Rustico Italiano Ristorante — Restaurant in Lake Worth Beach

After I clicked on the link to write this review, I stared at the screen for five full minutes because I did not know where to begin. First and foremost, thank you to Nino - the chef and owner - for a completely fantastic experience from the minute we turned the doorknob. Secondly, my wife and I will without hesitation return. This place has catapulted itself to the top of my favorite restaurants list after my wife and I visited last night for dinner. The atmosphere is completely appropriate for this truly authentic Italian restaurant - music, decor, comfort, etc. My wife and I were greeted with nothing but smiles and pleasantries upon entering and were quickly seated by the sharp and attentive staff. I am from New York originally and this place reminds me of being on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx - the real little Italy.

Now for the food - it is as real deal Italiano as it gets. Please do not leave without having some kind of filled pasta, be it the ravioli, tortellini, or angolotti. It is made fresh in house and just melts when you take a bite. I had the ravioli with black truffles to start and loved it so much that the plate looked like it just came out of the dishwasher after I sopped up that sauce which I refused to let get away with a piece of crusty bread. My wife had the - get this - fried zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh mozzarella. Are you kidding me? Crispy, cheesy, just scrumptious. For dinner I had the veal osso bucco (I specify veal because they also have a bison osso bucco) which came braised to perfection with linguine in a delicious and savory brown sauce. The wine selection is great - but honestly, put the list away and just ask Nino which bottle to get with whatever you are ordering because he will nail the pairing, no doubt. The only thing I didn't know about the place was that it has beer and wine service only - no spirits. But to give you an idea for how much that mattered, I will leave with a quote from my wife while gulping our last sips of beautiful vino rosso: "I came in disappointed that I couldn't have a martini, but have spent the last two hours realizing how much I...

We used to like this place. However, the last two visits were disappointing. My 3 female friends and I dined there on a Saturday evening. Valet parking was available. After a bit of a wait the waitress came to the table. No welcome, no smile. Ninno came to tell us the specials, but unlike always did not show us the pasta tray. We ordered drinks and dinner. I ordered a beet salad which was inedible. The presentation was sad. Some beets on top of awful greens overflowing on the plate. The beets were just turning bad. I left it over after one taste. Waitress took my plate and said nothing. Did not ask why it was completely left over. I didn't make a fuss, saving my friends that awkward moment. Waitress brought our main food with not a word of "enjoy your food". She did not return to ask how food was. I had to ask for water. Was it because we were all women? The next visit i was with 5 others. 3 men 3 women. We ordered drinks and the waiter, again no welcome or smile, brought drinks. Unfortunately, he dropped a full glass of wine on the back of one of my companions. The glass shattered on the floor. He proceeded to clean the floor with table napkins, and to my horror, never apologized. At other restaurants they would apologize and give complimentary drinks all around. Ninno brought a new drink for me and said, "try to keep it on the table". I was stunned but did not want an awkward moment. The food was bland and did not live up to past performance. One of my friends friend did not eat his fish at all, after tasting it. Again, no "enjoy your food" and the waiter did not check on us at all after food was served. We ordered coffee and dessert. We never got the coffee. We...

My thought is that if you go to an Italian restaurant and the owner happens to be Italian, then that is a bonus since they know about Italian food. And how do you know that they're Italian ... it's because "parlano italiano e sono veri itlaiani" just like me.

With that said, the atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice. A small quaint location. Not sure if it's because of covid but tables are separated by curtains, but in what i think is a very nice way to provide a nice initimate dining atmosphere without the people sitting next you gawking at your food.

The staff was super friendly and efficient. Eating right when they opened it was the owner, second in command and a bus boy tending to 4 or 5 tables but all done super efficiently and always very friendly.

The food .... well ... the stuffed artichoke appetizer was out of this world. The stuffing of peppers, olives, tomatoes was an amazing complement. Even without the artichoke, dunking the bread in the sauce ... che buono.

The gnocchi and trio di pasta another spot on meal. The gnocchi were made and cooked to perfection. The sauce, a simple tomato sauce and the pink sauce, made super!!

The orriechiette fantasia, sausage and broccoli rapini ... very flavorful, and all the taste came together super!!!

A great location, a super staff and excellent food! You can't go wrong.

Adesso basta ... vai a mangiare da Rustico!...