Nino's — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

Update: since the beginning of the pandemic I tried (and failed) to get a reservation here..called multiple times and got no answer and left messages but was never called back. Needless to say I was so excited to finally get a table this time.....too bad we left feeling disappointed. My first observation was that the prices have increased slightly....with everything that has gone on in this world lately, I honestly expected that, so no big deal. However I am disappointed because the service, serving size, and quality have all seem to have gone down hill. After multiple attempts to get our waiter's attention, we finally walked to the bar to request that our drinks were refilled....when the food came out, the servings were way way smaller than our last visit. ( we typically order the same thing each time because that is our favorite at Nino's) The dish i ordered was Lamb t-bone....in the past they were the same size and quality....this time the small one was cooked to perfection but only big enough to tease me.....the second was much bigger but tough as shoe leather and stringy. Even the potatoe scallopini seemed to be of lesser quality almost as if it sat under a heat lamp for a few hours. We spent nearly $200 on a meal for two and left feeling like we could have done better for half the price at a different restaurant. We save up our money to be able to treat ourselves to an extravagant meal every once and while. It took us a while to save for this experience and it will likely be awhile before we can splurge like this again.....so I am of course very disappointed... originally i gave this place five stars but now I am dropping it down to two.

OMG!!!!! This is probably the best restaurant i have ever been to in my life. The chef is truly a genius. I ordered the lamb and it was cooked to perfection. Infact everything that came out of the kitchen looked incredible. The staff is very friendly and eager to please the customers. Be sure to call ahead because the tables fill up quickly. The atmosphere is very intimate and inviting. Nino's would be the perfect place for date night. Overall we found our experience there to be utterly impressive. Be sure to check out this little gem of...

We had a reservation for dinner and showed up 5 minutes early. The hostess seemed confused by the reservation and after several minutes confessed that they were overbooked and we would have to wait. At some point the manager came over and reiterated this. No apology, just matter of fact. Shortly after, the restaurant seated not one, but two parties that arrived after us. One was a party of three and one was a party of four. Despite the fact that we had a reservation for the same time, the manager sat both parties ahead of us. Apparently she didn't want to miss out on a couple more orders. Again, no apology at all. Several waitstaff came by to see what we needed as there was no waiting area and we were blocking up the entrance. At one point we were told by the hostess that several parties had finished their meals and had their checks but her hands were tied to ask them to give up the tables. About halfway through our 30 minute wait the manager began intentionally avoiding us and would not come out after I asked the hostess if we could speak with her. At the end one of the waitstaff came over to update us on behalf of the manager because she would not do it herself. After a 30 minute wait of the entire restaurant glancing at us as we were still left to stand in the doorway we left. We never received an apology and felt like we had put out the restaurant by showing up for our reservation. I'd like to say that this was the first time that this has happened but I can't. Nino's poor management has disappointed us and while the food looked amazing, we sure haven't had the opportunity to find out. Obviously we will not be returning to linger in their doorway once again. While we go out of our way to support local businesses, this is one that we won't...

Update… Molto bene! Round two… under new ownership. Wonderful turnaround, well on their way to regaining the title of Baton Rouge’s go-to Italian restaurant. You can feel the new attention to detail when you enter. The service, food and wine list are on point. Are server Davin, was very knowledgeable and helpful navigating us through the menu and specials. Many of the traditional offerings remain, but with much better quality. Changes or substitutions were not a problem. Starting with house-made sourdough bread, EVO & Parmesan followed by a very fresh Caesar salad. The blackened drum/tapenade accompanied by shrimp & pasta was very nice. Very nice experience. Kudos to the new owners for reading old reviews and inviting us back for a new and much better experience. Thanks Shannon.

Very excited for our first visit to what was touted as the best Italian restaurant in Baton Rouge. I must say that I was more than disappointed. The service was so so, the restaurant is small sparsely decorated and the food was hit or miss. They do have a nice concise wine list. My wife had a spicy pasta dish that she enjoyed. I however, had the Pescatore which consisted of Gulf shrimp, mussels, fish of the day, sea scallop and lump crab tossed in citrus herb butter and marinara on fresh pasta. I added the spinalis dorsi ribeye cap steak, known as the most tender cut of steak. The dish was all over the place… the fish was excellent and the mussels were good. However, steak was tough and chewy, the pasta was ok and the scallops actually had an off taste and were probably not fresh. After eating the scallops I could not finish my meal. Very disappointing. Definitely not on my BR...