Giovanni’s Old World New York Pizzeria

My favorite place for pizza in the area. Authentic NY style pizza! Great service, great pizza! I just wish they had a location near Roseville! People who gave this a low rating prob like your typical chain pizza joints, not me. I’m all about the large thin crust slices with lots of toppings!

They do not show prices of each item on tag… why? They are way
overpriced for their product.

Great place for thin crust pizza. This place gets really busy during dinner and the line can be dreading. They have one large tv in the corner and a small arcade for the little ones. Staff is friendly and they definitely try to make up for the long wait times. A young crew that is making the pizza. Have several beers on tap

We came right before closing so the place was just peppered with people. We just ordered a plain cheese pizza. The crust was thin. It cooked up quickly. It’s a get your own plate, silverware, water, type of place. This is the perfect place for large groups. The place is huge and filled with large tables. There are plenty of TVs too. The pizza was good. If I’m hungry late at night and driving by I might stop by again. On the other hand I wouldn’t drive out of my way to come here for pizza.

I’ve been meaning to try this place out for awhile and after the first time I don’t think I’ll be back.
First off, the prices seemed really high for a place with cement floors, paper plates, and wobbly card tables. I was hoping the quality of the food would make up for it. Nope.
The veggie lasagna sounded good, so that’s what I ordered. Seeing as it was pretty much devoid of vegetables (I think I had one mushroom sliver and a tiny bit of artichoke), it should be renamed «cheesy lump.» I also really doubt anything in this dish was fresh. It tasted like something you’d get in the microwavable frozen food isle at a grocery store. For a $ 12 dish, I was pretty disappointed. Thought of also getting a salad, but I’m really not gonna pay $ 9 for lettuce, tomato, and some dressing.
My friend ordered a pizza so I thought maybe this place just focuses so heavily on pizza that the lasagna might not be the best judge of the overall quality. Nope again. I tried a slice and tasted stale crust, bland sauce, and over-​salted sausage.
2 stars is for the beers on tap — good selection. Food was really disappointing and the prices are ridiculous.

Overpriced, could not customize a simple request, taste okay, but clean.

Truly delicious thin crust pizza. Huge space with plenty of room for birthday or sports parties. Pesto pizza is my favorite. Try the seasonal pumpkin pizza — yum. Great broccoli rabe and salads as sides. My daughter only eats cheese pizza; luckily Giovanni’s is the best in town.
Clean, friendly staff, great daily lunch special too!

This place takes forever. The service is nice but I think the cooks takes naps back in the kitchen. Order your food at 3 if you want to eat dinner at 6. Good thing I’m not holding my breath because I would be dead. Man buns are no longer in style the food is taking that long. Would totally walk out but I paid for my damn pizza already. If I die today it will be from starvation. Italians would be disappointed in this joint Avoid this place at all costs.

It would have been my first time here.. i
witnesses the cashier try to shortchange some customers today. So Watch your change.
They tried to go back and ask for correct change, and he was rude and talked down to them and loud for all to hear.
Sounded like he was insulting them. Being rude and unprofessional…
I hope this guy was not the owner or manager. i think his name was John…
I had to leave.. i couldn’t support such an establishment…
I could have talked to this guy about how i felt and what i saw, but i didn’t want to waste my time or make a scene
So… future customers please be aware…

Decent pie, but I deel they’re about 20%-30% overpriced. Might be why they’re not doing more business.
«Homemade» meatballs and sausage aren’t bad, but certainly don’t have the flavor I expect from a true New York pizzeria.
I like the ricotta cheese on my pie; good touch.
For the price, I’ll keep trying other places and may come back here on occassion.

What can I say about Giovanni’s? I absolutely love this place. Amazing beers on tap… Ballast Point, Jack Rabbit, Green Flash. I think the thing I like the most is that we can meet there with our friends and their families and be surrounded by others doing the same thing. It’s a family place… that’s important.
I apologized to John one night, our kids were being extra noisy. He said, «No apology needed. We love having families feel like they’re welcome here.»
We will continue to support Giovanni’s every couple of weeks. We’ll continue to order way too many pizzas and many many pitchers of beer. We will continue to sing Happy Birthday loudly along with complete strangers and then break out into thunderous applause at the end.
We will because it’s family.

Very good pizza, Caesar was delicious lots of park shavings. Everything homemade and you can taste it
We will be back!

The first time I went here I got an amazing calzone with 4 or 5 veggie toppings, no meat and was charged $ 10.88 total. It was delicious and they had pretty decent customer service, well as much as you can for a take out order.
Today, I called ahead and ordered my calzone the same as above. After placing stating what I wanted this is how the conversation went:
Him: have you tried out broccoli rabe calzone
Me: no
Him: well because with adding all those toppings is like $ 3 (I assume $ 3 more than the regular price of the one calzone on the menu)
Me: Oh, they only charged me $ 10.88 the last time I was there.
Him: Okay, ummmm so, ummm so it’s going to be ready in about 20 minutes
Me: Thank you.
My impression of this conversation is that since is not re-​offering the broccoli rabe calzone (an item not on the menu and that I have no topping information except the fact that it probably has broccoli rabe in it!)
I wait the requisite time period and head over. The guy rings up the order: $ 14.54
–_​_​– I explain the that’s not what they charged me last time, that the guy who took the order said okay and plainly said that it wasn’t worth almost $ 15 dollars. He offers to call the person that took my order (apparently the morning manager) and the states that he would not be able to discount it from the ~$ 15. So I try to clarify, which was extremely frustrating because he kept interrupting me, what the point to calling the manager would be. I repeated back to him the exact information that he provided me and after a few times of repeating it I was allowed to finally get my question on. He said well I could call him to find out if he said okay but I still wouldn’t be able to discount the price. I reiterated what he just told me followed by, then what would be the point. And turned around and walked away.
Consistency is highly important and why would you not have a vegetarian calzone on the menu? You have vegetarian pizzas that are not more than the meat pizzas??? In closing, yes they have food that tastes good but the service is hit or miss.
Sadly, I like supporting my local community business and try to stay away from chains as much as possible.

