Ruffino Ristorante — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I found Ruffino on Google, b/c I was looking for an Italian restaurant close to the Lynbrook Regal theater. I was able to quickly make a reservation through Google & arrived around 9:20 with a friend. While the service was friendly, attentive, & accommodating, the rest of the dining experience was not. This is a very small "Mom and Pop" restaurant. Tables are close together & you have to focus on who the people you're dining with, due to being able to hear the conversations of nearly everyone else around. The salad was mediocre (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, & cucumbers...with Italian vinaigrette--we weren't even given an option for a different dressing). When I am dining out, I want spinach/arugula/romaine/kale in a salad, simply b/c those are healthier options which look more appealing to the eye. 1/5 The buffalo mozzarella & tomatoes with pickled red peppers wasn't good at all. I didn't like the taste of that particular mozzarella. It didn't have the milky slightly sweet taste of mozzarella that I prefer. I added additional olive oil, balsamic vinegar, & salt/pepper to improve the taste. 1/5 They brought garlic bread with sauce & mozzarella (which tasted good, but looked like it was prepared for children as an afternoon snack). 2/5 I ordered the lobster ravioli with vodka sauce. I asked for fresh grated parmesan cheese & they only had the dehydrated parmesan in the shaker on the table. I thought to ask for extra baked mozzarella on top & I regret not doing so. The sauce & the ravioli were decent. 3/5. We had chocolate covered icecream for dessert, that was cut into 4 pieces. 4/5

Overall I won't be dining here again. The service was the best part, as the servers were friendly, attentive, & quick with bussing the tables and providing drinks. I am a "Foodie" deep down into my soul. While I only tried one meal from the menu, it simply wasn't enjoyable enough to return to give a different menu item a try.

Food: 2/5 Atmosphere:...

Edit 2. Eat it while it is hot because when it's cold it does not taste like regular pizza. All I taste is a weird cheddar cheese which I do not want on pizza unless I've ordered it. The soda was the best part because it made me feel like I was back in the late '90s with the Dr pepper cream soda flavor

Original review: Not bad. It's threw me off on the first or second bite. Almost tasted like there was a hint of cheddar in the cheeses. There is no way it's just mozzarella. Slice of pizza and a can of soda for less than 5 bucks is a steal nowadays. I would definitely be back for a slice or two. I know on my past reviews I've been critical as hell but.... this was good. I wouldn't recommend it for regular pizza goers because of the cheese taste. After letting it sit for a minute or two after running this review I tried another bite and it's almost offsetting. Sad. But just a different taste. I'm arguing with myself cuz it's...

I catered from this place twice, once twenty years ago and Xmas 2019. The food is very good and plentiful. We ordered shrimp scampi. The shrimp were large and properly cooked, and there was ample sauce. We had chicken picatta. The chicken was tender and flavorful, the sauce was very good and filled with fresh lemons. My son in law saw the portion and guessed the price as twice what we paid.

In 2001 we catered from this place for eighty people... we warned Sal (the proprietor) the people ate like pigs but he assured us that we ordered enough. We ran out of food and called him and he made a tray of chicken Parmigiano for no charge in...