Riviera Ristorante

Wow — such good food! It’s my mom & dad’s favorite Italian restaurant in Santa Rosa. The waiters are really nice, and so are the owners. Love the «bicycle race memorabilia» everywhere. The foccacia bread is great!

Great! Great Customer Service, Fantastic Food. Very reasonable prices. We really enjoyed this taste of authentic Italy.

Really, really good Italian food, and great service as well. The braised lamb shank special was delicious, as were the duck raviolis. My first time here, but certainly not my last!

I love this restaurant. the food is great. Unfortunately they often put us in cramped seating. But service and food is great

Reservation was for 630 and were seated shortly after arrival. Waiter asked for our drink orders right away and knew how to uncork and serve wine (we ordered a bottle) properly and without much fuss. However it took awhile to put in our actual meal order. The wait time for appetizer was about 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes for the entrees. Our waiter kept saying «the kitchen is small I apologize for the wait» which I felt was inappropriate to say at such a «nice» restaurant — also way to throw the chefs under the bus. We were served ok bread, not warm, with butter and not olive oil. I found this interesting since this restaurant markets itself as authentic Italian. Calamari was served with a thousand island type sauce only. We had lamb shanks with polenta, seafood pasta, duck tortellini, and lamb meatball special. The polenta was not great and the scallops were very salty. No dessert. Server was nice but service was slow and it was not crowded.

We loved the pasta dish with prawns, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil (I don’t recall the name). The steamed mussels were very good too as an appetizer. The waitress was friendly and helpful and the prices just right I’d say. The only 2 criticisms I have are getting cold pats of butter with your bread instead of olive oil and my and my friend’s credit cards were swamped, which led to some inconvenience the next day. But I’d definitely go back and try other dishes!

Husband and I ate here with another couple and we loved LOVED our meal. We were seated promptly at our reservation time and our server had a fantastic, cheerful attitude. He was very knowledgeable about the menu and very attentive. We tried a myriad of dishes and enjoyed every one. The calamari appetizer was good. Flavorful and not tough, with rings and tentacles. We ordered a pumpkin ravioli (seasonal special) for the table and everyone fell in love with it, especially the moist, smoky-​flavored chicken pieces in the sauce. I ordered a shrimp pasta dish for my entrée and would get it again. Bottom line we all left raving about the place and only wishing we’d discovered it sooner! Thank you Riviera!

Not really sure how this place is so highly rated. My husband and I were really wanting Italian for dinner, and wanted to try this based on the many reviews saying it was like true Italian.
To be fair, it did taste like Italian food, if you mean the tourist menu section littering the many restaurants in Rome as part of a tour group. If you mean Tuscan, Venetian, or Orvieto food, then no. No, no, a resounding NO.
We were both worried when we saw them bring out bread with butter instead of olive oil. Then the calamari came out with what tasted peculiarly like thousand island sauce with parsley.
The orrechiette salsiccia had Italian sausage that tasted like it was found in the frozen isle at Krogers. The lasagna bolognese had a sauce that was not unlike a sloppy Joe sauce.
The service is decent and quick.

I’ve been here a few times with my aunt Nadia and each time I fall back in love with this place.
The staff here is absolutley amazing. Each time we come, we are always treated like family. I drive an hr and a half just to come eat here… yes its that good* I would highly recommened the seafood pasta… excelente, authentic italian food at its best.
I love the comfy feel of the this place, very intimate, very cozy.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for always treating us so well when we come.
outstanding staff.
Love Love Love this place… you must stop in and eat, drink and be happy.

We stopped in for dinner about 8 last night. The service was lack luster at best even though the restaurant was half empty. My wife had the carbonara and enjoyed it. I ordered puttanesca which was about the worst preparation of this dish I ever had. The pasta was undercooked and the only flavor was in the olives used in preparation.
I did not eat more then two bites. The waiter eventually asked if everything was OK. We told him the puttanesca was not good. Nothing. When the helper cleared the table he asked why I had not eaten anything. I told him. He simply took it away. Again nothing.
The owner showed up about 9 PM chatting with customers at the next table whom he knew. He witnessed what was happening at our table but did not bother to get engaged. The waiter presented the bill without comment and went off to read emails on his smart phone.
We have great choices in Santa Rosa. This is not one of them in my opinion.

My friends and I went here on September 11^th to celebrate a birthday.
I had the cappellini pomodoro. My dish was actually very good.
I also had the lava cake for dessert. It was a basic lava cake-​nothing special. I would have had more of it but an insect landed in it.
My friends liked their dishes. One of them thought a different type of pasta should have been used.
Service was okay if unenthusiastic.
I am deducting 3 stars for the following reasons:
Bread was really bad. I normally don’t care about bread or deduct stars for it but this bread was really dry and bad.
There were flies constantly buzzing around from the open door (it was left open the entire time we were there) and we had to swat flies off of our hair and away form our food non-​stop. This seriously detracted from our enjoyment of the meal. Our server saw us doing this and didn’t care because the door was left open. The lack care about their guests and basic hygiene is a red flag to me.
An insect landed in my dessert.
I ordered a soda and my server handed me a hot soda can. Which is fine in a lesser establishment. This restaurant is trying to be upscale so this seems out of place.
I would not come back. There are better Italian restaurants who care about their guests experience. This is not one of them.

