The food was just about average. Nothing spectacular. We did enjoy the salads, fresh crispy lettuce. The spaghetti with meatballs was bland. Linguini with clams was ok. Eggplant dish was good. What did stand out was the phenomenal server, an older gentleman. He was an elegant man with impeccable manners. He took orders from the females first. We also enjoyed the happy hour menu, allowing us to sample a bit of everything. read more

I'll start by saying the front staff were absolutely amazing--very kind, welcoming, and professional. Unfortunately, the service once we were seated did not match that experience. We had a party of 17 for a retirement dinner, and our waitress seemed noticeably annoyed by the size of our group, even though she had other staff members assisting her. At one point, she brought me a refill but placed it behind me without saying anything. I accidentally knocked it over because I had no idea it was there, and she was VERY visibly annoyed. I was never offered another drink after that. For a large party celebrating a special occasion, she simply was not the right person to provide that level of service. The seating arrangement was also disappointing. We were placed in a room with a door leading directly to the kitchen, so it was extremely loud and staff were constantly walking through our retirement dinner. For what is supposed to be a nicer restaurant--and considering the prices--it really took away from the atmosphere and experience. As far as the food, it was decent but inconsistent. I ordered the lamb chops well done. They had a good flavor, but they definitely were not well done and, in my opinion, were not worth the price. I expected more. The filet mignon was pretty bland. The salad dressing was nasty, to me and the others at the table. They could have kept that. On the positive side, the crab cakes were delicious, and the shrimp pasta with lemon butter sauce was also delicious. The chocolate cake was very good also!! Those were definitely the highlights of the meal. Overall, it was a decent experience, but nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, the customer service and atmosphere made the biggest impression on me, and based on that alone, I don't see myself returning. read more

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I've become a tougher reviewer over the years because food is expensive, and if I'm paying for a dining experience, I expect more than "good enough." I've been to this restaurant before, years ago, and I probably would have said it was good. Sadly, today's visit was awful. This is often presented as Fredericksburg's version of upscale dining, but it just isn't. The pasta tasted store-bought, the flavor profiles were flat, and the tomato sauce was overwhelmingly acidic. The mozzarella appetizer with lemon butter? Absolutely not. It felt like I was eating a culinary mistake from the 1970s. It looked like a grilled cheese sandwich covered in sauce and drenched in lemon butter. Nothing about it worked. The arancini was forgettable. My dining partner couldn't even finish the lasagna. It was extremely over-sauced, sloppily presented, and tasted only a small step above something you'd buy frozen at the grocery store. To be fair, the Pomodoro was the only dish at the table that was reasonably enjoyable. However, even that felt overpriced for what was presented. When you're charging premium prices for a simple pasta dish, I expect exceptional ingredients, technique, or house-made pasta. This wasn't that. It felt like a basic pasta dish with a premium price tag attached to it. Maybe my expectations were too high based on the restaurant's reputation, but at these prices, "decent" simply isn't enough. The lone bright spot was our server, who was attentive, friendly, and apologetic. Honestly, the service is the only reason this review gets a star. If I were rating the server alone, it would have been three stars. The atmosphere didn't help. It was cold inside the restaurant, extremely loud, and the lighting seemed to have an identity crisis. One minute it was dim, the next it was bright. If there hadn't been so many elderly people dining, I might have thought I had accidentally wandered into a rave. I couldn't hear my dinner partner without leaning across the table. Even our server apologized and mentioned that it's not usually that loud. I left genuinely disappointed. If you've never ventured beyond Fredericksburg, you might consider this fine dining. But if you've experienced great Italian food elsewhere, you'll likely know there's a significant difference. Significant. Unfortunately, this visit missed the mark on nearly every level. read more

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I have been there twice now. First time the food was amazing and fresh. The dates app was an explosion of amazing flavors. The mozzarella in carozza in lemon butter was different but very good. I will need to try it in the anchovy sauce next time. I ended up doing the half plate of the 4 cheese ravioli and that did not disappoint! Loved it and for me this was enough. I loved how it was intimate and calm unlike some of the other restaurants in town. read more

