Thursday, December 18, 2008

Restaurant Review - Ranallo's on 3rd

This is my first attempt at writing a restaurant review. Last night, Heather and I went to this new restaurant in Ankeny for our anniversary. It was highly recommended by our friends Derek and Joni. We got to Ranallo's around 6:30, it is located in old downtown Ankeny.
We were not so much greeted but more so asked if we had reservations but a blond gentleman. Being a Wednesday night we didn't think we would need a reservation, we told him no and he said it would be about a 30 minute wait. We said OK and sat down in some chairs to wait.
About 40 minutes later another couple came in, a brown haired server asked if they had reservations, they replied "No" and asked how long the wait would be. He said "We are all booked up tonight, we don't have any more tables but if you would like to eat at the bar you can." So they went into the bar, he then looked at us and said "Can I help you two?" We explained that the Mr. Blond told us it would be about a 30 minute wait for a table. Brown-hair replied, let me go take a look. We waited another 5 minutes and Brown-hair walked by us twice without recognition and then he finally said "I have a table in the corner for you" Super!
We got sat down around 7:20 and we were literally in the corner right next to the kitchen and under a drafty window. Heather got so cold during our meal she had to put her scarf on to keep warm. During our wait in the lobby we had a chance to look at the menu so we already knew what we wanted, so we quickly glanced at the menu's to confirm our selections and then closed our menu's to let Brown-hair know we were ready to order. 10 minutes later, Brown-hair came to our table to take our order.

To start: Spinach artichoke dip
Heather ordered: 3-cheese ravioli with shrimp
I ordered: Seafood Trio

The artichoke dip came out very quickly and it was so good! The bread was toasted just right, not too crispy, not too flimsy. The dip was an excellent blend of creamy and cheesy. We now had smiles back on our face.
After the appetizer, Brown-hair brought us some homemade bread and a dinner salad. Both were pretty good.
In between each course there was a little wait, we got our main dish about 8:10.
Presentation was excellent, both dishes looked great.
Heather went with a combination of red and white sauce, which they split down the middle of her pasta, the cooks did a great job of dishing hers up.
Mine consisted of 2 scallops, salmon and a crab cake. It was blend of rich flavors and tastes. Very good!
Heather and I were both so hungry when we got there that we ate the artichoke dip pretty quickly, this probably wasn't the best choice for Heather. All the cheesy goodness upset her tummy. She was no longer hungry, so I finished mine and we got her dish boxed up to go. By the time we got out of the restaurant, it was 8:45.
All in all, the food was good, but the good food didn't out weight the poor service that we received. I will give them the benefit of the doubt, there were only 2 servers for a room of about 40 plus people, no host/hostess, no visible manager. I got the impression that most of the people there had made reservations, so they knew how busy they were going to be. I left the restaurant feeling like my business was a burden to the servers and I felt like we were not welcomed nor invited back. Needless to say, I don't think we will be going back there any time soon, but if you do venture to Ranallo's be sure to make a reservation in advance!

1 comment:

jonikaypine said...

so sorry:( We are having dinner there tonight!