Ristorante Renato

My family has been coming to Renato’s for YEARS-​25, to be exact (before I was even born!). It’s a favorite for more special occasions, and since my parents have been coming for so long, the owner knows of us and always takes care of us. For example, I am very indecisive on choosing my pasta dish, so he always offers to do a combination of 2 of my chosen pastas-​what other place does that?!
Renato’s has some of the best Oysters Rockefeller I’ve had, so that’s a must get appetizer. You can’t go wrong with the calamari either.
While I have tried a quite a few of their stuffed pastas through the combination route, the Agnolotti (spinach stuffed raviolis) have to be my favorite. The sauce is creamy and delicious, and you can tell its homemade!
I don’t care how full you may be from your pasta, but you need to get the Chocolate Chambord Cake if you’re a chocoholic like I am. It’s a layered chocolate cake, but not your typical 7-​layers-​with-​only-​icing-​between-​dry-​cake, no, it has a nice variety of layers (moist cake, chocolate mousse, ganache, etc) and is just overall delicious.
Yes, the service is a bit slow unfortunately, but it is usually worth it. We will continue enjoying this restaurant for many years to come!

Very disappointing. My husband and I go to downtown Fredericksburg every Friday night and try a different restaurant. For weeks we have walked past this one and wanted to try it. I ordered the filet and my husband ordered the shrimp Parmesan. All of the food was bland, nothing special. Shrimp tasted frozen and a couple were even a bit off tasting. My husband did not finish his meal, because of the unsettling taste of the shrimp. My filet was extremely chewy and the mashed potatoes were ok, but possibly instant. Our calamari appetizer was decent. Marinara sauce is very good. Service was extremely slow, but nice waiter and water stayed full. I don’t think we will be going back, as there are plenty of other great places on William street that far exceeds this place. It is unfortunate, we were really hoping for much better.

Food was definitely frozen, boxed, instant, NOT fresh. Meatballs sat in sauce all day… overcooked and rubbery. Chicken is the same and seemed boiled, it wasn’t tender. Boxed pasta is a disappointment for a restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg. Food was generally bland and flavorless. Servers were relatively friendly with the exception of the hostess who seemed judgmental. Water was always filled however they could improve that by having bigger glasses or pitchers that block ice. I had a small glass loaded with ice and the server had to fill it every 5 minutes. Atmosphere was great. so there’s a plus? So many better places in downtown Fredericksburg.

Amazing food. The best ravioli I’ve ever had. I’m sad I don’t live in the area because I would go there weekly!
Amazing service and perfect ambiance.
I forgot my coat there and they even mailed it back to my home without hesitation. Exceptional customer service!

My wife and I celebrated our anniversary here and the atmosphere, food and service was perfect. I had the salmon Renato which was delicious and we ordered a bottle of wine which was half price (Tuesdays). We ended the evening with two café diablos which is as fun to watch as they are to drink. They also gave us a military discount to top it off.

Attended a birthday dinner here for my grandfather. We were able to get a whole room to ourselves for the event. A long table was set up for us, the restaurant allowed us to hang balloons and decorations around the room too. They were even nice enough to refrigerate our home made cake. The waiters were attentive to not only filling our water glasses and opening our wine bottles, but they served a gluten free menu for the family members that requested it and an extra menu of the «restaurant favorites of the day.»
I ordered the gnocchi d’amore which were three large gnocchi pieces stuffed with crabmeat. They were tasty but the sauce was too creamy and rich. I would have much rather had a lighter sauce.
It was a nice quiet Italian place that satisfied our needs in food and customer service. The staff was very kind and helpful to make it a nice celebration.

Decent service and pleasant atmosphere. This is what seems to be the most positive feature. The food was bland, ordinary and most likely prepared well in advance. The crostini was toasted but somehow cold. The mashed potatoes that accompanied the filet mignon were most likely instant and cold. There were a few other patrons and they seemed to enjoy their food. We did not. My fiancé asked to use the restroom, and the busboy/​stand up comic said He could go up front or use the bush out back. Apparently the busboy thought it was funny. We did not think so. Maybe the $ 83.00 bill was a joke as well.

We have been coming here for years. Every entrée is always delicious, the atmosphere is quiet, lending to ease in conversation, service attentive, and the café Diablo is always a special treat! Parking is convenient, right next to the restaurant, and free.

We had a fantastic meal here while passing through town. I had a veal dish that was outstanding. The service was very good and the half price bottle of wine was an added bonus. All of the pasta was freshly made and sauces were delish. My only regret was leaving the leftovers in the hotel fridge.

Bathrooms were not great. Dirty paper towels strewn about. They were very small and chilly. It did have an automatic flusher so positive points there.

I am im shock at the reviews most gave this place and disguisted. Do people in this area know good food? If i open a virginia ham store in california and you people come to eat there, and i serve you a honey ham, than would you people get upset? This is another local restaurant that is run by hispanics!!! This is not authenic italian food… stay home and cook your own. Apps are overpriced and small portions. Entrees are not that big at all. they cover with alot of sauce to look that way. Im italian from NYC and i know my italian and to have hispanic cook my food and hispanic server tell me its authenic is disrespectful… they dont even know what gnocci is at all. they serve gnocci in form of a ravioli… umm no… idiots!!!