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I don't understand how this place doesn't have a higher average rating but my experience was outstanding. My wife and I dined here on a Saturday night with a 6:30 reservation and I will say that reservations are a must unless you're willing to wait hours for a table and also there isn't much room to wait inside if the weather isn't great. They do have some outside tables which in the nicer weather I would consider but it was too cold for us. Some other people did choose the outdoor tables. About 6 other parties arrived around the same time we did all with 6:30 reservations. We arrived about 10 minutes early and had to wait until almost 15 minutes past our reservation time to be seated. Our wait was rewarded with a cozy booth. The menu is classic, old-school Italian restaurant and I say this as a positive. We ordered the clams casino appetizer which I haven't had anywhere in years. It was so delicious. Only negative was an odd number of clams (5) to share between two people. For the main course, I had the Frutti di Mare and my wife had the stuffed shrimp. Both were excellent. The Frutti di Mare was one of the best I have ever had. This had four large and perfectly cooked scallops and ditto on the shrimp along with a generous amount of clams and mussels. It was served over linguine and I opted for the Marinara which was excellent. When the server offers to bring bread be sure to accept it just for dipping in the sauce. The stuffed shrimp comes with potatoes but my wife was able to get a side of pasta with Marinara instead and was very happy with that choice. There is a good wine list and we got a bottle of Chianti which was moderately priced and we enjoyed it. For dessert we got a piece of Tiramisu which was very good. Service was excellent although there was a bit of a wait after we ordered our appetizer until our server returned to take our order. We were not in a rush but be prepared. Everything else was spot on. Every one who worked there was friendly and helpful. We noticed everyone working hard, especially the bussers who turned the tables over very quickly after the previous party departed. Great food and great service - this is how you stay in business for nearly 50 years and still going. read more

The restaurant itself is quiet and not too fancy just dressed up a bit which is good because you don't feel you have to get dressed up. The food was great my lamb chops were excellent as were the vegetables. The desserts were both great. The wait staff was friendly and kept us in drinks without a hiccup. read more

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Rockefeller - Grainy, Spinach tasted frozen Arancini - Tasted like deep fried mash potatoes Spaghetti - use to come with 1 big meatball, I felt like we got those precooked ones that you get from out of a bag from Walmart. Romeo & Juliette - Disappointing Salitmbocca - Also disappointing Extremely dissatisfied and disappointed. Was I gonna tell them to take the food back to redo it? Nah I don't trust that. Just in case the chef is not have a good day. We've got to do better that's all.. read more

The food at this restaurant is great, service in super and the ambience is quite nice. There is inside and outside dining and the menu has a large variety of excellent choices. The only downside is that it is downtown and has limited parking. Definitely a place not to miss in Fredericksburg. read more

Had a good experience at Ristorante Renato last night. Food was good. My wife's chicken parmigiana was enough for two meals. Very nice ambiance, and the restaurant is right on the main drag in Old Town Fredericksburg. It's in a very old building, so it's an interesting mix of old and new inside. Food was a bit pricey, some of that being all the taxes. For two entrees, one half-priced happy hour appetizer and one half-priced happy hour drink it was $76, including taxes but not including tip. So, with tip, it cost us $91 for dinner for two. Pricey, but not outrageous these days, I guess. I like restaurants that have happy hour specials even on Saturdays for those of us who like to get in and get out early. Our waiter, Juan, was clearly a professional, and I got the feeling he's been a waiter for a long time (i.e. decades). I felt like I was at a high-end restaurant with him as my waiter. My unique observation is that I almost set my menu on fire. I leaned it up against the candle on the table, which I assumed was battery-operated like every other restaurant candle these days. Turns out they have real flames on their candles. read more

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I'm adding a pic from my most recent visit! The oysters turned out very yummy once again. Our happy hour visit was a lot of fun and a ton of food for an affordable price! read more

Ristorante Renato - Italian Near Me - Fredericksburg, Virginia

We eat at Renato's regularly and order take-out regularly. We love the atmosphere, food, and service. The staff really cares about our food and is very prompt. We encourage anyone looking for good Italian food to visit Renato's read more

Renato is one of my favorite restaurants in the Fredericksburg area. Service is excellent and I love the cozy, old town atmosphere. The food is excellent for vegetarians and others. Lunch and Happy Hour specials are very good! read more

