What happened to Papa Giovanni's?

aniascor

Decided to go for Italian in Balbriggan on Friday night, but when we got down to Papa Giovanni's beside the cinema, it was closed and there was a padlock on the door. No notices though to say where they were gone. But all the furniture seems to be gone from the place. Anyone know what happened?

suzieb

Hi aniascor hadnt realised it closed myself either. Cant say i'll miss it much prefer the castellina chianti(sp) at the post office for the food although its often very quiet!

Strangely though myself and bf were in city centre fri night and in an italian "toscana" on dame st and the waiter that served us was who i always presumed was the owner in papa giovannis...we thought it was strange him working elsewhere...

aniascor

Maybe I've just been really unlucky with Castellani Chianti then. We've eaten there twice. First time, the onion and meat in my pasta sauce was burnt, giving a burnt flavour to the whole dish, and then second time was on Friday night, when we discovered that Papa Giovanni's was closed. To be fair to them, they were run off their feet on Friday night - clearly an unexpected crowd due to the closure of Papa Giovanni's - but our waiter was rude, and the food really wasn't great. There were four of us there, and none of us enjoyed our meal. I don't plan to go there again as a result, so if Papa Giovanni's is closed down, I think it's a shame.

dubmick

suzieb wrote: »

Strangely though myself and bf were in city centre fri night and in an italian "toscana" on dame st and the waiter that served us was who i always presumed was the owner in papa giovannis...we thought it was strange him working elsewhere...

small guy with dark hair?

sirpsycho

Only ate in Papa Giovanni's 2 weeks ago. It would be a massive shame if it were closed for good The food was always very consistant and tasty. Like some of the other posters here, I've eaten in Castellani Chianti a few times and the food was always very poor - either over-cooked, lacking flavor, or badly presented and the service was always pretty slow.

suzieb

Dubmick, yeah it was that guy alright he was there both times i've been to papa giovannis and always seemed to be one in charge.

Thats mad i really favour castellina chianti over papa giovannis,anytime we've gone there we've loved it i just didnt like the layout of papa g's and just didnt think food was up to scratch at all(was like the kinda italian food i can make myself with sauces etc-says a lot about my cooking)!

But maybe we went when there was a diff chef on...

On another note about toscana, I ordered a chicken dish that was meant to be marinated in onions and herbs etc and when it came out i cut into it and the chicken was liek the chicken you sometimes get in chinese take aways,it was absolutely disgusting,all rubber and plasticy. I've never complained about food to a waiter before but i couldnt justify paying for something that quality was obv so cheap(was on their early bird) and waiter(from papa g's) tried to tell me thats what marinated chicken tastes like(which i know it doesnt) and that in future i should order "plain chicken pan fried" as i obv dont like it with flavour! He brought me out a plain fillet then and the difference in the chicken was unreal-it was like they bought the cheap stuff in esp for early bird which i think is really bad service as the whole point of early bird is you get same quality food at lower price as restayrants not that busy at the time and so it gets bums on seats!

K rant over

dubmick

that chap was actually working in Castellina Chianti recently. He is a serial waiter! So was the other guy who worked in Papa Giovannis..tall chap, dark hair. I thought it was strange.

Papa Giovannis was always very hit and miss and unfortunately Castellina Chianti has gone downhill lately. We were in it on a Friday night (think it was November last) and we were the only people there at 9.30pm.

If you are looking for a good Italian in the City Centre you can't go wrong with Little Caesers across from the Westbury or Pasta Fresca on Chatham Street.

Balbriggan is crying out for some decent restaurants!

Chinafoot

Definitely agree with the Little Caeser's recommendation. Cheap and cheerful.

I had only eaten in papa g's once. A work mate was leaving and we headed down for the early bird. I had the same rubbery chicken. It wasn't nice. There was 6 of us and nobody else in the place and the service was still incredibly slow. Not a great experience overall.

Haven't tried the other one yet but i saw them advertising karaoke recently. Never seen that in an italian place.

rccaulfield

Jaysus thats a shame-gud grub in there!!

japzeye

I passed by Papa Giovani's today and noticed that it is actually 'let agreed' already. Does anybody know who is moving in?

Bluetonic

They left owing monies to local businesses too.

Shame on them.

Chinafoot

Any proof to back that up? If not you may want to edit that post...

Bluetonic

Chinafoot wrote: »

Any proof to back that up? If not you may want to edit that post...

Yes a local business person told me whilst bemoaning their financial loss, I have no reason to not believe them or any reason to come on here and libel either myself or boards. To date they have left without making payment, if in the future they pay I will make a point of posting that information here but the situation at this present time is as I stated above.

The proof is the conversation I had, something which I can stand over 100%.

The Hill Billy

Businesses closing & owing others money is a fact of life as we operate in a credit-driven economy. By virtue of the fact that you said "shame on them" would imply that they did it deliberately. They may well have had no other avenue open to them & decided to close to minimise the financial damage to their business, their staff, their suppliers & the bank.

Do you have proof to back up your comment that they indeed should actually feel ashamed?


[2¢]FWIW - David Irving might tell me that the Holocaust never happened. I might stupidly believe him & tell others. It doesn't mean that either of us are telling the truth at the end of the day.[/2¢]

Bluetonic

Hill Billy wrote: »

Do you have proof to back up your comment that they indeed should actually feel ashamed?

I can certainly have someone furnish proof that at least some of the debt the local business incurred was very avoidable.

As I said above I have no reason to libel myself. If worse comes to the worse I'll stand up and defend everything I said above in a court of law under a sworn oath.

Not sure why you or anyone else would think I would come on here spreading hearsay without myself first having qualified it extensively. I guess it's not the forum I though it was.

The Hill Billy

The point I was making is that sometimes we don't know all the facts & things are not black & white.

Chinafoot

Bluetonic wrote: »

I guess it's not the forum I though it was.

To be fair, the ins and outs of their financial transactions aren't really for public consumption. As for it not being the forum you thought it was...given the litiguous nature of the world today (as already evidenced by goings on on this site) I think we all need to be very careful about statements like yours. You provided no proof other than "a local business person told me". Tbh, that's not really good enough.

I'd prefer if we stayed away from discussing their debts. Any problems with that can be taken up with the CMod or an Smod.

Bluetonic

Chinafoot wrote: »

Tbh, that's not really good enough.

Maybe you need to update your charter so, whats good enough and whats not really good enough.

Chinafoot

Bluetonic wrote: »

Maybe you need to update your charter so, whats good enough and whats not really good enough.

I disagree.

Forum Charter wrote:

-Statements about named individuals or companies may be removed should they be seen as libellous.

Hearsay isn't good enough. Like I said, not happy you can take it up with the CMod or an SMod. Any more off-topic posts will result in an infraction and/or ban.

Bluetonic

japzeye wrote: »

Does anybody know who is moving in?

Hopefully not another restaurant, there are enough of them on that street already with Dominos and The Old Mill Cafe, along with others on the street above it.

Possibly would suit a legal firm, debt collection company or maybe a new dole office?

What do others think?

japzeye

I heard today that it is actually let to a chinese restaurant,hopefully it will work,not sure though...

blastman

The new dole office is supposed be going in near where the recycling centre is, I think, so that the growing army of the unemployed won't make the town look untidy any more.

RobFowl

japzeye wrote: »

I heard today that it is actually let to a chinese restaurant,hopefully it will work,not sure though...

Jesus are there not enough of them already, 5 that I know of !!