risto's place food & spirits

absolutely one of my best restaurant experiences ever! i went here and what a huge contrast from after having a very unfortunate experience at a restaurant behind this one (highly rated but i went there, alone, waited over an hour to be seated, was brought water and then ignored /forgotten for 20 minutes at which time i walked out. so, long story short, by the time i got to risto's, i was grumpy and starvingly hungry.
the host, a young man named austin, was personable and friendly. when i told him about my bad experience where i'd just tried to eat, he and my server, a wonderful, sweet lady named barbara, jumped into action to ensure i got food asap!
and oh, what incredible food!!! my filet mignon was absolutely perfect, and cooked to my idea of perfection!! each dish was better than the last.
the owner (not just a restaurant manager), sheryl, came and talked to me, to make sure it's been treated well (i was), and that the food was to my liking (yum!).
i travel a lot for work and have the opportunity to eat at very nice (expensive) restaurants in a regular basis.
risto's is in my top 5 best restaurants i've ever been to, just for the quality of the food, and of course, wonderful customer service on top of that.

just driving through and found this lovely restaurant. the ingredients were farm fresh and delicious. we had their special wrap with chicken, strawberries, avocado, lettuce, jalapeños and mozzarella cheese with a yummy creamy siracha sauce. hoping to be able to stop by on the way home. the service was warm and friendly and they went out of their way to make it to fit my very low sodium diet.

pleasant atmosphere and decor. food was very disappointing. both wife and i were very disappointed. entrees were overpriced and lacking. midweek visit with plenty of seats open and they ran out of potatoes at 7 pm. a $32 filet with two broccoli florets and potato wedges? i would be willing to give them a second chance,but not in the near term.

quality really shows. located in the historic downtown of statesville is a great restaurant that combines quality food with top notch service, has local music, amazing from-scratch desserts, supports local agriculture, and really cares about the quality of the food it serves. welcome to mayo's!

have been here several times and always have a stellar meal at a fair price with amazing service. great for lunch or dinner. usually see business meetings when we are there at lunch; no hiccups in the service even when they do have a large crowd. friendly, attentive, but not clingy - a difficult line to walk! the quality is the top consideration here from the food to the preparation to the staff.

almost didn't try it because of the bad word-of-mouth from some locals, but i am so glad that we decided to go anyway. one of our two favorites in town. a great place to take someone from out of town to show them what statesville can offer. :)

tonight we had dinner at an amazing restaurant in statesville, risto's. my husband and i have been privileged to travel throughout the world and love fine dining, so to be in a small-town atmosphere such as statesville and have one of the most lovely dinners of our lives was quite unexpected. when i wanted to change something a little bit on the menu, they were so accommodating....but i gave the chef complete control and the outcome was marvelous. when the dish finally arrived it was beautifully prepared and absolutely sensational! then we ordered homemade dessert. normally a restaurant offers one homemade dessert and the others are brought in. not risto's, every single dessert on the menu… all six of them were made fresh. then we learned all the food in the restaurant is farm to table and served straight from local ingredients. please please please, give them a try it was so good. although we live in charlotte we will be back anytime we're in the area :-)

stopped in for dinner with family while on vacation. dinner was excellent! we had veal picata, halibut special, homemade pizza, reuben sandwich and ended with 3 unbelievable desserts that were baked in the restaurant. all the food was fresh including breads. sheryl, the owner, greeted us and shared that she buys all her produce from the local farmers. highly recommend eating here for a very nice dining experience--they are open for lunch too. the atmosphere is elegant and the menu has something for everyone. the service was outstanding and the wait staff was very friendly! we will be back next time we are in north carolina!

cool space with high tin ceilings. i agree the decor could be more consistent. the glass top tables cloth napkins and fairly high prices compete with the 'down home' art and decorative wall painting. our food was really good (burger, spaghetti meatball, grilled cheese & tomato soup) with the exception of the pasta primavera which was watery noodles with some plain steamed veggies on top. our server was super and accommodated half orders and made good suggestions. the bar area had a band starting to play old motown which was great. all in all we payed 80 bucks for 2 adults and 2 kids. but it was good and we'd go again.