Review Giovanni Ristorante & Bar - Nashville

We had the best time at Giovanni’s! Ron, our server, was fantastic. He thoroughly explained the menu and gave us great detail on the kitchen and what they could make for us, even if it wasn’t in the menu! Our drinks were never empty and we left extremely happy!! The crème brûlée was to die for!! We will be back :)

If someone told me I'd find amazing Italian food in Nashville, I'd have laughed at the thought. Especially having lived in Boston for many years. But surprisingly this restaurant far exceeded my expectations. The ambiance is like a perfect itailan place in Manhattan or the North End of Boston. And if your favorite dish isn't on the menu, they'll make it! Highly recommend this place. And I have to say what great service too!

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU GO!! My husband and I spent $75 on 2 waters & the 2 cheapest entree’s only. This restaurant is not what we expected at all but we still had a great experience. My husband and I are here in Nashville for our friend’s wedding and to visit family. We were so so tired and decided to just get a quick pizza for dinner then go to sleep as it’s been an exhausting week of back and forth, traveling and whatnot. We didn’t want to spend much, we saw a photo on here that pictured a menu with a pizza for $20! We were sold. We came to the restaurant to find we were SEVERELY under dressed, and this did not look like a pizza place at all, but we saw the pic of the menu and the room looked the exact same so we got seated. We opened the menu and realized there was no pizza and everything on the menu was much higher in price than we had in mind. I of course got so nervous and whispered to him that we should just leave because I felt so out of place. He mentioned it wasn’t a big deal and that we could honestly probably use a nice date night and it was fine. So we stayed, only got waters and our entrees (we both got the cheapest thing on the menu) and it all came out to $75. We were originally expecting a $20 pizza as pictured on the menu here on google. (The menu layout and branding looked the exact same and the photos of the restaurant looked exactly the same so yes we did come to the right place.) Regardless, we had a wonderful experience! The food was excellent, the service was incredible, and it was so relaxing other than my slight anxiety about the price bc I was just not prepared to spend that much on a quick dinner.

Enjoyed a good salmon, and yummy lemon drop drink. Shared a mozzarella appetizer drizzled with vinaigrette sauce and some tender meat. The crème brûlée was good. Lighting was dark mood lightning. Only hangup for me at least was that the door was having problems and since we were seated near it cold air was frequently coming our way. The first staff member ran through the menu options a bit fast for us to catch. I was being treated so I didn’t have to worry bout the bill, luckily! 😆

We went in for a light and quick lunch and the place was very accommodating and tasty! I’d like to come back to try more dishes sometimes.

Perfect date night spot or a great place to celebrate something special. The food is incredible, I highly recommend the lasagna. Great ambience and the service is top notch.

Our server, (I hope he said his name was Ron) was amazing! He made the experience that much better. He was attentive, fast, and very knowledgeable about the menu. The place itself is decorated beautifully. The host at the front said, "you have a reservation I assume?". When we said "No", he sat us immediately anyway, so a reservation isn't really required, but we did eat on a Wednesday night. All around delicious food. My husband had the squid-ink pasta. It was a bit spicy, but not too hot to handle. I had the potato soup and it was fantastic. I also had the tagilatelle and man, it tasted so good. You can tell the pasta is handmade.

The food was amazing and the environment was wonderful. Very romantic. However, Kevin was the real cherry on top! So personable and knowable and funny to boot. 10/10 would recommend!

From start to finish, a triumph. We were seated promptly by a friendly and warm hostess. Brought bread almost immediately. Our server noticed right away that I pushed our preset wine glasses to the edge of the table, and removed them silently. He informed us of the specials, in an informative and amiable way. Our bread was warm and soft. Olive oil was offered and balsamic vinegar by request. Both of good quality. We had the octopus appetizer, and it was great. The octopus was tender, with the perfect char. Garbanzo beans very well cooked and the sauce was flavourful. I could have had three more, honestly. My wife had the Ravioli and I, the Marsala. Both were prepared expertly and delivered steaming. The Ravioli filling was velvety, and the pasta obviously handmade. My Marsala was moist and tender, the mushrooms cooked perfectly, and both dishes were just what I expected from a restaurant with such a fine reputation. We had three desserts, limoncello, tiramisu and creme brulee. All of them exceeded our expectations. RYAN was especially affable and made us feel right at home. Our other servers name we didn't catch, but he was also top notch. Overall a 5 star experience that will very likely not be our last.

Great food. Great service. Could use more lighting. It was difficult to see the menus. Luckily my phone was able to lighten up the pics I took. The pasta was delicious!

Very romantic ambiance, fantastic for date night!!! Backgrd music filled the air like Sinatra, Armstrong and the like..... Upscale, fine dining establishment. Felt like I was whisked away to Italy for sure... had a reservation and there was a mix up, but they were very apologetic when it was discovered. The service (Andy) was impeccable, very friendly, attentive and made recommendations to w/c dishes were the best on the menu, this was gr8tly appreciated!! Food was tasty and flavorful. The entire experience was unforgettable, would definitely visit again if ever in Nashville again...

Nice place. Food was great. Staff was pretty good. You know how it is when they know you are not going to spend a ton of money they just start to ignore you? Front of the place seems odd. Doesn't look atvall like a fancy restaurant. Walked past it twice before i realized ib was in the right place.

Some of the best Italian food we had in a long time. 4 appetizers, 5 entrees, 5 desserts - all of them 10 out of 10. Highlight of our Nashville trip!

This is definitely one of the best Italian restaurants in Nashville. I had the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the bolognese sauce was to die for. It holds up to anything that I have had on my trips to Italy. I would definitely recommend this place!

Love the ambiance and everything about this place! Food is great! Pricey but worth it! We will most definitely come back again.

The food is great, service is spectacular, and the atmosphere is very well done.