Ristorante Italiano
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
18 Reviews for Ristorante Italiano
creepy pictures of nurses from the 1940's greet you as you walk in.
the food took a long time to get to us and it wasnt that appetizing. maybe i just wasnt in the mood for that.
the outdoor patio was nice though. the heat lamps help out a bunch.
When I first came in the door of Ristotante, I noticed there was quite a line to get into this place. The hostess seem to work very hard to please people. Just just should tell everyone 25-30 minutes like I do lol.The waiter was very friend and professional! When my companionand I ordered food,It was a bit of a wait but when the food came out it was so plentiful! When living in San Francisco so long you get used too small portions. Everything was almost overwhelmingly good. The was no room for desert. I'm sure to come place to this little diamond in Santa Cruz!
my bf and i love coming here. The lights make the pace look really romantic, but it's more family style indoors--i'm not sure how i feel about that. my bf and i were hoping to eat at a romantic place during our weekend stay in Santa Cruz, and his tattoo artist recommended this place to us; the restaurant was voted best Italian restaurant of Santa Cruz in 2007. the bread was good, but what we really liked was if you ordered a bottle of wine and finished it, you can write your names and a message on the bottle and they will display it in their restaurant. Don't get me wrong, it was a huge bottle and we wanted to order it, but the hostess said it was for at least 10 people. Their food was excellent--big portions! It definitely is very authentic Italian food. We had enough leftovers for two more people to eat. Our server was really nice and friendly and tried really hard to make sure we were comfortable. Two thumbs up!
3.5 stars.
This place is really cute. I love the lights and the decorations. It is kind of hidden, so you will miss it if you're just looking around for a restaurant. It is pretty big. You can sit inside or outside. Outside was OK, I wish I sat inside, the decorations seemed prettier inside. Good for a date, a small group or a large group. I went with a friend and got the deep fried ravioli. They were pretty good, but not amazing. A friend of mine says everything there is generally really good. The bad thing is that the waiter was a bit odd and gave me the wrong soup, but at least the entrees come with soup or salad. The menus also don't have a list of the beverages, which is kind of annoying. The waiter asks you what you want to drink without telling you what they have until you ask. Plan to spend $20+.
Ristorante Italiano is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in California. Everything I've had here is tasty. The atmosphere is very relaxing and enjoyable and the staff has always been very friendly and pleasant. I especially enjoy sitting on the back patio on a nice summer evening. One of my favorite dishes is the veal marsala which comes with plenty of mushrooms and artichokes on top of very flavorful veal. This is a great place to go with your family and friends or with a date as well. One of my favorite restaurants in Santa Cruz.
You can defiantly get better Italian in Santa Cruz, but this a very safe place to take a group. Tons of options so everyone is happy. Full bar with a decent wine list. This place is dependable but don't expect much. They recently started charging for chopped garlic ($1) for your dipping oil and for refills on soft drinks. Hello?!? No free refills on soda, WTH? Talk about nickel and diming the customer. Be careful about sending anything back to the kitchen. I asked for more capers on my piccata chicken and they brought it back the plate was now covered in capers, I scooped them off on to the side plate. Ah, food service in Santa Cruz...
Cute decor. Came here in a big group for a birthday dinner. The server tried to keep up, they didn't do a bad job, just didn't get all the requests to us in a timely manner, like forks and napkins for everyone.
I got the lasagna. It was decent. Sorry but I'm picky with Italian food since I think I make it on my own alright. So, if I'm paying money for it, it has to be at least as good what I can make.
Calamari appetizer was yumm. I think everyone at our table was ok with the restaurant overall. It was my first time there, so it might be better with less than 12 people. :)
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I had told a friend of mine that I had heard ok things about this restaruant and so we went for lunch. We arrived at 1:30 pm lunch hour and there were only three tables occupied... we waited for 5 or so minutes (seemed like longer) for a hostess to seat us... we sat there for 10 or minutes when a bus person arrived with bread in a basket and cloth and water... we immediately noticed the water glasses looked like of dingy..oh well, I thought moving on to the menu.. we picked out what we wanted and then we waited and waited.. I was looking for a wait person but could only spot the hostess (floor manager) running around picking up the few plates on tables... so we decided to eat the bread... when I opened the cloth I noticed greasy finger prints all over the inside of the cloth and then if that wasn't gross enough...ANTS came crawling out of the bread!!! So now I am upset and want service...I am staring down the hostess who is walking through the room with dirty dishes on her arm.. I wave at her and she turns to me in disgust and says snidely, " I am busy...I will be there..." so when she arrived she immediately says. "your waitress will be with you in a minute" and I then pointed out to her that not only was she assuming and rude but there are ants in our dirty basket and we will NOT be eating here... and we left... I would not recommend this run down and rather dirty restaurant... too bad it once had it's day...
