I've tried everything on the menu and it is all delicious. Bright yet hearty flavors on all your favorites. The food is eclipsed only by the warm, professional staff. It's our go-to place. Be sure to shake hands with Gino, the owner. 1000-watt smile. read more

Food is phenomenal every time, make no mistake about that, however, some of their policies need to be changed. My wife and I visited a Friday night during lent and wanted something light. The server seemed bothered that we only wanted to split a pizza. Told us there was a $5 fee to split a meal. Really?? Like who eats a whole large pizza themselves? She said we each got a salad, even though my wife said she wanted soup, she insisted. Ends up SPLITTING one salad which ended up being these two minute servings. She could have just given me the whole salad and my wife the soup, which she ended up getting anyway, and said was delicious. We stopped coming here a while back because everything was a la carte, but they've since revamped that policy. This is another one they need to have a hard look at as well or we won't be visiting again anytime soon. read more

Great Italian food at reasonable prices. Menu has gotten much more creative. So if you haven't been for a while, check it out. Leave room for dessert! read more

This was our first visit to Cucina Rustica and it is our last. The food was just ok. What really bothered us were the add-ons and not being advised that they came at an extra cost. For example the waitress asked us if we wanted lemon in our water which we agreed to. The issue was when we received the bill we were charged for the lemon which we were not informed there would be an extra cost. There were a couple of other items that they also tried to charge extra for that the waitress presented as a zero cost option. What made matters worse was attitude by management regarding the situation where they definitely appeared to try to get away with something. There are better Italian restaurants in the area with better food and owners who actually care about their customers. read more

Unfussy place with solid Italian American fare. Great friendly service, and easy on the pocketbook.

The sesame salmon was overcooked and dry. The salad that the salmon was on was smaller than expected for the price. Our server was pleasant and efficient, but not dynamic. The pizza was just okay. I've been here many times and this was my worst experience. read more

Looking for a place where great food and good friends get together? Cucina Rustica is your place! Featuring authentic southern Italian recipes, the menu covers the gamut of choices plus daily specials. Try the Shrimp Risotto or Chef Gino's adaption of beef stew. And for a simple joy, build your own pizza. But what makes this place great is the friendly staff and the "regulars" that mingle at the bar. CR is what a neighborhood restaurant is about. read more

Went here on a Monday night. My friends wife's shrimp pasta was too salty for her to finish. My margherita pizza contained no basil, had fried crust and sprinkled with shredded mozzarella. We couldn't really hear each other over the loud senior citizens at the bar and throughout the place with their wine glasses all empty. Overall not a very good take on Italian food in Ohio. read more

Best food ever!! Lovely interior & the service is amazing. The owner is very nice and always puts the customers first & its a family business I love coming here the food is fantastic read more

We've been going here for years, even though it's about 40 miles away. All of the dishes we've tried were very good, and our all time favorite is the stuffed eggplant appetizer. The people are always friendly, it's always full of people who are really enjoying themselves. We're going again tonight - and with all the Italian restaurant option in the greater Cleveland area - this is one of the best. read more

Excellent food and great service.very pleasant atmosphere the patio was great and the owner was very friendly

The decor is old Italy for sure but clean and well lighted. The waitress was very pleasant, prompt and knew the menu well. The portions are large. read more

My whole family loves this place. My parents found this gem when they moved to the northern Solon area, and we have been going ever since. The decor isn't the most modern, but the food more than makes up for anything lacking in the visual department. They ALWAYS have tons of fresh fish and pasta specials and the garlic rolls (pizza twists) are delicious! For several years, Gino, the authentic Italian owner (born in Italy), worked to upgrade the banquet space in the back to use for parties. He was finishing up the makeover right around the time of our wedding (about a year ago). My husband and I rented out one of the smaller rooms for our rehearsal dinner. The food was delicious, family style, and reasonably priced. I think we got out for around $35 per person for food and alcohol. Gino and staff were very accommodating. I always get something different, but you have to try the lobster ravioli if they have it on special! To be fair to some of the negative comments, I haven't been back in a while as my husband and I have moved further south, so I cannot speak to the current state of the place. read more

Very disappointing dinner. Food was overcooked and overpriced. Prices are at least 25% higher than they were last year. A glass of table wine cost over nine dollars. They don't longer have a child's menu. They are attempting to be a high scale restaurant abandoning what was a wonderful and very popular family restaurant. Based upon the few people we saw tonight they have failed. We won't be back. read more

Food is good. Not as good as people have told me. Decor is dated. The people are friendly, yet I was told they cater more to regulars which I did not find to be the case. read more

Very bad service. Waitress worked behind the bar and we sat a crunched table near the bar. Wine list was bad even though it states they have a good one. Overpriced! 15.95 for a small piece of lasagna. Pizza was ok not great. Waitress told us it was a personal pan was not was the size of a regular small. Felt rushed. Felt like she had no patience for us. A glass of Kendall was 11.95 way to much for glass poured. We visited on 2/3 in the evening after a pottery class we had taken. Would not recommend at all! read more

The food is OK. It is pretty obvious that some of these reviews are written by employees. Overall is a bit overpriced, but the food is average. read more

Loved everything we had there last night! So fresh and truly homemade! Service was excellent.

