Have returned regularly to Ripa's numerous times since my previous review. Food is ALWAYS consistently very good, portions are generous, and prices remain reasonable. The calamari appetizer and the chicken parm are both excellent. Salads are fresh and well chilled as they should be, and the soup specials are always creative. Try to save room for their desserts; they are good. Have come to know one particular server, Sandy, very well. She is very nice, engaging, and a great server. If you ask for her, I know you will be very well taken care of. Do read my comments from my previous review. read more

A lovely dining room with pleasant service. The food is very good and I especially like their char grilled fish with grilled romaine. Outstanding. read more

Came here for a work dinner and they did a great job setting us up with a large table. The waitress was very friendly and helpful. On their menu their house specialties were a char broiled pork chop (my brother got) and char broiled fish, which I got. They were underwhelming. A lot of other people's dishes looked really good. Want to come back here and give it another try. read more

I have been to this restaurant twice. Once with friends and once for a banquet. Both times the food was excellent. The servers each time were very friendly and attentive. The restaurant is quite attractive inside. It's a great place to have a celebration! read more

Service was good from start to finish. The waiter came over to our table to offer us a drink. My husband and I wanted beer. He offered to give us a sample of the new flavor on tap. He gave us lots of time to look over the menu . I ordered lasagna and it was delicious. Probably one of the best I've ever had. The portion size was big enough to make two meals. We will definitely go back. read more

Always good food. Service is excellent and it has an old fashioned vibe that we like. Recommend

Ripa's was on our way to a special event, and we needed to eat after a long busy day. I wanted a no fuss bite to eat and knew it was a risky move to stop at a full service Italian restaurant. My partner craved some pasta, in contrast to my appetite which was for something totally different. Of course, I can find options on any menu, but my advice would be not to choose Ripa's if you don't have time or desire for a full dinner meal. We didn't order any special drinks or appetizers. I went straight for a cheese pizza (oops I did it again) with additional mushrooms. I just wanted mushrooms, but without meat. My partner opted for homemade pasta 'Rigatoni Marchigiane' and an extra meatball. All pasta dinners come with a choice of soup or salad and bread with butter. Waiting for the pizza I was watching my partner eating his bread, then soup. I finally got my food and wasn't too impressed because of the mushrooms. It was maybe one or two regular mushrooms sliced, dried out, with not much of a pleasant flavor. The rest was very good. The pie was loaded with mozzarella and the tomato sauce wasn't sweet with just the right amount of tanginess. My partner definitely enjoyed his pasta dish. He liked the flavor of all ingredients and the delightful tasted broth. Did I ruin my chance to like Ripa's because of my attitude and circumstances? Possibly yes, but no regrets. I just wished we didn't choose it last night. It felt old and outdated and I needed something more energizing, definitely something more refreshing. read more

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The Char broiled fish is literally one of the most consistent, amazing dishes I've ever eaten anywhere in this COUNTRY! It's that good! And eat every bite w the sherbet that accompanies it, and add a side of pasta and you have perfection! Seriously! read more

We have been meaning to come here for dinner for quite some time. Both of us do remember coming for some kind of banquet at one time a long time ago. For an appetizer, I had the block of onions (which were onion rings formed into a block at least 4 inches high and wide.) It was so unique. My hubby who could care less about onion rings was nibbling off the block. My recommendation is that it serves at least 4 people. Hubby had the clams casino and they were very good. We had two old fashion cocktails, and they were perfectly made. For dinner we had the two house specialties, the pork chops and the Italian style fish. We split our dishes. The pork chops were HUGE and cooked medium just like we requested. The fish was baked with breadcrumbs, butter and spices. It was kind of ho-hum. I had a salad which was good but not great. My hubby had the soup (ham and potato) which was great. We both opted for the side of pasta instead of potato. He had the garlic and oil, I had the alfredo sauce. We ended the evening with a slice of chocolate cake and coffee....delicious. Our server Sandy was excellent. read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Block of Onions - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

