Ristorante Enrico — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

Came in for the 1st time for dinner. Cozy and clean and we'll decorated. It wasn't crowded with only a handful of tables taken.. Monica was our server, she wasn't very attentive and was not very friendly acting, we arrived at 6pm and it took a while to even place our order and when we did it just seemed strained like we were bothering her"' salads took 30mins to arrive. and our meal wasn't brought out until 650pm.. customer service can make or break a dining experience and she definitely took away from our experience..I don't mind waiting when service is friendly but Monica's was not... .the other woman who I believe was a owner came by after we were almost done and Wow!" what a difference " she was gracious, friendly a complete opposite of Monica, I wish she had been our server because she has a warmth that is very evident in the way she speaks to guests and she put us to ease immediately with her excellent people skills.. ( and I noticed everyone that stopped in for a takeout seemed to know her and would receive a kind inquiry and hug ) Monica could take some tips from her.. I had a glass of wine which was a hefty 12 dollars instead of $8 like I thought, we ordered a coke but it tasted off but I think the issue was she gave a "Diet Coke"..now for the food... The bread is delicious.. crisp on the outside and soft goodness on the inside..the dough is delicious! It was my favorite for sure! With the yummy flavored Marinara sauce I could eat just that and had been happy. The side salads were fresh and crisp lettuce, sweet tomatoes, the blue cheese dressing was excellent,.. I had the Bolognese and the noodles were good The food was hot and the noodles perfectly cooked .. I usually don't eat meat sauce but it was good. I would had preferred the marinara if it was anything like the bread dipping sauce. ..it would have been nice if there was fresh grated parmesan (but their is a shaker of parmesan cheese at the table).. we also had thé flounder limone.. it was NOT good, it was fishy tasting (like a frozen old piece of fish)..its a weird off-putting taste and we thought it came with pasta but the very, very small portion of angel hair was like "Ramon noodles" t's just a dish I'd highly recommend avoiding.. also for the price of $28.00 the portion size was too small.. opposite of my portion which was generous and I even had some left over to eat later....there was a lemon dessert I would have loved to have tried but we didn't want to inquire of Monica further and she definitely didn't want to wait on us... because of her we unlikely would want to come back.;which is a shame for I would had loved to tried the pizza* but when you pay $82 plus a 20% tip of $16. (Which we still gave because we are courteous not because she earned it) you just expect to be comfortable and eat good food.. heads up from what I saw with prices on the menu the lunch hour would have been a more affordable 1st time option and with a different server a more enjoyable dining...

While it’s been a while since we last dined at Enrico’s we have enjoyed this restaurant for over 10 years. Unfortunately, last night’s experience will be our last.

I understand restaurant prices go up, but the number of negative changes with these hikes made the menu an insult. Side salads are no longer included with entrees and are not offered as an ala carte item. A dinner Caesar salad at $14 (no protein) to share 3 ways was skimpy at best. The warm garlic knots are gone, replaced with plain, cold rolls. They no longer offer sausage in any of their entrees or ala carte sides.? We asked why, our waiter’s answer was a disinterested shrug. The lasagna’s noodles were undercooked with an unappetizing texture, the carbonara was dry with the pasta stuck together in a bowl-shaped ball, the meatballs were spongy with little to no taste.

Our waiter never looked us in the eye, rather over our heads as he answered our questions with one word answers, handed out the food with no expression or conversation, reaching for plates and supplying the bill as if there was a line out the door and we needed to hurry. There was not, the dining room was half empty, unlike past Saturday evenings when there really was a line.

To add insult to injury the television that overlooks the entire dining room was on, a network police drama complete with professional wrestling commercials to add to the ‘ambiance’.

We actually thought Enrico had sold the restaurant along with his name as the caliber of the food and dining experience had declined so much along with the large increase in prices. But we did see him, only his attention to quality and detail have left...

I’ve said this before in my reviews, but after living in Italy for three years while teaching and being fluent in the language, I believe I have the ability to distinguish between genuine Italian food and “americanized” Italian food. I understand the necessity for the latter and many people would rather have it, but it’s just not authentic Italian food.

We were on our way to Naples, FL to visit friends and while driving through Bonita Springs (at lunch time) I started looking for restaurant signs. We like to try new places and almost instantly I saw the sign for Ristorante Enrico. We stopped, and as they say…the rest is history!

The bottom line is my wife and I each had a different pasta dish and they were both absolutely amazing, and I don’t say that lightly. These two pasta dishes were so good I could have existed forever on either one. However, I liked mine the best…Cheese Tortellini in Rose Red Sauce and I highly recommend this for any first timers.

From reading other reviews here there is no sense me adding more accolades…this is simply a place you MUST try! We will be planning our trip home so that we stop by here for...