Giovanni's Pizza & Roast Beef, 141 Main St Salem, NH 03079

Giovanni's started out in Lynn Ma back in 1976. Since then they have expanded to 10 restaurants including this Salem location which opened back in 2005. They brag about their pizza, roast beef, and home made salad dressing, stating that it is all "top quality" and made fresh every morning.

Bun: This bun was dense and soft, with an awesome amount of onion flavor. Look at the size of those onions! It reminded me a lot of the buns you buy in the deli section of Market Basket. It needed more toasting as the middle was soggy and there was no crisp beyond the edges. Score: 4

Beef: Super rare and tender but very thick slices (Some sections where almost 1/8 of an inch thick). I found the flavor was lacking anything that made it special, but they did give you an enormous serving of beef. A few fatty pieces made their way into my sandwich so I doubt they are using a great cut. Over all impression here was not much flavor and far too thick. Score: 2

Sauce:  Perfect burn, sweetness, and a decent amount of sauce Score: 5

Overall: Portion size was out of control so come hungry, I had to pick some beef out as it was too much for lunch. This could be a really amazing sandwich with a little tweaking as all the issues I had here were preparation not ingredients, (better grilling, thinner slicing) but as is it is average. Score: 3