Had the opportunity to check out a brand new restaurant in Tulsa, Villa Ravenna in the Farm Shopping Center. We went at lunch time and found the interior to be really beautiful, the lunch service a bit slow and mediocre entrees. The owner Sergio introduced himself at the table and said they had only been open 5 days and his brother was running their original restaurant back in Houston. Sergio also mentioned that the pasta was fresh and that they have excellent veal. I appreciated his desire to meet people and thank customers for checking them out.
They provided us with a fairly extensive dinner menu and let us know about a couple of specials for the day. They also later provided a lunch menu that shows the 3 or 4 different specials they offer by day of week. Overall we were a little disappointed that a full lunch menu was not available as most of their entrees on the dinner menu were a bit pricey for lunch. The lunch specials do come with the house salad which was very good. A plate of fresh mixed greens, tomato, onion and celery coated with a fantastic oil and vinegar dressing. A bit drippy but the flavor was excellent.
We were a little disappointed with the entree as it was pretty flavorless - cappelini with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp is one of the Thursday lunch specials. While there was an unexcepted amount of large pink shrimp, the pasta was fairly bland. The sun-dried tomato really seemed to be more of a garnish than having added flavor to the dish. A bit of dried parmensan cheese punched up the taste a bit but overall it was underwhelming.
The service was very good but there was a pretty big delay between the salad and entree and caused us to have a much longer lunch than expected. I just think overall there are some opportunities for improvement to really appeal to the lunch crowd - speedier service and an expanded lunch menu with lunch protions and pricing.
My parting thought was I would really like to try them for dinner and to check out their red sauce. I saw several plates of lasagna go out that smelled and looked good so I think there may be something there to try as well. I will certainly give them another chance as I think they have real potential but they may need a bit more time to work out the kinks. So, my recommendation on this one is you probably need to try it for yourself and see. When I give them another try I'll let you know how it goes the second time.
Keywords: Tulsa restaurants, Tulsa restaurant reviews, Tulsa Italian food, Villa Ravenna, Rainey Talbot
They provided us with a fairly extensive dinner menu and let us know about a couple of specials for the day. They also later provided a lunch menu that shows the 3 or 4 different specials they offer by day of week. Overall we were a little disappointed that a full lunch menu was not available as most of their entrees on the dinner menu were a bit pricey for lunch. The lunch specials do come with the house salad which was very good. A plate of fresh mixed greens, tomato, onion and celery coated with a fantastic oil and vinegar dressing. A bit drippy but the flavor was excellent.
We were a little disappointed with the entree as it was pretty flavorless - cappelini with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp is one of the Thursday lunch specials. While there was an unexcepted amount of large pink shrimp, the pasta was fairly bland. The sun-dried tomato really seemed to be more of a garnish than having added flavor to the dish. A bit of dried parmensan cheese punched up the taste a bit but overall it was underwhelming.
The service was very good but there was a pretty big delay between the salad and entree and caused us to have a much longer lunch than expected. I just think overall there are some opportunities for improvement to really appeal to the lunch crowd - speedier service and an expanded lunch menu with lunch protions and pricing.
My parting thought was I would really like to try them for dinner and to check out their red sauce. I saw several plates of lasagna go out that smelled and looked good so I think there may be something there to try as well. I will certainly give them another chance as I think they have real potential but they may need a bit more time to work out the kinks. So, my recommendation on this one is you probably need to try it for yourself and see. When I give them another try I'll let you know how it goes the second time.
Keywords: Tulsa restaurants, Tulsa restaurant reviews, Tulsa Italian food, Villa Ravenna, Rainey Talbot
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5 comments:
I think they've come a long way in 10 days. The lasanga was the best I've had in Tulsa($9.00), and the red snapper($12.00) was incredible.
Delicious bread, oils, and a fresh salad were included. The service could not have been any better. I did not have wine, but the list looked great. The atmosphere was very nice, not like a national chain. Can't wait to go again in the evening. B. Stuart
Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate the update and to hear that you had a great experience. Now I am even more anxious to try out their red sauce! Hope you find the blog to be useful. R
I love his page! I too visited Villa Ravenna very recently for lunch and dinner. I have traveled all over Europe and was greatful to finally find a true Italian restaurant in town. The pasta, is so fresh and the sauce, divine! Eventhough some of the dishes might seem a little flavorless to those use to Johny Caninos and Olive Garden, the tastes just like when my huy and I were in Milan...Love it and would recommend.
Thanks for your comment and glad to hear you like the blog. And really glad you liked Villa Ravenna. I definitely need to get back to try again. Being there on their fifth day of business doesn't really give them a much of a chance to work out the kinks. Hope you keep reading!
Things have really changed. We had dinner there months ago and the food was wonderful. We went back again tonight and it was the worst meal we've had in ages. My husband had the fetuccini with chicken and the sauce was bland; the chicken had been reheated in the microwave at some point. The slices of chicken were clumped together and came apart without losing shape. They'd been stuck together awhile. The Chicken Parmesan had come frozen there was nothing homemade about the breading at all. There was no flavor to the sauce except tomato. The accompanying pasta was relatively dry with a large amount of spinach which determined it's overall flavor. Our first visit was remarkable. Tonight's visit will be our last.
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