Ruthie D’s

Went back today (early on a Tuesday) and we were seated promptly. Our server Allison was very attentive and timely. Food was very good. Looks like the wait staff issues may be resolved.

Another Update. DONE WITH THE D BABY. May 2016. Memorial weekend. Been going to Ruthie’s for years and after many mishaps, this time I am done! I believe they are under new ownership, not 100% on that tho. Made a reservation thinking it would be busy this weekend but it wasn’t. Went in with a party of 6 and was seated outside on the lake view patio ((love the patio)) I really like the tomato vinegaette dressing there, and several of us ordered the large dinner salad as meals, and a couple ladies ordered entrees. I asked the waitress for some dinner rolls to hold us over and she didn’t respond to me. I asked a second time and she spun around and curtly told me, «I’LL BRING EVERYTHING OUT TOGETHER, OK» Well no that is not ok. I’ve had bread issues with these people before and they had gotten better about bringing out the bread. I guess they went back to not wanting to give you any bread until you receive your meal. They like serving stale crackers with your salad. Sorry, I do not like crackers with my salad. Our food finally came and I noticed they now cut the beets in half, so they can save $$$$. Ok I can live with that, but the beloved salad dressing tasted watered down. The brown leaves of lettuce that should never have been served were probably being saved for just such an occasion. After dinner we asked for our bill and received them along with the waitress telling us, we should not have been seated in the dining area, inside or out, because we ordered large dinner salads as meals. Next time we would be restricted to the bar area. Well 2 of the ladies ordered entrees. WTF??? Hope you can get it together, while your working on that, maybe you could teach your waitress some manners. I am not mentioning the positive because I do not have anything positive to say this time. Goodbye Ruthie D;s. It just means I will be going to Bentley’s more often, much better food and impeccable service always. I did get a response from their facebook page telling me, if you order a SMALL dinner salad or lighter fare menu, then you have to sit at the bar. Ok, we’ll I guess you will have to ask every patron what they intend on ordering before you seat them and come prepared to wait for a long time. Hey maybe you can bring in your own bread with you.

May, 14, 2016
Made a reservation by phone early Saturday and got a relatively quick call back confirming our time.
When we arrived we were taken strait to our table and we got, the best table in the house. No lie!
The establishment is larger than I recall as it has been an easy 3 – 4 years since last coming here. Great atmosphere, just as great of a lake view. The lake side dining area even has a platform for photo opportunities. Very thoughtful.
The wine list is very well thought out and priced fairly. We ordered a Petite Sirah and it was served at the proper temperature! This is huge (for me anyway).
My date ordered the chicken piccata and I ordered the prime rib. This was the first prime rib I’ve had in an easy 3 years. This one was cooked, perfect, perfect size. The entrees included a salad and another side. This is welcomed as the ala carte style really has a way to jack up the bill. My dates chicken was wonderful, tangy, and the pasta with it was cooked exactly correct. The rolls served were always warm and their special whipped butter was really good (the butter has no honey or other weird stuff in it, it’s just churned in a certain way in the kitchen).
Our server was a very fine young lady who knew the menu and also knew her wine. We offered to share a taste of wine with her but she demurred.
We will clearly put Ruthie D’s on our regular list of place to dine at Lake Ozark as so should you.
Thanks for reading

Lovely meal and really good food. The Chicken Picata was perfect as was my husbands Prime Rib. Had not been in a long time but will be back soon.

Everything from the food, atmosphere and service was top notch. Filet mignon and jalapeño grits were awesome as was the Caesar salad. Bread pudding for dessert had to be the best I’ve ever had. Always great food!!! Very nice bar area with fireplace and large flat screens to watch sports. Great views of lake with outdoor seating.

The service was great, the staff was very attentive. My coffee drink was delicious. Unfortunately, the evening went downhill from there. My husband and I shared the filet. We ordered it medium, but it came medium rare. The outside was charred, the inside was jelly. The stuffed mushrooms were not good either. We are big believers in frequenting places with great customer service, but they just can’t outdo the terrible food, unfortunately. We won’t be back.

Happy Hour serves good food at a fair price. Our waitress was friendly and attentive without being over-​bearing. She handled the whole bar like a pro.

This is a great place for dinner, the food was savory and the actual restaurant has a really neat Italian theme with décor that makes you feel like you’re in Italy. It has 2 areas for outdoor seating, in the front it’s like a bistro, the rear is a screened in area with an outstanding view of the lake. My only gripe with the restaurant is the portion to price ratio. Given this is a fancy restaurant, I did not leave full, however, the food is very good. I’m sure I will be back at Ruthie Ds.

