Ronnie Grisanti & Sons Rstrnt

02/09/03

Delizioso!!

by MAHaut53 at Citysearch

Atmosphere great although a little noisy. The salmon pietro was scrumptious, and brought leftovers home for next day.....still good. Service excellent, but it did seem it was forever before our dessert was served. As we were sitting next to the kitchen door, someone in our party opened the door to remind them we were waiting. No problem; plus the dessert was worth the wait. Can't remember the name, but was something caramel with sort of a bananas foster-like sauce....yummy. Our family is looking forward to a gathering there for our daughter and fiance's rehearsal dinner in May. All in all a good experience.

08/01/09

We're done with the Grisantis

by boatsfighter at Citysearch

My wife and I had a good experience here over a year ago and wanted to try it again. It was a stark contrast this time. It was Friday night around 8pm and the place was only half full. We were seated by a waiter who progressively became more absent as the night went on. The food quality has definitely deteriorated in the past year. The calamari looked and tasted like it was fried from frozen and stuck together - not fresh and it was $10! Both of our dishes (sea bass and veal saltambocca) were completely substandard. The veal looked like it was premade and hidden under way too much sauce (I guess you can try to cover up bad food with a lot of sauce). The pasta was overdone as well. To say that the service was unattentive is an understatement. We decided against dessert after we hadn't seen the waiter for 30 minutes. The bill was $95 and I felt like a could have done much better at the Olive Garden.

One of the previous posts put it perfectly. Why do some people in Memphis try to act rich by going to these places, paying way too much for bad food and thinking it's the best? Maybe it's the economy and Ronny is trying to save money - I give this place about a year unless the Memphis posers prop it up because they don't know any better.

• Pros: Nice bar.
• Cons: Service, price, quality

02/13/09

Special Date ruined

by C1256 at Citysearch

We were celebrating our Valentines Day a night early. We had a babysitter (rare). I called early afternoon to see if we needed reservations. I was told that if I only had two in my party, it would be NO PROBLEM getting right in. I am pretty sure I talked with the owner.

So, we drove 30 minutes away from our home (keep in mind we had a babysitter) to eat at this restaurant. When we arrived, the hostess asked if we had a reservation. I told her NO and told her about my conversation earlier. She told me that the wait would be at least 1 hour and a half and I really needed reservations to eat there. I again told her that I had tried to make a reservation, but was told it wasn't necessary. You know what she said to me? "That's NOT MY PROBLEM!" I have NEVER been treated like that at a restaurant. I should have talked to the manager/owner, but my husband and I were so upset, mad, angry, that we just stormed out. I really was in shock at the way we was treated and the FACT that I really had tried to make a reservation for us to make our Valentines Day special.

The main thing that stinks about this. Night before Valentines. So, I called many of our other "fave" restaurants and they were all booked or had a couple hours wait. So, we paid a babysitter and didn't even get to go anywhere that was "adult friendly!"

We ended up heading to Old Venice Pizza Company and it was wonderful. Everyone was very friendly and the staff treated us so well.

It's a shame that this happened, because my husband and I really wanted to give Grisanti's a try.

11/12/08

Great Italian Food

by obewoods at Citysearch

I have eaten at this restaurant several times over the last couple of years and have always found the food to be excellent (Chicken Parm is a Fav) and the service to be consistantly top notch.

It is a little pricey but well worth an occasional splurge.

• Pros: Great food, pleasant dining experience
• Cons: A little pricey

10/17/08

I Blame Only Myself

by willr6 at Citysearch

I think the only reason this restaurant does any business is that people think they like to pretend they're rich, even if they have to eat mediocre or bad food to do it.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get good food, especially in Memphis, and usually it's the opposite.

If you want to spend a little more money than the average restaurant in Memphis, try Paulette's, where w'eve had some success. If you want some decent Italian food in Memphis, try Cafe Tuscana, which is much more reasonably priced.

• Pros: parking
• Cons: service, ambience, food, price, freezing

10/17/07

Cant stop coming back

by mshipman at Citysearch

Grisanti's is by far the best Italian in the city. It is my #1 place to bring a date as the wine list is quite extensive and the price isn't nearly as high as it could be. 2/3 of the time Mr. Grisanti will come out and shake your hand as you exit the restaurant. The atmosphere screams comfort and it is as romantic as you could want it. The waiters definitely know their stuff and the bartender is all class. If you love Italian food, you owe it to yourself to try your favorite Italian dish at Ronnie Grisanti & Sons and dare them to make it the better than you've ever had before.

And to the gentleman writing the review before mine, a bit of advice, when you use the word "suxx" to describe a restaurant, it pretty much shoots your entire review into the gutter.

• Pros: Atmosphere, food, staff
• Cons: no reservations

08/21/07

Locals don't know jack

by kevinmds at Citysearch

It looks like most of these reviews are coming from locals to the Memphis community.

That's what it reads like to me. I'm NOT from Memphis and have had much broader food experiences so my opinion is based on actually LIVING in other communities with larger, more true ethnic and/or Italian communities. Comparatviely this restaurant wouldn't be very successful anywhere outside of MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. It would go broke where people know good food...it would get it's butt kicked even in Atlanta, Charlotte, or even Tampa Bay.

I can't really recommend the place as a great experience sorry to say....and the location suxx

02/24/07

SUPERB customer Service! Good food all around!

by bettegirl at Citysearch

From walking in to walking out My husband and I had a WONDERFUL experience. We were immediately seated by the young lady who was to be our waitress. The Menu looked absoluetly scrumptios. Being new to the restaurant, the waitress explained the staples of the menu as she took us on a "Menu Tour." After going over the nightly specials, she continued to assist with pairing a bottle of wine with our entree and salad selections. I had the Veal Marsala and my hubby dove in for a Veal Chop, and we each had a different salad upon her reccomendation. After dinner, she delightfully went over all of their fresh handmade desserts. We didn't really know what to choose, so we let our waitress bring us their two "best" desserts. FANTASTIC! All of the recommendations were excellent, wine was top notch, and service was superb. I will return with my hubby in the near future, and make sure I ask for the same waitress to ENSURE a wonderful experience!

• Pros: Service, Service, Food
• Cons: Parking

05/14/06

An awesome restaurant!!!

by djsham at Citysearch

I been here once and really enjoyed it. The service was great and the food was fantastic. I had the steak stuffed with gorgonzola cheese - it was awesome.

• Pros: Steaks, Service
• Cons: Price

12/04/05

first time was great

by olmsrbl at Citysearch

I really do not care for Italian food but my wife loves it. Well, as you might have guested I still have to go. We came from Mississippi to eat here, I was not all that happy about this. (I would have rather gone to Como Steak House). I found that we were seated by the owner of the restaurant, this is very not Memphis. I was very impressed by everything there. I don't know where some of these other people went to eat, but I have now gone back atleast 6 times. When we go out to eat I always want to go here, My wife will tell you this is the only place I want to eat in Memphis.

• Pros: owner usually there, Inexpensive, great food & service
• Cons: none, none, none

05/20/05

One of Memphis's Best

by jtharvey at Citysearch

After living in Memphis for 3 years, I have found Ronnie Grisanti's to be one of the best restaurants in town. We recommend it to everyone and no one has been disappointed/disagreed. The wait was long but we were taken care of at the bar and the food/service was worth it. You cannot go wrong w/the Shrimp Elfo-it is wonderful. I make the recipe at home and it is always a hit. Enjoy!