ruffino's italian restaurant

won't go back. we had a graduation dinner here for my sister-in-law last week. i was really excited about getting to try this place but we were disappointed by the time the meal was over. we had a large group (12+ people) and therestaurantwas loud enough where you couldn't hear anyone that was more than two seats away. the bread guy keep taking our bread plates. we even asked for more bread (and replacement bread plates) and he only brought enough for half the table. then he picked up the second set of bread plates while my mother-in-law was asking for more bread for the second time. our meals looked really good once they arrived but it didn't have much flavor to it. i ordered the pork chop, my wife ordered the redfish, and my kids ordered the chicken strips. the chicken strips were the best thing we ate. my pork chop was cooked perfectly but was lacking flavor and the sides (grits and bbq shrimp sauce) didn't match up with the meat at all. my wife's redfish looked really good but the crab meat/wine sauce didn't have much flavor to it. needless to say, we won't be heading back to this place on our next trip to baton rouge.

though the service was excellent and the food delicious, 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 therestaurantalthough 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.

will never visit again!. ruffinos used to be our "go to"restaurantfor 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 the food waiter. 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 thisrestauranthas made. they will no longer have our business.

so disappointed. my boyfriend and i dined on a sunday afternoon. therestaurantwasn't too busy and with our reservation we were seated right away. the atmosphere was subpar for an intimate dinner with a significant other. the decor is dated and the lsu memorabilia isn't what i was expecting. there were tv's mounted on the wall, how you're supposed to enjoy dinner with basketball playing in the background, i don't know. now, on to the food. we had the pork cheeks as an app, i enjoyed them (boyfriend did not) however they were plated on a smear of butternut squash accompanied by a grease gravy, not very attractive. for the entree, i had the shrimp sorrento and the boyfriend had veal parmesan. both entrees were less than savoring. the pasta was something i could have thrown together myself topped with 6 average looking shrimp. boyfriend's veal was horrible, it lacked any type of flavor, poorly cooked, and he did not enjoy it at all. the pasta sauce tasted like watered down prego. we were so thankful to have a gift card, it would have been very disappointing to pay a $70 bill. we had a $100 gift card and left our server with the rest as tip because we will never return. for an upscale restaurant, i was expecting upscale food.

this is a great place for sunday brunch. great music and terrific ambiance. having said this, therestaurantwas 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, the food arrived. 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.

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

absolutely disappointed. went there for our 15 year anniversary. i will say that the wine and cotton candy were good, everything else was mediocre. ordered the fried calamari and the crab cheesecake appetizers. calamari was a sad mockery of the golden, fluffy batter supposed to complement an al dente bite juicy squid. ate two pieces before giving up. the rest of the meal was also a let down. i will say the waitress tried to make this a memorable experience, however there was no coming back from the sad limp squid. i am surprised in light of that meal that ruffinos has stacked out such a big claim on therestaurantscene in baton rouge.

ruff with the salt. a goodrestaurantbut i believe overrated. not pleased with the antipasto appetizer and the shrimp and grits is often too salty to eat. this is one of my favorite lunch dishes so i've ordered it there on 3 occasions. only once was it acceptable. i have never mentioned it to the waiter and have never been asked if i liked my meal even though most of it remained on the plate.

bestrestaurantin town. ruffinos is by far the best and most funrestaurantin baton rouge. everything about it is great and the managers and owner are very kind and accommodating. fish katie and filet are unreal and all pasta and pizza are very good too! if u live in br or are visiting, it's a must try place!

just ok. i think they have a better dining experience than the actual dining. the atmosphere in therestaurantis great, however the food is marginal for what we had.

my wife and i had calamari to start, then we had veal michael for myself, chicken parmesan for her. i wish i tried a steak, they will get a second chance and i hope its more enjoyable.

i wanted so badly to like this place because of the location (close to home). but unfortunately it just comes up short in several areas. this place is more about the nostalgia and history of local people than it is cuisine. the staff and hostess are under trained and kind of rude. the wine selection is average and the waiter could not explain the suttle differences between reds, whites, etc. the food is just meh.. their signature pasta sauce comes up short in many areas (acidity, sweetness, and flavor is just a bit off). i did enjoy the apps, crab and brie and the eggplant app was good. caeser salad needed dressing needed more anchovies. chicken parm was too average. usually you can tell a lot about and italianrestaurantwith their chicken parm. dessert was tiramasu. once again, just too simple, needed more flavor. if you live in br you've probably eaten here and had a totally different experience. but having traveled the globe from rome to san fran, this place is just middle of the road.

fantastic experience. the bestrestaurantin baton rouge hands down. the best pizza in town as well!

terrible!. my wife and i decided to go here for our date night, big mistake. we waited in the bar area for a table to be ready. ordered two glasses of wine ($20) and both were only filled about 1/4 of the way at best. the hostess came to seat us at our table, which was right behind us in the bar (nice). i do need to say our waiter was a nice guy and so was the manager who later helped us. thats the only nice thing i have to say about our experience. the appetizer we ordered was a shrimp and crab meat dish. the shrimp was still raw and the crab meat lukewarm. the manager was called over to our table by the waiter, and told us he would take it off our bill. thanks. i wish the whole night would have been comped. while we were seated in the bar area for our meal, all we could smell was bleach that they use to clean up the bar area. we ordered our main course, steak and red snapper. the steak was great, cant mess that up. the fish on the other hand had way too much balsamic vinegar. while we were eating a large man just walked over looked right at me, didnt say a word, and just took the other two chairs at our table. wtf. i later found out that this was the owner. how nice. needless to say, i will never eat there again, or recommend thisrestaurantto anyone.

favoriterestaurantin baton rouge. i love this place and it's my favoriterestaurantin baton rouge. i see people knocking their service but their service is too good to me (sort of overbearing if anything). and i own my ownrestaurantso i do know what i am talking about. favorite dishes there is the crabmeat cheesecake appetizer and for the main entee the veal michael and the cedar plank redfish.

all star dining experience. rarely can one find arestaurantthat has great service, atmosphere, drinks, and food. the ample parking and prompt seating prepared us for great service and dynamite food.
for starters, do not miss out on the crabmeat cheesecake. there are few entree choices but they are all winners! check out the pork tchiptoulas for two hunks of heaven. will dine here again!!