We were in Fredericksburg for the day and wanted to have an early dinner before the long drive home. We happened upon this lovely place. We were completely spoiled with attention and the menu was quite comprehensive.
Our questions about the menu were graciously answered and the hostess even offered to make a special plate for our vegetarian daughter if she didn’t see anything she liked. Fortunately, she had the spinach salad and eggplant and loved it! My husband and I both had seafood, which was superb, as well as the Caprese salads. There was more than enough food (took home leftovers) and the staff couldn’t have been more attentive.
We will definitely be back the next time we’re in Fredericksburg!

When we walked in with a toddler, the hostess didn’t even try to hide her distain. We got a booth, which was fun for our child & he made friends with the table next door. The appetizer of fried, cheesy bread with a lemony sauce was good. Unfortunately, that was the height our meal. The server never brought the San Pellegrino we ordered. The worst part was the plastic I found & almost ate in my salad! The spinach ravioli was good, but nothing special. Finally, we had to ask for our bill 3 times! Not impressed — especially for the higher prices they charge!

My husband and I stumbled upon their early bird $ 20 special one night (bread, app, meal, dessert, wine, and coffee included) — 4:30−6pm M-​Th. IT WAS AMAZING. Our waiter was Mr. Garcia, who was just excellent. I left extremely full, but not uncomfortable… and the cannoli was the best I’ve ever had. We will definitely be back.

Food was excellent — portion sizes perfect. We will return!

Our favorite restaurant in the Burg. You must try the oysters Rockefeller. We have had them in dozens of other places, no one compares. They are excellent.
The service is alway exceptionally professional. Extensive wine list, always a pleasure. Scampi Renato is my go to dish. Amazing! This is a lovely authentic Italian restaurant. A step above the local pizza joint for sure. Go here for a dining experience. Not a quick meal, not huge portions. Just an elegant delicious dining experience. Everything is always perfection here.

3.5 would probably be more accurate, but I’ll err on the side of generosity. We went into dinner at Ristorante Renato’s with decidedly low expectations, given the whooping that they’ve gotten from fellow Unilocalers. I have to preface my review my noting that we lived in Naples, Italy for 3 years and have pretty high expectations. I started with the tortellini in bordo soup, which tasted exactly like several I’d had in Parma. For the main, hubby had the four cheese ravioli which I thought was better than my linguine with clams. Dessert was so so with the Chambord chocolate cake. Honestly, I was confused why people has slow service, if anything I felt like we were given course a bit hastily. But, the whole meal from sitting to paying the check was under almost exactly one hour. Far shorter than a typical Italian meal. I’d definitely go back again.

We went here for our anniversary and we had a wonderful evening! The food was excellent and the service was superior. They did not rush us and everything came out perfectly timed and at the correct temperature. The atmosphere was warm, inviting and quiet. I had the Veal Ivana and my husband had the Veal Picotta. Each were excellent and the portions were generous. We each had 3 pieces of veal. The calamari we had for an appetizer was tender and very tasty. Each entrée came with a house salad and your choice of the vegetable & potato or linguini with marinara sauce. We opted for the linguini and the marinara sauce. It was was excellent. They treated us to dessert since it was our anniversary. We highly recommend the tiramisu! We will definitely recommend this to our friends and we will be looking forward to returning here in the future.

I took my girlfriend to Renato’s a few nights ago for dinner. Made such an impression on me that I am taking the time to write this review. My overall impression? Sadness. Just sad that an establishment with so much potential to be a great little italian restaurant in a city that really needs one should fall so far short of being great, good, even decent. They have the old world style building and décor, the actual italians serving you, but the food was a real disappointment! I ordered filet mignon, she ordered veal. Both were flavorless, cooked poorly, arrived tepid. Vegetable sides were not prepared with any particular creativity. Even the wine was very poor for the price. Honestly, the food was just a little better than eating at a pizza hut buffet. And the bill suggested we just had a wonderful meal at a fine restaurant.
I should mention I had eaten here a few times prior for meetings in the back room, but never held them responsible for their food quality because they were cooking for a large group. Now I realize that’s always the way it is here.
If these folks are not going to do much better, they need to go out of business so someone who will try can take over and make this a decent restaurant for Fredericksburg. The effort is what is missing. It’s obvious the owners take no pride in what they do. What do the italians always say is the essential ingredient in any good food? Passione, and there is no love exhibited in the preparation of food at this place.
Trust the reviews you see here and find a different place to eat when you’re in the mood for some decent italian food.

I was really worried about this restaurant after reading the reviews, knowing I’d be coming here for my girlfriend’s birthday, and her mother’s birthday. There was about 6 of us, and service was terribly slow. Friendly, but slow. We ordered appetizers, and not until they were finished at the table were the entrée orders taken. Meh.
Super break down of this is the entrees are SMALL on portion. Service is slow. Very slow. Options expensive, and limited (most every pasta dish was XYZ in cream/​marinara sauce), and desserts weren’t fresh. I’d not come out of my way from Richmond to this place, or even if I was in town … honestly. I really wanted to like this place, because they have some aspects down perfect, but they are seriously missing on others. Nail down your dishes and sauces, and increase your portions. I know you probably want to keep your entrees around 20, but the portions aren’t equal to the dollar amount paid. I’ve had eggplant dishes that were no shit, double the portion and equal the price tag, and triple the flavor. Re-​work some things, for real.
The saving grace here was the friendly service, inviting atmosphere, and the ‘show’ provided for the $ 14 Café Diablo.