Bistro Don Giovanni
| Address: | 4110 Howard Ln, Napa, CA 94558, USA |
| Phone: | +1 707-224-3300 |
| Site: | bistrodongiovanni.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–9:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
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A Private User
I am from the Bay Area and am a hard core foodie. I have eaten multiple times at all of the highest rated restaurants in NorCal, and many around the world. I have spent my life taking food and wine trips to Napa and Sonoma, and no place has been as consistenly enjoyable as BDG, and that includes the top places like French Laundry, Redd, Cyrus, Auberge Du Soliel, Terra, etc. I am truly insulted by some of the reviews below for Bistro Don Giovanni. Clearly some of these people know NOTHING about food. The person who compared it to Olive Garden should not have the right to post reivews. BDG is my lunchtime staple for wine tasting trips. The food is consistently wonderful.... simple, fresh, elegant, understated. Simply wonderful - everything is always delicious, and mostly local and source verified. The pizzas are always a great thing to share to start off a meal, and the desserts are truly decadent. The Bostoni Trifle is a MUST (for sharing). Also, besides wine (of course), the bar offers wonderfully fresh handmade seasonal cocktails like mojitos with garden mint and limes grown on the premises, and fresh squeezed lemondrop martinis. I really cant say enough about the food. It is all served in a bright, open air indoor/outdoor setting that is the epitome of casual wine country dining. The restaurant is surrounded by vineyards, citrus trees, roses, and a fresh herb and vegetable garden that serves the restaurant. the experience couldnt be anymore wonderful.... though I will concede to a couple of the reviews below... the service is very dependent upon the server you get. Some are WONDERFUL, some really are not. That is the one hit-or-miss aspect of BDG, but it is not nearly enough to even slightly deter me. This is a MUST try.
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A Private User
cheating on tourists! the food was good, but not what we ordered. In addition, the waiter lied to us to make us believe that what we were served was what we ordered. we ordered a fritto misto and two third of it were vegetables. it was good. so fine. but the menu said calamari and scallops and we had maybe 4 pieces of each, the rest being onions, fennel, and green beans! cheap? or used to cheat tourists? then we ordered pasta with bottarga (fish eggs). the waiter brought us pasta with clams and calamari. when i asked "is that bottarga?" the waiter answered: "yes sir, we grate the bottarga on the top and by the time it reaches your table it is already melted, that why you dont see it" (bottarga tastes strong and doesnt melt :). Ok, i bought the story until they brought pasta with bottarga to the next table. Then I asked the waiter to explain, and he started telling me confusing stories: "yes, youre right, i was surprised to see clams in your plate", then "they made a mistake and gave you a seafood special". Interesting when he explained me first that it was the local way to prepare bottarga! in the end, they didnt charge for the pasta, but i will never go again and i hope this review will discourage people to go there. They lied to us. The waiter knew what he was doing. Cheating on customers is wrong. And I am really sorry i left a tip to this waiter :(
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Tyler Lund
We discovered the bistro at the recommendation of our guide at OBrienss winery and were not disappointed! We arrived for lunch and were seated right away. The patio outside was fantastic on the beautiful Napa summer day. I had read that the fried olives were to die for here, so I asked our waiter if they were available since they were not on the menu and after checking with the chef, they were able to make them for us. They were incredible and worth feeling guilty for having them made special. We also had their fried fresh seafood plate and a flatbread pizza. Both were excellent. The seafood was on par with what we had had in actual ocean side restaurants in SF and Monterrey. The pizza was also quite good and tangy. Our server was also happy to wrap up our unfinished wine bottle (it was a long day of wineries and our eyes were bigger than our stomachs). We also enjoyed playing with the owners cat and sitting by the fountain in the back. I found the servers to be some of the best we encountered in Napa. They didnt seem to be the typical Napa snoobs we encountered a few other places.
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Bernard van Mourik
Party of two for lunch 12/11/14 Ordered wine, Fried Calimari fresh and fried to perfection. Salad was disapointing way to much dressing. We ordered Linguini with clams, linguini was undercooked and the sauce did not have much flavor. I wanted to have the Meatballs in tomato sauce with Linguini, I was told that the kitchen can not make substitutes with the pastas!? This is not my first time there and overal have enjoyed the atmosphere and service in the past. Our waiter was embarassed to tell me that he could not serve me what I really wanted. For a lunch for two at a cost of over $120.00 including gratuity I find this to be unacceptable. A restaurant of this caliber is expected to cater to its guests, not the other way around.
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Katie White
We had a Pasta with Putanesca sauce, DELICIOUS (very pricey of course and small portions) Gelato with espresso on top was marvelous. Decor was very pleasing and relaxing. Our only thing was our waiter... it was like he didnt have the time to serve us even though it was well before the dinner rush. He set a place for us outside and while my husband was in the restroom walked past me, pointed his thumb over his shoulder and said, "you can go sit down and ill get you menus." I felt like it was kind of rude and dismissive especially for someone in their mid-forties to have bad manners. Thats my only complaint, the whole evening it was like we were a chore. Even so I would recommend people to go here. :-)
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MARK EGAN
THE FIRST INDICATION WAS A VERY BUSY PARKING LOT AT 6:44PM. "OLDER CLIENTELE LOVE GOOD FOOD & GREAT SERVICE AT REASONABLE PRICES". THE SECOND INDICATION WAS THE KNOWLEDGE AND RESPONSIVENESS OF THE WAITER. "OUR PARTY OF FOUR WAS SEATED, WATERED,BREADED AND HAD OUR FOOD AND BEVERAGE ORDERS PLACED IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES". EVERY ITEM ORDERED WAS MET WITH HIS APPROVAL, NICE TOUCH. THE THIRD INDICATION WAS THE PINO NOIR WAS GREAT FROM THE FIRST SIP TO THE LAST DROP. THE CEASER SALAD WAS DELIVERED W/O CROUTONS, AS ORDERED. THE PASTA WITH CLAM SAUCE IS SIMPLE , AUTHENTIC AND DELICIOUS .THE SIGNATURE DESERT A MULTI LAYERED PARFET WAS DESIMATINGLY DELICIOUS
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Erich Mazurek
Had the fettuccine sausage Raghu pasta. Very tasty and yummy. The Ceasars salad was simple and really good with fresh pepper on it. My wife had the satin silk pasta (rectangle thin shaped pasta) with green tomatoes sauce. Nice but bland. I am an outsider. This place is good and quit affordable for the area. But it is not the best I have ever had. When packed this place is very tight with table upon table. Almost elbow close. Atmosphere is great inside and out, I am sure in warmer weather sitting outside is wonderful. Wish we were there longer to try different items off the menu. Service was very good as well.
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Dikshita Ayyar
Extremely poor service. The people were generally rude and curt. Being allergic to cheese was not an issue at Michelin star restaurant (Aquarello) but here I was told they cant serve anything vegetarian and without cheese. We ordered zucchini fries and gazpacho. Food was 6/10. The ambiance of the place is definitely beautiful. It would have been better to be a little accommodating about requests instead of saying all food is pre made with no room for additions/deletions. Will not recommend this restaurant to vegetarians.
