Riccio's Steak & Seafood — Restaurant in Palm Springs

Upon arrival we stopped for drinks at the bar. I requested diet cola with very little ice. The glass was served full of ice. We gave our credit card to the bartender. He could not scrub the card and asked someone to come over. They walked away to process the payment taking several minutes to return.

Upon seating we waited a very long time for service. I eventually flagged down the waitress. She said she was waiting for the rest of our party. There was one more guest to arrive. I would’ve expected her to greet us immediately upon arrival and take it from there.

Nobody came to the table to ask if they could freshen our drinks. I’m surprised because liquor is the life blood of a restaurant.

A friend asked about the bottles with oil and balsamic vinegar. I said its an Italian custom to accompany bread. After 15 minutes there was no bread. I requested some.

I ordered calamari and carpaccio for appetizers. The waitress asked if it was for two of us or the table. I said the table. The calamari serving was quite nice with good volume but chewy. The carpaccio was practically non-existent under a huge pile of greens. On serving myself over half of the carpaccio came up on my fork. Our last guest arrived and ordered calamari. It too was chewy and contained a french fry.

We ordered our food. Some time later the waiter came by with spoons and cocktail forks to be used with the meal. When our paella arrived the table was still filled with glasses and appetizer plates. The server could not place the dishes. We had to make room for him. Perhaps he could have taken the used plates and glasses when he left the cocktail forks.

My husband ordered and asked for our meal to be split. I was going to take issue with the dish but realized I was being given half as requested. Even so the paella was very soupy and there was one scallop cut in half between us. The clams and mussels were extremely small. So small that I saved one aside to show the manager. Unfortunately my husband doesn’t know as I’m sure you do, not to order seafood late on Sunday.

I went to the kitchen service window and asked for the manager. The bartender came over to assist me. He invited me outside to talk. Nice touch.

I explained all the above detailing what you’ve read here. I opened the napkin I brought which held one clam. I asked the bartender to point out the clam meat. He also had trouble finding it. He apologized and did not try to make excuses. He understood we were disappointed and was genuinely sorry about everything.

After seven of us had finished our meals and the plates were being cleared our late arriving guest received her meal. I know you don’t have an expediter but even so the order should have been sent in as a rush.

When the check arrived it had a 20% tip included and showed a group of 10. There were only eight of us. I usually give 20% knowing how hard table service can be. I probably would not have given 20% tonight. I certainly hope the group was not bumped to ten to force a 20% tip. The total came to $234.67. Even though the alcohol was comped this meal was NOT worth $234.67

Just as background I lived in Chicago over 50 years. I’ve travelled to Sydney Australia and Cairo and many major cities between. I also graduated 4.0 at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago. I know what to expect at an upscale white...

My fiancee and I had been walking around the area, window shopping for hours and decided we wanted to get something good to eat and thought perhaps an 'old school ' steakhouse vibe might suit us. This place looked like it's been here for a while and THOUGHT that would mean it's good food. Wrong.

Let me first state that the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. I mean, REALLY kind. Almost like they knew you were making a mistake choosing this restaurant and wanted to make up for it.

So after a glance at the menu, we knew we were paying for P.S. prices. We didn't mind, so long as it's worth it. It so very, very much wasn't worth the price.

Keep in mind, any time I pay over $130 for a two person meal, I expect it to be pretty damn good. I'm from Seattle, so I know expectations are different in various areas. But still...

I ordered the Veal Picatta. It wasn't horrible, but clearly frozen meat, with a sauce that can be best described as lacking flavor of any kind. My veggies were steamed to incredible limpness with absolutely NO SEASONING at all. I mean, ZERO seasoning.

My fiancee ordered the NY Steak. It arrived with the right cook and good crust. However, the demi wasn't very tasty. Her veggies were just as awful as mine.

I began to wonder if I walked into a retirement home. I suppose I should have clocked the fact that most of the other customers were either retiree's or drunken "woo girls" like the ones at the table next to us.

I would like to reiterate that the staff were great, honestly, really great. But your kitchen staff are living in decades long past. Considering what we paid for this "meal" I have to say we were INCREDIBLY disappointed.

I honestly hate to leave bad reviews, but people need to be warned that the $45 steak you are buying (one of the cheaper ones) or whatever, is just not worth it. The prices match the neighborhood, but are NOT consistent with the food here.

Hard...

I visited a few months ago and had fettuccini alfredo with chicken. It was flavorless. I spent the entire meal trying to coax some flavor into it with salt, pepper, parmesan and eventually red pepper flakes. My husband was next to me doing the same thing with his ravioli. We had oysters for starters which I thought were Ok, but my mother in law felt had been purchased in a jar and put into shells for presentation sake. And the bread, at an Italian restaurant in my opinion, should or could be so good that it alone makes you want to go back. Nope. It tasted stale with no chew. But at last - the restaurant is easy to get to and has decent parking, so we chalked it up to a one off and gave it another try. Big mistake. I ordered a different pasta, betting that it's an Italian restaurant and figure that would be pretty safe. My penne with the vodka cream sauce was again another big disappointment. The sauce tasted like blended tomato sauce and milk and nothing else. I didn't even try to make it palatable. The mozzarella in my caprese salad tasted like it had been previously frozen and was watery, but not in a good way. My husband had the cowboy steak which he enjoyed. He also liked the clam chowder. My mother in law's filet didn't look like a filet (nice and round) and was so tough she couldn't cut through it. I love eating out and I hardly ever write reviews, but just thought people should be aware. I don't mind spending money on good food. But be warned this is NOT good food and it doesn't come cheap. On a final note, the service has been very...