Ravenna Urban Italian Restaurant

Amazing food and fun atmosphere. However most of all, we truly enjoyed the wonderful service provided by Chance. He was very attentive and kept our water glasses full. Kiddos Chance for a job well done. We will be back!

Really enjoyed the Eggplant Rolatini appetizer and Tiramisu dessert! Thanks for a nice evening.

A recommendation from the Omni Dallas hotel. Glad we listened. Superb service and great food. The saltimbocca veal was the best I’ve ever had. Manicotti with bacon and shrimp was awesome.

(I’d honestly give it a 2.5)
Pros:
Ok food– not great but better than most downtown places
Great portions– everything is large. You leave full
Friendly service
Cons:
Bad cocktails– watery & over priced
Ok bread — looks beautiful taste mediocre
Long wait time
Over priced– like I said the food is OK. Not worth the price
Bottled ranch– 100% positive they gave my brother hidden valley ranch LOL
For the price there’s better places downtown. They’re far and few but still overall better than Ravenna.

Rating: ³⁸⁄₁₀₀ pts
Ravenna was recommended by my hotel concierge as their choice for Italian in downtown Dallas. Though I didn’t find the food particularly good, I do understand why it was recommended: the Italian food scene in downtown Dallas is quite deplorable, and as of present, 2-​ish stars is probably the best you’re gonna get.
To be fair, the interior of the restaurant as actually quite nice. That’s not to say it’s overly classy, but it does have a comfortable «trattoria» feel to it.
The menu appears promising, with delicious-​sounding descriptions of steaks, pastas, and seafood, but the food is grossly overpriced for its quality. The cheese tastes rubbery, the pizza stale, and the meat dry and/​or long-​frozen. I also tried the veal saltimbocca; this too suffered from death-​by-​rubbery mozzarella, which completely suffocated the poor thin slices of meat below as they futilely gasped for air.
Portions are large (even big eaters most certainly will not leave hungry), but I still can’t justify paying $ 18 – 38 for these sub-​par entrees.
Whereas I usually look forward to Italian desserts, their generically brief menu of «Tiramisu, Cannoli, and NY Cheesecake» did little to spark my interest.
Favorers of quantity over quality will be satisfied. However, I’d sooner elect for something more delicate, even if it means avoiding Italian food.

I give this place a strong 3, if possible 3 ½ stars! I am a visiter from California and I only have a few days to explore. I took my friend out on a date after visiting the Wrestlemania Axxess going on at the convention center. I found this place and decided to eat here. First off, parking is difficult to find unless you want to go around and find public parking. Valet next to the restaurant is only $ 10. We went in and ordered are food, not even within 5 minutes after we walked in. About 10 minutes later, our pastas come out hot and ready for us. The food is good and the service is amazingly friendly. I hope I can return again in the future and eat here again. Locals of Dallas or anywhere in Texas, check it out and try their food. I’m sure you’ll like it as well as I did.

11:55 PM — wrestlemania was in town and all three 7−11s near my house had 25 – 50 people lines. I slipped into Ravenna for a quick slice. It was packed, understaffed and surprisingly blaring techno music. That was an interesting choice.
12:05 am. The countdown began as I hadn’t been greeted or given a water 10 minutes in. Some big guys came in to look at the menu, and when they were turned off by the silly $ 24 plus entrees I felt obliged to advise them «you can get pizza slices.»
12:10 am order was taken in a hurry
12:20 order arrived wrong
12:25 items were brought corrected
12:30 I just ate the slices there even tho I was gonna get it to go. The girl apologized for the mistake but didn’t offer a water as I just ate at the bar.
The pizza dough is decent tho. $ 8 for two average slices is kinda pricey.
With a few tweaks Ravenna could be a decent spot, but they don’t try too hard, so it comes off like a rip off tourist spot.
Open late.

The server was very polite. The welcome made me smile. The food was abundance. I had the chicken pesto fettuccine amaze! I like a bit more garlic but it was still really good. Oh and let me not forget the FRESHLY MADE YEAST ROLLS OMGGGGG I could feast OFD those.

Great food and GREAT service! These guys went way above and beyond to make us happy. Highly recommend this place.

Fantastic experience! Food was amazing and service was excellent! Look forward to coming back!

Prime location, easy parking. Amazing food & customer service. Everything was very fresh.
We ordered: calamari, sunday salad, salmon special.
Tip: Their drinks are really strong!

We ate here rather late but they were hospitable and glad to seat us. The sausage and peppers were the best I’ve had in a long time. I like that they use pickled peppers. The meatball appetizer was delicious and the Margherita pizza was light and flavorful.
The atmosphere was had a cozy charm to it. I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Dallas.

