rusconi's american kitchen

enjoyable but room for improvement. lovely little spot with varied small menu (just what i love to see!). my husbandorderedthe buffalo steak with apple bread pudding and roasted carrots which he enjoyed and would order again. i had what typically would have been ny strip with asparagus and mac'n'cheese but was replaced with fillet mignon as the server indicated the chef wasn't happy with the quality of the ny (loving the attention to quality) and i was more than happy to eat the perfectly prepared beef for the same price. mac'n'cheese and red wine reduction was good but could have been improved upon(perhaps too salty). i only offer the criticism since prices were on the higher end for phoenix so expect a little more. desserts, chocolate bread pudding (i know, my husband is obsessed) and creme brûlée were perfect. server was not very attentive and since it was tuesday night at 8pm (not a full house) there was no apparent excuse for it. we have higher service expectations for this price point. we would go back again to see if our next experience is improved since rusconi's has everything going for it.

amazing service & food. made a same-day reservation sunday, september 14th. was kindly greeted and immediately seated at our table near the bar. took our drink orders and made some great wine recommendations. between three adults weorderedthe goat cheese and truffle fries to start and for dinner the salmon, steak medallions, and the lamb with a side of green chili risotto and savory bread pudding. the wait was a little longer than expected but the quality of food and service trumped all!! so good!!

went back for dinner and it differed. last year iorderedthe salmon brunch plate that's pictured here. this year i remembered how tasty it was andorderedthe scottish salmon dinner that is very similar also pictured. my dinner cost a few bucks more and was smaller than the brunch plate. the salmon was good but not as succulent as the one i enjoyed last year. the one and one half fingerling potatoes that came with dinner seemed funny to me because that doesn't seem like a correct serving for dinner.
this time ok but not great.......


-----14 jan, 2013-----

brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. i tried a salmon plate with fingerling potatoes and brussels sprouts. the salmon seemed like high quality salmon and came out with a nice crust on it. it was also generous in portion. the poblano chile sauce gave the meal a little kick. my husband had a pasta with chicken dish. he said it was tasty but a little oily and he would have preferred more chicken but it still was good. yesterday it was very cold here and i don't think any heat was in the restaurant because when i left it was 43 degrees and it didn't seem any different than the dining room.

not so good.. went on a recent sat. night. specialty cocktails small & pricy. no mention of split plate charge. strip steakorderedmed. rare came very rare. server spent more time with some friends at another table then with the rest of his tables.orderedanother bottle of wine & had to ask twice for it. very, very noisy. hard to talk to other people at table. all in all they could do better. a c is a generous grade.