Ristorante i Ricchi — Restaurant in Washington

I've waited tables for about 6 years so you get context on where I'm coming from. I had a date night here last night with a Groupon that costed $70 and got all the following for both me and my date each: 1 glass prosecco + 1 glass wine, 1 appetizer/starter, 1 entree and 1 dessert. Incredible deal from Groupon (was a $170 value) + $35 tip = barely over $100 out the door for a very nice three-course meal with wine for two people. The rating breakdown...

Atmosphere: 4/5 Very nice. Warm, calm, and clean with lots of foliage around the windows. Lighting and music were appropriate.

Service: 4/5 The hostess was a little cold/dry and the bartender (before being seated at our table) was very rigid and formal. I understand the atmosphere/caliber of the place but seeing as me and my date are young and vibrant compared to most of the clientele that was there at the time, you'd think the bartender would be a little more lively to us. The waitress we had, however, was very pleasant and thoroughly knowledgeable about what was on the menu. Constant attention when needed without being overbearing. A fantastic service experience...also, those bussers were very punctual and on point for the wait staff.

Food: 5/5 A fully Tuscan menu with a good range of options to choose from. Waitress was very knowledgeable and was able to provide answers to questions as well as her opinion on the dishes themselves. Everything was delicious and wonderfully prepared. The presentation was solid, but the flavor just exploded in every dish. I got the special appetizer, the house-cured salmon with baby greens (GET THIS if they have it...some of the best salmon I've ever had), the entree Grigliata Mista della Casa (Mixed grill of marinated pork loin, rabbit sausage, lamb chop, and stuffed baby quail)...out of this world. She got the mixed mushrooms (very rich and savory) and the filet (incredibly tender and flavorful). The dessert was good too, the walnut encrusted mascarpone cheesecake...nutty and delicate, with a lighter texture than average cheesecake.

Price/value: 4/5 Without the Groupon, the total cost would have been double what it was...in which case it's quite expensive. The quality of food and service, however, I would say make up for it on it's own. WITH the Groupon, though? Truly worth every penny.

Overall: 5/5 Highly recommended! The food alone is stellar enough to...

Went for restaurant week with a party of 6 and we were all very excited about the $35 pre fixed meal. We also ordered two $30 bottles of wine to share with the table.

The quality of the food was that of Italian chain restaurants, such as Buca di Beppo or Olive Garden, but you could tell that the food wasn't microwaved as they usually do at these chains. I Ricchi brags at taking pride in authentic Tuscan fare, but as someone who has lived in the Tuscan region it was far from such and ultimately a huge let down. The dishes we ordered were also missing many of the elements the menu stated they would have. For example, my cauliflower farro salad only a 5 grains of farro sprinkled on the top and was completely missing the cauliflower all together. Essentially, food was mediocre, not mind blowing as expected, and I would be reluctant to return to the restaurant even for the bargain pre fixed meal.

On top of this mediocre quality, our server (Said) was incredibly rude, blunt, and pushy. He judged our initial wine choice and pushed us towards more expensive options. He also offered us limoncello shots at the end and we accepted. In typical Italian restaurants (in both the US and in Italy), limoncello, amaretto, or sambuca is often given as a complimentary gift at the end of a meal to thank customers for business.

Upon receiving the bill, we realized that our server GROSSLY overcharged us for these sips of limoncello, and had automatically added a gratuity of 22% onto the bill. We were absolutely stunned but as this was a celebratory dinner, we were reluctant to ruin the mood and paid our bills in silence.

Upon returning to the table with our receipts to sign, our server than said that two of our cards had been declined stating that he "tried them multiple times but it looks like you're broke." We looked at him blankly and then he indicated that he had made a joke. This was incredibly distasteful, rude, and quite awkward.

I will never in my life be seen again in this hell hole of a restaurant and would suggest those who seek a pleasant dining experience to stay away. I would only recommend dining at i Ricchi to those who wish to be berated by their server and served mediocre food at...

Maybe it was a valentine thing or maybe it's an every night thing, I can't tell as this was my first time to this restaurant. I got there on time for an 8:15 reservation. There was a line of people out the door waiting to give their name to the hostess. It was cold so we crammed in line, essentially creating a fire hazard situation as people trying to exit had no room to pass. The line was not moving. About 5 minutes after we got there, a hostess with a clipboard came by to take our name. She told us we should go to the bar as "this is going to take a while." It would have been nice to be offered a complimentary drink at this point seeing that some overbooking mistake had been made. No such offer was forthcoming.

I got a basic gin and tonic at the bar. As my girlfriend and I were waiting, we noticed about 4 empty tables which remained empty over the next 30 minutes while we waited. Another strange observation was that not a single person seated had a plate of food in front of them. Just as I was about to call it quits and find another spot for dinner, the hostess came by to get us to our table. We went but not before I paid $17 for my drink. It's a fairly decent restaurant in DC so I expect to pay a lot for a cocktail, but when I got to my table and looked at the menu I noticed that all of their cocktails are $14. Not sure why I paid more for a gin and tonic...

Earlier in the night we saw someone carrying several coats, but we were never offered any coat service. Our table was crammed and my chair seemed to be jutting out too far into the walkway and in the way of the wait staff. Our waiter was nice but service was slow. We ordered the marinated colossal shrimp as one of our entrees. Let's just say that they should mention that this dish is composed of only 3 shrimp and 4 slices of grilled pepper and onion. For $36, this was a disappointingly paltry amount of food. The chicken we ordered by contrast was a solid (but dry) half chicken that we couldn't put a dent in. The highlights of dinner were the bread basket, the caprese salad, wild mushroom appetizer and home made spaghetti.

The night was unfortunately only memorable for its...