Riccardi's
 

We visited this new Italian restaurant last night and am very glad we did.
They have several vegetarian appetizers which were quite good. The escarole was our favorite but the broccoli rabe was also quite good, especially the large pieces of garlic sauteed just right.
My wife enjoyed chicken Marco Polo and I had the Shrimp and Scallops over pasta. It was prepared with a brown sauce which I found unique and very tasty.

The selection of wines were good and pricing very reasonable.
Very nice decor and good service. Met the owners (father and son) and they seemed to genuinely want you to have a positive dining experience.

Riccardi's is a welcome addition to the Villages and if they keep the standards that we experienced last evening we will be back often.

Where is Riccardi's located? I googled it and it did not come up.

Brownwood

Not impressed. The food was very bland, lacking flavor. We ordered a pizza and Veal parm. Neither was very good. I was really hoping the pizza would be good. Doubt we'll return.

We haven't been yet----looking to go soon. I am always amazed at the different experiences at the same restaurants within approximate same times.

We'll give it another chance but the first experience was not good. I had the seafood zuppe. It was rather bland and not a large portion. I had a similar dish at Hacienda last week It was $4 less, the portion was much larger and the flavor was great. My wife had the shrimp and scallops. The scallops were overcooked and the overall flavor was bland. By the way, the service was not good. They had only been open a couple of weeks, so maybe it will improve.

We have been several times and are happy with it. We feel it is much better than Mezza Luna.

Follow your nose
 

Walked by there on Saturday and it smelled so good! If the aroma is indicative of what the food tastes like I think it will be a hit. I sure hope it does well.

I usually avoid posting about restaurants because everyone has different tastes.

However, I must agree with you on this. Everything we had was very bland - need a lot of cheese and salt to give it flavor.

I sometimes wonder if places do not add spices because they think it may affect "older" people!

Been there twice and it has been quite good. Going again this week with 20 people, so I'm hoping that the service and food will be as good as it has been on my last 2 visits.

We went with friends a week after opening and would give it a C+ overall. One of our salads had a bug in it so our friend gave it to one of the owners who didn't apologize, just walked away with it and never returned with a fresh one. She finally had to ask the server to bring another one and the server didn't apologize either. I had chicken francese which was good but it was served over the tiniest portion of pasta I have ever had. Since that is the least expensive part of the meal, restaurants normally pile it on. Wife's pizza was good but nothing extraordinary.

Probably will not go back but predict that, like Red Sauce, it will stayed packed during the season and be a success not because of the food and service but because of the prime location in the square and that most of us love Italian food.

We thought the same. I don't understand why they are not more generous with the pasta. Mezza Luna does the same thing when ordering an entree that comes with pasta. We were sitting across from a couple and they brought the gentleman what appeared to be chicken parm. I thought wow he ordered it without spaghetti. You could see his look of disappointment, but said nothing. Wrong. The mini portion was under the chicken. So little you could not see it. Restaurant owners listen. The pasta costs so little, but it will make your customer feel satisfied and that he got his money's worth. I must also address the noise and harried atmosphere at Riccardi's. Nice lighting etc, but I find the staff literally running here and there. This does not add to a relaxing dining experience. Been there twice. Not impressed.

Been there twice, first time with 10 ladies, everything was good portion wise and excellent in flavor. Next time with another couple again, food, service etc. was great. I have brought home a box both times and I can eat. I did tell the owner their wine prices are high comparatively speaking and he said they will eventually be doing a happy hour. We will definitely be going back!

Had lunch the other day, great food and the bartender server Ashley was a real gem, returned the following night with some friends from out of town, I wish I hadn't raved so much from my lunch, they were very crowded, dinner service was very poor and slow, food was same it seems when the crowds get very large the kitchen can not keep up with the quality I experienced at lunch. I sent my chicken marsala back it was dry and tasteless, manager Joe seemed unconcerned did not offer anything other than he would take it off the bill ( no kidding ) everyone else said food was OK except my wife's Tortellini was like soup.

I will wait until they get there act together, I will post again if I ever decide to eat there.

Bill S
Oxford

We were there last Sunday. Food was awful, bland, tasteless. You can buy better sauce in a jar. We have yet to find a good Italian restaurant in this entire area. Red Sauce and Olive Garden seem to be better than any of the other Italian restaurants we have tried, including Giovanni's and Mom and Pop's if whatever it is called. We tried the Greek a Restaurant in Spanish Springs and that was awful too, although they had the best calamari other than the one Lopez serves. The better food seems to be at the country clubs.

6 of us went Saturday. None of us were impressed at all.
We sat at the outside bar for drinks and got a beeper. Our beeper went off. the girls went in while the guys paid the bill. They said our beeper shouldn't have gone off. Back to the bar. 12 minutes later, it goes off again. Again, they said it shouldn't have gone off. I asked for the manager. He said give him 5 minutes. 15 minutes later they called us.
I thought the portions were very small for the price.
Only 1 soup and it wasn't good.
7 lobster ravioli and a small dinner salad $18.00 was not worth it and it wasn't good.
We all had a different meal. 3 had salad and 3 had soup. One sent his meal back and said he didn't want anything else.
I'm sure there are some that like it and that's great. I never want any business to struggle. I hope they do well.

Been there 4 times. Lunch is good. Good food, service and atmosphere. Dinner is very loud, confusing with mediocre food. Will go back, but only for lunch

They didn't want to seat you Bonny, because the bar business was doing great!

