Spiaggia Ristobar — Restaurant in North Topsail Beach

I regret making this review because this is a new restaurant, but unfortunately on our very first visit, it was a really bad experience. As we entered the restaurant and sat at our table, our waitress got us our drinks (waters and Coke) but took an unusually long time to get back to us. The cups they serve your water and coke in are small, less than 16oz, so your drinks will go fairly quickly and my soda was never once refilled throughout our entire meal. The place was pretty busy but we only ever saw her service 1 other table, so not sure what took so long? Anyways, we got our appetizer and realized the waitress never gave us plates or utensils, so that was awkward. Someone else wearing a black polo (not the staff uniform so perhaps the floor manager?) got us our plates and utensils. Once that was done, our meals came. I got the lobster ravioli and with no exaggeration, my plate had 5 total raviolis on it. I mean, for $28 freaking dollars, I would expect at least a little more? My wife got the lasagna ($20 meal) and it was at least a better proportion for the money than my joke of dish, but unfortunately for her, the lasagna was cold on the inside and we had to flag down the waitress to have her send it back to be reheated (she never once asked us how the food was by the way). By the time my wife got her food back, I was done with my meal. Can you blame me? IT WAS 5 RAVIOLIS! My wife got about 1/2 way through her meal when our waitress asked us if we got our bread for the lasagna sauce. So not only did she never give us plates or utensils, but she never gave us our bread when we were first seated. What the heck! We asked our waitress for the check and she asked us if we wanted a box for the leftovers, to which we both said "Yes please". She returns with the check book and asked us if she can take our plate. We thought this was her offering to box the food for us since we JUST told her we wanteda box. NOPE! She took it, put her other tables plates on top of it and took it to the kitchen. When she returned we asked her about it and she said "Oh I thought you said you didn't want a box" umm, we BOTH said we wanted a box. She then offered to return the lasagna. Are you dumb? YOU PUT OTHER PEOPLES PLATES ON OUR FOOD! We told her no and she asked if we wanted dessert. Oh yes, PLEASE give me more overpriced food after you just trashed my wifes leftovers. LOVE IT! The only redeeming quality of this otherwise terrible first (and last) visit was the quality and taste of the food, even the slightlycold lasagna was pretty good. Ridiculously overpriced but delicious nonetheless! My advice is, if you want a good bang for your buck with good portion size where you don't feel like you're being ripped off, go...

On August 30th, my wife and I came in for a late lunch at your restaurant. I had originally wanted to eat elsewhere near the ferry, but my wife had heard great things about your place and was eager to try it — so we decided to give it a shot.

We arrived at 2:10 PM (confirmed by the GPS directions I had pulled up), and upon walking in, the bartender — who I believe may also be the manager — told us we could sit wherever we liked. We chose a high-top table in the corner near the restrooms.

We sat for about five minutes before a woman entered, used the restroom, and then another woman — presumably our server — went in after her, telling us she’d be right back. When she returned, she took our drink order, and my wife also added an order of calamari, which she acknowledged before bringing our waters.

From there, though, we were essentially ignored. We watched as our server continued to bring food to other tables but never once returned to check on us, refill waters, or take the rest of our order. Meanwhile, the bartender focused on two guests at the bar, then brought food to a table behind it, opened a laptop, and never made eye contact with us or acknowledged us.

By this point, we had finished our calamari and my water — and I was starving. I’d only had a beef jerky stick earlier that morning while heading to a promotion ceremony. A man came in and sat at the bar, and I saw him get his order placed, a drink served, and a pizza rack brought out promptly. This confirmed we were being overlooked.

We run three businesses and had to get back home for Zoom meetings. While preparing to leave, I saw the bartender on her phone by the door, then go into the kitchen — followed by the music starting. I stood and waited near the corner for about two minutes before our server finally saw me and asked if I needed anything. I explained that we had waited a long time without being fully waited on and had to leave for our appointments.

All she offered was a half-hearted apology and no real explanation. She rang up our bill (which came to around $12), and despite the poor service, I still left her a $5 tip — not to punish her, but simply out of principle and I’ve been in the service industry so I know what it’s like to work for tips.

I even reached out directly through the restaurant’s website and never received a response. At this point, I feel like I have no choice but to share my experience publicly here.

After this experience I won’t ever be going back to this place, and I hope others think twice before deciding to go. Poor service and no follow-up, even after I reached out through their website and got no response. Extremely...

Love having a great place to eat in Sneads Ferry!!

I’ve been here four times in the month or so since it opened. The food is consistently fantastic! Have tried the chicken parm, the margherita pizza, the mushroom ravioli, the tagliatelle, and the soup (I forget which one), as well as the mozzarella fritti and the focaccia. All have been consistently delicious, beautifully presented, and very fresh.

The service does leave a bit to be desired. Twice it has been very slow, and twice very brusque. Food is placed on the opposite side of the table in a drive-by, straws and plates are sort of thrown onto the table, empty sodas are rarely refilled, and more than once we’ve said, “do you think the hostess told the waitress we’re here?” Sometimes there’s Parmesan and red pepper flakes, usually we have to ask for them to be brought out.

I can understand brusque, perfunctory service in quick-serve restaurants. But when I’m spending $80 on lunch for two not including drinks and tip, I don’t think it’s beyond the pale to want to feel like I’m at a restaurant instead of a fast food counter. Not once have I been recommended anything, it told about a special, or suggested a pairing.

All the cutlery, napkins, etc. are high-quality and enhance the experience, but the disposables (straws, to-go boxes, etc.) are incredibly cheap and flimsy. Do you know how cheap a straw has to be for me to notice it? Lol.

I hope these are some growing pains of a restaurant I hope to keep frequenting every week. As a local, I love seeing new places thrive that I can patronize year round!

(Ps: don’t get the mushroom ravioli if you’re hungry. Or get an extra appetizer to go...