Always great food and service. Antipasto salad, prime rib and Lasagna are always fantastic.

I really wanted this place to be a 4 or 5 star establishment. We wanted Italian/pasta near where we are staying. We searched on it and honestly not a lot of results. Rizzo's just sounded like it was going to be great Italian. I always ask our server what they recommend - and I tell them the kinds of things I like and what sounded good to me from the menu. Our Server admitted she probably couldn't be of much help. What!?! You work here and your job is to know your menu and provide suggestions and guidance. First, the appetizer section was pretty limited. We skipped it altogether. For entrees, after reading reviews on their homemade fettuccine Alfredo- we went with that and another similar fettuccine dish after the waitress steered me away from 2 other specialties from the menu (lasagne and something else). She brings bread out and it's cold white bread. Tasted good, but nothing special. Then our pasta arrives, and the Alfredo has a different look and texture to it, which is fine. The other pasta has steamed veggies and chicken (added w/upcharge). This pasta dish was unbelievably hot. Nuclear. I was either the steamed veggies or it was microwaved because nothing comes off the stove as hot as this was. We stated on the Alfredo, and it was fine. Nothing special and nothing to go back for. The cheese used was different, maybe a whipped light and fluffy cheese?? It was fine - I'd give it a 3.5- but I've had better Alfredo at chain restaurants. The other pasta dish took so long to cool off that the Alfredo was almost gone by the time we could eat it. I'm not exaggerating- it was nuclear hot. That dish ended up being just Ok too. So that summarizes our experience with Rizzo's. After the entrees, we declined hearing about the desserts and paid the bill and left. Prices are fair and reasonable. I would not tell anyone that this is someplace you gotta try read more

I was told this place was a great place to eat a few years back. Unfortunately it is now one of the worst! The food was overcooked. I had some fried zucchini and they were hard as a rock! I could have hurt someone if I threw it at them. Nothing was cooked up to temperature, what a waste of money! read more

My husband and I planned a date night here for dinner. I called and made reservations for 7:15 on a Saturday night. Reservation process was easy enough. Upon arriving, we were seated within 5 minutes, and I'll admit the restaurant was quite busy, but they seemed to handle it well. Our waitress came to our table and introduced herself. We ordered a white Claw, Peroni, and two waters. Our waitress brought the Peroni and White Claw over. I wasn't given a choice in flavor of White Claw. I assumed like most other places they had original, but much to my surprise, the waitress brings over pineapple.... Which is quite literally one of the only flavors from the version 2 pack I don't like. I asked her if she could get me another flavor, and she quickly returned with a strawberry flavor White Claw. At this point we still didn't have the two waters we ordered. We ordered the assorted platter for an appetizer. Which I'll admit I completely misinterpreted what this dish was. I thought it was going to be an assortment of deep fried cheese, artichoke dip and marinated peppers. What we got was a tiny bowl of cheese cubes, oil marinated hot peppers, oil marinated artichokes, and some kind of oil marinated piece of fish. I have no idea what it actually was. For a price of $9.99 it was a real let down. In the midst of us picking through the soggy and oil drenched appetizer. I flagged down our waitress and we finally got our waters. For our entree, we both ordered the prime rib special. I ordered mine with salad and rigatoni with Alfredo. My husband ordered his with salad and baked potato. Our salads came out first. Honestly the salads were nothing special. Bagged salad, a chunk of tomato, a single slice of cucumber, and a side cup of bottled ranch. Overall, very underwhelming. Soon after our prime ribs came out. Again, first glance we weren't even sure they were our meals. We both ordered our steaks medium and they both were cooked well done. Our waitress left our table before we really had the chance to say anything and she didn't return until we were nearly done. On top of that the prime ribs were upwards of 40% pure fat and inedible. Taste wise, nothing to brag about. Overcooked, fatty, and over priced. The rigatoni's with Alfredo was ok. My husband noted his baked potato was very bland. My husband decided to order a piece of carrot cake for dessert. Now this carrot cake slice was hands down one of the biggest slices I've ever seen. I gotta hand it to Rizzo's... the cake was absolutely fantastic. Moist and the cream cheese icing was silky smooth. Best part of the meal. Overall, we left very disappointed (minus the carrot cake). Maybe we got a bad cut of steak? Who knows. I definitely don't understand all the rave reviews. Definitely overpriced and underwhelming. read more

