A very strong experience at Fortunato for a celebration dinner. The restaurant accommodated a group…read moreof 7 with a few days notice. The business is located downtown Roanoke. Parking is free off street, or paid at nearby garage. The entry way was clear of debris. Our party was immediately seated and we quickly decided to move table from a smaller private, but loud room to the main room. I found the atmosphere and decor of the room to be nice. The waitress was on top of things with drink orders. They have one of the strongest bourbon selections in town. So I had to get an Old Fashioned. Drinks pushed out within 10 minutes as we finished browsing menus.my Old Fashioned was quality and completely authentic. Super tasty! There were a few orders of pizza and I ordered a house salad with Egg Plant Parmesan. Our waitress kept glasses full of waters. She was upbeat and energetic. Food pushed out for the entire table around the same time in less than 30 minutes. Everyone was pleased with their entrees. The Egg Plant is a vegetarian dish. I'm not a vegetarian, but appreciate the dish. It was huge and so good! When time for desert multiple items were ordered. The waitress prepared a special dish of ice-cream with candle for my son. That was totally not expected and very thoughtful of the staff. I had the Salame chocolate and others had tiramisu. Both excellent, I tried. The bill was dropped in a timely manner. The amount was family affordable in my opinion. I would absolutely return and recommend.

Always a favorite and this trip did not disappoint. We weren't sure what time we would finish up…read moreour work on this particular Thursday evening so I waited to check for a table last minute. Thankfully we were able to get it with just a 30 minute wait or so. I had dreamed of arancini all day long only to find it was not on the menu any longer unfortunately! Heartbroken. All of our dishes were still delicious of course but please bring back the arancini! Service was impeccable, lighting and cocktails on point, still on my short list of all-time faves! Can't wait for our next visit!

I can't find the words to begin to describe my dining experience at this Italian restaurant. It is…read moreone of those very unique restaurants that far exceeds the highest of your expectations. After having been selected as number 4 of Yelp's Top 50 most prolific Elites of 2025, a year when I was also awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Photographer of the Year Award at their Yelpies 2025 Award Ceremony, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, and where last year I was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Yelper of the Year Award, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and businesses, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Sal's Italian Restaurant in the Bonsack area of Roanoke, Virginia is a perfect example. Located at the Kroger Bonsack Shopping Center, it sits just off US-460/Orange Ave East, in the northeastern part of the Roanoke Valley. Locally-owned and operated by the Scotto family, who originally came from Italy, this unasuming yet award-winning restaurant serves authentic, homemade Italian food in a warm, family-friendly entertainment, offering dine-in, dine-out (in its beautiful outdoor patio), take-out, and catering services. After arriving and parking my pearl white Lexus in their very convenient parking lot, I walked over to the restaurant which had colorful balloons near the entrance with a sidewalk blackboard announcing its Sit Down Buffet (Mon - Fri), all you can eat from a group of items, brought to your table. All for $14.99. I've always dreamed of having a buffet where you wouldn't have to get up, and here they had it. Once inside, they had a small foyer/waiting room, with the walls filled with framed Award Certificates, together with magazine and newspaper articles about the restaurant, its genuine food, and its local family ownership. As I entered through another door to the restaurant itself, one of the sons of the founder of the restaurant (who passed away on July 3rd, nine years ago) gave me a warm greeting, took me to one of the booths, and placed copies of the menu on the table. The background music gave the place a festive ambiance together with the oak hardwood floor and well lit dining room. Soon after, my server Ashley arrived with a friendly smile, to take my order. To drink I ordered an Iced Rootbeer. And to dine, I started out with a Fried Calamari appetizer; followed by a house salad, Italian garlic bread, and as the main entrée their Homemade Meat Lasagna. The fried Calamari was lightly breaded and fried so you could actually taste the fresh Calamari after dipping it in the mild marinara sauce. One of the best I've ever had! The house salad was good but only had one cherry tomato and one slice of cucumber. The tomato based salad dressing was amazing. Their Italian Garlic Bread tasted wonderful. And their Homemade Lasagna was truly one of the best if not the best I've ever had. The pasta was freshly made. The ground beef was perfectly seasoned. The tomato sauce was just the right flavor. And the cheese which covered it helped make it amazingly delicious, like none that I ever had before! My server served all the items at the appropriate time and provided drink refills every time my drink was low. For dessert, the "Grand Finale" of my meal, my server brought a large round tray, with all the desserts so I could visually see them as she described them. I picked the Chocolate Bomba: a vanilla and chocolate premium ice cream ball with a cherry inside and surrounded by a chocolate shell. It was really something extraordinary and sweet. But what was greatest of all was the human touch by this family-owned restaurant. The wife of the late founder of the restaurant as well as her other son and chef made it a point to come to my table to say hi, introduce themselves, and have a short but meaningful conversation. I highly recommend this restaurant where I had an extraordinary dining experience and am already looking forward to returning to taste some other amazing items from their menu.