I want to start by saying our server was wonderful and so much fun. The food was flavorless and the chicken was slimy. I'm regretting the visit the following day with food poisoning. First and last visit. read more

double the price of olive garden for half the portion and none of the flavor. it takes another level of incompetence to mess up grilled chicken and somehow they did. so for that i applaud the chef as you did the impossible, unfortunately for the worst. read more

Renatos is a great Italian restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg. This amazing place has been in business since 1978 and their pasta entrees along with all of their other items are made fresh on site. You can clearly taste the difference! Zoey was our waitress this evening and she made our night wonderful! I was there with my family to celebrate my birthday and she was so pleasant and even surprised me with a birthday spumoni! I highly recommend this tasty hidden gem! My only comment would be to have a fresh black pepper grinder at the table or offered. All the other items are so fresh that adding that final touch of freshly ground pepper would be great. None the less, a must try restaurant! read more

Ristorante Renato - Ravioli - Italian Near Me - Fredericksburg, Virginia

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I was disappointed with some of the food: 1. The fried ravioli didn't have cheese in every one of them. 2. The fried zucchini was cut too big making it very watery, 3. the crab cakes were ok ~ didn't want to finish them - fishy and watery It was ok. There are better places to eat. I probably won't go back Our waitress acted like she didn't want to wait on us, however, she was polite. read more

We loved our dinner here on Valentine's night. Smaller portions of pasta, but tasty. The meals also come with a side salad and bread for the table. Highly recommend the chicken parmesan, tiramisu and espresso martini for dessert. read more

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I've taken a week or so to rethink before deciding to review. Went last Saturday. It was so rushed that it was obvious the goal was turning tables. The entrees came before even being done with salads. There was no real verbal interaction with servers. The food was sub-par and it was difficult to communicate with bus people. I would not recommend this place to anyone. The hostess and server spent a lot of time chatting with the table near us because they were personal friends (and they did not seem to be rushed). There was no interaction with us. It's hard to understand why it was packed. read more

Came for Restaurant Week and the food was delicious. Husband had the Oysters Rockefeller, Chicken Parmigiana, Tiramisu which was the special and I had the Veal Piccata, Cesar Salad and Tiramisu. The service was excellent, restaurant was nice. Will definitely be back again. read more

OH MY.....have been a few times and I will never go back.....this place is horrible.....I guess the older clients hang on because of good old memories.....I have NEVER had a decent meal here....even Olive Garden has better food then Renato's. read more

Dined in on a slow evening with family and the patio was packed. We opted to sit inside. It took a while to be greeted and even once we were, service was extremely slow. For some reason, our server was assigned to both patio tables and indoor tables which may have prevented her from providing better service to us. Nonetheless, we started with drinks, some wine, cocktails, and soft drinks. Everything came out as ordered, although my dirty gin martini (a featured cocktail on their menu) was extremely strong and light on the olive juice. It also had a lot of mysterious floaters. I asked for more olive juice, and although it didn't completely fix it and still had floaters, I drank the botched martini anyway. For starters, we had the Oysters Rockefeller, and after my first, I decided not to have any more. The oysters are most likely frozen (and taste as such) based on my experience. I'd rather go without, they were not good. Although I love calamari, I did not try theirs because based on the photos, that is yet another frozen appetizer that they serve. Not my thing. For dinner, I had the eggplant parmesan with broccoli as my side and a Caesar salad to start. All of this was good, no complaints. But I can also honestly say that I have had better. After dinner, we had Tiramisu and I had an Espresso Martini. I was surprised that my Espresso Martini had some sort of cream (and a lot of it) which was obviously unexpected. I do try to limit my dairy intake, especially for things that are easily avoided such as cream and milk, so I was unpleased by this additional ingredient. But again, I drank it anyway, although disappointed. The Tiramisu was nothing special. I would not recommend nor return to Ristorante Renato, only because I know that I can receive better food and service elsewhere. read more

It all went well, the food, service and the ambiance. You feel at home from the moment you open the door. You are greeted by the hostess and more often than not the owner. The service is great. read more