Ripas is a nice restaurant with friendly service. Right now, they have a lot of Halloween decorations up. The bread was really good! I've been really sick of getting plain, bland bread at restaurants. This bread was very tasty. It came with butter, but I was asked if I wanted dipping oil. I obliged, but was disappointed to see they charged $1 for this on the bill. It wasn't mentioned that it cost extra and I've never seen complimentary bread charge for whatever they have for you to use as a spread. Strange. My friend and I both had the chicken pesto soup. It was very flavorful! My friend ordered the pasta with peas. He didn't love it. He said it wasn't the traditional sauce the dish would come with. I wouldn't know because I've never had it. I ordered the chicken parm. My chicken was great. I asked for it extra crispy and it was. But I didn't care for the meat sauce. The texture /consistency was fine but the flavor wasn't it for me. So I did not eat my linguini. For dessert, my friend had the chocolate cake and I had the chocolate peanut cutter cake. Now our desserts we were both pleased with. We both agreed we would come back here and try something different. read more

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Came here for lunch it had been too long! A few workers upon walking in were very friendly with directing us where to sit. The waitress was not great. One of the least friendly I've had in awhile. She showed no emotion and was not very attentive. When my sister asked for a drink refill when she did come over she said "there's still some in your cup so I'll come back" The tenderloin sandwich was very tender and good! I also enjoyed the soup of the day-chicken and mushroom. My sister said the homemade gnocchi did not have much of a flavor. read more

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What a great find! A little slice of Italy . All homemade pasta in beautiful Italian ambiance. Sandy was our server and we felt so at home with her. The charbroiled fish was the best fish I have ever eaten. We ran into folks that came for the fish. The Italian food Sicilian sandwiches pizzas list goes on and on. Highly recommend read more

Ripa's Restaurant - The ambience little Italy - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

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Stopped in with a colleague for lunch because my past experience is that they have fast courteous service and not much of a lunchtime crowd, making for a quick working lunch. Ripas has been serving Lancaster for a long time so they must be doing something right. I ordered the Ripas burger and it was amazing. It's a cooked to order burger with a stuffed hot pepper on top. I don't know which I loved more, the pepper or the burger but I'm definitely getting more of those peppers the next time I'm there. The building is looking a bit dated but the food is definitely worth coming in for, and with this area of Lancaster growing, I think the location is going to be a positive in the next few years. read more

We went to Ripa's right around Halloween time. The entire restaurant had Halloween decorations all over from top to bottom of the walls. Our waitress was extremely attentive and made sure our drinks were full and we had anything we had requested. The dining room seems to need a little bit of an update, but it was cozy. I ordered the chicken Maria, full order. It was delicious. The portion was decent and seemingly was one large chicken breast, split. I would recommend. read more

Delicious homemade Italian. Love their soups lots of meat and veggies and not watered down. Tried the chicken with tomato olive fontina and homemade linguine- was amazing! The calamari was also delish. My daughter also had fun taking pics of their Halloween decor (which was very impressive). Will definitely be back. read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Calmari - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

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Love this restaurant!! Fantastic dinners! We had three family parties here and they never disappointed. Family owned business that is a hidden gem. Highly recommend. read more

First time here and I will definitely be back! Went to dinner with my son, my sister and her husband and have a fantastic time! We started out with a nice glass of wine I had chicken francaise my husband had the charbroiled fish and my sister and her husband had egg plant Parmesan and veal francaise - everything was mouthwatering. Our waitress was very attentive and the atmosphere there was conducive to a nice dinner and conversation. Enthusiastically recommend read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Great bread - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

Average Italian at best and prices have gone up. Wasn't as impressed as in past years with the food . Service was good we had a table of 6. Ambiance old school hasn't been redone in a very long time . read more

