Giovanni's: "palatable Italian food along 301" Mechanicsville Restaurant Tip by b1bob

Giovanni's is an Italian restaurant at the Hanover Commons Shopping Centre at the corner of Chamberlayne Road (Route 301) and Shady Grove Road. The restaurant is divided into two parts: a traditional dining room and a pickup lobby for takeaway pizzas. They don't go overboard, like some Italian restaurants do, on the decor. The service is friendly and attentive, but not in your face.

Favorite Dish: I had the penne pasta and meat sauce and the chicken parmagiana. In both cases, the pasta was perfectly cooked, but the sauce was a little sweet and it drowned out the flavour of the pasta. The Greek salad is a ripoff because 90% of it is iceberg lettuce with only a little bit of the good stuff. Sadly, the feta cheese cannot be counted as the good stuff...bloody awful! The garlic bread, however, is first rate. The good news is Giovanni's is the best restaurant at Hanover Commons. The bad news is its competitor happens to be Don Pedro 2, which happens to be the worst Mexican restaurant in the metro area.

Address: 9502 Chamberlayne Avenue, Mechanicsville, VA 23116
Comparison: less expensive than average
Directions: From I-95: Merge onto I-295 S via EXIT 84A on the LEFT toward ROCKY MT NC. 2.9 mi (4.7 km); Merge onto US-301 N / VA-2 N / CHAMBERLAYNE RD via EXIT 41A toward HANOVER 2.1 mi (3.4 km).
Phone: (804) 746-2666
Price: less than US$10
Rating: 3
Theme: Italian