Rizzo's Restaurant - Petite prime rib with rigatoni/Alfredo. - Italian Near Me - Windber, Pennsylvania

Great Italian food in Windber. We made Wednesday night reservations and were seated promptly. Ordered the antipasto plate to start, which was great. Entrees were Veal Parm and Cheese Ravioli, which were also great. Dessert was cannoli, which was also great. Overall, a great Italian experience. *Sister restaurant is Anthony's in Johnstown. read more

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Their food was amazing. Service was unbelievable nice and waiter was amazing In all I definitely would recommend this read more

Ate there one night and the food was so good we came back again the next night. I had ravioli the first time and lasagna the second. I will probably go back one more time before I leave town on this stay. read more

I love Rizzo's food and their staff is always the best! My top favorites here are the steak tips and lasagna. Can't go wrong with the antipasto salad to start! read more

Terrible food. Burnt food, questionable meat terrible service. Will not be returning to this "authentic local Italian restaurant " read more

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Stopped here on a Saturday evening looking for some Italian fare at a new spot near Johnstown. Actually had this place bookmarked so it made sense to head here and give it a try. First and foremost this place is massive - bar area as soon as you walk in, booths along the wall, large seating area, then a cut-thru and two more large rooms for seating. Upon our arrival they were slammed packed. Able to be sat - we ordered a couple drinks and passed on appetizers. I went towards the usual chicken Parmesan (shocker) and a salad, adding the vegetables of the day which were broccoli/carrots/cauliflower. The red sauce reminded me a lot of Lenas in Altoona - and overall, it was very good. Uniform consistency unlike some chunky or homemade from scratch sauces. Chicken was good and the cheese was perfectly melted. Part of the chicken was a little dry but overall was very good read more

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we were here for a concert and had dinner at the bar. the place was packed! great interior - old but not stale itialian historical. loved it. the bar tenders and staff were friendly and fun. even the patrons (many seriously invested regulars!) were fun. read more

I do not understand the weird obsession with this place from people from Johnstown. Actually I do; they've never had good Italian food. This is certainly not it. I've always had mediocre food from here. The bread and salads could be bought from the grocery store. It feels like stepping back in time of you've been out of the area. No thanks. Hopefully will never be back. read more

I had made dinner reservations for two, a couple weeks in advance of Valentine's Day. I received a phone call from Rizzo's the day before to confirm my reservation for 8 o'clock. When we showed up at the front door at 7:45, we thought we would walk back to the hostess station to be checked in. And to my astonishment, we were greeted at the front door by a hostess, who confirmed we were there by writing my name on a piece of paper. We stood at the front door for about 10 minutes and I asked the girl how would they know in the back that we are here. She said they will look up here from the hostess station in the back, probably close to 100 feet away, and they would see you. She did not even have a phone in her hand to communicate with the hostess station in the back . There were other people standing at the front door with us and nobody from the hostess station was coming up to seat anybody. So at that point, we decided to walk back to the hostess station and check in. They confirmed our reservation and we sat and waited to be called for a table. We sat there and waited while another couple with 8:15 reservations were seated before us. When my name was finally called, they said party of four. I'm not sure why they thought me and my girlfriend were a party of four when I made the reservation and confirmed the reservation as a party of two. We were taken to our table where we sat for about 10 minutes before a waitress greeted us. We ordered a Pepsi and a Mountain Dew to drink. The waitress came back about 15 minutes later with some bread and only had the Mountain Dew, which wasn't even filled to the rim of the tiny glass. It looked like someone had already taken a drink out of my glass. She then said she didn't know where the Pepsi was and didn't know what they were doing in the back, but she would return. She did about 10 minutes later with my dates Pepsi. We were not offered water or straws. So we had to ask for both . And Since we realized the service was gonna be terrible, we decided at that point to order a picture each of both Pepsi and Mountain Dew and some more bread. When she returned 20 minutes later with everything we requested, my drink had already been empty for a while. We went to butter a piece of bread, but it was frozen in the middle. We did not know the bread was frozen in the middle at first, so we had to flag her down when she came whizzing by our table. She seemed like she did not have time to stop and talk to us so we had to speak with her super fast. We told her about the problem and she said she microwaved it and didn't understand why it was still frozen in the middle, but that's how they do it there she says. She takes the frozen bread and comes back with some unfrozen bread, fresh out of the microwave, lol. It took an hour to get our dinners. The food was fine. But when we received our bill, she charged us $6.00 for the 2 tiny glasses of pop and were also charged $10 dollars for the two pictures of pop. I asked her if she could comp the glasses of pop due to all the problems we had, which I then reviewed in detail with her, and since we had to switch to pictures because of how slow the service was. She said she could not do that. After that experience, I absolutely will NEVER ever go to this restaurant again. I realize it was Valentines Day and they were busy, but that does not justify the terrible experience we had on what was supposed to be a very special dinner. read more