I was kind of surprised when my aunt suggested this place for our little family lunch gathering. When I think Ripa's, dinner and banquets come to mind, but lunch? Okay, I'm game. Everyone else had arrived early, so when I rolled in (right on time!), they all had beverages in front of them. Our server approached while I was getting settled in, and after I picked up what I thought might be a wine list but wasn't, I said, "Oh, that's not a wine list." Now at this point, I probably should have just asked to see a wine list, but don't you think a good server would offer one at that point? Nope. *crickets* At that point I opted to just go ahead and order my usual pinot noir. My two aunts and one cousin ordered one of the specials of the day, a deconstructed chicken pot pie. It came with a cup of soup, which I thought was a nice touch. It looked like a weird concoction to me, but they enjoyed it. Other cousin ordered the black & blue chicken salad. Impressive amount of chicken and blue cheese on top of fresh greens. And my dad? A man of simple tastes, he ordered a BLT. Ripa's is famous for their charbroiled fish, so I was pleased to see a petite version on the lunch menu, with the option of pasta or fries on the side. Fish with pasta with marinara sauce? Well, okay. What kind of fish? Doesn't say. Hmmm. I didn't realize that until later, or I would have asked. And I bet that if I had asked, the answer would have been the all-purpose "whitefish". It was good enough, but not the wow I was expecting. The presentation wasn't very pretty. The fish had a bald spot where some of the breading was missing. Details, people! The fresh linguini was delicious, marinara fine. But the little paper souffle cup of lime sherbet palate cleanser was just a wee bit odd. read more

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This spot serves old school Italian. Menu is pretty standard but no spaghetti. They have their version of spaghetti and it's linguine. Says homemade pastas but have to say just because you cooked it doesn't mean you made it. Had homemade pasta and you will know it. Sauce to me was old. Let's get something straight. There is Red sauce made with meat that's smooth like Sunday sauce. Then there's bolognese a sauce rich in meat and Chunky. Then there's marinara sauce. Made just from whole tomato's and garlic. No meat. With that explained their sauce was explained as a meat sauce with not so much meat? They also have Marinara. My wife had linguine and clams that was buttery and loaded with cherry stone clams. She seamed to enjoy it. And my meatball was very good! I always wanted to try Ripas and you should too. read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Linguine with a meatball - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

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I really enjoyed my meal here. Everything is clearly made fresh including the pasta. Had a nice Bourbon and Cider cocktail to start along with delicious French Onion soup. The sausage and shrimp special I had was excellent. My wife had the Linguine with Clams and said it was among the best she has every had. Can wait to eat there again. read more

Great food, service and reasonably priced. Smaller half meals available, too. Great homemade sauce for Italian dishes. Wonderful pork chops. read more

Good Italian food - experience authentic food and slow down to enjoy authentic Italian pace - definitely not fast food and I loved it all

I had high expectations of this place only to be let down. Upon our arrival (two people) we waited over 5 minutes to be greeted by the hostess. After being seated in an oh so classy dining room fit for your average consumer, our waitress arrives with the personality of a tombstone, not kidding, she was tasteless and did not show any interest in anything. Right off the bat my anticipations have all but left my mind and the only thing that could possibly salvage this train wreck of an experience would be the food. Amen to the fried onion ring block, quite possibly the best hidden gem of the lancaster area! Superb. I ordered the Chicken parm which was needless to say, bland. The macaroni is homemade as well as the sauce which is a bonus by any standard. The sauce was very overpowering and had a taste which could be perceived as pleasant if not so sloppily arranged in an aggressive portion. The macaroni was delicious and the chicken was alright, nothing special at all. For the price, the quality was below average from service to food quality. From my understanding the pork chops are to die for, although I can not confirm this rumor. read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Chicken Parm (full size) - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

Have been here several times for banquets and each time it has been very good. The facilities are clean and spacious. The banquet I attended this time included tossed salad. Warm rolls. Rigatoni with red sauce. Coated chicken. Roast beef. Mashed potatoes with gravy and mixed vegetables. For dessert we were served vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. All was better than average for a banquet style dinner. Enjoyed our visit and would return. read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

Great food and our sever was very professional and friendly.The homemade pasta was delicious and in my last visit the pork chops were superb. read more

Chose to give this place a try again after 8 years, primarily because of location and the fact we had a large crowd. First of all almost 3 hours for dinner is way too long. Most of the food was decent however, pretty straight forward. One thing I just can't understand though, is advertising these wonderful family recipe stuffed shrimp for $5 each. It's a "colossal" size shrimp that still has the shell on it. Then it's breaded and baked. In fact the breading tastes like dry Stove Top stuffing mix that's been in a food processor. When you peel the shrimp because I say again, the shell is still on, all that breading comes off and your left with just a large cooked shrimp. read more

Love the grilled fish. Service was excellent. Girl behind the bar was especially nice.

