Ricciardi's Italian in Brownwood.
 

Ricciardi's Italian Table - Gourmet Italian Dining The Villages, Fl - Ricciardi's Italian Table - Our Table

I went there yesterday with my older brother Robert and my parents and we all enjoyed the Italian food. :mmmm:

When did they open as I did not notice them the last time I was in Brownwood?

Over a year ago.

I had not noticed them before. Thanks Bonny!

They opened January 22, 2104 to be exact.
They were busy all last winter.

Skip

Glad to hear that they are doing well. They deserve it from our experiences there yesterday.

We were there a few nights ago.

Waitress gave us a coupon for a free appetizer because she could not get back to us timely.

Can't imagine what it will be like when the snowbirds arrive.

8 of us went to Ricciardi's Saturday night for a friends birthday. Hate to be negative, but the service was awful, waited 40 minutes for our drinks, We talked to the manager at least 3 times, food was cool as well as not very appealing to some. We also had to move some of the dishes to another table so we would have some room. The place was about 1/2 full with customers. Never a problem in the past. If the waitress was new, she needs a lot more training.

Was there last week. Food was good, but the service was poor. I didn't think is was overly crowded, so I don't know why we did not receive better service.

My bride is wonderful.............."maybe she is new", "maybe she is having a bad day", "you don't know what is going on at home", "we have plenty of time, just relax". She always reels me back in.

We ate there last March or April. Service was good, but food was awful. Never again for us.

Sounds like the typical mixed bag/mixed experiences restaurant review. Only ate there once last February, it had its problems. Given the positive reviews, might be worth another try
unfortunately,

They opened January 22, 2104 to be exact.
Skip

so I have to wait 88 years, 3 months and 8 days to eat there:1rotfl:

Maybe he has 224 613 on the mind?

He should Focus!

Honestly , I wish people who comment on ethnic style food wood kinda state -where they're from. We went to Gettysburg--went to an oriental restaurant--they brought out white bread & butter--we bailed.

Ricciardi's -- is honestly a poor excuse for REAL Italian food--its nursing home style Italian food.

An excellent observation! Never been in a Nursing Home but surely Hospital quality.

I've had Italian food in at least 2 dozen hospitals---our only experience at Riccardi's would rank about 22nd on the list. But like I said, given some recent positive reviews, I'll give it another try. If it sucks again, I'll give the positive reviewers a free Italian meal at Belleview Hospital (No cheating and walking over to little Italy):1rotfl:

If they can't make Italian bread--they can't cook Italian food-told them to go to Mazzara's in St. Pete & buy their bread there--might give them a fighting chance-you got kid's spending their dad's money, when its gone they'll shut the doors

I've had good experiences at Riccardi's, but I've learned to set my expectations. Riccardi's is in The Villages Town Square - they have to cater to the cost-conscious clientele. You have to compare them to the competition... golf cart accessible Italian food. If you prefer Lasagna at a Country Club - good for you. I personally believe that if you compare them to the other Italian restaurants within a 10-mile radius of The Villages.... they do pretty good.

Sorry for the typo.
January 22, 2014 is even more exact.

Skip

Can't imagine going for oriental in Gettysburg, of all places. That's like going for a clam bake in Omaha.

Ricciardi's Italian in Brownwood.
 

Back to the future?

You'd be surprised. One of the best sushi establishments I ever ate at was in North Dallas!

We have eaten there several times, it is not a fast food restaurant so we expect the service to be slower. They did go through a period when the food wasn't great but it has improved.....maybe a new chef? It seems to be full so others seem to like it also. Now the fun begins, and the lines get longer.

Was there last night. Not good. Food arrived cold, bread was like a hot dog bun. Sauce was scarce. Server was nice and so was the house red vino.
Good bread and great sauce.....these are the essential ingredients to a good Italian restaurant. This place doesn't have either.
Oh , and the coffee was cold too . Cheesecake was good.
This from a 71 year old Italian.

Still there? What do you think of the Villages' sushi places?

Ate at the one in Colony twice, about a year apart. It was about average, but good enough that we went back. Ate once at the place at LSL 1 1/2 years ago and it was pretty good. But as you know, 6 months can be a lifetime in terms of how good a restaurant is, so we'll see when we move in next month. Have you had any good/bad sushi experience yourself recently?

One of the absolutely best Chinese restaurant was in Ottawa, Canada- we were tied up on the wall on our board our boat during Canada Day. Then went dow the flight of seven into the St Lawrence , to Chateau Montebello, Montreal Quebec and onto Nova Scotia.

Not recently. My older brother liked the sushi place in Colony but that was probably more than a year ago. I did not have the sushi but got something else.

What does sushi have to do with Riccardi's?

Given some of the negative experiences posted about Riccardi's, if you order a fish dish, you may get it raw:1rotfl:

Someone made a point earlier that since we are not in a section of the country with a large Italian population, it might be difficult to find an authentic Italian restaurant here.

someone else (moi) said... oh, never mind! Then the sushi post was brought up in response to not expecting authentic Italian in central Florida. As in there are authentic ethnic restaurants to be found in otherwise non-ethnic parts of the country.

Hope this helps (if I may borrow from village tinker:icon_wink:)

I have made up my mind that Italian's are the most picky about food and I am the most easily pleased by any kind of Italian food. I LOVE Italian food. I didn't grow up with Italian food. I grew up with a lot of German food and have never thought any served to me in a restaurant was as good as that I ate at home. I also believe that the best pizza is the kind that you ate in your home town. And


I am glad I can cook, because I almost always can get what I want to eat.

I don't like Sushi. It is because I used a microscope a couple of times.

Sprechen sie Deutsche?

Also , the little things you seen under the microscope is what gives sushi its taste:1rotfl:

One of my best friends was in charge of the fish dept. in Dean & DeLucca's in NYC- His wife and Japanese who happens to be an ex-Ford agency super model. He said be very,very careful about eating sushi in warm climates--tons of parasites--I used to eat sushi every week here, but on his advice I no longer do---not worth the risk

I assume you're referring to Tommy's…….or maybe I have that wrong, are you a Cincinnati girl? Then my guess would be LaRosa's.

Last year when Riccardi's opened they started off with a bang...great food, excellent service and fair prices. There were a lot of positive responses here on TOTV. We expected the same last night when we brought a new couple with us to try it out on our recommendation. Granted they were very busy (Scooter was playing) but they still have fallen now in their quality of food preparation, in our judgement. Our lady friend with us had a pasta dish and there was hardly any sauce to be found on her pasta! The waiter also never offered any cheese to go on top of her dish. Half way through her dish the waiter was finally tracked down and he did go back to the kitchen and add more sauce to her bowl. My wife had a pizza and the toppings were also very scarce and a fourth of her pizza was missing ingredients (just bare bread) where the preparer took no effort in spreading the toppings equally. I do hope this place gets back to where it started and learns from these mistakes because I know they are capable of preparing good food.