Overall a great dining experience! My wife and I stopped here because we could not decide where to eat but knew we wanted some good Italian food. There was a lady who is standing outside that assisted us with their menu and what we might enjoy so we decided to give it a try. We were definitely not disappointed! The ambiance was very romantic, our waiter was very attentive and the place overall had a very classy feel.
The negative was I did not particularly care for the way my Veal was prepared (see picture) it was very thinly sliced with a taste more like sausage. The sauce was also very runny. I felt 25.00 was a lot to ask for what i got. The salad has left something to be desired. My wife had the eggplant parmesan and was happy :-)

Went in on a slow night, the bartender made my extra dirty martini perfect.
He gave to recommendations for food, I went with the Pork Chop Calabrese… awesome choice! Great flavor, tender meat, nice sized portion, but not too much.
Finished with the Tiramisu, once again, perfect size, not dry at all.
Prices for the food accounting for quality, taste, and portion size is good. I’ll definitely be back while in town.

I ended up at Ravenna because of the friendly greeter speaking to everyone who passed by after leaving another restaurant because apparently I was invisible.
It’s a nice, quaint place for meetings, lunch date, etc but the food is ok.
Ravenna is going towards being upscale instead of casual like its neighbors. Service was good except for the one person I waited on to take my order. I ordered the chicken piccata to go. It was OK.

Loved the service and the food. It’s not everyday you get to enjoy legit cooking. We had the pizza and it was amazing. And they were open late which was super helpful after getting off a plane and just wanting a good meal to start the vacation off right!
The owner totally sold us with his little speech at the door. smart man.

Not bad for a late night tip kind of place. The pepperoni pizza just tastes like any other pie you would eat after a long night out. I mean because let’s face it… even when pizza is bad… it’s still pretty dang good. It does come out hot and fresh. I agree with other reviewers that the atmosphere is so dark and not really inviting at all. I did not have a problem with the service, it was average. I’m not sure I would ever come over here for dinner as it’s kind of out of the way… but it’s in the heart of downtown if you live near there and have a craving. I have yet to try other dishes… not sure I’m convinced enough that I need to.

Over a weekend visit to Dallas with my Mom we stopped into Ravenna after a recommendation from our hotel. We split a caprese salad, Mom got a special dish seafood manicotti dish and I got lobster ravioli while splitting a bottle of Malbec.
The food was tasty, our entrees were solid but the caprese salad wast super fresh, its also early in the season for flavorful tomatoes so I guess I can’t blame ‘em.
The staff was very helpful, we discussed our wine options with them and found that their normal Malbec wasn’t available but rather what is normally sold at a higher price point was offered at the same $ 40/​bottle rate as what was listed on the menu. Throughout the evening, the staff didn’t hover and when they did check in with us we they were quick witted and thoughtful in their recommendations.

The atmosphere is exquisite. Perfect for a date; HangingOut with friends in the Downtown Dallas area; or just wanting to treat yourself to a nice meal.
My husband & I had Calamari & Pasta… Doesn’t look like much food– but your eyes are deceiving you!.. We are about to walk out with our buttons undone. Lol.
Two dinners & an appetizer cost us $ 64… Well worth it.

Service: Slow and annoying. It was a slow afternoon with only six other customers. I hate having to repeat myself, and, I hate when my server takes too long to check in after the food has been served. I was not offered any cracked pepper or fresh Parmesan. I had to ask for it.
Ambiance: None really. I mean it’s small with a bar, view-​able kitchen, and, smells like rotten meat back by the kitchen/​bathroom area.
Food: Huh! Some plates were ala carte. Pork chop was tough and dry, and, was on top of some nasty ass french fries (potato wedges?) that were all soggy and nasty. $ 15 pork chop should never be anything less than perfect. What? No salad or veggies? I gotta order them separate? It’s a fucking pork chop for crying out loud! Now it’s being treated like wild rare game. Rigatoni Bolognese was a $ 9 option. What came out was Linguine Bolognese. Very bland boring sauce.
What did we think of the food? Dried out pork chop sux donkey assnut. Bland bolognese can’t be awakened with anything. Seriously, Ragu and Prego (which are gross) would have suited me better. EEww! Did I just say that?
Complaint: Yes, we sure did complain. We were offered something different. My companion was at limits for the day and needed to just get back home, so, he didn’t have the stamina to wait for another dish to be cooked. Strawberry Cheesecake it was for him (to go). He liked his cheesecake.
Website: So annoying that I have to constantly turn off that annoying fucking music!
Would I go back? Maybe. A very weak maybe. More than likely not, but, I won’t put them on the Nasty List. A very over priced place that failed to bring the quality/​quantity for the price!