Arianna's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Richmond

Arianna's has some great tasting food. The atmosphere was nice, however it was mid-afternoon, so the place was empty. We wandered in at 3 on a Saturday afternoon. We wanted to sit and have a meal, but weren't sure whether to seat ourselves, or not. No one seemed to notice we had come in the door. We walked to the register and looked through some to go menus. I assume they were to go menus, since they included coupons. Finally, after over 10 minutes, someone asked if we were getting takeout. We explained we wanted to eat in, and were welcomed to take a seat anywhere. The place is cozy, with real and faux brickwork, and dark red paint to match. We chose to sit at the bar, which is in a side room with more tables. The bar is unique, with a pronounced wavy edge, almost like scalloped. The downside? It has very little overhang, leaving your knees or clothes subject to abrasion against the rough brickwork underneath.

Our server was polite and nice. We started with the calamari appetizer, and a bottle of house Vino Blanco Chardonnay. Bonus: It's an Italian wine imported by a Richmond, VA importer. It was a delicious wine, especially for a house wine. The calamari was nice and tender; not overcooked. We ended up with all rings, and no legs, but it was delicious enough that the legs were not missed.

For entrees we ordered spaghetti carbonara and chicken parmesan. Initially I was disappointed in the small-seeming mound of spaghetti next to my chicken cutlets with sauce and cheese. It ended up being sufficient enough that I took about half of it home, because I was full. The spaghetti carbonara was nice and creamy. The pancetta did not appear to have been crisped in a pan before being added, which would have cooked off some of the fat, and released the flavor. This was a little surprising to see, since our amicable server proudly proclaimed, "Well, we're a Sicilian restaurant!" when we spoke about how the calamari was prepared. The pancetta was also gristly and fatty, so that required a little spitting out here and there, which is not a great look while dining in public. The overall taste of the carbonara was on point, nonetheless.

Overall, a great experience. We understand a lack of people in the front of the house when we entered, as the kitchen appeared to be very busy making to-go meals. We...

Ordered delivery through Ubereats/Postmates. I ordered a small (12") Ariana's Special pizza with extra cheese, an 8" philly steak and cheese, (I did asked for no lettuce, no tomatoes, no peppers), arugula salad w/extra dressing, and a cheese arancine. The driver made another delivery ahead of mine across town, so my food was ice cold (and pizza toppings had slid off the pizza while it was still hot apparently), but I was able to reheat the philly cheesesteak and the cheese arancine. The arugula salad was fresh and decent size for the price. I enjoyed it a lot. The cheese arancine was fantastic, but the marinara dipping sauce that came with it was incredible!!! I mean, so good!!!! I could eat of bowl of that by itself, and I've never ever had marinara sauce that I would even consider eating by itself, never! The cheesesteak was fresh, nice portion of meat, cheese and onions, and the roll it was on was great. Just a really, really great 8" cheesesteak sub. The pizza...it looked like it was probably awesome when it was made and while it was hot. But I wasn't able to heat up and fix the issue with the topping having slid off into the corner of the box. The pizza crust tasted good, crispy. The toppings by themselves tasted good. I just couldn't eat the pizza. I've reported it to Ubereats. It's definitely their issue, not the restaurant's. Obviously the restaurant handed a hot pizza to the driver but, unfortunately, he must've tilted it getting it from them or getting in his car with it, because it was ice cold by the time he arrived at my houseand took it out of his car,... an hour after picking it up from Arianna's. I spent $14 in delivery fees, $5 more in a tip firvthe driver. So I only blame Ubereats/Postmates for the issues I had with my food. I will definitely order from here again, I'll just probably pick it up...

Came in with a group of associates for what was supposed to be a quick lunch as we all ordered the daily special of subs or 2 slices of pizza...everybody got their food with errors such as one person asked for a salad instead of fries and was willing to pay the up charge but when her meal came waitress have wrong sandwich and no salad. To that the waitress then told us don't worry. I will take salad off bill...and then realized she gave wrong sandwich too her and asked why she didn't speak up...Poor customer service.

I on the other hand didn't get what i ordered and after 5 minutes asked waitress where my pizza slices were at and told that 2 orders after ours got theirs before i did BUT i was going to get fresh pizza in about 10 minutes...WTH do they serve old pizza to everybody else and i should feel special? There was no compensation for the 15 minute delay and the fact that i didn't get to eat my lunch when it arrived because everyone else was done and we had to go.

Moral to the story, stay on top of the wait staff here and ask when something is not moving as fast or wrong...I usually tip 20% but in this case less because she capped off the bills with assuming that people were overly generous when paying with Cash and believed the change was her tip by asking is the change hers? Poor service does not equate to Excellent tipping.

Food was average and rushed because some people got almost melted cheese on Hot subs, burnt cheese on pizza slices, and minimal fries o.j. sandwiches. Don't cut corners because presentation...