Russo’s Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Ship Bottom

We made the decision to go to Russo's with the clear understanding that they have only been open a couple of weeks. With that said, there are many signs that can give you a clear indication if they are going in the right direction or if there will be another entrepreneur in that spot next summer. I am glad to say that, taking everything into consideration, we believe that Russo's will be around for some time. What we noticed right off the bat, seated in a booth near the front in eye shot of a huge floor to ceiling fish tank, was that the energy in the room was fervent and that no one seemed to be leaving wiih any outward sense of disappointment. Most of those that had finished their meals were readily taking their leftovers, if any, to enjoy at a later time or to share with those that couldn't come. Now, what about the service? Well, first, our server was Gabrielle (Gabby) and she was a delight. A college student home for the summer, Gabby was personable, charming, fun and a had good sense of humor... along with a good understanding of the menu, allowing her to help when and where help was needed. Gabby was attentive, but not in your face. It seemed that when we needed something, she would mystically appear at our table. We also had the pleasure of meeting Natalie, the owners daughter, who was nice enough to answer some more detailed questions about the family's history and the menu. Her pride in her dad's culinary skill was completely unabashed and infectious... so much so that, when talking about one particular dish's sauce (the Bolognese) she went back to ask her dad to let me have a small taste... and it was delicious! The food... Simply put, all on point. Some notable servings from our first visit... the arugula salad was described to me as refreshing with a terrific lemon based dressing. The Russo salad was simple and a perfect starter. The Shrimp Rosa was well prepared with just the right amount of spice and the shrimp were plentiful and perfectly cooked. The linguini with clam sauce was "really, really good"... with lots of clams! One last note on this first visit... if you are not watching carb consumption, be prepared to soak up and clean your plates with the bread provided. You would be well served to ask for more bread as soon as the first loaf is set down on the table. In summary... We will be going back and looking...

Don't be fooled, this is a 3 star (on a 5 star rating scale) restaurant, not 4.5 as it's currently scored, have made several visits there. Chicken parm is extremely big portion, no issues. Veggie pizza- good but a little overpriced. Chicken saltimbocca- not enough sauce, prosciutto and spinach, yet too much pasta. Meatballs are very good. Garlic bread/rolls that were served were poor, very poor; cold, no flavor, tasted like yesterday's bread. BYOB which is good. Server inexperienced, yet very nice. Bonus note- just a point of information- I originally ordered the special- pork chop saltimbocca- they were all out, it was 7:30 on a winter Saturday night. Bonus bonus note- staff began shutting the restaurant down while we were completing our meal- about 9:15, which wasn't the greatest vibe, especially considering the food wasn't all that great. Ok food, nothing bad, but nothing excellent/great, and some real misses in there as well, certainly not good enough to earn anything beyond 3 stars. Was our last visit, wayyy too many better...

I, and many others, experienced appalling customer service. My order was incorrect and I waited over an hour past the scheduled pickup time. Another customer, who placed an online order at 4:30 PM for 7:00 PM pickup, endured a wait of over an hour and a half. Repeated attempts to speak with a manager were ignored. While numerous customers in the pickup area waited over an hour for their food, the phone representative continued to inaccurately inform callers of a one-hour wait time. The business then felt it was necessary to call later that evening and assert fault that I mentioned the wrong name at pickup and blaming myself for single-handily “tripping up the entire kitchen”, meanwhile when picking up the order I advised the order is under either “Julie” or “Nick” for “XYZ” the woman found it instantly. Assuming I did make a mistake, what mistake did the other people waiting make? How can a business claim fault on an order they found? HORRIBLE!!! Even if i was wrong, what business calls a customer to tell them...