Still fans of this place. There were several visits where our pizza wasn’t as crispy as before or as we enjoy. It was soggy on the bottom. It hadn’t turned us off completely from Giovanni’s, because we like the neighborhood vibe, the nice and hard working folks, and pretty good beer selection. Soggy middle crust is no more. We went again and the crust is nice and crispy. Yummy! We got a modified Bronx Bomber. When we said we’d rather have fewer meats, the owner said what would you take off? And he took it off. It was just the right amount of meat with the other veggie toppings.
Another favorite of ours is the arugula salad ($ 7.99). It has a lemony dressing, bits of artichoke, and big shavings of Parmesan. Really quite delicious and a good way to get some veggies in before the pizza.
We’ve enjoyed 21^st Amendment’s Hell of High Watermelon wheat beer here and at other places around town. But only here can you get pieces of ripe watermelon to garnish your HoHW beer from tap. As the owner says, do eat the watermelon, it’s a treat at the end. A watermelon flavored beer with beer flavored watermelon. A nice and light dessert!

I must say the marketing of this location and décor is great; it really gets you thinking
«Pizzeria». But that is were it stops.
The cheese pizza the softball team liked the cheese pizza but they charged extra for the ranch dressing they said they make it from scratch. ok then let customer know this right away so when we go back up to the counter to ask for more they do not have to come back and ask for more money to get more ranch dressing. Customer Service. The Pizza my wife and I had was not good it lacked flavor. I had very high expatiations’ for this place and was embarrassed to have recommended it.

Seriously disappointed with this spot. Ordered to go and when the guy brought out our food… He dropped it on the floor and then picked it up and handed it to us to tKe. Are you freaking serious? I just paid $ 45 for this and you drop it on the floor and then hand it to me? Wow! Not cool!

I have to say I’m super impressed. After leaving less than favorable review, I was contacted by Giovanni’s and asked to give them a second chance. I came back and my experience was entirely different! The service was fabulous and pizza was FANTASTIC. I left very happy.
I’ve since come several times and experienced the same wonderful service and delicious pizza. I order the festa di italia almost every time! It’s amazing!!!
So I stand corrected and give Giovanni’s two thumbs up!
Thank you, Giovanni’s, for taking my review serious and reaching out to me to give it another go. I’ve now found my new go-​to-​place when I’m craving scrumptious pizza!

3.5 stars
Brooklyn raised, John Ruffaine comes from old Italian-​American roots and he has been making pies since he was a kid. He opened Giovanni’s so that he could bring some of his Brooklyn pizza making skills to East Sac.
This is not a Saturday night date spot. It’s a big, open place with a large flat screen TV and a popular hangout for kids’ soccer/​baseball teams after the games. Expect kids making noise and running around, sugar-​crazed, during those times.
The pizza costs more but ask about the ingredients. They’re the best and not something bought at Smart & Final from unknown origin. After all, this is food and it goes into your bod!
Ask John about his Margherita pizza. Usually not on the menu because it depends on whether he can get his favorite buffalo milk mozzarella.

Folsom boulevard has the greatest pizza spots in Sacramento. Giovanni’s is one of them.
At Giovanni’s you will find easy parking, friendly servers, fresh ingredients and delicious food.
Years ago I spent my birthday celebrating at Giovanni’s. I remember ordering lots of pizza for my guests, enjoying delicious pizza pies and the company. It was one of the best birthday celebrations I’ve ever had. I honestly think this because of the simplicity of Giovanni’s. This pizzeria is spacious and welcoming. When it comes to their food, you just can’t beat it.
For those of you who like to watch TV while you eat, there’s a big one in the dining area. For those of you who like to play games, there’s a few arcade games in the gaming area.
Parking is never a problem every time I come to Giovanni’s, there’s parking on the side of the building and in front.
If you’re looking for a good environment to enjoy a delicious pizza pie please come and check Giovanni’s Pizzeria. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed at all.

In the words of Bill and Ted…“NOT BAD!!” New York style pie, approved by this California girl. :) Thin crispy crust, generous toppings, a touch of char on the dough, and at least one napkin’s worth of grease to dab up from the pepperoni — fuggedaboutit! 3 of us shared Da Bronx Bomber, their version of a Supreme, and enjoyed every bite.
Where things aren’t so delightful is the interior — while the pie is stellar, the warehouse-​y interior isn’t all that welcoming, unless maybe you’re with a pack of friends and ordering endless pies and pitchers while watching the game on their wall-​mount. Neighborhood families making it a pizza night, bring it home and enjoy in peace.
But since we dined in, here’s the plus column: 1) three shakers of toppings on the table — crushed red peppers, parm, and italian seasoning. The option for additional herbage is rarely found and highly appreciated! 2) arcade games in a corner of their HUGE dining area — though we didn’t play, it brought back memories of visiting pizzerias when I was a kid — a fun throwback to the cell-​free era. 3) Self serve sodas, hence unlimited refills, and beer on tap!
Though NY style pizza won’t necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea, if you know what the real deal is before you walk in the door, you’ll be happy. Grab a slice, fold it in half, let the grease drip down your arm, and you’re back in the boroughs.