Great little Italian restaurant in Bainbridge Twp. I always order a seafood dish, but everything on the menu is wonderful. It's a cozy little place, with a nice looking bar and a few tables outside for summer dining. read more

beware the "split" charge - - a friend and I stopped in to each have a glass of vino, and decided to order a pizza that comes with a small salad - I asked the server if there was going to be a "split" charge - to which she said NO - - the salad comes, we divide it ourselves, and share the white pizza with (3) stoppings - - the bill comes and low-and-behold there is the $5.00 "split " charge, plus an extra $ .75 for a few garlic slivers, which usually comes on the white pizza, regardless - - - we talk, and ask for the owner to stop over - - he chooses not to - - What has been a fav. place, is no longer . . . read more

As a regular I have watched the restaurant deteriorate from a food quality standpoint, as well as "stealth inflation." Originally, the entree price included a salad and pasta. A few years ago the salad was no longer included. Tonight I learned that the pasta was no longer included. A fancy restaurant may be able to get away with ala carte meals, but not a "neighborhood joint." Shame! The restaurant was crowded tonight and I can only describe the service as "benignly neglectful." read more

We have been to this place multiple times . Some of the menu food is really good ... the Specials not so good .... and way too pricey for the canned quality .... An Italian restaurant that has no bread ready ? REALLY??? This has happened on the last THREE trips ... On a family outing there was a quality issue with our Pizza , when we tried to return it , the waitress would not take it off our bill !!! REALLY ??? We got a ToGo order last time, so we would not have to endure the poor service and NOISY atmosphere.... They tried to charge us 7$ for an extra banana pepper ... and Guess what ... NO BREAD !! Not worth another go ... read more

Having moved from NYC, Cleveland Italian restaurants have a lot to live up to. This place was awesome though! I am currently eating my leftovers for breakfast. I am really not understanding the negative reviews. I think midwesterns have a strange expectation of what Italian food and pizza should taste like....that it shouldnt taste like real Italian food and pizza. This is the real deal though. Everything i have ever ordered from here is fresh, all the sauces are killer and it reminds me of some of my old favorite Italian places in Brooklyn. As for the person who said it was too loud...um its an Italian restaurant with a bar! If I ever walked into an Italian place that was quiet I would walk out. Again, this is another what I consider strange expectation of what midwesterners want in a dining experience, silence. How weird and boring! I dont even drink and I dont mind noise from the bar there. And as for the reviewer who said it was expensive.....My husband and I ordered 2 appetizers, a salad, 2 main dishes a soda and a beer and it was like 50 bucks. Maybe Mcdonalds is more in that persons price range. read more

This place came highly recommended- what a disappointment. Our food came out in 5 minutes and everything was raw. What wasn't raw looked like a tv dinner and our waitress was snarky when we sent it back to be thoroughly cooked. The crab legs were slimy. Overpriced- just don't go!!! read more

Don't try to go after 8:00 on a weeknight. Even though they say they are open until 10:30, you can barely get service, you feel you are imposing on them, and they are closing down the kitchen and vacuuming. They should just be real and post that they want to close at 9:00. read more

Went in on a weekday night with my SO and right off the bat didn't get any service for a good 10mins. The staff looked a little flustered (maybe they just had a rush or something) so I let it go. Once the ordering process was started I told out waitress of never been there before and sorry for asking so many questions. She was nice enough but failed to mention everything is a la carte. The food was nothing impressive, especially for the price and the service made it an all around lack luster experience. I wouldn't boycott the place but I also wouldn't go back unless someone I was with really wanted to. read more

My wife and I went to this restaurant last Saturday very busy oddly, was seated at the back bar which is very quaint I ordered chicken francaise with risotto . When my meal came the gravy had a skin on it almost like when my mom made pudding back in the 60s from sitting under the heat lamp for apparently too long when I got the chicken it was so thin and breaded will seem like you came from the freezer that I decided to try the risotto which was not even cooked all the way crunchy very disappointing . It had been a few years since we've been to this establishment and we only live 5 miles up the street now I know why it's been three years since we've been gone and sadly to say we will never be back. read more

The best part of the meal was the free bread. Maybe its best to just go for drinks. I ordered the special "fresh walleye" in a "white wine sauce". For $21.95 I figured this should be good. Oh and its al a cart so I ordered a side of "risotto". I received a bowl of obviously prefrozen walleye chunks that were really fishy inside of a brown gravy. It was made with canned mushrooms. It was inedible. I would have been better off eating Uncle Ben's 90sec rice than the risotto. It had this awful color pesto. My boyfriend ordered the special with italian sausage, cheese ravioli, and chicken parmesan. Here again the pesto sauce and tomato sauce had to have been out the can. The ravioli was cold. The chicken parmesan was ok but it was probably microwaved. The italian sausage was decent. We both enjoyed the wine. The moral of the story...only go for drinks. Service was friendly but I was a little mad she recommended the walleye that was so bad. read more

