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I'm not from New York but if Pizza from New York is anything like this then New York does have the best Pizza.
This place trumps anything Round Table or Pizza Hut can dish out.
If you think Chicago is the home of pizza ... then stop reading.
If you think pizza shouldn't glisten like a 14 year old's oily face ... then stop reading.
If you don't think it's normal to soak up the extra grease from the top of a pizza with a napkin ... then stop reading.
If you ... well you get the idea. Giovanni's is true to street style NY pizza. It's thin, it's cheesy, it's greasy, and it's crispy on the bottom. Still, it's not as flavorful as you'd expect with all that cheese and oil. At lunch, it also didn't come out very fresh, hot or crisp. That's a big problem.
For me, I guess they are all right. I feel they are a little on the expensive side, for the size of the pie.
They make a tasty pizza, but I have had better ones with more generous amounts of toppings.
I go there about 1 time a year.
They are fast if that is important to you. they start on your order right as you are paying for it.
Warning: do not eat Giovanni's in your car unless you like wearing grease. You need to eat Giovanni's hunched over so the drips go onto a plate, on the ground, into your dog's waiting mouth, or whatever. Otherwise, it will just go down your front. I learned this the hard way a couple of weeks ago.
Lest you think otherwise, let me be clear about this: I love Giovanni's pizza. It's flat, it's cheesy, it's greasy, it's delicious. This is definitely fold-and-eat stuff. It is not foo-foo "let's pretend it's healthy" California pizza, and it is not "why don't you just eat some damn lasagna" Chicago pizza. Although I guess it is NY style, it reminds me a lot of the generic flat pizza we had when I was growing up in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC.
I hear Giovanni's has other Italian food, but I don't really care, because I would gladly eat a slice of their pizza for any meal of the day.
Speaking of slices, Giovanni's will make whatever you want by the slice... they take an almost-cooked slice of cheese, put your toppings on it, and pop it in the oven for a few minutes. Yum!
Great pizza if you eat it RIGHT away, because it's crispy. By the 2nd slice though, it's super soggy, and kind of gross. We ordered a medium, extra crispy. It was enough for 2 people with 2 slices leftover. Since it doesn't stay crispy, this isn't a place I would crave or order togo.
This is the closest thing I've found to NY pizza in this area. I like the fact that it feels like a mom and pop shop - the owner even dresses like Mr. DeFazio from Laverne and Shirley. :D This is a bare-bones, old school pizza joint. The service is casual and friendly, and the thin-crust pizza is satisfying. I usually go for the sausage/mushroom pizza. The sausage is very thinly sliced and blends in perfectly with the sliced mushrooms. The chicken parm. sandwich is pretty tasty too. I've only been there in the evening when it is pretty quiet, but I heard that it gets packed during the lunch rush.
EDIT to 3 1/2 stars: Pizza has been a little soggy on a couple of occasions (possibly from excess mushroom juice). A crispy crust is key for me, so this would bring my rating down a tad. However, I still consider it the best option in the area for NY-style.
This place is utterly fantastic; one of the very FEW places that actually understand and know HOW to make a REAL New York style pie!
The folks running this place are genuine and real. No fluff or fancy crap to deal with here. Just great food, at fair prices.
I usually order the de-facto standard cheese pizza to go since I live nearby. I have never been dissatisfied, and continue to recommend this place to all my friends and co-workers who have pizza cravings.
This is one of the few places that is worthy of a 5-star review, period.
It's rare that I would give "5 stars" to any establishment- especially a pizza joint. Giovanni's,… Read more »
I'm a Californian down to my bones, and damned proud of it. However, I have accepted the fact that as such, I will never be considered a real pizza connoisseur.
It's not gonna keep me from trying, however, to find out which local joints in Silicon Valley have legit pizza and so forth. The biggest debate, in my opinion, is centered on New York style slices.
Giovanni's is located probably less than half a mile away from my office, so it's only a short drive away. I've only eaten there once during the whole 2 weeks I've known about it.
The other reviewers have made sure to state the fact that the customer service there is exceptional, and it's an opinion I'm more or less inclined to agree with. While I don't think it was anything spectacular, my server was pleasant to deal with. I ordered some sort of special slice (forgot the name) which included toppings of chicken, garlic, and tomatoes.
