Giacomos

I am Italian and my mother owns an Italian restaurant back in Boston. This doesn’t make me an expert in Italian food but I think I have a pretty good idea of what authentic Italian food is. With that said, Giacomo’s is as close to my mother’s cooking I have had since I left home. I have been there a bunch of times over the last few years and the place is constantly perfect!
If you want to know what real Italians eat on Sunday’s, look no further than the southwest corner of Sunrise and Kolb!

This is by far one of the most disgusting restaurants I’ve ever been to. The service was slow even though we were the ONLY ONES in the restaurant. Not to mention the food was just awful. My chicken was rubber and impossible to but into. All of our pasta was tasteless and in enjoyable. My family politely complained about our gross food and the head chef and owner, giacomo, came out to talk to us. He insisted his food was good and used only good ingredients. Who cares what he thinks? It’s the customer’s opinion that matters and I don’t have high standards. If that wasn’t bad enough, our waitress spilled Mariana sauce on my mother’s head and sweater. I’m not kidding. She was mortified.
Overall this restaurant was absolutely awful. STAY AWAY!

Excellent food, prompt courteous service and entertaining visits from Giacomo. Great place to eat.

I’ve waited some time to write this review, to get over the extremely grotesque experience a little bit. I never want to do something that could hurt a locally owned place, but this place WILL GET YOU SICK.
We walked in, and the place was completely empty. Ok, it was a little bit early still, around 5:30pm. We eat early, so we figure people will come. We are shown to our table, and we sit down. Almost immediately you can see the week’s worth of dust layered on the silverware and plates that were set on the table. Are you kidding me? There’s a lot wrong here. First, no one clears the tables? Second, if they don’t, they don’t check to see if things stayed clean? Third, NO ONE HAS SAT HERE IN AT LEAST A WEEK?! If the tables aren’t being sat at and/​or cleaned, I can only imagine how disgusting the kitchen must look. I was grossed out, but asked for fresh stuff, and decided to ignore that little inner voice, and order food anyway.
Where to begin with the entrees. My chicken was nearly impossible to cut into. It made crunching sounds, and it wasn’t the breading. No, that was completely mushy. The appearance of the inside of the chicken was grey-​ish and unappealing. It didn’t look like chicken. It tasted even worse. It was chewy and rubbery, and had a texture I’ve never had before from chicken, not even from chicken McNuggets. It didn’t taste like chicken at all. The sauce started to separate and I ended up with a pool of water at the bottom of my plate. The chicken was clearly frozen, defrosted improperly, and cooked, after who knows how long it sat in a freezer. It was so bad that I wouldn’t be surprised it if was frozen, defrosted, frozen AGAIN, and defrosted AGAIN before being cooked. The sauce was clearly frozen and defrosted improperly, or spoiled, because it wouldn’t have separated into water if it was fresh.
The other dish we tried also had very low quality, rubbery, unappetizing chicken. It was just obviously not fresh. Fresh chicken doesn’t look or taste like this did. The sauce, again, separated into oil and cheese, because it was not fresh.
The waiter lacked any personality. He didn’t ask us if we wanted drinks. He had nothing to say about anything. Giacomo, who was cooking, didn’t care to address his foul food, because he refused to come out to apologize. He certainly wasn’t busy cooking for any other customer, because no one else came in at that point. An owner should never let a customer walk out disgusted by his/​her food. A shame that he decided to go this route with his restaurant, because his recipes are authentic and unique, and have the possibility to be outstanding. But not if he’s going to use these practices.
I am very surprised we didn’t get sick from eating here. Granted, we only ate a bite or two before being completely revolted, so we saved ourselves from a date with the toilet. I would STRONGLY WARN people to think twice before eating here. He is going to make someone very ill from the cooking practices that were very apparent in the two dishes we ordered, and from the overall cleanliness of other parts of the restaurant.
Stay away from Giacomo’s.

Absolutely the most beautiful and authentic Italian food. The place is owned by italians from Italy and is the small cozy place with great atmosphere and the food with lots of taste.

Excellent indeed! Authentic, tasty, unusual, fun. Wonderful authentic dining experience! These are your Italian mother’s best recipes. Love it.

Oh Giacomo, oh Giacomo, why are you in Arizona? I can only go when I visit, and how infrequent that is when I think of your food… that Lasagna that romped on palate, that Pasta all Vegeteriana that burned with the fierceness of your passion yet did not hide the aroma of each of those vegetables, the Veal Piccata that was so tender and flavorful and creamy, and the Gnocci that are little bite size morsels of love, which I can’t help but steal from my friends every time…(yes, I know, I should order it myself, it is the only gnocci I have ever thought I could eat every day and not get tired of, but I want to keep trying new things!)
*sigh of longing*
And let us not forget the dessert. Indeed the chocolate gelato is quite delicious (and the cocoa pod makes it quite unique, a must try for all new eaters) but I am in love with their sorbets, which come in their fruit shells. Delightfully light and fruity, wipes away any heaviness you might feel (for let us be true, there is no helping stuffing yourself when you come here, it is just that good!).
Oh Giacomo, I wait for the day when I can hire you to be my own personal chef…

I like to go to Giacomo’s at the end of a stressful week. I order a big plate of Pasta alla Vegeteriana with a spicy pink sauce called Maria Rosa. The bread is homemade and awesome. My husband loves the lasagna and will often order the Mussels Diavoli as an appetizer. (I avoid eating animals that are consumed whole.) Portions are huge, so you have to plan ahead if you want to have dessert. With the exception of the tiramisu (which Giacomo makes himself) all the other desserts are imported from Italy. We’ve grown attached to the chocolate gelato served in a cocoa pod. Giacomo is quite the character, and you’ll meet him when he comes to check on you during dinner. Just smile and nod.