Growing up, my family always counted on Lido's Restaurant on Belmont as a terrific place to take out of town guests and supplement a family dinner with take-out. (My dad would be sent with the Kerr canning jars for the excellent soup) It was a fabulous alternative if you weren't in the Bay Area with your family. Well, Giovanni's is an excellent restaurant in the same vein. (I've always wondered if they weren't related as a family) Very good raviolis and gnocchi and real home cooking. The sauce is wonderful. The other critiques say the decor is very plain, but in their banquet room, they have a very nice mural. The restaurant itself has pretty much remained the same as it was back in the 50's, a ""soda-shop"" look. But, I don't care..it costs money to remodel and make things all aesthetic for everyone. The food is great and the service is too. And that's the most important. So, if you're in the mood for some good old fashioned Italian food, like you remember, this is the place to go.
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