Giovanna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

Great place, been going here for years. consistently very good, never had a bad dish and the owners are very nice. Solid and dependable. 

Some funny reviews on here, there was one that complained the pizza was cooked in the wrong type of oven and then said the pizza was delicious and had lots of toppings so not sure how that works

FOOD TYPE 
Italian

FOOD QUALITY
Five of us dined on a cool Sat. evening in late Feb. We started with a range of entrees including three salads, prawns and garlic bread. For mains, two of us shared an avocado and chicken pizza, the others choose a chicken breast, a steak and a spag marina. For dessert, what else but a hazelnut gelato and a sticky date pud? As you would expect from a place like Giovanna, which has been pulling in the crowds for decades, every dish was a winner, and not a single one disappointed. The garlic bread was warm and crunchy: the perfect way to start a meal and the salads were fresh, nutritious and wholesome. My pizza had a nice crispy base and was topped with lashings of tasty cheese, avo and tender chicken. Everyone enjoyed their meals. I did find the sticky date pud a tad sweet for my liking, but my dining companions had no trouble assisting me to finish it off.

ATMOSPHERE
As we had anticipated, it was packed on a Sat night, making the atmosphere busy, energetic and lively. This is one place where you never need fear that you’ll be the only diners! The decor is standard Sydney Italian, circa 1990s with white walls, blue grey carpets, plastic chairs and wooden tables. Despite it being so busy, the ambience is casual and relaxed, lots of people enjoying a night out at their favourite Italian restaurant, that’s become something of an institution in Kingsford.

SERVICE
Staff are efficient, friendly and polite. But being so full, we did struggle a bit to catch their attention, and there was a wait of around 25 minutes between entrees and mains. There are a fair number of staff on duty. They’re all neatly turned out in smart black uniforms and clearly know their job, because, despite the little delays, the place hums like a well oiled machine. Full credit to them for coping so well on on a busy night. Probably one more staffer may help move things along a bit faster on a weekend.

COMFORT
Chairs are comfy enough and the two tables pushed together provided enough space to fit all the dishes, including the large pizza tray. The temp inside was just right on a mild evening in late summer.

MENU
Menu is a fairly simple document on a white sheet of paper with a solid black font, and enclosed in a plastic laminate to keep it clean and hygienic. It’s fairly easy to read in the strong lighting. There are separate drinks and dessert menus.

TOILETS
Toilets are out the back, but there are signs inside the restaurant to point you in the right direction. There’s one male and one female cubicle, which isn’t really enough, especially as this place gets so busy, so don’t be surprised if you have to wait for one to become available. Whilst reasonably clean, someone forgot to refill the hand towel dispenser, so there was nothing to dry your hands with. By my second visit, they’d made a half-hearted attempt to solve the problem by placing a roll of paper towels above the sink, but that didn’t last long.

ACOUSTICS
This place is well designed to deal with the crowds. The thick carpets, high ceilings and plenty of space between the tables, all help to keep the noise levels down, so we had no trouble conversing.

COST
We paid $220 for five of us, but that bought a lot of food, including a couple of entrees, three salads, five mains, two desserts, corkage, a single VB and a single cold drink. That worked out at $44 a head; decent value for what we had, taking into account the excellent quality of the food.

BOOKING
Recommended for any night of the week, but especially a weekend. Without a booking on a Sat night, you can probably forget about eating here.

PARKING
We found easy parking in nearby Houston Road, where restrictions end at 8.00pm. Generally you’ll always find a spot in the streets around here, and even restricted parking will give you two hours, probably enough if you eat quickly.

SUMMARY
We had a pleasant evening and it all went smoothly. The food is first class and you wouldn’t get better for this price anywhere in the eastern suburbs. Service is friendly and polite, but you do need to be a bit patient on a weekend, when it’s bound to be busy. Parking is generally easy to find. What I didn’t like though, was the way the bill is prepared. It’s a manual job, as you can see from the pics, which made it difficult to read. How odd in this day and age for such a popular restaurant not to have an electronic billing system. Also strange, is that their website only has their name, address, phone number and a few pics. No menus or online booking facilities. Time to automate guys and get into the digital age! Toilets could also do with a bit more attention.

RECOMMENDATION
I don’t think that anything on this menu will disappoint. Enjoy!

This place is really great at setting a fine dining italian ambience (especially in kingsford) with the opera music playing in the background as you feast on the carbs. This place has great food for a reasonable price and a great place to have dinner and meet up with friends. There is nice chattering in the background of other customers eating but not too loud so a conversation is easily held. The wait staff are extremely hospitable showing many years in the industry. Extremely satisfied and will be coming back.

Notes about the food:
The pizza and lasagna and garlic bread that I had seemed home made which is always a plus as some resturants often buy frozen products. The tomato sauce was not over the top as some italian restaurants always do it.

Exquisite decor and splendid atmosphere. As an authentic Italian, it really brings me back to my younger days roaming the cobblestone alleyways of Friuli. The staff are warm, inviting and always willing to accomodate any desires one should have. The food is delightful and the menu isn't stretched the way most modern "pizza" restaurants are. This hidden gem of Kingsford is one of Sydney's best kept secrets - don't miss out!

This was the second time I came here and it was just as satisfying as the first! We ordered garlic bread, penne melanzane, eye fillet steak with mushroom sauce and sticky date pudding. The garlic bread was flavoursome, soft and slightly crispy on the outside. The tender steak and the mushroom and red wine sauce complemented one another beautifully. I enjoyed every bite of it and I usually don't like steak. Finally, we finished off with the homemade sticky date pudding with vanilla icecream, which was definitely the highlight of our meal. The warm and soft texture of the pudding as well as the caramel tasting syrup drizzled over it, paired with the icecream was just so delicious. Besides from the food, the customer service was very pleasant too. The restaurant has a very nice homey vibe.

Love this place!! Such good, authentic Italian. Great pricing and very generous servings. Customer service is always amazing and very friendly staff members. Atmosphere is great and food is always delicious

We had a lovely meal here last night but unfortunately due to COVID, the restaurant was incredibly quiet. It's a real shame as the new owners have spent months renovating. The food was well priced and delicious; hand made pappardelle with ragu, woodfired pizzas and a rich, hearty eggplant parmigiana were all delightful winter dishes. The restaurant even gave us some complimentary garlic bread. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the Kingsford area.

Everyone in our group of 10 enjoyed their meals. The deboned roast duck with orange sauce was quite substantial and tasty, we recommend that as a main. The restaurant is fairly large, however it was very busy on the Saturday evening we were there and it was very noisy, forcing us to talk loudly in order to be heard.

I highly recommend this place. Great food great service and just like being in Italy. Cozy and welcoming.

Great local family restaurant with great meat and pasta dishes.