Enjoyed a lovely dinner to celebrate my in-​laws wedding anniversary while down in the Ozarks. A place they have been to a few times, and a place they wanted the family to try.
It is definitely an old school Italian restaurant in both feel and décor. The menu was the classic pasta, seafood, steak, and pizza with a few non traditional items like Hawaiian pork. I tried the pizza named Bistecca and Blu. Was a little disappointed, as all I could taste was Carmelites onions, and the spinach just came in a pile on top of a cooked pizza. Overall the consensus on the food was average to above average. Wait staff was alright, though it took a long time to bring out our desert.
One funny note is that they have really young bus boys, and when we pointed out the oil in the oil and vinegar set was empty, he just stared at us for 15 seconds with a confused/​scared look before taking it away. When we requested vinegar later in the meal for the bread, they bought back the same set, with the oil still empty! I don’t know what he must of thought we said the first time he took it away, but the look was priceless.
Overall I would seek out a new place, but would not put up to much objections if they wanted to go back in the future.

My wife and I went to Ruthie D’s last night for Happy Hour.
What a great experience. Ordered the grouper bites which were awesome, draft beer and wine.
Was excellently served by the bar tender, Christophe. Will be going back for Happy Hour and dinner. Great place.

Seated at a table by the window with a view of the lake. Very nice panorama.
Food quality was very good. Service was excellent. Handled special requests very well.
Menu selections to meet any tastebuds. Delicious desserts.

My favorite restaurant at the lake! Great service, prices, and food! When I go, I always get the onion strings, tuna, hand cut ribeye, and grits. I switch dressings because they are all made in house and delicious! Oh yeah, the piccata kicks butt too! Thanks for the great service Dakota and Brent!

A little pricey with great taste! Mom’s virgin pasta wit the grilled shrimp and Dad’s white fish were delicious! I had the noodles and they were perfect! Our chocolate cake dessert was a great way to end the dinner!

Food took FOREVER and asked for bread multiple times, finally got it with the food. I got the Alfredo, it was cold and asked them to heat it up, they did. It wasn’t anything fantastic, basically just pasta with a white sauce on it. So food is eh, service thumbs down, but the coupon is letting us get free dessert, hopefully it’s good.
Update: dessert is AMAZING love the Crème brûlée

I got the Pesto Pasta and it was only ok. Tasted mostly like straight cream. My parents got steaks and said they were awesome. My husband liked his chicken Marsala. Overall we would go back!

I’m sure the food is great but the manager is terrible. We walked in and they said 15 min. We waited 40 minutes until realizing everyone else at the bar was told 15 minutes. The manager then told us that we should have had a reservation… are you kidding me?! Why did you not tell me that when I walked in the door you moron?! Terrible. Sorry to everyone else we left sitting people in the bar.

We decided to give Ruthie D’s a try tonight for dinner. We were very pleasantly surprised! Everyone at the table loved their meal. I had the prime rib special and was it ever stellar! I shared with everyone at the table because it was sooo good. It was a 12 ounce prime rib with all the fixings for $ 27. One of the best that I have ever had! My wife had one of the pizzas and she really liked it too.
The wait staff did a great job tonight. They were there to serve us and that they did! We will definitely return next year. We highly recommend Ruthie D’s! If you are in the area you can’t go wrong with this restaurant

The restaurant takes reservations but it took an additional 15 minutes for them to decide which of the 75 open tables they wanted to seat our party of 6 at. Once the «perfect» spot was determined our waiter popped by 10 minutes later letting us know he was going to give US some more time and would be back. 45 minutes after our reservation we finally get to order drinks and we also asked to order food at the same time.
Once our food arrived, most of our party enjoyed their meals — the pizza was cold — not the best.
It took another step 20 minutes for our check to come. Lots of wasted time and poor service for a pricey place.

We came late on a Friday and it was pretty empty in the restaurant. Entrees are steep $ 20 to $ 30 on average but they also have sandwiches. Warm bread upon request seemed fresh. Onion soup was too salty we couldn’t even finish eating it. Caesar salad was big and very good although was a little more sour than your typical caesar. Chicken Picatta was very good. Sauce was a good balance of creamy and light. It comes with a lot of chicken. Side of pilaf was small for the amount of chicken but also good.
We will be back but not until we try some other local high end places. Next time I go I will have the Stuffed Grouper (w crab shrimp and mushrooms) and Jalapeño Grits! The fried chicken is supposed to be popular too but it is going to be one of the most expensive fried chickens you have ever had.
Our server was fabulous!
Good location for those living toward the end of horshoebend.
I only gave three stars because of the value and is relative to a fine dining establishment. I would give them another star if they lowered prices of entrees across the board by $ 5.

Went here for the great happy hour deal! 4−6pm daily. Have to sit in the bar lounge to get happy hour prices but it’s worth it. We actually went back two nights in a row for the awesome deal and had the same server both nights.
We had their hamburger ($ 5!), fish tacos ($ 6 for two tacos and fries), escargots ($ 5 and delicious!) and chicken fingers. Their house wines and well drinks are $ 3. Other cocktails were a dollar off. I had a raspberry lemonade cocktail and it wasn’t very good, definitely wouldn’t order it again.
Even though we sat inside, we went to check out their patio which was nice. It’s screened in which is helpful with bugs. Their view isn’t too bad but definitely not their main attraction.
Will be back for their happy hour next time!