General Information | Staff |  Sample Menus | Special Events |  1,200 Hats + |  Giusti’s Gallery |  Giusti’s Photo Album |  REVIEWS | Tell A Friend! Elegance and Familiarity Make Delta Dining a Great Deal March 17, 2007  LODI NEWS-SENTINEL By:  Lauren Nelson,  NEWS SENTINEL Feature Writer “Photographer Brian Feulner and I were both surprised by the restaurant’s elegant twist and the number of customers that we later found out are regulars - people who eat at Giusti’s daily.” “Regulars” pictured left to right, with Giusti’s attentive and smiling Sonny Gray(center) are: Bruce Towne, Tom Herzog, Sonny, John Baranek and Chris Lee. Lauren writes: Driving west on Walnut Grove-Thornton Grove Road to my lunch destination at Giusti’s Place, I expected to eat at a restaurant like many of the other family owned businesses lining the Delta river. I expected morning fishermen o be bellied-up to a counter with big burgers and beer in front of them. I expected m menu listing dinner items and cooks who double as wait staff. I was happy when I realized I was in for something a little different.  From the outside, the restaurant is just as I remembered as a child. An old building overlooks the river and outdoor seating and cars park wherever they can fit. At the first step into the building, I was greeted by friendly faces and an awning of colorful hats covering the ceiling. Owner Mark Morais hustled through the dimly lit restaurant carrying boxes of win jugs.  It was almost noon, and business was picking up. But there were more Lodi businessmen than fishermen. And the lunch menu was handwritten on white boards and includes seafood and steaks, not hashbrowns and scrambled eggs. Photographer Brian Feulner and I settled into our table in the dining area.  We were both surprised b the restaurant’s elegant twist and the number of customers that we later found out are regulars - people who eat at Giusti’s daily. It is understandable.  Giusti’s lunch menu is pretty great.  For $9.95, guests can order entrees that change every day of the week. A half liter or liter of wine, bread baskets and soup or salad are include n the special.  On the Thursday I visited I had by choice between fresh veal cutlet, pork chops, marinated flank steak, grilled snapper, fettucini alfredo, shrimp cocktail, chicken Caesar salad or hamburger.  We chose the flank steak and snapper. The dinner menu offers even more main courses: Calamari steak, prawns, rib eye steak, top sirloin, prime rib, appetizers (roasted garlic on sourdough, capriccio, brushetta), linguine with clams, rack of lamb, chicken breast piccatta, ravioli, lasagna, veal sweetbreads and one of their biggest sellers, the fried chicken. “Our fried chicken is to die for,: Morais said. As we waited, the attentive and smiley Sonny Gray brought us a large bowl of soup that we scooped into our individual, bowls  There were about four types of small noodles that mix with long grain rice, beans, spinach leaves, carrots , celery. and broth. The bread is fresh from Cottage Bakers, and very addictive. Opened in 1910 by Mark’s grandfather, Giusti’s is the oldest restaurant on the delta River.  The good service and quality prove they’ve learned what customers want. I was feeling satisfied with the large helping of soup and bread, but then the food arrived. The steak was sliced in strips, dark on the edges and pink in the middle.  The seasoning was perfect.  After taking the first bit of his snapper, Freulner commented that it was the best fish he has tasted since moving to California from New York. We both cleaned our plates. Whether stopping in to have a drink at the bar or going out for a nice dinner, we agreed that Giusti’s place is a place we’ll e both visiting again.   BACK TO TOP