For my birthday a bunch of my friends surprised me with dinner at Ristorante Italiano, there were eight of us and I was expecting there to be seating problems as it was a busy Saturday night, but we were seated with ease in an intimate corner so we could all talk, drinks came almost out of thin air, and from there the evening was just lovely. The service, and food were very impressive. You must have the stuffed mushroom appetizers! Every main entree that my friends and I ordered were delicious. The only minor complaint that I have is that I didn't think the tiramasu was fabulous, and it should be. I'd also like to add that this is a good restaurant for families with children.
I was in Santa Cruz to watch my good friend do the half-Ironman triathalon, the Big Kahuna... very inspirational, like a Rocky movie makes me want to crash my car into some garbage cans and run up some steps yelling at the top of my lungs.
My friend and some of his tri-athletes of course want some carbs the night before the big race. We're in Santa Cruz, come on, Italian must be safe. No Yelp available so I do my own elimination. No cute names like Mama Mia's.
This place here sounded so generically generic with such a boring name, but it was supposedly top Italian in Santa Cruz a few years. White bread town, they gotta know their Italian food -- or so I thought.
All signs looked positive, the place was packed with a line out the door and with their "awards" posted on the wall. But I'm sorry, the food here sucked. Come on Santa Cruz, have you no sense for good food? Are we relegated to boardwalk pizza and hotdog on a stick?
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I'll admit I was skeptical of a place that can't even muster enough creativity to come up with a real name (I think we all can figure out the translation), but once it was recommended a couple times and I heard it's consistently voted one of the best Italian places in town, so when the Boy offered to take me on an impromptu date there, I was game.
For being in somewhat of an office park, the inside is actually quite cute: lined with sangria bottles and white lights, murals on the wall. The patio looks lovely, but given the gloom of the evening we tucked away in a quiet corner at the back of the restaurant. Our server disappeared for longer periods than I would ideally want, but nothing terrible. Impressively priced wine list, huge menu, and a nice offering of specials. I went with the scallops and risotto, neither of which were amazing, but tasty enough. The Boy had possibly the largest plate of pesto pasta with chicken I have ever seen.
The thing that seals the deal that we'll be back: you can order a bulb of roasted garlic! Really, I think this should be on every menu, everywhere, but I have a bit of a garlic obsession. We had the baked brie which came with TWO bulbs of garlic and was heavenly. (I'm sure all my coworkers today can still smell it on me, but no matter).
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Nothing to write home about. Especially since my parents already know about it since I took them here when they visited.
Everything was just average quality. My dish wasn't bad or anything, but it wasn't good either. My dad was not happy with his lasagna, partially because it was bland and mostly because the noodles were way overcooked. If I were to pick one word to describe this place it would be boring.
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Sat at the bar. Promptly was offered a shot of tequila by a local couple who were "regulars" and LOVED the bartendress. We could see why. She was adorable (and hungover, which was even better). I never caught her name...shes from Folsom. Anyway, would have gave them 5 stars if she hooked up with my friend when we ran into her at another local bar a couple days later. Cant say I know anything about the food, we were there for more of a "liquid dinner". Good people, good drinks, good times!
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If you like basement dining - this is a good place to go. Rated the top Italian restaurant in 1994 - seems like they haven't thought of improving since. The waitstaff were rushed and grumpy. Gristle on the meat and a huge portion of fried artichoke hearts for an appetizer - too much for two people for sure. Not worth the price for a below average meal in the old hospital cafeteria.
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This place has some of the best italian food in Santa Cruz....it's tucked away so it is easy to miss but if you stop and eat here you won't be disappointed! It fills up extremely fast on the weekend evenings, however so if you come between 6-8 be prepared to wait a little while for a table since they don't take reservations for small parties.
Yummy all around! This is a great place to eat... I love taking people here... Lots of great food, and if you like wine, some great wine.
It gets busy at the weekends and doesn't take bookings.
The food was good, but the service was very, very slow. The lobster ravioli was so-so; I've had much better. The veal parmigiana was very good, and the salad with balsamic vinegar dressing was excellent.
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