Like many other reviewers, I believe that the slices they serve here are far too cheesy. The whole texture seems off then, and the taste of tomato sauce barely comes through. Given the choice, I would rather have the sauce be the dominant taste in a slice, rather than the cheese. The taste of tomatoes did come through though, as they were fresh and not pan fried or anything like that. Kind of made me think I was just eating a cheesy salad...gross.
I ordered another slice afterwards, a slice of pesto. A little better than the previous slice, it was still just far too cheesy and gooey for me to be a fan. The pesto was so watery, I couldn't even taste it. I just felt like I was eating a green, extra cheesy pizza.
Given it's close location to my company, I may go there a few times more in the future, but if I do, I'll ask them to take it easy on the mozzarella and pump up the sauce.
I don't know if this is considered "real" New York style pizza, but if it is, then I'm not a fan. It's not horrible, but I'll take Chicago style over it any day of the week. In fact, I'll take CPK over this place any day of the week.
This place certainly is not spectacular looking but while it lacks luster it packs a really great pizza. I must confess, I only get cheese - but thats only because at the moment of truth I cant muster up the blind ambition to try something else when I know the cheese is so so good and guaranteed to satisfy the carnal craving.
This place is a good 25 minutes by car but worth the carbon footprint.
I order by the slice or whole medium which I have no problem devouring with a generous portion of red peppers.
The staff is engaging and has that ora of confidence and pride in knowing they produce great pizza.
There is overflow/banquet room available - adjacent to the main dinning area.
Other personal favorites: Pizza Chicago (Palo Alto), Paxies (Palo Alto) and Eduardo's (Chicago). And late-nite slices at Pizza My Heart (Palo Alto) if you can make your way through the clove and pachouli oil and hemp seeping from the boho-homeless crowd congregating near the entrance.
Back to Giovanni's: they were recognized with a National Top 25 Ranking (or something like that) a few years ago. Its hanging on the wall. It really is just as worthy of the acclaim today, as well as a prestigious 5 Star Rating.
Did I already review G's? I dunno. I like it here, although I am NOT a fan of the red sauce used on pasta. It tastes like ketchup. I am more of a bitter red sauce fan.
I do love the pizza, it's light, thin crust. Us in the South Bay have limited options for thin crust pizz, so you know. I also like the family atmosphere and fast service. We can take my 17 month old daughter here and get in and out before she throws a conniption. Usually.
We can also stuff her with spaghetti which is one of her favorites. I think the boyfriend loves the mozzarella sticks.
Years ago (10+) I stumbled upon this place and ordered a meatball parmigiana sandwich, it was amazing.
They also serve my favorite type of french fry. Golden and classic without any smutty batter.
This place is fantasstic!!! pizza awesome thin crust. Run by old italian dudes. the alfredo tortellini is awesome garlic cheese bread is a must, and salads are very tasty. Moderately priced but the food is well worth it.
Went to Giovanni's for the first time in probably 4 years, and it was just the way I remembered it. I forgot just how much I like their pizza. I used to drive all the way from downtown San Jose on the weekend just to order a slice or two of their sausage pizza (the thin crust variety is my favorite.)
Today, some co-workers and I did a half and half of their combo pizza and gourmet pizza, and both were quite good. Just the right amount of toppings, not too much sauce, and my beloved thin crust.
I can't believe I haven't been in 4 years. I'm definitely coming back more often.
This is in our neighborhood, and we've been meaning to check it out. I got a slice of mushroom pizza and chicken cordon bleu sandwich. I'd rate them 4 stars. Wife and kid got a couple slices and the side salad, which was just lettuce + olives + pickles (disappointing). Service was pretty good overall, and we'll probably be back when we're craving some quick Italian, but it won't be our go-to place for the best in town.
NO NO NO!!!
This $15 pizza tasted like a $3 frozen pizza.
I am spoiled. I used to live right by Goat Hill Pizza, in the City. Yeah. That's right. Sourdough-crust awesomeness. And now it's gone. Not that I'm bitter about moving *snif* or anything. :P
With that in mind... this place is A-OK anyway. which is something.
