Rafele Rye — Restaurant in City of Rye

Called and made reservation for my wife's birthday one week prior. On day of reservation called and asked that they place a candle on whatever desert my wife ordered for her birthday - "Ok, not a problem and we will make sure it is done." Exact quote from young lady I spoke to. Arrived, ordered multiple appetizers for the seven of us. Appetizers arrived - wrong and not what we ordered. We let it go. Ordered main courses and arrived - again one of them totally incorrect. They left the main courses and never once came back with bowls for shells, nor to see if anyone wanted grated cheese. We had to ask for this 15 minutes later when we were finally able to get someones attention.

Breakdown: Service: Terrible, zero personalities, anemic service at best, zero follow up. Likely the worst service so far experienced.

Food: Appetizers - Ok at best - poorly seasoned. Main courses - three of us had the seafood pasta - Bland, zero taste except the pepper, essentially 7 tiny clamps - total garbage as far as seafood - there was none on the plate, Gnocchi - likely the better of the dishes. Overall - main courses with exception of Gnocchi were easily forgettable.

Deserts: Would say were good

Overall: I don't have any idea of this place gets good reviews and also a prior Michelin star restaurant ?????? That is mind boggling to me. Total waste of time money and the fact that these idiots, despite me asking and them assuring me it would be done - brought the deserts to the table and my wife's desert had no candle on it. 5 minutes later, they bring a desert with a candle and sing happy birthday to the table behind us. Total buffoons at this place and ruined a special night. My advice there are significantly much better places than this place. It is run by idiots with no personality and clearly limited IQ. Clearly evident why they are no longer a Michelin rated restaurant. Never ever again, given this place does not deserve a second chance or ever a single...

Searching for a real nice birthday restaurant open on a Monday that served cacio e pepe (my wife’s favorite) I found Rafele Rye.

What a find it was.

I first must address a common comment in reviews. The noise level. It was NOT an issue.

My wife and are in our 70s. My sister and her husband are in their 80’s. It was night and every table was full. We did NOT have a problem hearing each other. We found the chit chat level very acceptable. Our table was in the rear near the pizza oven, if that made a difference.

The ambience is wonderful and it is a really nice looking place. Sleek and easy on the eyes. Elegant yet comfortable and casual if that’s possible

Everyone from the bartender to the bus people were friendly and charming

The food, was EXCELLENT. The birthday girl loved her cacio e pepe and shaved artichoke salad. My brother-in-law had a branzino which he proclaimed “excellent”. The meatball appetizer was tasty. I had the paccheri amatriciana which was bursting with flavor. My sister very much enjoyed her chicken milanese.

We had a Margherita pizza during cocktails and it was also very good. The sauce was excellent (as was the sauce on the meatballs). If I ordered it again I would ask for it charred or we’ll done BUT that is a personal preference

Drinks were cold, well made and quickly delivered and the desserts were delicious.

We have a LOT of great restaurants in Stamford but are always looking for a new place to go out. We drove down in pouring, blinding rain, and would do it again.

It...

I am only sorry that I didn't take more pictures. Part of it had to do with the fact that everything was so tasty and it barely lasted longer than a few minutes on the plate. We started with the artichoke salad and the grilled octopus which was on a bed of spicy bean.. both were amazing. Then for main course we had home made gluten free pasta with a side of brussel sprouts. For dessert we had the Panna gotta and omg what an amazing to off to a great meal.. next time I'll add more pictures. Also I know some of the reviews of this place are rather poor but I encourage you to go and make up your own mind. The food, the service and the ambulance were all top shelf in my book. I'll be back

So we came back and the place was slammed. The food was still good but the service less so. Greeted at the door for a 6:45 reservation we were asked to wait at the bar because there was someone still at our table. Just steps away at the bar there was a table that was set for 4 people and empty. What would it have taken to give us that table rather than wait 15 minutes at the bar. Sigh 🙄

The food is still very good and if you're gluten free try the GF fettuccine.. it tastes like home made pasta. The octopus is awesome on a bed of fava bean puree and broccoli rabe. It's...