Nina's Italian Ristorante
Raleigh, NC 27615
Phone: (919) 845-1122
Fax: (919) 845-0168
- Price:
- $
- Cross Street:
- New World Circle
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 5pm-10pm
Message from Nina's Italian Ristorante
Experience authentic Tuscan and Sicilian cuisines
- Antipasti and Salad
- Extensive Wine List
- Call for reservations
Paid advertisement by Nina's Italian Ristorante.
Editorial Review for Nina's Italian Ristorante – by Rebecca Gunn
In Short
Nina's is housed in one of those shopping center eyesores. But step through the doors of this chic ristorante and you'll forget all about its banal locale. Walls washed in deep red, majolica ceramics and a sweeping green mural of old-country hills welcome diners straight into the heart of Tuscany. Tuscan bread and ripe salsa fresca. Canneloni filled with spinach ricotta. And fresh sea bass swimming in a caper marinara.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
User Reviews for Nina's Italian Ristorante
04/23/2008 Posted by dray4244
Well - Nina's was a good restaurant years ago when it first opened.. then we moved away and I recently saw an ad in a magazine suggesting it had won some number 1 awards etc.. so we figured on a drive to try it again for a good sure thing meal. Wow! What a disapointment. First of all.. they have a very large wine list - most of which is all Italian, which could be a good thing - but not without descriptions or tasting notes. They mark up all of their wines over 50% which I think is ludicrous... AND - here's my peeve on paying that premium for the wines - they serve them at above room temps! they wines sit on a very nice looking wall with spot lights on them.. which heats up the wines.. and then they serve them.. overpriced.. warm wine. NOT my idea of a number 1 rated wine restaurant??? I think that ad was paid for. Ok.. so they'll make it up with the food. I ordered a chicken dish off of the main menu that was supposed to come with shrimp and spinach inside. Eventually.. the dish came and it was chicken with a scallop and asparagus ??? What the hell?? The waitress said the chef had to substitute because they were out of some ingredients. I HATE asapragus! (oh and the scallop was undercooked in my opinion). Call me a complainer.. (not usually) - but I did not find this place worthy of the ratings it has received. We did not have dessert, or coffee. We will not be going back. Too bad - it's a nice looking place - and it had great potential - it's obvious their previous success went to their heads and the quality has just gone down hill.
Pros: Conveniently located in a populated area of North Raleigh
Cons: Wine prices, wine temperatures, and food quality
04/04/2008 Posted by ncfoodman
We ate at Nina's on a whim early on a Friday night. I phoned for reservations and the hostess was able to fit us in at 6. The restaurant was practically empty (surprising considering how full the hostess said the reservation list was) and we were seated right away. The bread was incredible as was the concoction it comes with (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, grated parmesan and some other things they wouldn't tell us about). My wife ordered the eggplant rollantini appetizer with the house salad, and I ordered the ravioli con salmone. The salad was quite nice, with fresh tomatoes and gorgonzola cheese. I'm not a fan of eggplant but my wife loved it. It comes with a marinara sauce that I found a bit bland (I like a bold, spicy marinara and that's hard to find in a restaurant around here). The ravioli sauce had a wonderfully complex flavor that made me order extra bread just to sop it up. The salmon was perfectly cooked, moist and flavorful and the fresh ravioli was delicious. My one (small) complaint was that the food wasn't as warm as I'd have liked, which I found inexplicable considering that the restaurant wasn't very busy. Hopefully that's a one-time thing as I intend to return to Ninas and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fresh, nicely prepared Italian food that goes beyond the traditional lasagne and spaghetti. As we were leaving, the restaurant was starting to fill up and the parking lot had turned into a jousting arena, so I'd recommend making reservations and arriving early to find parking!
Pros: Wonderful bread, well-prepared dishes
Cons: the parking lot
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