Ristorante Renato - Italian Near Me - Fredericksburg, Virginia

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Well my friends, I normally remember my food for the most part from each restaurant but I don't really recall much about my dish. I truly remember the service. It was great! Came in on a chilly evening during COVID and since my father wanted to be outside, they had industrial heaters (they were amazing!) and blankets to accommodate for those that were chilly. The waiters we had were very accommodating and willing to please. The owner was there and he was a great host as well! The Charcuterie board was a great addition to the start of the meal. It wasn't anything over the top but i do believe they have a larger version than ours that you can try. My family loved their dishes. They ordered lasagna, veal and chicken and I ordered the Shrimp picatto. Like I stated before I can't really recall the taste but from the picture I took, it's looks delicious. One thing I would say could be a change, is the blanket bins should have clean and dirty written so once one is used another person isn't using the same blanket until it's washed. I know that may be another duty to add but you don't want to have germs spreading and cause other issues. All in all, I would stop here again. Thanks for taking care of us! read more

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Came here with Wifey and my daughter to celebrate her her last home track meet. So proud of this kid. I've wanted to eat here for years so we finally had a good reason. This place has a great decor and was very welcoming. We were seated immediately (thankfully because we were all hungry). We started with some drinks - I had a Manhattan, Wifey got a Hendricks and tonic, and the girl had a Summer martini...all three were nice pours and refreshing. For appetizers we shared the fried Calamari and the girl also got Onion soup. The calamari were crispy and quite delicious. Finally, four our entrees I had the Scallopini Romeo and Juliet, the girl had Penne vodka with shrimp (what else would she have?) and wifey had the Pollo con prosciutto. The food and presentation were fantastic. If I'm ever back in Fredericksburg craving Italian...I know where I'm going. Great food, great service, and a really nice place to eat. read more

I love this place, always a staple for great food and ambience when in Fredericksburg. My family has been going for yearssss and always has the best food and service! read more

Service and food were both good but could be improved. The waiter was busy and let us sit for quite a while before taking our food order. Foodwise: I may be generous with four stars but, most important to us was that our entrees were quite good. However, -the clams casino had tiny claims and their flavor was overwhelmed by cheese (not worth the money), and -the house salads were very plain, not much more than iceburg lettuce. Actually, our biggest disappointment of the night was the bread. I grew up in a town in upstate NY with two Italian bakeries, so I know good Italian bread. This place does not serve good bread, Italian or otherwise. I'm surprised at this, considering how long they have been in business. read more

Had a birthday party for my sister and it was great. The food and service were wonderful!!!!

Restaurante Renato is a class restaurant with reasonable prices and a wonderful menu. To start with, its Happy Hour Menu is great and a bargain, oysters on the half shell at $1.00 each.(I realize this price could change). The regular menu leaves nothing (in my opinion) to be desired. The service is excellent. What more can I say. My favorite Fredericksburg restaurant. read more

Went on Valentine's Day and dined in their cozy outdoor patio! The entire experience from service to food was wonderful. We began with bread and shortly after a basket of bread and butter, followed by their oysters rockefeller and finally the gnocchi d'mama. Im still thinking about that gnocchi! We will be coming to dine there again! read more

This is the 4th trip to Renatos and each time I hope it gets better. Not the case. Sat outside in the new patio area on a Saturday at 730pm. Music was way too loud and more like karaoke. The service was good. Our waitress tried to make the experience better but......the food is not good. The side of vegetables was a single half of a tomato and when we said something about it, they literally brought another tomato to the table....comical. The "linguini" that was to come with the scallops and shrimp was spaghetti with tomato sauce. Authentic Italian......not in any way shape or form. The shrimp salad was suppose to come with grilled shrimp.....nope, it was boiled. Very disappointing. .. read more

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This is one of our favorite places for FXBG restaurant week, but any time is good, too. The dining room feels like the good old days in NYC Italian neighborhoods, as does the traditional service. Everything we have ordered has been delicious, and they have oysters during happy hour. Wine is so reasonable. During the pandemic they expanded into an outside space and now made it permanent - I'm looking forward to good weather and enjoying the ambiance amid the flowers and plants. read more

My husband had a reservation for us last night at 8:30 pm but we had arrived around 8:50 due to traffic . the host did not fuss at all and seated us right away . Once seated we were immediately greeted by our waiter, Tommy . He brought us bread and water and got our drinks started right away . We put in an order for a dozen of oysters . it was decently sized . came quick and we had ordered our main course . I picked filet mignon with jumbo shrimp that came with a side of linguini pasta and marina sauce . Let me just say it was worth the wait. Hubs got lamb chops came In 4 pieces . It was cooked just how he wanted. his came with a side of broccoli. unfortunately we didn't save room for dessert . the valentines drink special was also lovely . all in all we will be back!!! amazing food and service. read more

