Rafagino — Restaurant in Virginia

I will join a few others who were not thoroughly impressed with this restaurant. First, the positives. The owner/host was charming and obviously interested in pleasing his customers. The servers were attentive and professional. The atmosphere is quaint/charming, although some of the tables are a bit small. My disappointment with the restaurant is the prices that it charges for mediocre food. For three of us, including tip, the meal came to over $200. Yes. We each had cocktails. It took a half hour from when we were seated to receive any bread. The bread was accompanied by little plastic tubs of butter, the kind you find in diners. The bread tasted as if it was picked up at the supermarket. Because there was such a time lag in receiving bread and no one told us it was coming (and we had a hungry teen with us), we decided to order bruschetta to start. We also ordered a caprese salad ($13) and a garden salad ($13). Interestingly, all three items were very similar, in that they contained mostly arugula drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The bruschetta seemed to have more seasoning and was satisfying. The salads could have used some fresh herbs and seasoning. All in all, too much balsamic vinegar. It would have been better if they had given us olive oil with our bread and drizzled some balsamic in the oil, and then made a different light, herbaceous vinegarette for the salads. One of us ordered eggplant parmesan ($21). The menu does not tell you that the eggplant comes with a side of linguini. Given that the menu is written as if everything is a la carte, this was at least a nice little surprise, although in keeping with other restaurants. However, the accompanying tomato sauce had little depth. It tasted of tartness and nothing else, as if it came from a can with no effort to add the proper herbs/seasoning. The eggplant was pasty due to residual uncooked flour. Very disappointing. Others in our party had better luck with their dishes ordering broiled salmon (although the portion was less than generous) for $24 and shrimp scampi for $23. We also ordered two desserts, which we agreed were just okay. Even considering that we ordered cocktails, I do not expect a dinner for three in a small, suburban strip mall restaurant to cost over $200 ($170 plus tip) unless they have the food to back it up. I hope that Rafagino considers lowering its prices or elevating its cooking, or perhaps a...

Went for a 5:30PM dinner in order to beat the rush. Before I get into this, I want to say that the wait staff were exceptional (except tell the water people to chill out - I don't need water every 5 minutes and it becomes disruptive). In talking with the owner personally, Rafagino has been in business for 28 years and has sentimental value to the locals. People have had their weddings in this place. It is with this in mind and without the sentiment (as a local but a first-timer) that I write this review.

At a price point of about $60/person, I don't think it's unfair to have a certain level of expectation when it comes to the quality of the food. Our meal began by being presented with a baguette that was clearly from Safeway next door, and butter in the little single-use plastic containers. Absolutely unforgivable to not have fresh bread at an Italian place.

Appetizers were extremely small which is fine at a Michelin-starred establishment, not so fine at around $12 a piece, and not when they were of "eh" quality. Specifically, the bocconcini were flooded in (an admittedly tasty) balsamic dressing, but the mozz balls had melted which turned the entire thing into a soup, more or less.

The caesar salad, once again, suffered from a lack of quality. The croutons were from a bag clearly, there wasn't enough dressing, and the romaine was not cut to avoid large portions of stem. These are very simple concepts that even Olive Garden would get right.

I had veal picata as my entree. The pasta was from a box, which at this point I expected but thought would be a cardinal sin at a reputable Italian restaurant. The veal itself was not butchered with care and contained more gristle than I would like, which is zero.

The atmosphere that other reviewers have lauded left me scratching my head, because there literally isn't one. It's a very small space that is dim (and not in a good way), the chairs are rock hard and not conducive to staying very long, and the whole establishment suffers greatly from a lack of ambience to distract from how closely you're crammed in there with other guests.

Overall, this was probably the most unfortunate restaurant I've been to in Burke. I think it is propped up and kept running by locals having what I presume to be pre-Covid memories of the place, but if you're thinking of visiting for the first time, I highly suggest going up the road to Villa...

0 friends 4 reviews Richard A. Alexandria, VA 1/15/2013 This placed was busy on a Friday night...I believed that to be a good sign...I was WRONG! Though our server was lovely and polite she was extremely rushed. Not her fault, they were evidently short staffed. Dining space was cramped. I rarely write a negative comment but here it is warranted.

Lets begin with the Bread. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. I am positive that they purchased this from the Safeway next door..how, you ask? Because a part of the Safeway brown paper was cut off into our bread bowl. I am left asking, how can an establishment that portrays an image such a this, having considerably high entree and wine prices...have the audacity to serve their patrons dollar bread? Absurd management decision.

Secondly, I must speak of what I ordered which was the Filet with Gorgonzola (it is 2 small pieces) and was horridly tough. I could barely cut it with a knife. It was Medium Rare. Need I say more?. The salad served prior was just ok and the Wine (which was Italian Chianti), was decent. Several people at my table were disappointed as well, one person having the Meat plate which looked like deli meat and cheese squares you buy in a bag (Maybe Safeway strikes again?) My Co-worker ordered the Pasta with Red Sauce and Calamari, which she says was edible, though she didn't finish.

What happened next is the most off-the-wall, horrifying experience of the night. Seems as I had a very interesting view from a reflection in the Wall Mirror because I see the Manager (who I presume is the owner- expensive suit on, greeted us at the door) huddled with a waitress by the bar, in the corner. He angrily pointed his finger in her face, yelling, until she starts to cry. I read his lips say something about "Stupid". She left and walked towards the restrooms. This incident was incredibly disturbing to me and because of it (and the food), I will never return to this restaurant and neither will my colleagues or friends. Now I can see why the staffed performed like Robots...and I feel apathy for them. Such a shame, find a new job young ladies and gentlemen and people of Burke, find a new restaurant.

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