Ricado's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Oʻahu

My first and only visit here and I ordered Carbonara. The dish was served with penne, on a shallow plate. The sauce was thin and flat. The cream and cheese came through but no herbs nor pepper could be found in the sauce I was served. Combining penne, thin sauce, and a shallow plate made applying the sauce to the pasta nearly impossible. There was undercooked white button mushroom, and cold hard bacon in the sauce. Had the mushrooms been properly cooked they would have been a welcome addition to the dish. The pasta was cooked absolutely perfectly. I can not at all complain about it, I wouldn't have changed the cook on the pasta at all.

The staff was so attentive it bordered on pestering. In lieu of a traditional sectional style of service there were some 5-6 service staff who visited our table over the course of the meal. Initially I was pleasantly surprised, but quickly realized this meant having one or two people visit the table in any given 5 minutes at the table. The management has, in my humble opinion, made some flawed decisions in operation. The water glasses on our table were approximately 8oz and with ice filling that meant about 4 oz of water per glass. This effectively contributed to the apparent need for more servers, without it someone would need to basically stand by each section just filling drinks all night. Change your glassware, or simplify the operation for everyone by providing a container of chilled water at the table which can be exchanged by staff when needed. The tables were all numbered with reflective mailbox numbers on the wall behind the table. This has a few problems as it is terribly tacky, and gives me great concern about the level of experience of both management and staff at this restaurant. Most dining rooms have a numbered layout, and a diagram is kept in the service area away from guests. Staff is expected to learn the layout as they train and here should be no problem for anyone with even the most rudimentary experience in a dining room. That said, the only rational conclusion I can reach for the display of table numbers as seen here is that the staff turnover is so high, no one working here has long enough to learn the layout, or has the experience to pick it up quickly. Finally the food prices are absolutely astronomical! Pasta, not made from scratch, with a sauce and no protein for some $20. With protein most dishes are $25+. I am not certain how they calculated their food cost into that price point, but that is just jaw dropping. Boxed penne is less than a dollar a serving, my dish contained roughly one strip of bacon and two mushrooms, I'll estimate around another dollar, and the cream based sauce around another dollar. Where is the other $17 going?! I have worked in restaurants, ballrooms, banquet halls, hotels, and bars. I cannot fathom how this is managed if these are the Management's conclusions. All the above complaints aside, most of the staff were genuinely working and trying hard, but you could feel the tension in the place. The customer service voices and faces on ready display. The smell of fear and depression, overwhelms when one looks into the eyes of the servers. Ricado's has traditional style Italian ideas, executed in a sloppy, dated, and arguably even unprofessional manner. The food was as soulless as the decor, plating, presentation, menu, and exterior of the restaurant. I am sorry for those who work here, and wish them well. On the way out I noticed a sign on the door: "Voted best of 2008" I'd wager that says about as much as I have here, if you see it on your way in for the first time, you'd immediately know what's...

This is not my first time coming here, but it's definitely my last. I heavily recommended this place after coming ONE time because I was so amazed how everything tasted. Ever since they did away with lunch they went down... I ordered an appetizer and salad, which was super good and was as great as last time. Can't complain. It was my main dish. It was AWFUL it tasted like jar pasta sauce, and I know as I specifically hate jar sauce and can always taste it out of homemade alfredo. It's night and day. But the consistency was also that of jar, watery...

I complained because I just didn't want it anymore but I did pick at the chx because he was taking forever to come back to our table... it wasn't even busy. When he finally came round, Our server made a snarky remark about what I had left on the plate. MIND YOU, all I did was eat some of the BOILED chicken, but no pasta was eaten!!! I just asked for something else easy. But after that remark I didn't want anything. So we get our bill... and they just marked $10 off my $20 pasta plate that I could've made for $5...... I wasn't looking to get free food, I just wanted to enjoy my meal with my boyfriend. I was so upset I didn't even leave a tip. Maybe it's because we're young, but I felt judged and discriminated against. I don't care who says to come here I won't recommend it anymore. And I thought I was gunna like this place over bravos......

The best down-to-earth, simple, Italian restaurant I've found on Oahu so far, and very reasonably priced. It hit on almost every important aspect.

Service - good if not overly friendly. Was seated right away, everything was brought out right and done as I asked.

Bread - warm without being overly dry; very good bread, soft inside, only slightly crunchy on the outside, very tasty. Butter was served soft - this plus warm bread are key since they allow you to actually spread the butter on the bread - and many places mess it up.

Salad - the weakest part of dinner. House salad was just lettuce and two slices of a tomato, and a creamy Italian dressing is the only dressing option.

Chicken piccata - very good. Good sized portions without being overwhelmingly large. The whole dish (I chose the linguine over the potatoes or steamed veggies) was very good.

All that, plus a soft drink for barely more than 25 dollars, plus a tip

Overall a very good, solid Italian choice just of SR99 near Pearlridge. I will...