Skip

LOL, we were doing our part for the economy ! :D

To see a bad restaurant review from Bonny is a rarity.

Based on this, I am going to give the restaurant more time to get their act together prior to giving it a try.

They would have to be really good before I would pay those prices. Just not a place I would drop $18.00 a meal for pasta. We eat out almost every night so I can't afford those prices.

We know another restaurant owner in TV who watches the feedback on TOV very carefully and tries to adapt and evolve as necessary. I just hope the Ricciardis folks do the same. I would love nothing more than to be able to say it's a great Italian restaurant.

Me too, I want everyone to succeed and make money !

Same problem with buzzer. Ours went off after 10 minutes so we paid our bill at the bar. Was told buzzer shouldn't have went off and was given another one. Luckily our seats were still vacant at the bar. After a half hour we saw friends in the waiting area and went to say hello. At the same time we asked the hostess about the reservation. She said they called us 15 minutes ago. The buzzer never went off. After all this the sauce, which is the cornerstone of any Italian Rest, was bland. Portions small and expensive. Don't understand all the raves.

We were glad our seats were still available at the bar. Your experience sounds just like ours. :(

Agree wholeheartedly!

We also found the food to be very bland and skimpy portions...do not order the calamari; very small portion for the price. I had the pasta with white clam sauce and hubby had the lasagna. Neither dish was impressive. Prices too high for what you get. Service was mediocre, waitress never introduced herself and managers pranced about the restaurant but never stopped at our table. Had to request silverware; everyone else had cloth napkins but we got paper! Have no plans to return.

Had lunch yesterday at Ricciardi's and found it to be rather disappointing. My first observation is that it is very noisy with sounds reverberating all over the place. Caesar Salad was served with a highly excessive amount of dressing. It tasted extremely bitter and lemony. Three quarters of it was left in the bowl. No comment from server when I advised how bad it was. Menu indicated all entrees were served with Garlic Bread. We were served a couple of rolls and a couple of Bread Knots which we were later told were Garlic Knots. None of us were able to detect even the slightest taste of Garlic.

My entrée, Veal Parm proved to be the same yucky Veal Cubed Steak served at most Italian/American Restaurants. It is not Veal Cutlet but rather scraps from a lean cut of leg and processed by machine that tenderizes. If the menu doesn't specify "Veal Cutlet Parm", rest assured you'll get the stuff described above. Didn't much care for the sauce either. From my perspective it had a bitter taste which I didn't care for. In a word, this dining experience was, mediocre!

I believe any moderate priced Italian restaurant serves the processed "veal cutlet" in their Veal Parm instead of an actual piece of unprocessed veal. Veal is extremely expensive and unless the Veal Parm is very expensive on the menu, it should be a tipoff as to what you are getting.

I know when we go to Mezza Luna you can hear them in the back pounding the veal to tenderize. First time I heard it I asked what they were working on in the kitchen & they said just pounding the veal.

Noisy because it was busy?
Taste is pretty subjective. You say too much dressing on the salad that is included with your entree and I ask for extra as I like a little salad with my dressing. Why not ask for your dressing on the side?
You say the garlic bread which is also included with your entree is not garlicky enough and others may say there's too much garlic.
Same goes with sauce.
It's pretty Subjective at any restaurant.
So what restaurants here do you think are better than mediocre in your opinion?
If you really are a "food critic" then you should know this and please don't say Chef boy Ardee is gourmet.

Good veal should never have to be tenderized. Just saying...

I used the word tenderize. I just assumed that.
They just said pounding the veal. I would guess then it was just pounding it to make it thin.
They did not say tenderize.

I have visited 3 times, and have not been impressed. Service was okay, food was bland. Bland seems to be the theme with many of the comments I see here. Probably won't go back.

Had dinner at Riccardi's last night. We enjoyed our dinners. Rigatoni with meatballs and also eggplant Strati. Service was prompt and friendly. Salads were included in the price and were fresh. Bread was good. We did not feel the serving size was small. We also felt prices were fair. We will definitely go back. In comparing to Mezza Luna, we felt all around our experience was better at Riccardi's.

We've been there three times. Salads and portions are small. Overpriced for pasta dishes. When you substitute veggies for pasta or starches, they upcharge $2.00. We ate outside all three times. Last night, our party of 4 had 2 of our meals (chicken), come out wrong. The 2 orders had the wrong pasta and veggies. This was after they tried to give us 2 other chicken dishes that weren't ours. We didn't recognize these and the server could not tell us what they were. The girl was miffed and left in a huff.

The server was not very attentive or professional. She was hesitant to call the owner over but reluctantly did so after I insisted. We explained everything to Joe and he made it right.

We called on Friday to make a reservation for 7 for Saturday, we were told to call back on Saturday, called back, the manager said the only reservations being taken were for table of 8 or more and they were booked solid from 1130am to 830pm. Good for them, but we will not try again, plenty of other places to spend money.

Have eaten there twice.......most recently this afternoon after attending Red Sox Nation event at Brownwood. Food was very good and our party of four left very satisfied. Would recommending giving it a try.

We called on Friday for reservations for Saturday evening (430pm)
we were told call back on Saturday, we did to find out
no reservations for less than 8, (we have 7) also the place was booked solid from
1130am to 830pm, no tables to be had. really??
Every table is going to have 8 or more all day,
they may have good food, but I won't spend my money there, plenty of other places willing to accept a table of 7.

So if they only takes reservations for 8+ and you said 7, why did they tell you to call back? Sounds like the run-around from Lee.

Skip