Romano's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Virginia

We wanted to go back to Thunderbird Café for a 3rd time during our trip but they were absolutely packed. Romano’s is right near Thunderbird so we went here instead since I love Italian food. It was around noon on Sunday and we got seated very fast. Waters were delivered fast in big glasses with plastic straws. The table had salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and sugars on the table. No parmesan shaker. Make sure you ask for it.

They have high chairs available for kids. They have tables and booths. The chairs have no arms so they have max comfort.

Atmosphere: The air conditioning felt good. Cool enough on a hot day inside. They had some awesome Italian decor like the fake bread sticks, vines, etc. The yellow interior color blends well with the color of the chairs, booths and tables. It is loud inside. We could not hear any music but we were right by a big group with several children.

Service: slow for food and had to ask for water refills. We never saw the waitress except to get our drink order/appetizer order and to take our food order. Other staff brought us the appetizer, food, drink refills, and check / receipts. Every now and then I would look up after we were done eating and look for our waitress but I never saw her until the hostess actually came to check on us and asked if we needed drink refills and we said no. I told her I wanted the check though and pointed to the waitress so she would know who to get the check from. She went and got it and was quick about it and brought it back. Then someone else brought back our card/receipt. Service is 2 stars since they were friendly and we didn't have to wait an hour even though it was very busy but otherwise it sucked.

Food: We got the fried ravioli for an appetizer and it was good but not great. The breading was crispy but the breading itself and cheese inside could be way more flavorful. I did enjoy the taste of the tomato sauce that came with the ravioli. Also, the parmesan the dish was decorated with was good. I think it came with 6 raviolis. Definitely homemade tomato sauce. We don't think the ravioli was homemade. It kind of tasted like it was frozen first then flash fried. The inside is just not rich enough for a great ravioli. Bland almost. 3 out of 5 since they were crispy and dipping them in the tomato sauce makes for a good but not great appetizer.

I asked for a side of alfredo so I could try out their sauce since I love great alfredo. However, it was very very light. Not rich. Creamy but just too light for my kind of alfredo. Not much flavor happening. Essentially just milk and parmesan taste to us.

We noticed another table was getting garlic bread but I had to actually ask twice for the free garlic bread. Garlic bread was soft but tasted like it had been reheated and wasn’t fresh. Maybe a little too doughy / rubbery. It tasted like they toasted it, threw on some butter and served it but it didn't work. It didn't help trying it with alfredo or tomato sauce. Also, the edges/outsides of the bread was too hard and chewy to make it easy to eat.

I got a pepperoni medium pizza. Great tasting pizza. Sweeter marinara sauce like I like. Tasty crust and crispy. Better than my favorite place back home. More pepperoni on this pizza. Breading better, so yummy. 4.5 out of 5.

My date got the buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing. They were drowned in sauce. Just OK. Tender meat. He liked the buffalo sauce. Nothing special about these wings though. Plain jane wings. Standard blue cheese store bought and no chunks of blue cheese.

The only food item we would order again was the pizza. Everything else was just OK/whatever and we have eaten at a lot of pizza places and tried several alfredo sauces. Also, we think only the alfredo sauce, red sauce and pizza crust was homemade.

2 stars out of 5. Bad / slow service. Loud. 90% of food just OK other...

My family and I stayed at Massenutten Resort and after a long day out, we decided to order food from Romano's Italian Bistro. There were a lot of positive reviews on this site so we placed an order for delivery. Mu husband and I were very impressed with our dinners. I ordered eggplant parmigiana and my husband ordered chicken parmigiana. We also ordered a kids spaghetti and meatball. The dinners come with a soup or salad and garlic bread (they packed 9 pieces in our bag). We ordered two salads since the soup of the day did not interest us. The salad consisted of lettuce, onions, olives, tomatoes, and carrots. We asked for creamy Italian but received an Italian vinaigrette. It was actually very tasty. The eggplant was baked eggplant (no breading), sauce, and cheese. I asked for it in a seperate container and I am glad that I did. Then I ordered angel hair pasta with marinara sauce. I actually preferred the regular sauce that came with the kids meal. My husband's chicken parmigiana came with 2 chicken pieces. The chicken is breaded with sauce and cheese on top. He ordered the angel hair pasta with meat sauce which was a little over a dollar extra for the meat sauce. The portions were very large and my husband and I made 3 meals out of the portions. This place has delicious tastes good, but the only complaint my husband said was that the meatball needed a little more seasoning from the kids meal. This restaurant has reasonable pricing with great portions. We would definitely order again from this location if we stay in this area again.

Update... We order again a second night for take out. This time we ordered fried green beans, buffalo wings, chicken tenders, sweet potato fries, fried calamari, pizza, and a kids manicotti. Heathy choices, right???? 🙂 The food was great overall but was a little disappointed with the pizza. While their pasta sauce is excellent, the pizza was a bit bland. There is nothing special about the pizza that sets it apart from other places. I would recommend more seasoning. Also, the kid's manicotti only comes with one manicotti. I think it is a little small for the price compared to the other pasta that they serve. On a positive note, the chicken wings made with a fantastic breading and crispy. My husband loved the tenders and said they tasted freshly battered and not frozen. I would still highly recommend this restaurant and will visit again the next time we stay...

Where do I begin? I'm married to a Sicilian chef, who was born and raised in Sicily. He owned a pizzeria and later an Italian restaurant, so he knows his food! No one makes better Italian food than my husband except my deceased mother-in-law. God rest her soul. How did this place get a 4 star rating? HOW? If you don't know what good food is, then I can understand the high ratings.

The bruschetta tasted like hot, chunky salsa on top of garlic bread. Not even close to what bruschetta is or should be! The calamari is frozen. It lacked any flavor! Waste of money. Get in some fresh calamari, bread it with a mixture of Panko, Romano cheese and a bit of salt, then deep fry till golden. It's just that simple! What did you do to that poor eggplant parmesan? Does that soggy mess come in frozen from the food purveyor? I've never witnessed an eggplant destroyed to the point of a wet, wimpy, tasteless pile of mush. No wonder eggplant has such a bad rap in America. Take it off your menu or learn how to peel, slice, flour, egg bath, bread and saute one of nature's most delicious vegetables! Now to the chicken alfredo. Alfredo sauce is simple. Heavy cream, parmesan cheese, a bit of fresh chopped garlic and a touch of flour to thicken. Again, it is that simple. Your sauce was thin and tasteless. The chicken was a pre-cooked, frozen chicken breast that you mercilessly drown in that white, watery sauce! My son ate one bite and was done. Now, the pasta reviews. Don't keep pasta in water before serving. Cook it to a true aldente, rinse under cold water and keep refrigerated. Once you have an order, grab your serving size, stick it in a strainer, submerge in boiling water to bring it up to temp and then plate it. Nobody likes bloated pasta. Yours was as bloated as a body under water for three days. As for your "red sauce"...just use a number 10 can. You'll be better off. Any true Italian knows oregano doesn't belong in a red sauce. It's too bitter. It is for pizza sauce. The pizza was so oily. Cheap cheese does that! I should have listened to my husband when he asked, "Why are there only 3 cars in the parking lot on a Sunday at 5:30?" Listen to your...