Ristorante Renato - Italian Near Me - Fredericksburg, Virginia

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Great food and service! The outdoor patio is a wonderful addition, our waitress was on point with all our requests. read more

Ristorante Renato - Blueberry cheesecake - Italian Near Me - Fredericksburg, Virginia

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I attended a private dinner last evening and had a wonderful time with people I've never met before. I am grateful to have had this experience. The biggest "rose" of the evening was, hands down, the service! I failed to get the young woman's name, regretfully, but I spoke with her on the way out to let her know that I deeply appreciated her hard work. The appetizers, main course, and selected wine (by the staff), made for an excellent meal. The biggest "thorn" of the evening was unfortunately due to the overall design of the building. There was a party "sweet sixteen" as I was told, going on in close proximity to our dining room. We unfortunately had a steady steam of lost guests coming in on our event, either looking for their event or looking for the restrooms. Pairing this with the loud noise (assuming they had a DJ), conversation at our table was often very difficult. If the proprietor reads this, I'm in hopes that he/she might know just how hard the woman worked to take care of our event, mostly by herself. Highest regards. read more

Visiting friends and came here on a Tuesday evening and it was bustling. The atmosphere was relaxed and joyful, with many locals having holiday gatherings. We had a tasty meal and service was friendly and expedient, despite all of the tables being filled. The oysters rockefeller were probably some of the best we've ever had. They were packed with flavor and very juicy. The shrimp renato was good, with a spring onion and mushroom flavor profile. The lamb chops were unfortunately a little disappointing, as they were tough and didnt have much flavor. We topped the dinner off with a cute and delicious dessert -- a frozen orange sorbet in a halved orange! This is definitely a great place for a nice dinner. read more

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I am extremely disappointed about my experience at Renato this past Friday. I expected to the service to be much better. I booked an INDOOR table for 5 for my dad's 75th birthday weeks ago, and called the week before to confirm. When we arrived (early), we were told they were backed up inside and couldn't turn the table that was supposed to be ours over and that we would have to sit outside, despite the fact we had booked the table for a special occasion and that it was raining and my sister is pregnant. We were assured it would be warm with heat lamps, but the lamps were either so hot or did not reach far enough that we were in different climate zones depending on which side of the table you sat on. The maître d (or owner?) was incredibly rude and did not even offer an apology, let alone a free round of drinks. Almost as soon as we were seated outside, the party that came in after us was given "our" indoor table. There is zero ambiance outside; in fact, the whole reason we booked at Renato was to enjoy the indoor holiday setting. The service was equally poor. It took a good 10-15 minutes for anybody to acknowledge we were there and take our drink orders. The first round of cocktails we ordered were entirely wrong (for example, I ordered a gin martini up with a twist and received an extra dirty vodka martini). The food itself was fine and the only pleasurable part about the meal, although several menu items came not as described (the charcuterie board was missing a few things and two of the main course dishes were served with the wrong kind of pasta). At the end, all of the incorrect items appeared on the bill and I had to go through line by line and have 7 drinks that we were never served or had to send back taken off. Pure incompetence! Needless to say, we won't be returning. read more

The food is good BUT you definitely need to have patience while dining here! My husband and I always walk by this place and decided to try it tonight for our 2nd anniversary dinner. We sat inside in a cute booth in the back. The manager/host was super friendly and gave us a few recommendations. From there it was a waiting game for our server. We ended up ordering the crab cakes, two house salad, lasagna, *insert name of my husbands dish since I wasn't paying attention*, chocolate mouse cake (soooo good) and coffee. The bill wasn't too bad either for the amount of food. Also LOVED the fact my husband had a question on if a particular dish had pork in it and the owner stopped by our table to answer. Both my husband and I agreed the food is good and we would go back. Just not when we have much planned for the day. read more

