ruffino's italian restaurant

one of the best in town. this is probably my wife's favorite place to eat, especially for special occasions.foodisn't cheap but then again, it wouldn't be special if it was! the staff are exactly what you would expect from an upscale place and everything we have eaten has been first class! can't comment on their bread pudding as my wife knocked my take home box with my dessert in it on the floor before we left - but it sure looked good!! we went the saturday before mother's day and it was very crowded but we were ushered right in when we arrived for our reservation. my daughter had the prime rib and said it was the best she had ever eaten. in fact, pretty much everything is the best i've ever eaten!

a colleague of my told me about this place. i love eggplant parmesan so i decided to try it. it was the worst eggplant parmesan i've ever had. it was cold and the eggplant was barely cooked. for thefoodand portions you get, this place is way over priced. i will not be back!

though the service was excellent and thefooddelicious, our party of 7 included the only 3 of us who ordered their signature appetizer, lump crab cheesecake. we 3 and we 3 only started feeling bloated as if we had over-eaten soon after leaving the restaurant although we had not over-eaten. later in the evening, we 3 began cramping. several hours after dinner, we 3 all had tremendous diarrhea all through the early morning hours. not only had we 3 lost a nights' sleep but we have now spent our entire weekend recovering from this experience and are still not feeling well. i called and spoke to sean, manager and although he did apologize, we 3 all felt that his offer of a free appetizer if and when we return to ruffino's as a great slap in our face. he proved he had no idea of the pain or any significant empathy for the suffering ruffino's had caused we 3 diners. beware of the lump crab cheesecake future ruffino diners.

two trips in now and love the ambience inside. old time been there forever kind of mid upscale feel.

once in dining room, once for drink and app at bar.

our impressions are that thefoodis good, some even rises to maybe almost great but overall. for the prices they command it does not match up.

wish somewhere like louisiana lagniappe had same atmosphere.

servers are great but there is a lot of upsell going on which is one thing that detracts from a place overall.

four drinks(one a beer) and the seafood martini (not a large portion) app set us back over $70 and for that reason, we might return but more for that special occasion meal in the future.

if your looking for authentic italianfoodand truly amazing atmosphere then you need to experience ruffino's. have gone numerous times and tried many dishes and have yet to be disappointed.

will never visit again!. ruffinos used to be our "go to" restaurant for special occasions. never again. we were immediately sat and a waiter immediately came to us with the drink menu. before i had a chance to look, he boasted about his "favorite" wine from napa valley that was the night special. i love red wine but i am not very particular so i told him to order me that. then we were promptly met by another waiter who said he was thefoodwaiter. in total, we had 3 different waiters. it seemed very hectic with waiters zig zagging all over the place. i was also disappointed to learn that the salad was no longer included with the entree and was. 6.95 just for the side. but we ordered it because we used to love it. well that has changed too , and was just ok. but my major disappointment was when we got the bill. that little glass of wine was 25.00. i felt tricked and taken advantage of. it cost more than either of our entrees. my husband and i are both hard working people and dont indulge ourselves like that. i wanted to send comments to the manager but could find no place to do that. overall we were very disappointed on the changes this restaurant has made. they will no longer have our business.

not impressed. service was great.foodwas unimpressive.

horrible!. very much overpriced. i don't mind paying for goodfoodbut this was not good food!
my wife ordered prime rib steak which she said was good and i ordered shrimp serrento
which had 4 large shrimp on a bed of angle hair pasta which was covered with what looked
and tasted like campbells tomato soup. no salad! hard bread with a saucer of dijon mustard.
one martini (very good), one jd with water and wife's steak. total: $105.76. never again! also,
background music way too loud!

great place. i normally wouldn't go to a place that is this expensive, but i went with a group of friends for a birthday celebration. thefoodwas pretty darn good. i almost didn't mind spending a fortune!

not worth stopping in !. an overpriced money machine for the local owners but not a top flight restaurant. service was slow and all three persons that came to my table seemed indifferent , they put as much effort and attitude into service as one would put into moving chairs or sweeping the floor ! no greeting from any of them or any conversation and no thank yous either. now let's talkfood! i could have done better at any fastfoodplace for one forth the cost ! after a long wait i received the wine. after another long wait a small loaf of do bread arrived and the waiter added the house olive oil ( ruffino's labeled ) from the bottle on the table - the mix appeared to include balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese. i like all of these . but this was terrible ! strong taste but very odd tasting too . since it was lunchtime, i had ordered the knuckle sandwich . it finally arrived plated on very small dish usually used for bread,salads,etc. it was accompanied by a very skimpy side of fries with marinara sauce for dipping, the fries were hot but were obviously from a bag were mostly small end cuts. the sandwich looked like diner fare, cut into four triangles,no garnish. but wait,this lobster claw sandwich so it has to be good right? not so fast! it was on toasted white bread! not home made bread either . a deluxe filling should deserve an equally deluxe bread or roll! but wait ! the lobster is cut up covered in a sauce so it has to be good right? whoa,not so fast! the sauce was a poor knockoff of cane's with capers added, and the lobster was ice cold! it was very disappointing!

ruffino's customer for years. we dined there last weekend. through the years ruffino's was our favorite! the last 6 months we have gone a few times. we will simply wait until there is a makeover. i have seen it happen before. the staff is all new, thefoodis no longer presented but sat out and people pass while dishes are uncovered. the salads use to be part of the meal and there is a charge. reservations are made and the staff forgets you checked in. the lobster fest was no fest. the pasta was awful, the bottom of the white boal was black because it sat in a heat lamp. prices can't go up while service is at an all time low. management is all new....i hope they revamp soon!

this is a great place for sunday brunch. great music and terrific ambiance. having said this, the restaurant was a bit off its game today. i arrived at 11:30 am and was promptly greeted and seated. the waiter (hunter) took the drink order and said he would have to go back in the cooler to get my bottle of sauvignon blanc. twenty minutes passed and the bottle had not arrived. he apologized and the wine came shortly thereafter. he said he would bring a bucket to keep the wine cool but it never arrived. i ordered off the brunch menu (fried chicken- how hard can that be?). about 40 minutes after arriving, hunter came to apologize and said no prep had been done for fried chicken. (so why is it on the brunch menu?) he came back 10 minutes later to verify my order and said there were problems in the kitchen. i realized he was having a bad day because he was apologizing to me and every table around. finally, thefoodarrived. the chicken was not the greatest (it could have been from
winn-dixie). the spinach that accompanied the chicken was so salty that i was unable to eat it. in sum, the meal was not worth the price. with all of blue blood baton rouge nearby, they really need to up their game. there is just too much competition in baton rouge to be bad to mediocre these days. i think the manager realized there was a problem because he was filling water glasses and listening to disgruntled customers. they obviously were having a bad day and i will give them another chance.

epic fail. my table was near the fire and smelled like a camp fire. thefoodwas pathetic. ordered the cheapest thing on the menu to not waste money on a poor experience and it still tasted like burnt rubber. save your money. poor date spot, or really anything. i've had better service for a $7 lunch special at chilis.

my favorite restaurant in baton rouge! i always make a point to eat at ruffino's when i am in town. thefoodis delicious and the service is always impeccable.

great!. i love thefoodand wine at ruffino's. it is definitely a favorite for my family, and pretty special, too. it was the first official dinner date my husband and i had when we first dated. however, it was dinardo's then. we never miss an opportunity to go. excellent food, service, wine and atmosphere,