Ruffino’s

Reviews

• April L.

  star star star star star 14 June 2026

  Ruffino's reminds me of a classy Cheers. What do I mean? It's like every time you go in there everyone knows each other, especially in the bar area. I'm pretty certain they have a good amount of regulars in there. The photos on the wall are reminiscent of a Hollywood cafe with famous patrons posing for the picture.
  
  The restaurant is dark and romantic inside. I love the updated look outside. When we first moved here a few years ago, honestly, I had no interest in going to the 70s looking restaurant under power lines but now it looks much cleaner and welcoming.  
  
  The service is excellent. They have a "drink waiter" as well as a regular waiter for the tables and I think extra helpers. The managers/owners seem to always be around checking in on people.
  
  The food is excellent. I'm super picky about my steaks and they do a phenomenal job here. The sensation salad is also excellent and I could eat my weight in the free bread/garlic spread that comes out.
  
  It is a pricey restaurant which is why you'll always see people celebrating something nearby. Birthdays, graduations, proms etc. Overall it's really a great spot on the south side!

• Trisha B.

  star star star star_border star_border 9 June 2026

  I'm not sure what happened, but I was really disappointed with my last trip here. We made reservations for a birthday party and the staff was definitely accommodating. Almost too accommodating though. I lost count of how many different servers/staff came by our table to get our orders. It got kind of frustrating because it didn't seem like there was much communication among the staff regarding our orders. The food was also very mediocre, particularly the Taste of Ruffino's (good variety, but very average flavor) and the Veal Palermo (I couldn't finish it. It just tasted sour and dry). When it came time for checks, I made sure to let our server know not to give the birthday girl a bill, that we would take care of it. Guess who wound up with the most expensive bill at the table? Yep, birthday girl. Surprise! After we all left, we noticed that many of us got overcharged. They had split the wine among random people at the table, split the appetizers among random people at the table. No rhyme or reason to it. Fortunately, they got the entrees right. We didn't bother mentioning it though.
  
  I still love the bread and oil. And the cotton candy. And I like their efforts. The staff is super friendly. But man, that food and the disorganization hopefully was just a one time thing.

• Jimmy V.

  star star star star star_border 8 June 2026

  Nice restaurant with friendly service!  We had a head waiter, an assistant waiter and a drink waiter for our table, so we were well taken care of.  We started with bread and olive oil with a lot of Parmesan cheese - it wasn't our choice by the way to have Parmesan cheese in the olive.  It gave the olive oil an interesting taste but we would rather have it without the Parmesan cheese.
  
  We got the grilled oysters as an appetizer - just to compare it will parrain's and roux 61.  We felt the oysters also had an interesting taste but parrain and roux 61 had better grilled oyster.
  
  We also got the crabmeat cheesecake - interesting concept but we didn't really like it.  It was like a lasagna but stuffed with crabmeat instead of beef.
  
  Our main entree was the lasagna and this was the worst dish out of everything.  It had a plain taste and there were too much Parmesan cheese in the dish.  We joked that maybe the only ingredient the chef had was Parmesan cheese as they were plenty in the oysters and the olive oil.
  
  It was a nice restaurant but we was just a bad night for us.

• Jessica B.

  star star star star star_border 18 May 2026

  My husband and I went for lunch yesterday. I got the celebration salad add shrimp and it was fantastic!! My husband got the burger and he said it was just ok. The bread and dip at the beginning of the meal is out of this world.... I eat the dip with a spoon. It was lunch time and the hostess (whom was sweet as could be)sat us in the bar and it was super noisy and the tables are a bit crowded together. Our service was great though... I don't remember their names but they were on their A game.

• Ongelle C.

  star star star star star_border 16 May 2026

  Ordered the wood fired oysters as an appetizer and they were literally the smallest oysters I have ever seen. Flavor was not to my liking and wouldn't order again. Entree was the redfish Katie and it was delicious. The Sunday brunch Bloody Mary was excellent also. Service was on point and the atmosphere was fantastic. Would definitely come back.