Riccardo's Pizza & Italian Restaurant

I think we can all say we are foodies here. I've been trying to get to Riccardo's Italian Restaurant since I first saw it on my radar back in February. It's a solid 30 minute ride from me and though that isn't long, you aren't married to my husband. He is hard to get out of the house for dinner. And if it's more than 10 minutes away it's usually a firm no from him. So since February I've been trying to get him to take the ride to try Vito Russo 's restaurant. We'll tonight I guess he caved because I told him before lunch today that I wanted to go tonight since we try to avoid weekend nights at eateries-he shockingky agreed to go We actually enjoyed the country ride there. It's true first impressions are important. When we arrived and walked to the door the young pizza delivery man was walking way in front of us and he stopped to hold the door open for us- a great first impression. It was seat yourself and within a minute our server came to bring us menus and get our drink order. The dining room is very pretty and softly lit with fresh roses at every table in a wine bottle. You can't help but notice the far wall full of family photos and the soft neon sign that says "Everything you see I owe to pizza." The entire staff here is pleasant. My husband noticed the comradery among the employees and said he must be good to work for. We couldn't decide which pie to order or whether to have a dinner entree, so we got both. I ordered Tour of Italy and he ordered the Grandma Pie. Tour of Italy is Lasagna, Chicken Parm, and Fettuccine Alfredo on one plate with choice of soup or salad. I went in objectively -though I read nothing but positive reviews about this place- I mean that's why I was so eager to visit. Right away we saw Vito come out to visit every table and talk to his customers (like I've read in other posts). He started bringing out plates to each table and minutes later appeared at ours to offer his fermented garlic bread, now mind you we already feasted on delicious garlic knots with a thick marinara dip, and a garden salad with a yummy balsamic house dressing. When Vito came to our table is when I told him I came from seeing so much on Facebook and this group. He introduced us to his mother who was seated behind me and what a sweet little lady she is. You can see family it's very important here and that the staff too is family. We talked to him about the expansion and how he grew up here. Photos of his father and him on the wall reinforced that- 50 years in business this year When our food came we dove into all of it and I'm not one to order fettuccine Alfredo, because in the past at other places it is either too heavy or to strong. This however was like eating pasta in a sauce made of clouds. It was so creamy and light yet still stuck to my ribs- Major comfort food. The lasagna and chicken parm were just as tasty in their own right. The pie was delicious. Bill and I shared it all and still couldn't finish half of it. Vito saw what pizza we ordered and came out to tell us to save room. He brought out a browns mills tomato pie for us to try on the house. Whew I'm glad I saved room. I took a couple bites from my husband's slices. Everything we had was rich and robust in flavor. Nothing masked anything else. The garlic was just right and the sweetness of the tomatoes complimented the cheeses. The biggest compliment would be from my husband as we left. He isn't one to say much and he said "**** that was good. I thought it was just a regular pizza place but this was worth the drive." So Vito from the man who says about 10 words a day and likes to stay home, you earned all his words. Thank you for the great food and customer service and unexpected complimentary pie- we will be bringing our whole family back very soon. Mangia!!!