The one thing I hate about New York style pizza is soggy crust where all the toppings droop off even when you do the whole fold-in-half thing. Luckily for me, I did not have that experience when I went into Giovanni's tonight!
Service was friendly and quick. We ordered a medium pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms, and two fountain drinks, and our total was about 25 bucks. Not too bad!
The pizza itself didn't really knock my socks off, but it was pretty tasty, and I loved the nice crispy crust. I didn't even have to fold it in half to keep my toppings on. :) ALSO, the sausage on the pizza here is the same as the sausage at A Slice of New York, and I love that! It's like thin strips of sausage, and it adds a nice flavor without a lot of volume, if that makes sense.
Overall, we had a nice experience, and we'll definitely return.
East Coast style pizza is hard to find in the Bay Area. Pizza My Heart is the closest thing when it comes to thin crust, but even their pizza has a California feel to it.
Giovanni's is where I go for my fix, though. Great sit-down service with some of the nicest and best waiters around. It's a family ran business, which I like, and the food is consistently excellent, which I also like. For a non-chain that's pretty hard to do. However, their recipe is passed down from generations and therefore it will always taste the same.
My absolutely favorite pizza place hands down. I also like A Slice of NY in San Jose, but it's a bit of a drive for me, plus they don't have tables there.
They also make incredible Baked Ziti and one of my favorites, chicken scarparelli (I know the spelling is off on that..). Excellent chicken parmesan, and sandwiches too!
Excellent thin crust pizzas.
A firm favourite around our office for lunch and often used for dinners too.
Order simply the sausage pizza, you will not be disappointed.
Service is always fast, despite the place being busy at lunch times.
Looses 1 star for not giving free drinks refills.
I love the pizza from this place but not too big a fun of everything else. The pasta here has not much stuff in it other than the sauce. My coworkers love the sandwich here but I am only okay with it.
Pizza here is another story. The crust is perfect, sauce is very good, the topping?? uh.... like everything else in the store, they don't put too much stuff on their pizza. But.... still without alot of topping on the pizza, it is still much much much much better than round table, pizza hut, and alot of other pizza places. I love their pizza. If you order the whole pizza, order the combination. But if you order by slice, it is better to just order the pepoperoni. For some reason, their combination by slice is only few slices of pepper on it. But the combination whole pizza, has a lot of toppings though. Again, topping is not all that matters. It's one of the best pizza in town.
Best thin crust pizza pie in the bay area! Try a basic pepperoni and mushroom pizza and you will be in heaven!
Ok all you ex New Yawkers... Mario not to be confused with Luigi has something hot here. Very good thin crust. The lasagne-delicioso-the Tiramisu.. just the right mix of creamy and flavorful.....Trust me- it is just off the beaten path and behind a gas station so don't blink..Now I know pizza people are snobbish about who is the best so let me say this.. Without a doubt.. in the top 3-4 in the bay area...
Now that my friends coming from a New Yawkers,,, is how do you say...hmmm,,,,,,,Fantastico
Great NY pizza, nothing fancy. I've been going here for years, and it is consistently great.
Lunch can be crowded, but dinner is usually not too busy. Good place to bring kids for dinner (mine make me take them on my kids weekends).
You know true New Yorkers own this pizzeria joint when....
1. They give you the weirdest expression when you ask for Ranch Dressing...
2. They're somewhat rude on the phone...
But because the pizza was THAT fantabulous... I gave it 4 stars. It would've been 5 if they weren't so mean on the phone and didn't think I was so weird w/ the Ranch... But hey, they're New Yorkers....
This is a great place to come for a slice of pizza during the work week. My coworkers and I often stop in.
I usually order the "weight control" slice -- but honestly, I do not think this is healthy in the slightest. It is however, SUPER yummy. It has eggplant, basil, garlic, tomatoes and some olive oil. YUM!
I've lived in the area forever, and last night was my first time here. I've been to every other eating place in this strip mall multiple times. It just seemed to me like this place was always closed. But they actually close later than a couple of the other places.
Five of us split a large and medium pizza while the kids split a lasagna and pepperoni slice. The size of the pizzas was perfect for our group, and the flavors were perfect! The lasagna was good (I had a taste from one of the kids). It was too cheesy for the kid though. They did lay it on thick the way I liked it. But the meat in the lasagna was a combination of beef and another kind, either a thick ham or sausage.