DW and I went in for dinner on a Friday night around 1830. After waiting for a table for half an…read morehour or so we were seated. Clearly they were busy, think it's a popular local dinner spot. We ordered from a comprehensive menu organized by its protein inclusion. Meal was fine, garlic knots were a bit disappointing. Our plan is to go back on a calmer night.

Restaurant was a little warm not sure what was happening . Food was great along with the service…read more Has a calzone and stromboli. Both were good size and very filling. The sauce that came with it was very good.

Located in the Mountain View Plaza, off Lee Highway in Troutville, Virginia, this family-owned…read moregenuine Italian restaurant, is well-known for its New York style pizza and its homemade doughs and sauces, as well as its real mozzarella cheese. The restaurant doesn't have a full bar, but they do serve beer and wine. My friend and I who love Italian food decided to go try it out today. As soon as we entered the door we were warmly welcomed and greeted by a friendly young lady who to us to our booth and handed us the menus. The dining room was very clean and decorated with cute yet elegant Italian artworks on the walls. The menu was very extensive and contained popular items such as homemade lasagna, pizza, Philly cheese steak subs, and unique Italian dinners. . Our server, another very welcoming young lady with a big smile came by and took our order. Although most of the customers there were sharing a pizza, and they looked so delicious, we both decided to have the Stromboli with the works. Believe it or not, I think this was the first time that I had ever had Stromboli at an Italian restaurant. To drink we both had Cokes. When the food arrived, the Strombolis looked so fresh and delicious on the outside, and in the inside it contained fresh quality ingredients such as Mozzarella, Green Peppers, Onions, Pepperoni, Sausage & Mushrooms. I was very impressed with its homemade dough and real Mozzarella cheese. The Peperoni, Sausage, and all the other ingredients were also quality products. Our server came to check on us at the appropriate times and provided us with some refills for our drinks. They had some good Italian desserts on the menu as well, but we already had planned to have dessert at another place. Everything was so good, that even though we hadn't finish eating yet, I already was looking forward to try one of their pizzas or unique Italian dinners. I also found the prices to be very reasonable for the quality of their food. I highly recommend this place to all those who love Italian cuisine, and I heard they are currently in the process of expanding.

We've been having lots of rainy days here lately, days when I prefer to order out and eat at home…read more That was the case today. Thinking of where I might order from, I recalled the awesome food I had from Carrabba's the day I ordered from them once before and decided to once again make an order via DoorDash. Since I loved the last main course I had from them, I ordered it again. It was their New Filet & Shrimp Toscana, medium-rare. It consisted of Fettuccine pasta with spinach and mushrooms, tossed in a roasted garlic cream sauce, and topped with sliced filet and wood-grilled shrimp. This time I ordered their Lentil & Sausage soup as the side rather than the Caesar Salad I had last time. Since I was somewhat hungry, I also ordered their Tiramisu for dessert, which was lady fingers dipped in liqueur-laced espresso, layered with sweetened mascarpone, Myers's Rum and chocolate shavings. I think it was one of the most expensive orders that I have ever made from DoorDash so I was really looking forward to enjoying it. The order was placed at 5:20PM and DoorDash gave me an estimated delivery time of between 5:45PM and 6:09PM. Needless to say I was hungry and as a VIP DoorDash customer I expected the order around that time as usual. But the time went by and nothing. I started to worry that the food might arrive cold and was getting somewhat upset. I received a message from DoorDash that my DoorDasher was delivering another order before she got to me along with a later estimated time. To make the story short, the order finally arrived at 6:40PM in a paper shopping bag. And of course it arrived cold. So I was very upset with DoorDash, not with Carrabba's. Carrabba's did an excellent job packing my order and including their wonderful crusty, artisanal sourdough bread along with their signature herb and extra virgin olive oil dipping blend. So I was required to heat my food in the microwave in order to enjoy it best. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the high-quality of the food prepared and cooked to perfection by Carrabba's amazing chefs, cooks, and kitchen crew. Even with the unfortunate circumstances, I was able to enjoy an amazingly delicious meal. After I finished eating, I called DoorDash VIP Customer Service phone number to explain the situation I had gone through and ask them to make it right. They apologized and added to my account a $30 credit for the long wait that caused my food to get cold and for the inconvenience this had caused me. Despite the poor delivery experience, I am giving this restaurant 5 stars because the food itself was excellent and well-packaged. And I highly recommend the restaurant for their exquisite Italian cuisine.

