my sliced bread since there was no room remaining in my contented stomach for coffee and dessert.Ok, Happy yes! I had just stepped into the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s and in a world today of too much complexity, I found the simplicity I was looking for in a great old style Italian restaurant that is located 1 hour from where I live. Thank you to my Italian friend for directing me to this traditional and "handed down" family restaurant.

How does this place stay open? who eats here? They literally serve us the pasta, ice cold, and then the server looked at us like she was shocked that I said the food was cold. Told the owner when I paid my bill that the pasta was cold and ignored me like I didn't even say anything.

Went to visit my cousin in Jackson went to Giovanni's for dinner. Been there many times it was good I don't know what happened but that's the worst meal and it wasn't just me. It was three out of four I would not go back again. Let me add to the list. The server was great went above, and beyond the drink was good, but the food was atrocious.

Dear Giannini's -- I regret that we will not visit your restaurant again. The first time we came to dine -- we enjoyed the experience. The food was good and the menu promised some variety for a future visit. The service was decent and the prices were appropriate for the area. Cut to the other night and things just fell apart when they didn't need to.We arrived just before 7p behind a table of 4 who essentially sat down at the same time -- maybe a minute before us. There were four other tables besides the bar area who were in various stages of their dining. The service was apologetically slow and the young waitress was friendly. She opened our wine and we waited patiently to place our order. We ordered an appetizer and our entrees. We got bread and butter pretty quickly. Our appetizer, the basil and pesto Bruschetta, took awhile to arrive, but we weren't watching the clock. The "polenta board" arrived next -- not bad. The meat sauce was really good, but the polenta lacked any seasoning. Now we were starting to take notice of the delays in the kitchen. Meanwhile we watched the table of 4 get their entrees. The soup and salad arrived with more apologies. And the table of four was just finishing up their entrees. Soup and salad were cleared -- our bottle of wine was 2/3rds gone. More apologies came and we watched the table of four leave -- now we were the only table waiting for food that we could see. The other two tables that remained had paid and were just chatting. We looked at the watch -- nearly 90 minutes. By this time -- it was dark -- late -- it was a Sunday night. It's now past 815p. No word on when the entrees would arrive, just more apologies and "it's coming". So we asked for our waitress -- 5 minutes passed. Waitress comes back and we ask to cancel our meal -- we'll pay for what we've eaten and we'll come back another time -- no sense in dragging this out. The young waitress called out across the restaurant for the manager (or owner -- whoever the woman was). She came by and said "your entrees are ready, you don't want them??? They're just finishing the pasta". Well... I'm sorry to say if they're still finishing something, they're not ready.See, Giannini's -- this is where there was an opportunity to reach out--to apologize by saying "Hey -- let me waive that corkage -- would you mind waiting another 5 minutes? Hey let me pick up that appetizer for you. Hey -- would you like me to box that up to go -- I'll take off one of the entrees for you." There are a number of responses. But instead, you chose to storm off without saying a word.When we next saw our waitress, she dropped the bill at the table like a dive bomber. $55 for Bruschetta and corkage and items included with the price of the entrees we never received. Huh? While we settled on $40 plus a 20% tip for the waitress (it wasn't her fault that you threw a tantrum nor that the kitchen was incompetently under water/slow/whatever the excuse). Giannini's survived Covid -- they've been a facet of our community (Yes -- did you know we were locals?) for decades. But maybe it won't if this is the way customers are treated. Perhaps it shouldn't if this is the quality of service and food that are delivered now on a menu that's much smaller than it used to be. And certainly -- if you're not the owner, you probably should find a new line of work because this ain't it, sweetheart. So many chances to turn things around -- we would have been back and just shrugged it off to an "off night" -- but you closed the door on that for good. And I'm sorry -- because the food was good -- at least the first time. The meat sauce was tasty even if there were small issues. Or maybe i'm looking at this through an overly optimistic and nostalgic lens. Perhaps the pathetic amount of salad mix drenched in oily dressing, the bland polenta, limited menu and Bruschetta that doesn't even have tomato on it (yes I get that it's pesto -- but basil + garlic like tomatoes!) are all signs that Giannini's has outlived its contribution to the community.Sell the building -- go retire. It was a good run, wasn't it? Make room for those who care about their customers.

This local Italian Eatery has been here for as long as I can remember. I have had multiple dishes from this restaurant ranging from zucchini Parmesan, pasta to roast chicken. This is a family style restaurant that serves soup, salad, and pasta with your dinner. The bread is plentiful.We sat in the bar chatting with the bartender and were able to eat our meal there as well. Our bartender knew most of the patrons by name and their drink orders. That was cool. We weekend in the Jackson area regularly and love the family feel of this place. See you soon Giannini's!

Thank you for making my parents 55th wedding anniversary so special, on Friday! They have come here for at least 35 years. Their hometown was in San Pablo, near owners parents old restaurant and 20 years ago had a special dinner with them here at Gianninis in Pine Grove. How I wish I had a picture of all of them having dinner. Such a special family and the food is just as amazing to this day, as ever!

It has been a dozen years since we last had a big family dinner at Giannini's in PG, so I felt very nostalgic going back with friends for a fun Friday night dinner! We were so glad we did. Very nice service and we enjoyed a classic Italian multi-course dinner. Creamy polenta was the starter, and was exactly how I remembered it. It was my Mother's favorite and now it's mine!! Salad and soup on point. Everyone loved my lasagna, and the creamy tortellini was delicate and savory. We enjoyed a bottle of Chianti and the classic spumone ice cream for dessert. Highly recommend Giannini's.

The food was delicious. The soup particularly was amazing and the owner's son Vincent was our server and he was quite a delight!!