Date Visited: 30 December 2011
Meal: Dinner
Diners: 4 - Me, Wendy, Chris, and Kristina
Experience: Our friends Chris and Kristina suggested that we go out to dinner together on this New Year’s Eve Eve, and I hinted that we might pick a restaurant that hadn’t yet been reviewed on this blog. We ended up picking Giovanni’s N.Y. Pizza, a family-owned traditional New York-style Italian restaurant operating from the same Leesburg location since 1982. I’ve been to almost all the other restaurants in the
Leesburg Plaza shopping center:
Jimmy John’s,
Tropical Smoothie Cafe,
Spanky’s Shenanigans,
Kobe Japanese Steak & Seafood,
Pei Wei Asian Diner,
Wendy’s,
Milwaukee Frozen Custard (recently closed, replaced by the new Subway),
Tenderjack’s,
California Tortilla,
Roy Rogers, and Bunker Sports Cafe (not yet reviewed).
One interesting thing is the self-seating policy of the restaurant, which comes into play when it’s full. Although not marked as such, there is a line you wait in for a table to become available. That is, you have to keep scanning the seating area to detect a party about to leave, then swoop down on that table while it is being cleaned off by the staff. We didn’t know all this and were politely called back by another guest when we tried to go straight for a table that opened up.
We started off with salads: I got a Caesar, Wendy got a Greek, and Chris got a Greek (and shared some with Kristina). They were all good-sized portions, the lettuce particularly crisp, and the dressings (all served on the side) were ample and appropriate.
For the main course, I had a Steak and Cheese sub with Bacon. It came with a good balance of steak, cheese, lettuce, and tomato but I could hardly tell if there was any bacon on it. The bun was very soft (a good thing), and the cheese was nicely melted into the steak. Kristina also got a regular Steak and Cheese, but with French Fries, which were relatively thick cut. Wendy got the Artichoke Chicken with Capellini pasta. It came with lots of mushrooms too. She liked having her choice of pasta, and there were ample portions of the chicken, artichokes, and mushrooms. Chris got Giovanni’s signature Gourmet Pizza (“Extra thin pizza with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic, basil, kalamata olives, and extra virgin olive oil”). I tried a slice and really liked it; not the kind of pizza I would normally order for myself, but I liked the combination of flavors, especially the basil and kalamata olives.
Giovanni’s is a family-oriented, reasonably priced Italian restaurant that’s ideal for meeting with friends for good food and conversation. We like supporting local restaurants and think you should give Giovanni’s a try!
Location: 520 E. Market St., Leesburg, VA, 20176, 703-777-8440
Web site:
http://giovannisnypizza.net/
Total bill: $70.52 + $15.00 tip = $85.52