Since this is in my 'hood, I'll definitely be back to try the other stuff. They have a huge menu of pastas and sandwiches also.
This just might be our Bennigan's replacement. (Bennigan's was a few-times-a-month place for us since it was across the street from church.) IHOP is... IHOP. The last couple of months we've tried other places but not getting the right vibe or service was lacking. Giovanni's was a wonderful surprise! Service was great, and it's very family oriented so we'll definitely be back!
We live in the neighborhood so we found it by accident 7 years ago. My husband is from Upstate NY so the bar was set pretty high for the "New York Style Pizza" It passed with flying colors. We even branched out to things other than pizza, like the lasagna. All have been a hit.
The staff is wonderful. I believe my daughter had her first crush on the waiter there. Probably suggesting that we eat here too often!
Now, when we don't want to cook, I call ahead and get 3 chicken Parmesan sandwiches (there is a picture of it, I think)
Everyone says if you're looking for NY pizza go here.
IF you've not had NY pizza,and you grew up with thick crust pizza out here on the west coast, you may not like it. It's supposed to be picked up and folded over and from traveling there it seems authentic to me.
I personally like the thicker crust Premier Pizza, but hey, variety's the spice of life.
They do have some good that are bad for you like the Chicken Parmigana and the Fettucini Alfredo. LOL
The service is fine and they're really friendly.
The place is old school plain and very clean and yes the bathrooms are clean. And reasonably priced!
Giovanni's can get slammed at lunch and can be a ghost town at dinner. So if you had a huge group, or wanted to host an informal group - dinner would be a great time for that and I'm sure they'd appreciate the business. But that would be hard to do at lunch!
If you know someone from NY, bring 'em here.
Mmmm... Cheesy goodness! My co-workers and I have been going here forever like 7+yrs! If you want to indulge and go into a cheese comma try the baked ziti with garlic cheese bread one of my favorite dishes along with the #6 Meatball Parmigiana .. except I was disappointed today it tasted a lil different!?
Of course the pizza is very yummy too!
Used to eat here alot with my coworkers. From what I've been told, this is one of those old Silicon Valley hot spots.
Pizza here is pretty good and the service is quick. The cheese bread is tasty, and I like to options of getting different toppings on two sides of a pizza. I love the tables! Its like they just went to Costco, bought a bunch of utility tables, and set them out throughout the restaurant.
This place is also perfect for groups, however, the acoustics are kinda bad. It's almost impossible to speak on the phone during the busy lunch hour.
Con: No free refills on drinks. This is definitely an epic fail.
Other than that, I like this place. It's always nice to get out of the office and chat in an environment like this. It almost feels like having lunch in a high school cafeteria.
My wife and I (yeah, I'm using her account to write this) love Giovanni's. The guys at work call it Gio's. My wife and I call it 11 mile pizza, because we drive 11 miles one way to eat it because it's that damn good. She's from New York and I'm from Jersey and this is theeeeeee ONLY pizza that tastes like it's from home. The owners are actually from NYC and have owned pizzerias in Jersey and Brooklyn. We've searched around the Bay Area for almost 5 years looking for anything to top this and we've been very unsuccessful.
What else makes it great? They have garlic powder!!!!!!! If you ask for that any place else, they look at you like you are crazy.
Me and the guys from work go for what we call "The Trifecta". 2 slices and half a chicken parm sandwich. The chicken parm sandwiches are the bomb! And yes, you can fold your slice.
The pizza comes out of an oven. Can you believe the pizzerias in the Bay Area that heat it up in a microwave????? What kind of crap is that?
I wish it was open on Sunday. However, during football season, I like to order an extra pie on Saturday night to heat up in my oven to watch the G-Men on Sunday. Gio's pizza the next day is awesome.
The service is great and the atmosphere very casual and friendly. If you hang around long enough, you might even learn a few words of Italian.
After a few visits, I'll confirm that this place delivers the goods and is better than most local pizza joints. During the lunch hour, I find the pizza worth the extra drive from my office.
Pizza is thin crust NYC style. Definitely hits the spot when you need a cheese attack.