Great food homemade pasta real fresh enjoy my dinner I am sure you will also have been going to Ripa's for years good people beautiful place good food what rly do you need read more

We were met by a friendly hostess, our waitress was attentive and friendly. The menu was quite large and our meals were delicious! We will definitely be back. read more

I have never been here before today. We ordered to go. We ordered a beer battered fish fry and a char broiled fish! Both of these were so delicious! Perfectly cooked and seasoned! You get coleslaw, choice of a potato or veggies and soup or salad. We will definitely be back and can not wait to try other food! read more

There's not a lot of Places I know in the area that serve homemade Italian Food and my First experience here was Spectacular. For almost 60 years they've been around, When we got here (it was a 5 minute wait) then we were taken to the back to be sat down. It was a nice, Casual place for people to get together fo an occassion. The owner of the restaurant came over to us, said Hi and answered some Questions we had for him, after that we started thinking about what we wanted to order. For our Appetizers, Rick got the Calamari (for some reason everytime we go out and he sees Fried Calamari on the Menu, he instantly gets, Cliche but good is good. I love them for their crispiness), I got the Stuffed Shrimp (2 Jumbo Shrimp stuffed with Seasoned Bread Crumbs accompanied with Cocktail Sauce and a Lemon Wedge, which I thought wasn't necessary. Perfectly Cooked Shrimp with this flavorful Filling, I ate it Shell and all cuz I love Texture. But paying almost 10 dollars for just 2 shrimp was a tad bit pricey but it was still good). While waiting for our Entrees we had some House Salads (Simple and good) For our Entrees Rick got the Char Broiled Fish (it was Haddock), Grandma got the Broiled Pork Chops (which came out on a sizzling platter, just like at Applebee's). While I got a plate of their Homemade Potato Gnocchi (perfect size portion, about 2 dozen of these fluffy delectable dumplings, served with a homemade Meat Sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan over the Top). This is a place where you can get scratch made Food (nothing Store Bought here). Finally we finished off our meal with a slice of Lemon Cream Cake (Moist Cake, Lemony filling and topped with Powdered Sugar). I had a nice meal here, maybe next time I'll have a banquet here. read more

Ripas has been serving up delicious food for all my life! Their homemade pasta is terrific, their homemade salad dressing has a kick to it. If you want the best grilled pork chop in town, this is the place. Looks a bit fancy inside but it is really a great casual place to eat. Friendly staff, great owner, a must go! read more

Best restaurant ever! I've been going here since I was a little girl and this place never disappoints my whole family has been coming here and most recently my cousin had her baby shower here! And me and my bf just went out to dinner and had amazing service everyone is so nice helpful and the food is amazing!! You will never be disappointed going to Ripa's read more

Ripa's Restaurant - Clams and linguine - Italian Near Me - Lancaster, New York

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Have been here a few times now for some banquets and it has me itching to try them out for dinner - our meal was buffet style and was pretty decent. For dinner, we had rolls (which were warm YUM), salad, fresh mashed potatoes with gravy, pasta, chicken and roast beef. Though I thought the roast beef was a bit dry (maybe should've topped with the gravy?), the rest of the meal was pretty good and they kept filling the buffet with hot food. Service was very friendly and helpful when we needed something. Definitely think it was a pretty good meal, considering banquet buffets usually are what they are. Would recommend! read more

We were thrilled to try somewhere new after a movie. The hostess offered us a table for 3 with a 20 minute wait. 45 minutes later, we asked to be seated and it was a production. The bartender/manager got involved and we were seated at a small table in the bar instead of in the pleasant dining room. While our order was taken quickly, another 45 minutes go by before our order comes to the table. Large portions, and half portions are thankfully available. The food was meh. The chili was way to vinegar-y and the gnocchi sauce was bland. The warm bread was delicious, but we didn't dare stay for dessert. The icing on the cake was the insanely loud jukebox that played constantly and prevented any table conversation. Perhaps the quieter dining room would be better (it looked lovely), but there are other places to try first. The manager's only response was to recommend we call for a reservation ahead of time. Whomp whomp. read more