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Arrived for 5pm dinner reservations at 20 till 5pm. Let hostess know that we had reservations, and she asked if we wanted to be seated inside or out. We said outside would be fine. Luis was our waiter. He immediately brought out bread. We ordered unsweetened iced teas. He repeated our drink order back to us correctly. He brought the teas, and I started to put Splenda in my glass as I ordered an appetizer for us (the Oysters Rockefeller from the Happy Hour menu). Luis saw me adding Splenda and said, "You wanted unsweetened iced teas?" I said, "Yes" as I continued adding Splenda. He said, "My apologies, these are Sweet teas" and took them back, and brought out unsweetened iced teas. Soon after, our appetizer came out. Luis dropped it off, and went to another table. Oysters on the half shell. We'd ordered Oysters Rockefeller. I motioned for Luis, who took it back, and brought back a half dozen Oysters Rockefeller. He was 2/2 on bringing the wrong food. My husband and I each had 2, but also wasted 2. I didn't care for the heavy spinach on them, not to mention, I was saving my appetite for pasta! I ordered the Scampi Renato with linguine. My husband ordered the Pollo Mimosa with linguine. Our side salads came out... iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots, and a small wedge of tomato. No choices for dressings. Fortunately, the Italian dressing was really good, because the salad was quite sad otherwise. Now I will take some responsibility on my part for not asking any questions in regards to our meal. And Luis wasn't offering any advice, even though our reservations clearly stated we'd never been there before. I assumed that our meals would come with pasta (not just the side of pasta). When we had the option to choose pasta or vegetables as a side, I just thought I was getting more pasta. I also assumed that the pasta would have the same sauce as the entree, or come plain. The food came out rather quickly. What we got was our meat/seafood and sauce on one plate, and a small bowl of linguine with red sauce on the side. My jumbo shrimp were like rubber, but the sauce had a nice flavor, so I ate most of what was on the plate. I had a couple of bites of the linguine, but I was already full. My husband ate all of his dinner, but thought that his sauce tasted like cream and flour, rather than a real Alfredo sauce. He'd given me a bite to sample, and I'd have to agree. He liked the linguine, but wasn't a fan of the red sauce either. After dinner we ordered dessert. We ordered one slice of chocolate mousse cake to split and 2 cups of coffee. While Luis was getting our cake, the manager/owner's husband, came over and asked my name. He explained that he had a special table inside waiting for us. I told him that I wasn't aware that we had a special table waiting for us. He asked if we'd already eaten, which we explained that we had, but that we would be happy to come inside to have our dessert, considering that I was getting quite uncomfortable outside, as it continued to get cooler. The chocolate mousse cake was really good, and the coffee was excellent! (Although Luis only brought 1 cup for me) The manager was friendly, and offered my husband a complimentary glass of champagne or Prosecco, which my husband decided to try. When the bill came, we'd saw that we'd been charged full price for the Oysters. Luis tried to explain to me that the Happy Hour special was $2 each oyster, and that "we" had ordered 6. I rebuttled that we hadn't ordered six, we pointed towards the happy hour special, and said we wanted the Oysters Rockefeller, and that was all we said. I explained that we've never been there before, and furthermore, he'd never asked how many we wanted. Had we known that we were being charged per oyster, we would've only ordered 1 or 2 a piece. Now maybe this is common knowledge for people who always order oysters. But I have never ordered happy hour oysters before, and was not aware that this was how it worked. He showed me the menu, as if he were trying to prove that they were $2 per oyster. But no where on the happy hour menu does it mention that it's $2 a piece. There is a list of happy hour specials, with various prices next to them. Nowhere on there does it mention that you're paying per oyster.We would have paid the $13 for the 6 oysters, which still was slightly more than the happy hour special anyway. But the manager came back over, and took them completely off the bill, which we appreciated. Overall, there was a huge lack of communication with staff. I also did not find their food to be appealing to our pallets. And I definitely did not find it to be valuable, with as little pasta as you get. With that being said, we will most likely never visit this restaurant again. read more

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My husband and I went for a date night here tonight. Unfortunately didn't have a reservation and walked in hoping to get seated. Thankfully Tom (the manager) was able to offer the one table right by the front window to us. The whole time from the moment we sat down the staff was hands down the best. Fast, knowledgeable, and provided the best customer service. To top it off the best food, coffee, and cheesecake hands down!! read more

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Great food and drinks. Ask for Luis he is the best!!! Their patio is very nice and their food is very tasty. I like coming to Rentatos because i like the way Luis makes the Cafe Diablo. read more