It can get crowded at noon, when the lunch rush is peaking. Service is pretty quick and understands you can't afford a super long lunch. My only complaint is that sometimes they offer free refills and other times they charge you. What gives?
I got the cheesy bread once as a starter, but honestly, the pizza is what you should focus on.
4 out of 5.
This is the closest NYC pizza you can get in the Sunnyvale area. Kind of pricey compared to say Costco which is completely different type of pizza IMO. I would recommend Giovanni's which should satisfy your NYC pizza cravings!
Fettuccine Alfredo - AMAZING! Wow, it's seriously been a long time since I've had really good Alfredo sauce. The baked ziti is good too. I am craving to go back. Although it probably will be a while since I just landed a job in FiDi. Back in the city, I am.
The service is decent, but a little chaotic. It might have to do with my coworker, friend, manager who is a long time family friend with the owners. I would think we would get better service, but it doesn't seem that way at all.
I'm unimpressed with the pizza. Maybe it was a bad day. I got a meat or sausage lover's pizza and it was just okay. The thin crust was not crispy, it was more soggy and hard to eat.
No free refills on soda.
I will definitely get more of that Alfredo next time I'm nearby.
Good attempt at NY pizza, but the cheese is the missing variable in the equation, I think. It's not bad pizza, but it's nothing like the top 2-3 in my "NY pizza" list.
On the other hand, I finally found a place that knows what a Chicken Parmesan sandwich is supposed to taste like. It was good enough that I ordered the same on my 2nd visit here during the same week.
Service was friendly but speed definitely depends on the time of day.
Eehh. I expected great things from the reviews so I drove a bit further for the NYC pizza.
The inside was nicer than I expected and the staff was very nice and attentive the food was ok.
I got a house salad which was litterally crisp lettice, a couple of tiny slivers of tomato and a couple of slivers of olives. It was crisp and fresh but way to basic.
The pizza was ok -- really too thick and dry to be considered NY pizza. When you add items to slices they don't seem to put it back in the oven they just lop the uncooked item on top.
It was filling but I wanted that think, juicy NYC pizza I miss.
A friend of mine brought me here for lunch. The pepperoni and sausage was fantastic. I have been told that the cheese is top of the line. I will let my kids be the judge of this.
The pizza here was delicious, one of the better pizza places that we've tried lately. There was a really nice neighboorhood feel inside even though it was in a strip mall of Lawrence. But the best part of our meal there that night was the fact that we were seated next to a table of five older Italians chatting away in Italian over a meal of antipasti and pizza. It made my experience there. I wish I could bring along my own table of cute old Italians every time I go out for pizza.
Delicious pizza and nice clean environment. Truly New York style pizza with a full on italian family owning the joint, chattering away in italian when I come in.
Extensive menu but I have yet to try anything else besides the calamari which is excellent however. Thats as far as I got past the pizza. The sandwiches do look delicious especially their italian hoagie.
A huge deal is you can order by the slice and they are giant slices. Quick friendly service to make sure your visit is satisfying. Weekend lunches are busy but they have enough space where you won't wait for a table.
I'd rate this my number 2 choice for pizzas around my area. I'm so damn lucky to have such good pizzas close to me.
Nothing fancy about this place (although the guys we were with were raving about how clean the men's bathroom was). However, the pizza is YUMMY!
The waiter asked us for our drink orders right as we were sitting down. Unfortunately, they have only Budweiser on tap.
We had a large cheese pizza and a large Sicilian pizza with olives and pepperoni. Both were delicious. The cheese pizza arrived first and my friend who had suggested this place warned us all that it was going to be HOT. I was really hungry and so I took a bite right away and of course exclaimed, "It's hot!" Another one of my friends followed my lead and immediately also said, "It's hot!" So, yes, the pizza does come out hot! Take or leave the warning.
The cheese pizza was floppy and gooey. Exactly how they do it on the East Coast. The Sicilian pizza was fluffy and crunchy at the same time. Both were great and greasy!
What's with the hype for this place? Maybe some people grew up on exactly this kind of pizza and it feels like comfort food.. but I don't get it.
It's kind of floppy, kind of greasy, kind of old toppings? What gives? Ok, maybe I went on a bad night, but I've gone to plenty of other places that don't have bad nights.
All that said, it's decent and it gets the job done.
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