Took my parents here for their birthday dinner. We were a party of 4 and I made reservations prior to dinner. We were promptly seated in the back area. Water and assorted breads were provided. we had the ceaser salad as well as the antipasto dish, both were great. For dinner it was gnocchi, a lamb ravioli and capellini pomodoro all of which were excellent. Service was attentive and unobtrusive. This is wonderful little place and had a really nice atmosphere. The only negative was that the day we went it was hot outside and extremely warm in the restaurant, and it looked like everyone seated in the general area was uncomfortable with the heat. Not sure if they have air conditioning or if it was working, but it was sweltering inside. Overall a really great place to eat. Great food, great service!

I’m on the fence between 3 and 4 stars. Would say the food and service is 4 but a little old school on the vibe. We had good, friendly service, wine list extensive and a few selections by the glass that were decently priced with a nice pour. Pastas were very good with a medium size portion and prices a tad less than typical Sonoma County prices. gnocchi was delicious. More the retiree crowd but also some families with widespread bicycle jersey décor but nice light.

Elegant yet casual, delicious authentic Italian! Even served by an italian waiter! The staff was super duper attentive, helpful, knowledgeable and fast.
My husband had pasta that was terrific & I had the fish of the day which was a salmon piccata! AWESOME! We also had the arugula salad. Yummers!
Also, the are open a bit later than most other restaurants in Santa Rosa. Great value and this is a gem. Go here! We loved it and I know you will too.
The portions were perfect size too!

I first arrived here somewhat excited; however left here pretty disappointed.
Let me explain…
I often dine alone, and one of my things on my pseudo bucket list is to try a new restaurant every weekend. I was craving Italian and I randomly selected this place via Unilocal.
I came on a Saturday night, as a single party and when I asked for a table for one the hostess seemed somewhat confused as to where to seat me.
I’m handed a menu and was told by the host that he had other people before me, which I was totally cool with. As I’m looking at the menu I come to the realization that they don’t have chicken parm; which totally makes me a sad panda :(so I opted to ordered the gnocchi.
The table next to me had a group of four and were joking around with the server that I had, and in my opinion I felt that the server was giving them better service.
About 20 minutes later my food arrives. It was good however for $ 14 dollars the portions were definitely smaller than average (still left me hungry). For dessert I ordered a cappuccino, and some tiramisu. The cappuccino came; however it was luke warm. The tiramisu; although good, nothing to write home about.
The three stars is because the portions were way too small, and the service was lackluster. I tend to think that servers there tend to focus on bigger groups because that’s where the tips are. (I’m usually a generous tipper; however not tonight)
Would I come back here again? Maybe! Depending if I had family in town and they wanted to to. Would I go out of my way and come back? Probably not

Nice restaurant. We came on a busy sayer day evening, we didn’t book a table so we had to wait for 15 minutes, not bad!
The service was chaotic, but we had enough time so we could wait a bit longer. The waiters were nice and friendly and interested in our visit.
We ordered antipasto, which was nice! Enough for two persons.
As an entrée we ordered a pasta with seafood and one with shrimps and artichoke. Taste well! Unfortunately a bit fat (probably a lot of oil) and we weren’t sure if the pasta was home made.
As dessert we ordered limoncello and tiramisu, which were really nice!
The weird was that they had also desserts as crème brûlée, lava cake and New York cheesecake, which are French and American desserts, while it is a Italian restaurant.
Well, probably everything is possible in America, but it would have been nicer if they were really specialized in Italian dishes.

Randomly chose this place as my girlfriends and I were craving pasta on our way to Windsor. This is a solid restaurant. The dishes were outstanding – we had five different dishes and they were all phenomenal. The décor is unique – the walls are covered with framed cyclists jerseys and photographs. The service was exceptional.

What a cozy little spot! So glad I found this quaint Italian restaurant. We went for lunch and I was impressed with the gorgeous high ceilings and friendly atmosphere.
The menu has a good amount of options but not an overwhelming amount. I got the Mediterranean sandwich which was ok, the bread did get a bit soggy and the side salad wasn’t very fresh. But overall, not the worst sandwich I’ve ever had by any means.
However, I really regret not getting a pasta dish. The spaghetti bolognese was incredible and you can tell the pasta is fresh made. Also there was a pasta dish with HUGE prawns, fresh capers and gorgeous angel hair pasta that I will definitely be getting next time!
Looking forward to trying out a dinner here… with lots of pasta!

The food was good, place is nice, décor was nice, presentation of food was nicely done, dessert was a SCORE with the lemon sorbet
Had to take points off for the very very saltiness of the white fish and salty potatoes, and salty sauce. Also, for leaving the BONES in the fish! #Yuck! The fish tastes good (after adding lemon to balance the saltiness) then I want to take a huge bite but then I’m stuck with a bone on my tooth. My gf ordered the seafood spaghetti, was good, but not the greatest for the price.
Great place for a date, but I’d say not worth the price for the food

Off the beaten path, missed it driving by. Glad we turned around
Unilocalers that recommended this place were right. Food was very good, portions large, and reasonable prices. It was hard to decided what to order, thank heavens the menu wasn’t overwhelming. Then the waiter added four incredible sounding specials.
Service was great
It’s a small neighborhood restaurant. High bare ceiling, so the noise level was a little loud. Just like being in an Italian family’s dinning room.
I also enjoyed their list of Italian wines. They had some that many places don’t carry.