If you find yourself dining out frequently in Menifee, you've probably dined at Giovanni's, the Italian restaurant in the shopping center on the corner of Newport and Bradley. It's been a favorite place for my wife and I.

Well, yesterday we had dinner at their new location in Murrieta.

I was quie impressed with it. First, it's not like the Menifee location, but it does borrow some of its ideas and concepts. You'll still find the salad bar (though expanded), you'll find many of the same menu items, though prepared differently, and you'll even find a biblical quotation about friends and family somewhere.

The inside is decked out with a Tuscan decor. The tables, chairs, plates, silverware, are all upgraded to a more modern and stylish appeal.

My favorite pasta dish at the Menifee location is the linguini with clams in alfredo sauce. I ordered the same thing here. The most noticeable difference is that Murrieta uses whole pieces of clams, whereas Menifee uses chopped pieces. I'm no connoiseur of Italian food, so I won't go into the subtleties of the pasta and sauce, but suffice it to I'm now a fan of both locations.

Another difference is the bread. Murrieta presents you with bread before you order, for everyone at the table to enjoy, kinda like when a Mexican restaurant gives you chips and salsa by default. Menifee, however, gives you bread with your order, and only if the dish comes with bread. The bread is much different as well. I don't exactly what kind of bread it is, but it's very fluffy, almost sour-dough-like, and they give you oil and seasonings to go with it.

I mentioned the salad bar being expanded. First, they put out bigger plates, yea! You'll find spinach greens there, some of that "pickled garden mix", and fresh strawberries. Otherwise, it has all the same pickings as Menifee. Another difference is that in Murrieta, it's not a "one-trip only" salad bar, you can go back for seconds if you want.

The Murrieta location is generally an up-scale version of the Menifee location. One thing that makes Menifee great, is that it has an informal feel to it. You might walk in there and meet your neighbors (which we have on many occaisions), or know someone else, or have a conversation with a waitress. The Murrieta location definitely has a more formal feel to it, just based on the "up-scale" nature of the place.

We're planning to return to the Murrieta location because I still haven't tried the pizzas yet.

Labels: Giovanni's-Restaurant