Romanza — Restaurant in Reno

We're staying at Peppermill and decided to eat here. Thinking that the entire hotel was beautifully decorated in Tuscant/Mediterranean style and that we're even staying in the Tudcany Towers, this must have really fine Italian Cusine. WRONG.... The room has a lot of atmosphere and has great potential to be something special, but that's where it ends. In our opinion, the entire menu should be tossed. There's more Italian themed dinner choices at Maggiano's or the Olive Garden than here. Greeted by a bus boy who 2st asked do we want some bread and butter. Then asked, do we want some water.. I guess he didn't want to do and work if he didn't have to. But in a Fine Dining restaurant, you don't even ask.. 1st mistake. We split an $11.00 Caesar salad. We were given 2 plates and at some a point a bowl was dropped on our table left for us to fend for ourselves. Bedides being small, even for 1 person, I never saw a Caesar served with 3 small, mushy tomatoes. On the bottom was 1 piece of sonething like Melba toast. There was some dressing but nothing that remotely tasted like Caesar. And certainly no hint of anchovies even though I was assured it was made with anchovie paste. Noting that this fine Italian restaurant did not have a single Bolanaise or Milanaise offering. No Osso Bucco. No Chicken Francaise.. No assortments of common pasta dishes or Mediterranean Seafoods, this menu was a diaster. O e dish we did have was Chicken Picatta. NEVER have I seen this served as a half a breast STILL ON THE BONE, served on top of a pile of spaghetti that absorbed almost all of the sauce. A sauce the COOK, not chef, decided to empty 1/2 a jar of capers into. Lacking choices I went with Veal Marsala. I had requested Angel Hair pasta on the side with what I was told would be a reddish wine sauce.. I was served 3 thick pieces of veal smothered in a brown gravy over a pile of thick spaghetti. This should ALWAYS be served as thin medallions of veal and not slabs as thick as your thumb. Once it was returned the way I requested, my angel hair only had more of this Marsala goop piled on top. I wound up scraping off all of it from the Veal and that was what I ate. We were offed free desert for the error which we declined. An inexperienced, but well meaning waitress that kept referring to herself as part of our party. What are WE having, is OUR salad ok? OUR food will be out soon. Is there anything else WE want.. Finally I said, are you going to be paying OUR bill? The money wasn't the object, and In a hotel I expect to pay more, but this was the worse $117.00 dinner we ever had. There are way better places to eat...

Romanza is an extravaganza!

The environment: Elegant, but fun. There are 3 giant naked statues of Bacchus/Dionysus and 2 women spinning in the middle of the room 🗿 The ceiling changes colors while you dine (which is why photos here look dark/weird). There are Greek cauldron-like torches that ignite with real flames 🔥 It was a pleasant surprise walking in and while dining.

The experience: We had two very kind and attentive servers who brought 3 kinds of bread and some cheesy, crunchy bread sticks in a basket with some butters, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Very good.

We had plenty of time to order and we were not rushed. The staff was patient and made us feel welcome. Eventually we decided on the Sea-Bass ($50), the Langoustine and Shrimp Scampi ($45) and my own dish, the Osso Buco veal.

In order of excellence: The Osso Buco was a real winner. Gold medal! The meat was so tender I could cut it with a fork, the polenta was creamy with a hint of intermittent grit, and the gravy brought them together. It looked like someone put flowers on my food with tweezers. Now that's what I'm talking about! I ate everything, every flower, every scoop of fatty marrowy gravy from the bone, and every drop of smooth polenta. This dish never slept. It kept on giving 😉 a healthy portion of meaty pleasure.

The sea bass was delivered as a thick serving of seared deliciousness with a lady-sized portion of shrimp risotto bedded underneath. I was impressed by the amount of shrimp in the risotto. The risotto was a little spicy, bursting with seafood flavor, and is best eaten while hot. After about 20 minutes a lot of the liquid in the risotto began to separate from the mixture and made it a little watery. This dish is still a big recommend, but needs to be eaten in less than 20 minutes for maximum enjoyment.

Finally, the Langoustine was good because it tastes like capers and shrimp and has that typical seafood pasta thing going on, but it didn't really impress compared to the others 🤷

So, 1 mind-blowing veal dish, 1 great seafood dish, and 1 better than Olive-garden level pasta dish.

The dining journey ended with 3 yummy raspberry chocolates and our check delivered quickly but at just the right time. We were also given some almond scented hot towelettes to clean our...

We just ate here today for our 1st Wedding Anniversary, and it was awesome!

Start by saying, Reservations are highly recommended. We had a reservation and were taken immediately. Although as we left, I saw a bunch of people waiting to try and get a table (without reservations). Call or reserve online.

Service was superb! Which is always a big factor in determining my dining experience. We were constantly checked on by our waiter and wait helper. We didn't even have to ask for anything ordinary. They took notice if we needed something (i.e. refill to drinks, new plates, a cup with a lid for our 3yr old., more bread/butter, etc) and brought it immediately.

The setting is a nice dim setting, with a candlelight table, flaming columns, and a spinning statue.

The food was a bit expensive, but expected for a fine dining type restaurant... Though I must say, it is worth it. Everything we ordered did NOT let us down. We had the Magherita Flatbread, Morsels of Ahi Tuna, Panzanella Salad, Chicken Parmagiana, and Kobe Beef Ravioli (and of course their house bread with pretzel sticks--which were also yummy). I really really enjoyed my Kobe Beef Ravioli. It was delicious. I also had an Italian Margarita, which I thought was a tasty, playful drink. For dessert, we had the Tiramisu and Affogato. Both delicious as well.

Overall, great experience. Highly recommended Italian restaurant for a special occasion or...