I had one of the most frustrating dining experiences I've ever encountered at Carrabba's Italian…read moreGrill, and unfortunately, it's not something I can just overlook. From the moment we were seated, the service was noticeably poor and only continued to get worse as the night went on. To start, our server seemed completely disengaged. After taking our initial drink order, they disappeared for an extended period of time. When the drinks finally arrived, it was already a long wait--but what made it worse was that once they were empty, they stayed that way for well over 10 minutes. We sat there with empty glasses, trying to flag someone down, but our server was nowhere to be found. It felt like we were being completely ignored. We had also ordered soup and salad to come before our meal, which is pretty standard. However, those never showed up at all. Not late--just never. No explanation, no apology, nothing. Our entrées arrived, and we were left wondering what happened to the first part of our order. It's basic service to ensure courses come out correctly, and this was completely missed. Throughout the meal, the server would vanish for long stretches of time. Every time we needed something--refills, utensils, even just a quick check-in--it turned into a waiting game. Getting drink refills took forever, and by the time we finally got someone's attention, it felt like more of a hassle than it should ever be. A simple dining experience turned into constant frustration. Overall, the lack of attentiveness, poor timing, and complete absence of communication made this visit extremely disappointing. It honestly felt like we were an afterthought the entire time. Between the empty drinks, missing soup and salad, and the server disappearing repeatedly, this was far from an enjoyable experience. We are regulars at this restaurant and this by far is the worst experience we have ever had at any restaurant we have been to ever! I only tipped something to be gracious but in reality I should have not tipped anything. To make matters worse at the end of the meal is when the waitress showed up eyeing our table like a hawk waiting for me to sign the check. I would expect better from Carrabba's! We would have been better off going to Chic-Fil-a. I would not recommend this location if you're expecting even average service.

The restaurant was easy to find and there was plenty of parking and it looked really nice. I had…read moregreat expectations. The young lady who served me was very friendly. But the spaghetti was overcooked almost to the point of being inedible. And the meat sauce just didn't have much flavor. In fact, it tasted a little bit sour. I gave up after a few bites. The salad, though, was very good.

Located in a beautifully designed building, with a majestic stone accent entrance and both cement…read moretall stairs and side ramp leading to two impressive large black doors with glass and ornamental iron rod details, on Riverview Drive, in Salem, Virginia, Lydia's Italian Kitchen's was named after the owner's young daughter. The interior design of this exquisite Italian restaurant is very simple and contemporary with stone accents in the host station and bar. The furniture is also light wood contemporary with light wood and black chairs. And the decor is some paintings on the walls and some framed photographs. As soon as my friend and I entered the restaurant, the host, a young lady with a big smile welcomed us and took us to one of the tables in the main dining room and gave us copies of the menu. The room had large windows all around which let the light in, as well as plain builtin ceiling lights. It also had some contemporary ceiling fans. While we were reviewing the menus, our server, Hannah, arrived and gave us a warm welcome and took our order. We both had glasses of Iced water to drink, and Chicken Parmigiana as our main entrée. This included a house salad with poppyseed dressing and a basket of garlic bread. The salad ingredients were very fresh and the homemade salad dressing was amazing. The garlic bread was soft and very tasty. And the Chicken Parmigiana was cooked to perfection with a marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese that were delicious, as well as the accompanied spaghetti and sauce. Our server came by at the appropriate times to check on us and fill our glasses with Iced water. For dessert my friend had the Salted Caramel Cheesecake and I had the Tiramisu. Both were made in house and amazingly delicious. I highly recommend this Italian restaurant. The ambiance was very elegant and comfortable at the same time, the food was amazing, and the service was excellent.