This restaurant and the staff consistently goes above and beyond to serve their customers. We have been enjoying their specials for years and always recommend Ripa's to people looking for a quality meal! read more

Ripa's isn't trendy, it's not on Elmwood or Hertel and they have plastic flowers on the tables, but it is a great place to go for excellent service, food and drink. There are two large dining rooms in the front and a banquet hall in the rear. The dining rooms have square and larger round tables, nicely spread out for comfort and conversation adorned with a linen tablecloth and cloth napkins. My guest and I went here for restaurant week and for $20.15 we were going on full before the entree came. Jamie, our server who was amazing, started us out with two very finely made cocktails, then came the mini loaf of freshly baked crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside loaf of bread with freshly poured dipping oil and/or butter. For an app, we were EACH treated to a nice sized crab cake AND two stuffed mushrooms, followed by a house salad or choice of three soups. The entrees were full portions for restaurant week, no scrimping here and I opted for the horseradish crusted salmon with a side of spaghetti while my guest had the French onion chicken. Wait, there's more... for dessert they served a fresh slab of brownie, topped with ice cream, a dab of whipped cream drizzled with caramel syrup, simple but delicious. Getting back to the entree's, the salmon was perfectly cook, flaky yet firm with just the right amount of horseradish to let the salmon flavor come through but not tasting fishy. The French onion chicken was a chicken breast on top of angel hair pasta doused with French onion soup topped with cheese and baked. It came out resembling a giant bowl of French onion soup with a chicken breast inside, missing the liquid from of the soup. Kind of hard to describe but a masterpiece none the less. Ripa's has been around for 60 years and is really known for the banquet hall but take a ride out to Lancaster for a great relaxing meal you won't soon forget. read more

Welcome to the purgatory! We waited at the bar for our table that should be ready in "20 minutes". Well after an hour wait, the barman apologetically offered to set up an empty table there rather than in the dining room. The menu looked appetizing enough; though we had another hour's wait before the pasta finally made its way to our table. My son, who by now was ready to eat the napkin, pleasantly gasped at the sight of the large meatball on his plate; until he tasted it: "it tastes bad" was his only comment. Unfortunately, I was sharing the feeling trying to swallow my overcooked "Penne a la Ripa". When the waitress came to offer desert or coffee, there was no hesitation in our overwhelming: "no, thank you!" answer. Interestingly enough in our almost three hours there, the place looked pretty full with a constant flow of AARP members intersected by high schoolers in tuxedos (had the time slowed that much to Christmas already?) contributing even more to the eerie feel of the night. Not sure where this place ends up in Dante's Purgatory, but this will be the last outing there for us. read more

This Lancaster restaurant and banquet hall has been open for 57 years, and surprisingly I never heard of its existence until about a week ago. Came here with a large group of friends on a Friday, so the fish fry was an option. We started out with the fried onion block with a side of ranch dressing; and the sautéed hot banana peppers stuffed with anchovies, bread crumbs, and roasted red peppers for our appetizers. The fried onion was OK and the ranch dressing helped it's cause. The hot banana peppers were messy to eat, but pretty good! It even came covered in mozzarella cheese, which added to the yum factor. Warm homemade bread was brought out as well, and it was very good!...especially with the seasoned dipping oil. For dinner I had the chicken piccata, that came with a choice of carb (they called it potato on the menu...?) and soup or salad. I got the soup, a tomato sausage. And ordered a side of spaghetti for the carb. The soup was just OK; scarce pieces of sausage in a very small cup. The chicken piccata is one of my favorite dishes, but this one was a little disappointing. Chicken was cooked perfect, but the sauce tasted like something out of jar. And where's the capers! I think I found a grand total of three capers on the plate, hmmm so I guess one caper for each piece of chicken...? The best part of my dinner was the side of spaghetti, but this wasn't ordinary spaghetti folks. It was homemade thick spaghetti noodles in a tasty marinara sauce. Wish I had ordered this as my main course! The rest of the table thought their dinners were just OK, except for the lucky one who ordered the fish fry, since it looked amazing and he commented how great it was. If I decided to come back, it would be on a Friday for the fish fry with a side of that homemade spaghetti. read more