Don Giovanni Ristorante
“Enjoyed the friendly, laid back atmosphere away from all of the hustle and bustle of Times Square.”
“My friend got a salad that came with large servings of bruschetta heaped with garlicky tomatoes.”
“Standouts include special white clam pizza, chicken Parmesan, any pasta with broccoli or chicken, garlic bread appetizer with mozzarella.”
Don Giovanni Ristorante
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Smack dab in the middle of Hell's Kitchen lies Don Giovanni. They have two locations, one up here and another down in Chelsea which I've previously reviewed. This location is bustling with foot traffic, and with these warm summer nights now they have chairs set up outside for dining al fresco.
They have a huge selection of different pastas and also pizza pies. What I love about Don Giovanni's franchise is that they really make their food with love. And their portions are huge for a change, unlike many other Italian restaurants in which the pasta entree is really more appetizer sized.
I ordered the Lasagna Verde, which is a vegetarian lasagna. Its stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, ricotta and then topped with creamy mozzarella. Soooooo decadent!! I was full maybe halfway thro, but I still powered thro eating it all and even licked the plate after.
This was my first dinner in New York (I didn't choose the place, of course). I had actually had pretty high hopes for this place and was unfortunately disappointed. Despite the reviews, the person who recommended this restaurant and took me here had nothing but good things to say about it. I was so excited I even forgot to take pictures of the food when it came out.
We shared most of the meal, we got four pastas and Caesar salads (the pastas were small portion sizes and there were more than just us two). The pastas we got were the lemon chicken linguini, creamy tomato owner, mushroom and cheese ravioli and spaghetti and meatballs.
The linguini was good, with the pasta cooked perfectly. However the lemon was almost overpowering the dish, not allowing the olive oil, basil and other spices to share the spotlight. The chicken was also soggy. The penne was very alright, nothing spectacular. It was just pasta and sauce, nothing else. The ravioli was by far the best dish, with the pasta cooked perfectly and the balance of flavors evenly distributed. The spaghetti and meatballs was a downright disappointment. It tasted like chef boyardee that you ate when you were a child. Texture and all. Also, the sauce to pasta ratio was soooo off (exorbitant amounts of sauce).
The tiramisu we got at the end was delicious, perfectly moist and layered. Our Caesar salad was also so yummy. Our service was fantastic. Ambiance was so beautiful and cozy, with tea lights, vines, and everything Italian. But for a place that was recommended to me by a long time New Yorker, I was very surprised. Will not be back if I'm in the city.
I can't believe I have not reviewed Don Giovanni before, having been there many times. Its location on 44th near 9th is great for pre-show dinners that is not too crazy like other Times Square and area options, with great food at a good value. The restaurant is small and gets busy, but they pack people in and get them out quickly.
Huge menu, with lots of pasta and pizza options. Standouts include special white clam pizza, chicken Parmesan, any pasta with broccoli or chicken, garlic bread appetizer with mozzarella.
Meh. It sure looks charming on the outside, but the dining experience doesn't measure up to the cute factor. Warm and oddly quiet if you end up eating inside rather than al fresco. Pasta that wasn't particularly memorable and a pizza menu that's hard to decipher in terms of what's what – even after having asked the server for clarification. Can't see much of a reason to come back here given all the other Hells Kitchen offerings.
So me and the lady had a great day trip to NYC. To cap off the night before heading to the port authority terminal, we needed to eat, starving actually. It was 6 pm and hard to not find something not "touristy". I say lets walk a couple blocks past the terminal maybe we'll find something.
We see two places next to each other, an Irish bar and this Italian place. We say " why donta we-a choose-a Italian tonight". So we proceed, sat quickly in a nice well decorated place. I enjoyed all the old time photos, wish I could say the same for the food.
I ordered the tortellini with Parmesan sauce. The pasta was over cooked, couldn't taste the cheese or even if it had any it it and the sauce had no flavor. My lady had the lobster ravioli. The pasta was done fine but again, no flavor in anything, the sauce the filling…anything.
What we did enjoy were the drinks we had, I had the mojito and the lady had an Irish coffee, both strong. With the awesomness of YELP for the first time check-in, we got a free caraf of sangria and that was good. So if you want drinks, stop in, you want food, go next door.
On the search to find affordable italian near my apt my boyfriend and I wound up here. While
kind of affordable (yay for $30 bottle of Malbec) the food was really underwhelming. We ordered the crab cake "special" with lemon mayo, caesar salad, veal parm and rigatoni Medici. With tip this came to $105.
Crab cakes- do NOT order. Seriously all breading. They were also perfectly shaped (meaning processed?) and tasted like the frozen ones you can get at the grocery and put in the toaster oven.
Both the entrees had some issues with cooking preparation. The veal was overdone. The chicken in the rigatoni was underdone. The pasta in the rigatoni was overdone.
The highlights of this meal, might you ask? The pink cream sauce and the Caesar salad. So the search continues.
We just got into New York City after a 6 hour plane trip from San Francisco, and 1 hour black taxi ride from JFK airport and were pooped after getting up at 4am to catch the shuttle to SFO.
I asked our hotel proprietor for the nearest decent restaurant, and she said Don Giovanni right across the street.
Now the proprietor is an Asian Indian, and when an Asian Indian recommends an Italian restaurant, you know it's got to be good.
This is an old time Italian restaurant, with a huge glass storefront, just like in the old days. But instead of romantic music from the old country, we get a dose of Motown music from the 60s.
We checked out what other people were eating at 8pm this Friday night, and pizza was a common sight. OK, pizza it is!
Now the wife doesn't usually like pizza, because of the thin soggy crust of California pizzas, but hey let's try this for our first meal on the East Coast.
Takes forever for our two person pizza to get done. Meanwhile we are sharing a bowl of minestrone soup. We only one soup spoon between the two of us. No problem, I'll use a fork. Yes, you heard right, me eating the noodle rich minestrone soup with a fork, it's that thick.
Half an hour later, the pizza comes, and holy cow is it big- when they say pizza for two they really mean it -for two Chris Christies! That pizza must have been 18" in diameter.
We are so hungry that we grab two pieces of the pizza before I can even take a picture of it.
Crust on the edges burned a bit, but again no problem -just cut off the crust edges, and eat the delicious Italian sausage, with green peppers, onions, tomatoes on a crunch crust. Amazing stuff this pizza -best I've tasted in years, with super fresh ingredients, and where else but in an Italian restaurant on the west side of Manhattan.
During the middle of our eating, a NYFD ambulance races up the street, with a line of cars behind it, sirens on, ceiling light flashing. Apparently somebody in a nearby apartment had an EMS issue.
The stopped ambulance's roof light flashes like a disco chandelier, with spectacles of light streaming in and out of the restaurant's giant front windows. Only we got the 4 tops singing, not Donna Summer.
The taxis behind the ambulance are stuck on a one lane, one way street, with all parking spaces taken -trapped like rats for a half an hour. Everyone in those taxis got out and found another taxi -nobody wanted to pay for half an hour stuck in one spot.
Meanwhile our bill comes, and even with tax and tip it is less than the $38 people are paying at the parking garage down the street, for the privilege of walking 7 minutes to their Broadway show. Welcome to New York!
We went to this place on a recommendation from someone on the street after deciding a two hour wait for John's of Time Square was too long to wait. I am so glad we came here instead. They were incredibly kind and worked hard to help accommodate a group of 8. The service was stellar. The French onion soup and spaghetti carbonara were delicious. Plus, they make a top notch mojito. A great option near Time Square or before a Broadway show.