Riccelli's Restaurant

We used to go here at least every other month. We stopped going about two years ago because the quality had fallen so much it was no longer even acceptable.

I usually got Italian pepper steak. The quality of the meat was totally unpredictable, but grew steadily worse. It got to the point where less than half the meat was eatible.

I do not consider a cube of 100% fat or grissle to be acceptable. Mistakes happen, but when it is this consistantly bad, it is not a mistake.

While they did have a couple of great servers, the majority were less than acceptable. Also, someone needs to tell the owners that having a shouting match with the staff is also unacceptable.

We had enough bad meals towards the end that we will not be back to see if they corrected the many problems.

This used to be a great place, but it has gone down the tubes.

the Best Sauce in DesMoines (hands down) it coats spaghetti for flavor in every bite with a hidden sweetness you'll find only here! The best review is. REAL ITALIAN FOOD FOUND HERE
Once again..........the spaghetti sauce Is Italian Candy!

i guess we're just used to eating in restaurants where the staff is professional?

i had read reviews and decided it was time we went to eat at riccelli's.

yes - i'll agree the price was great. the both of us had a cup of soup, a dinner salad, the stack of onion rings; he had the stuffed green peppers, i had the lasagna and it came with bread and butter. we each had a glass of pop. total = $26.00.

now for the bad (i'll start at the beginning):

we were greeted friendly enough. the woman went to see what tables were available. we ended up standing there for about five minutes waiting for her to come back. when we finally saw her again she was talking with either her son, a regular? i don't know...when she finally got back to us she was standing about 20 feet away and she said, "table for two..." and took off like a bat out of hell. she disappeared around the corner and by the time we got around the corner she was already a good 40 feet away waiting for us to get to the table.

within the first 4 minutes of us being seated we proceeded to watch a waitress dump an entire glass of ice water on a customer. i watched as she unsteadily picked up a tray and lifted it above her head. for some reason she thought she could squeeze in between the customer and another stand that was basically in her path, which probably gave her a total of less than 2 feet to squeeze through, with a tray held above her head nonetheless.

after this happened, the very immature table behind us (a 30-something married couple and obviously her younger, 20-something sister_ covered their red faces as they laughed hysterically at this woman and ultimately the man whom she dumped the water all over. the table next to them was also laughing pretty hard and we just found it all extremely rude.

then the drinks come. my glass had gunk on it. i said to my husband, "i'll just ask for another glass of pop" and after witnessing everything we had already witnessed he said, "you don't want to do that." so i drank my pop for fear that something terrible would've happened to my new pop if i had mentioned that there was something on my glass.

my husband was actually given a fork that was completely bent all to hell.

the waitress wrote down our order, came back about 20 minutes later and asked if we had ordered onion rings (which we had and she had written down) and she said they would be on the house because she forgot. (we ultimately ended up paying for them as she did not cross them off the ticket).

when she gave us our salads she couldn't remember who had which dressing...which from our experience eating in restaurants, which we do quite often, this doesn't usually happen unless you're in a large party.

the place was loud with crashing and breaking noises.

the guy cleaning up the tables had to have been on methamphetamine.

the waitress REAKED of B.O.

i watched the same waitress that had previously dumped water all over a customer come in the room with a tray and she just about dumped the glass of wine on it.

food: not good

onion rings are nothing to brag about. the flavor was off and they tasted weird.

the lasagna had so much ricotta in it that it was a filthy, mushy mess. the overall flavor was also not good. i know a 3rd grader who can make a better lasagna than the one had tonight.

the red sauce had no flavor. period.

the lettuce in the salads tasted like it had been frozen.

the dressing was weirdly, too creamy.

the pop was watered down.

the waitress actually asked us if we smoked. she then told us that if we smoked we would understand why she kept us waiting because she just HAD to go outside and have a cigarette. and i'm sure she didn't wash her hands after that.

the waitress also wore a white sweater and had spilled food all over herself. her appearance was scary to say the least.

but my husband says the stuffed green peppers were good!

This is the best restaurant ever.

i work here and its the best restaurant ever

Riccelli's has been a long time favorite for myself as well as my family. in a recent trip there my wife and i enjoyed the quiet ambience of this southside landmark. We began with their trademark shoe-string style onion rings, followed by the soups and salads that were included with our meals. My wife had the ravioli which she throughly enjoyed and i had the chicken parmigiana, which i must say was the best i have ever had. The generous helping was served promply and at a great price. including appitizer and drinks, my wife and i dined for under $28. Another satisfied customer....

Has to be one of Des Moines finest restaurants. Great BBQ Ribs. Prices are right.