Caffe Riace

I used to live one block from here and always walked by but never went in. Finally got to try this place many years later and it was delicious! The bread the start you off with was so good. I wish it came with a balsamic and olive oil mixture.

We couldn't decide which entrees to do family style so had the server pick for us. The gnocchi was one of my favorites and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Salmon was perfectly cooked. Eggplant appetizer was also really good. We tried a lot on the menu and I don't think anything was bad.

Service is a little slow, but this is a place that you want to come and enjoy your food and conversation.

Mediocre food quality. Premium price.
Also, they do not serve cocktails.
Lovely courtyard.

Fantastic ! The food was really good (I had the Ceppo Riace and my husband had the Sicilian Citrus salad with grilled chicken. Both were delicious (we highly recommend) and the bruschetta was good too. The portions are ample; all five in our party took home leftovers. They have good options for wine; for beer, a few selections of bottled beers. The venue is spacious and quiet, and quite comfortable on the patio. Definitely a keeper.

The lasagna here is heavenly! We ordered this after it was recommended by the owner and it was fully devoured despite its large size. I also really enjoyed the arancini appetizer. The calamari appetizer was okay, I'd rather eat more arancini or try another app next time. The service was great, we asked to make a pasta dish spicy and were brought a side of a family recipe spicy oil that my husband loved. There's also a beautiful fountain and patio dining area outside if the weather is nice enough.

We went there on a Saturday evening. While not completely full there was only one waiter for the entire restaurant. He was too busy to spend more than a few seconds at a table and never made eye contact when talking. The food was not very good. The only starch available, no mater what the entree was risotto. The same with the vegetables, one choice no matter what the entree. The vegetables were way over cooked and in a heavy sauce which might be good for some entrees but not for the salmon my wife chose. The salmon was old and had a "fishy" smell.
I was expecting better especially for the price. We had one salad to share, one appetizer to share, one glass of wine each ($15 ea), and one entree each. It was $200 after a 18% tip. I do not think we will go back.

Lovely service. Excellent pasta. Tasty beet salad. My friend loved her salmon entree.

The free bread and the salads were excellent. They were out of one of the wines and one of the dessert. My wife asked to substitute shrimp for clams in the pasta and uncharge was $6 per shrimp, right per shrimp. She opted for the standard, vongole, which was fine.

The main courses were all good, but a bit too oily.

Still we had a great time.

Been coming here for ~23 years. It used to be 5 stars food & 5 stars ambience. For the last 10 years it's been 2 or 3 stars food and 5 stars ambience.

I see the owner responding on Yelp which is great but the responses seem to indicate total denial so I would gladly take a non-response in exchange for truly taking an honest look at this place.

It's not that the recipes are bad; it's more that sometimes things seem strange tasting - like an ingredient is old, or meat can be impossibly tough and/or odd tasting.

First of all, this place is special to my wife and I which means we will overlook a lot of things because we want this to be a place that we go back to; but I don't think I'll get her to go back anymore as we've been PO'd at this place enough times over a course of ~10 years that we can't see anything changing.

We went from regulars to having a series of bad experiences (with the food) and just not wanting to go. After a few years, we tried it again recently but her dish was un-edible and some elements of the entire meal were off. Her comment during our last visit was, "maybe in another 3 years".

In the early 00's the food was fresh, I brought co-workers for lunch, friends for dinner - even my Sicilian mother - this is the only place I've ever taken my mother outside of NY. My wife and I had some great dinners there and it was typically busy.

We thought it had changed ownership some years ago because it went downhill so badly but when I asked the waiter a couple of months ago he went on and on about how it's all the same and they are busy and doing great. ...Really?

What we started to experience:

There is rarely more than 2 other parties while we are there.

Food quality is up and down and we've had some bad meals - and some good ones but we just can't trust it at this point.

One day, no one showed up for work except the cook who was very embarrassed and tried to help us but it was a disaster (and it was on a special day - her birthday or our anniversary or something like that and we ended up at a burger place all dressed up that night).

After our last meal where we had spotty food quality, we started thinking of those places where they do such little business that you start to imagine an episode of Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmares back there.

Sitting at this place is pure joy though. It's a wonderful place to be. But if it turned into a Chipotle we'd enjoy it more, unfortunately.

Lovely setting (indoors and outside around the fountain), excellent food with gracious staff and servers. Superb indoor options for single table, larger group, and private dining.

Best home cooked style Italian food from
Sisley. Family owned and run. I watched them build this place then came on opening nite.
The foods amazing as well as the family!

Craig