The service was top notch! The hostess was polite and attentive. We asked to be seated at the bar,…read morewhich was pretty full with tables already. Our server was absolutely excellent. We have never had such great service. He greeted us right away, got our drinks, orders, and soup salad and breadsticks right away. He kept checking on us and was even attentive to the baby and her needs. He definitely made the whole experience enjoyable. The manager came by and asked us how everything was. Great job overall to that whole staff! Chandler handled the bar orders, the tables, and seemed to do it all effortlessly. Thanks for a wonderful dining experience.

Good dining experience with delicious food. We are fans of Olive Garden in Texas and we're pleased…read morewith our experience at the Roanoke, VA location. The service was great and nice ambiance.

After looking at their menu on line , we ordered the 14"…read moreRonnie's Pizza . It was delivered very quickly.The pizza arrived warm! Loaded with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. It's the typical thinner crust that restaurants serve in the area with the difference that it is perfectly cooked . Not dry at all! Will definitely order again and try to their other dishes .

I was staying in downtown and read reviews about Leonore and they were really good, so I decided to…read morestop in on a weeknight. When I got there, they were dead, but by the time I left, they were packed. So, clearly it's a popular joint. The staff was helpful and very friendly. Prices are decent there too. They offer a nice mix of Venezuelan and Italian food... seems like an odd combo, but they did a decent job with the items I tried. I love arepas, so I ordered a Pabellon Arepa and a small veggie pizza. The food came up pretty quickly; the pizza was perfectly hot. The crust was the right thickness and had plenty of cheese and fresh toppings on it. The only issue was there was hardly any tomato sauce on it. I asked for a side of tomato sauce to dip into. The sauce was very thin and lacked much tomato flavor. The arepa was packed full of meat. The beef was seasoned perfectly and tasted great. The bun though was kind of tough, sort of like it was stale. The venue is small, but clean and welcoming. Their menu is loaded with many options too. Overall, it was a nice dinner.

Quite honestly was disappointed by this order. Was told that this was one of the better local…read moredelivery places in the area... Yet the order was put together haphazardly, items were not described accurately on the menu, nor by the person taking the order, and food quality was mediocre. If someone is ordering a to go order over $25 like they INSIST -, it's downright stingy and mean spirited to not provide any napkins or silverware whatsoever. I understand Restaurants like to claim that they are struggling, but that's hardly a reason to be mean spirited and allow someone to spend over $30 in food and not put a single napkin into their delivery order. Let alone utensils with which to eat the food. That's just either lazy, stingy, greedy, or unthoughtful. The pita and hummus is hardly pita, whatever that giant baked dough mess was that got shoved into the bag, unsanitary without any proper protection - was bland, and fat to doughy and heavy to be proper pita bread. They don't have lemon for the seafood or shrimp, and the cocktail sauce is in little ketchup packets made mostly of chemical ingredients, no real food content and not healthy. And again with the stinginess, they provided two little tiny ketchup packets for 10 shrimp. So not enough even for the shrimp that you've ordered. It basically allowed me to dip for shrimp. Was told that "everything is made fresh" but I think that they're deceiving themselves that this is wholesome, edible food. The cannoli was soggy and inedible. We threw out half of it. The bread mess was bland and again, not proper pita bread, shrimp was fine but with no lemon or cocktail sauce, just bland fried shrimp. Nothing special. On top of that they had a seven dollar delivery fee despite the fact that they are five minutes away from where we were??!? In NY and Boston delivery upcharges are three dollars or five dollars, so seven dollars in Roanoke Virginia just feels again, unnecessary and greedy. So for approximately $25 worth of food, if you're also paying the driver, you're spending a $12 + upcharge for mediocre food with no utensils or napkins or proper condiments. Definitely do not recommend. Thank you.

The pizza was s amazing good! The restaurant is very clean and the staff is on top of attention to…read moredetail.

Excellent Italian,I would highly recommend if you want excellent Italian Food. The staff were greatread more

To start, food was great! Atmosphere so so, service weak…read more The booths have been removed, making a meal with some privacy impossible. Took 10 minutes to get a beer, they ran out of beer glasses. Ugh Food took a long time 30-40 minutes. Not on open table, required a phone call and left a message. Missed the call back, required another call. Not the same Reminis of the past