Rufinos Italian Restaurant in Anaheim

Review №1

2022-06-16

My husband and I ate here out of pure curiosity. We were in the mood for Italian food but are sick of olive gardens terrible pricing and customer service. We’ve tried other places as well but the food and customer service haven’t compared to Rufino’s Italian Restaurant. From the beginning the manager Mike greeted us with open arms. And not to mention the restaurant felt so homey. The night we went it wasn’t packed or loud. It was a cute romantic spot. Our server Jasmine was sweet from the beginning to end. The service was quick. I’m so use to waiting for maybe an hour for our food to finally get to us at the local Olive Garden. Here we waited maybe 20ish minutes and our food was hot and fresh. My husband had lasagna which is to die for. It’s perfectly seasoned and super melt cheese. The portion was great. I had the spaghetti Sicilian that comes with zucchini’s and eggplants. It was absolutely delicious. Each entre comes with a choice of a salad or soup. Based on the food and customer service I would hands down recommend to check this cute place out. Definitely better than Olive Garden

Review №2

2021-12-26

I had high hopes for this place. Was hungry after a long days work, and wanted something warm in my stomach.A lasagna and gnocchi sounds good, I thought to myself. I unfortunately was wrong.I dont really like to give poor star reviews, but I had to for this one. I feel like I would have been better off with a Stouffers frozen lasagna. I dont know how its possible, but it literally had NO flavor. I was shocked, I had to eat something else to verify that I didnt loose my sense of taste and smell with possible corona. I still had them.It was almost like in a marinara soup (I did take out, and as you can see from my photo).The gnocchi, however, had flavor. Man oh man though was it swimming in this oily, pesto sauce that was just too strong for me. The sausage and potato dumplings were good, but it was just DROWNED in sauce, even more than the Pesto.Maybe I should have asked for the houses signature dish, and like I said maybe that day was not a good day. I thought for sure with all the plaques with positive certifications in them would have been evident enough that I was going to have delicious Italian cuisine. If you can, change my mind. Until then, Ill carry on and look elsewhere when Im craving Italian food.-B.P.

Review №3

2022-07-16

My family and I decided to come here before going to Downtown Disney, and boy are we glad! The food was absolutely amazing. From the bread to the minestrone, to the ravioli; everything was flavorful and exquisite. We are so glad to have found this little hole in the wall. This isn’t some chain restaurant where they’re only concerned with how many seats they fill; you can tell this was someone’s dream once. They care about you and your experience dinning there, and the quality of service and food shows. The prices were also incredible considering the cost of most other places nowadays. I won’t lie, it’s a bit vintage, but come with your mind and your mouth open, and you won’t be disappointed.

Review №4

2022-04-28

The place has really the italian ambience and the food is decently good, friendly service. Not crowded and quiet. The womens bathroom was well stocked but not maintained, I mean, being a slow business day they can make time to keep it clean. But the service is nice: I asked for iced coffee which is not even part of the menu and they made it for me. I recommend to give this place a try.

Review №5

2022-03-03

This place was absolutely amazing, after a long day out this was a quiet place to relax for dinner. The pizza was absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend, it was also a good value for the cost, the manager/owner is very involved and friendly. If you have a family of 4 the medium pizza would likely feed everyone. Will definitely visit again!

Review №6

2022-04-09

This place was awesome! The prices were great and the food was delicious. I tried everyones dish at our table and everything was unique and devine. My mother in law had a white cream chicken broccoli dish which was the best one out of all of them. Every sauce is homemade and their menu is extensive. Wine with meal was smooth. I highly recommend. Good thing I dont live in Anaheim, Id be eating here all the time!

Review №7

2022-06-07

Our first time there and we had high expectations. I had the trio, which was fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, and chicken parmesan. I have to admit I expected a much larger portion considering the price point. The chicken was maybe a quarter inch thick including the breading. Most of the taste was the bread and cheese. The lasagna was okay, but nothing extraordinary. The fettuccine alfredo was gummy, for lack of a better way of describing it. There was not much of a flavor to it.My husband has spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti seemed just about as gummy as the fettuccine. The meatballs were not too bad. I like the more than he did. We both liked the bread that came with the meal and we ordered some cheese bread as well. The cheese bread was good.The server was polite but not very attentive even though I believe we were the only two in the restaurant at the time. We never got our drinks refilled. At the end of the meal, we sat there waiting for him to present the check but had to ask for it along with two boxes to take some food home. If they had a dessert menu, we did not see it.I hope at some point they will be able to remodel the bathrooms.Overall, It was not a bad meal. But, for the price of the meals and the size of the portions, I am not sure if we will be back again.

Review №8

2022-04-19

I had low expectations coming in because the decor was outdated and the olive oil and salt shaker dispensers were dirty. I equated that to mean that the food was not going to look appetizing either, but I was very wrong. To start, I had an eggplant caprese which I could not get enough of. The basil on top of it was a little overwhelming, but very easily removed. I would eat 3 more if I could. It was simply delicious and a perfect substitute for a traditional caprese because I do not like raw tomato. For my entree, I ordered the trio which exceeded my expectations as well. The Alfredo sauce was the perfect balance of creamy and cheesy. Definitely homemade. The lasagna was packed with meat and ricotta that fell onto the plate blended deliciously with the bolognese sauce. As for the chicken parmigiana, I felt that it was a little bland. I ate it hours later though since I could not finish the whole meal in one sitting. It was good, but surely it wouldve tasted much better had I eaten it while it was still fresh and sitting with the other sauces. So, that was probably my fault, not the restaurants. My entree came with a garden salad which I had with Italian sauce. It was nothing special. I wouldve preferred a Ceasar salad, but it was as good as you can expect from a garden salad. For my son, I ordered a small pepperoni pizza. I didnt have any, but he seemed satisfied. We were given freshly baked bread covered in Parmessan which was good as well, but we were not provided with butter. To be fair, it didnt really need it because they were already oily. And for our drinks, we were served with very large cups which Mike (? I believe) refilled promptly. He was very attentive and even helped pack my to-go boxes. The service and the food was amazing. I will definitely be returning. I wouldve rated 5 stars if it hadnt been for the dirtiness on the olive oil dispenser and salt shaker. Small details when compared to the imaculate food and service, but cleanliness is very important.

Review №9

2022-06-07

What a great Italian place! Came here first night of our Disney vacation and loved everything, especially the lasagna. Great calamari and pizza also. Really nice people!

Review №10

2020-08-15

I called in a phone order of 2 spaghetti and meatballs (all beef) $12.99, 2 lasagna $12.99, 2 orders of cheese bread and one fried calamari $8.99. In total with tip, it was$90. All this food was ready in about 20 min.Didnt know what to expect when I pulled up to the joint because its located in an unassuming strip mall. Once you step into the door there is a pick up window to the right adjacent to the menu.I tried to get this home ASAP because personally, Italian food tastes best when its piping hot. These flavors did not disappoint and the portions were enough to feed more than the 4 of us. In fact we had enough leftover for the following day.The only negative thing ( if this is even a negative thing or a personal thing) is that like LOTS OF MARINARA SAUCE with my spaghetti and this order did my coffee return it. Maybe next time Ill order extra sauce.But check this place out. Service was quick, but due to Covid, so far its take out. Dont know if theyre thinking about outside dining, but I think that would be a good idea for them. Theres plenty of parking here too.