It will definitely be a while before we return to what used to be one of our favorite local Italian restaurants. We ordered take out last night and were told it would be 20 minutes. My husband waited an additional 40 minutes, getting some of the entrees 45 minutes after the order was placed. Understand if you are busy, but at least provide an accurate wait time for your take out orders. read more

Great Italian cuisine. My girlfriend and I go quite a bit. The staff are usually very friendly. I've had one waitress that was subpar at best. Usually they are very friendly and accommodating. I'd definitely recommend this restaurant. read more

Service was horrible. When the salad came out it had a dead moth in it. They offered nothing in return. My food came out as if it were under a heat lamp for an hour. I will never go back to this place again. read more

My friend told me about their $5.00 split entree fee. I didn't want to pay $5.00 for nothing. She said let's ask and if there still is a charge then we will just order 2 appetizers. We sat down and the waitress came over and we asked if there were a charge for sharing an entree..she said no, no charge. We ordered a small pizza that came with a salad. The dishes were brought to the table, not split, 1 salad, 1 pizza cut normally into 6 pieces and 2 plates. We finished and asked for the check. The check included a $5.00 extra fee. We asked what the $5.00 was for. The waitress said it was for the shared entree. A pizza! Shared entree! She had just told us there would be no charge for sharing anyway! We asked to see the owner. He was standing at the bar talking with customers. We waited, and waited. The waitress returned and said there was nothing that can be done about the charge. But she had handwritten the charge on the check! She just lost her tip! But we asked to speak the owner. We stood up to leave and I walked over to him. I told him how dissatisfied we were with the charge especially since the entree was not split, 1 pizza and one salad was brought to us and the waitress specifically said there would be no charge for sharing. I don't know if he were drunk or not in his right mind. He stood there listening to the waitress behind him shouting. If I were in his shoes I would fire her immediately. The waitress lied to us and the owner doesn't care an iota about his customers! Strange, isn't it? I laugh when I read the other reviews about the staff being friendly and efficient!!! Far from it! Rude, condescending and arrogant! Don't attempt to go there for lunch, either. The waitress in the dining room will tell you she is alone and so don't bother asking her for a service because she will not be able to handle it! The food is not impressive, and overpriced...especially now that they have to pay for the new patio. The waitresses are arrogant and don't strive to please the customer. The owner is in la la land. read more

Several friends, one who is an exec chef, liked this place so my husband and I went to check it out. We were mainly interested in the banquet room for an upcoming rehearsal dinner. I had chicken piccata and my husband had lasagna and both were very good. As others mentioned, even the salad was a la carte, which worries me a little when trying to plan for a dinner for 35. The waitress was attentive and also gave us a tour of the banquet room. I was disappointed that the manager could not find the time to come to our table when the waitress asked, to answer questions about the banquet facility. He sent her to get a phone number and then never called us back. Hope that is not an indication of what to expect if we choose this place for rehearsal dinner. read more

Since we moved to the area, people had been telling us about how great Cucina Rustica is. They were not exaggerating. From the street, it looks like a time-worn reception hall. Step inside, and you'd think you were in Jackson Hole - what a great, pine lodge, ski haus vibe. And the food - amazing! Starting with a great bread basket and finishing with a superb chocolate cake, with everything in between five stars for all six of us. Tested were scampi, rigatoni with meatballs, and lots of fresh fish dishes. We'll come back and urge others to do the same. read more

Good food served in an old fashioned way. A nice menu of choices and a complete meal in the pricing rather than ala carte as many restaurants do. read more

Love it here!! Everyone is friendly who works there. I love the fish dishes, especially the Virginia Spots. Pasta is very old school, but very good. Eat the bread...very delish. read more

We had a party of 10 at the restaurant. 6:00 reservations. 3 people were late, one couple got lost. At 6:15 someone, i thought maybe one of the owners, came up to our table asking if the others were coming; I said they were. She reminded me very rudely that we had 6:00 reservations. It was not as if the place was totally full, nor as the night wore on were there people waiting to be seated. My husband was one of those who were late, but I ordered for him knowing he would be arriving soon. throughout the entire night, we felt as if we were a huge inconvenience for the waitress. The food was mediocre at best. I had been there before and had a great experience, which is what brought me back, with a lot of my friends. I will not be visiting any time soon. the staff who waited on us were extremely rude, and made us feel very unwelcome. read more

What a great product! We had our Company Christmas Party at their beautiful new party center and people are still raving about the food two weeks later!!! Outstanding job! read more

We eat at Cucina Rustica at least once per week, sometimes more often. Food is great, service and atmosphere even better. Feels like family when you're there - very casual. Highly recommend the Virginia Spots, but there entire menu is really outstanding, and they'll make a special dish if you just ask. Overall, our favorite spot in Chagrin by far. read more

I have been here over a dozen times. I can confidentially say that the quality and taste of the food has been consistent through the years. I have been with many people who ordered many different items from the menu but I always gravitate to pasta with Bolognese sauce. It's the best I've had. Also noteworthy is the Virginia spots and the shrimp Risotto. The pizzas are great too. You are certain to get a great meal for a reasonable price here. Service is fast and friendly and the decor is quaint and homey. read more