Everything is excellent!! I have never had a steak that I was not extremely happy with! You couldn't ask for a more superb staff! Ambiance is simply perfect! read more

The homemade pasta and meatballs were the real deal. So good! Finished with chocolate mousse which was also great. We will be back!

I had the Chicken Captiva. The dish is a chicken breast with a cheese sauce filled with shrimp, crab meat, bacon bits, & scallions. The chicken was done perfectly. The sauce was outstanding. I would absolutely order this again. The waitress was prompt and very attentive. We love the atmosphere and include Rizzo's as one of our all time favorite restaurants. read more

If you are in the mood for Italian, then this is the restaurant to visit in the Johnstown area. They've been serving Italian cuisine for decades. There are numerous dishes that will satisfy your Italian craving. Atmosphere and service is great. Definitely worth the visit if you're in the area and in the mood for great food. read more

NEVER a complaint eating at Rizzo's! Have NEVER had a meal to my dissatisfaction! The food, service & atmosphere are ALWAYS A JOY! They make U feel like you're at home! read more

Old Time goodness in the heart of Windber. Always a place for memories and the food is authentic. What a wonderful and historic place. If you dont like it here you dont like food. read more

Best place in Windber like the food and comforting atmosphere. The appetizers are really good.

Pretty good Italian place for the area. Lots of choices. The regular red sauce seemed spicy on multiple different dishes, maybe that's just the special thing about their sauce? I would go back and try other dishes. Popular place, I suggest a reservation if you are going during prime weekend dinner hours. read more

The best (and consistently) GREAT food and dining experience from top to bottom! The antipasto salad - wedding soup - escargot - fried mozzarella cheese - hot peppers - eggplant parm (best I've ever had!) - chicken parm - steak tips - homemade ravioli and lasagna! I could go on and on. Rizzos is a generational gem! Did I mention their expresso martinis?! And if you're not skipping dessert, go for any of the homemade pies or treat your family to a dolce spud to share! read more

Dinner every Saturday evening. It's our date night. Lots of energy & a fun place to be. How can you NOT be happy when eating quality home made Italian food. I can't say we have a favorite because everything is well prepared. Staff is friendly & most have been there a long time. Very, very low turnover-that says something for this family run restaurant. Service is excellent. Great bartenders are skilled. Owners mingle among patrons, greeting & assuring you that your important. They take nothing for granted. If you have less than a great experience, it's one of life's flukes. Tell them, they want to know. They've been around a long long time. Mangia, mangia, mangia read more

Over priced, a la cart, poor quality! Need I say more! We took family there to celebrate a house closing. Embarrasing !!!

An older family owned and operated Italian restaurant. All of your Italian favorites are here from appetizers, soups, salads and pastas to heartier entrees, like a good steak. This restaurant started as a meat and deli market in 1924 from an Italian family that immigrated from Northern Italy. In 1937 it was turned into the "Fairway Cafeé" and finally expanding and growing from a successful name, Rizzo's Italian restaurant was born in 1965. I always get the same things, I tend to get stuck when I've enjoyed a dish so much. My favorites are the escargot or crab stuffed mushrooms as appetizers, although they have a good dozen plus to choose from. All of their soups and sauces are made from scratch and their pizzas are wonderful, especially the white seafood pizza with garlic. They make a huge antipasto which can be shared or eaten as an entree. Most of their pasta's are homemade such as the fettuccini noodles and the ravioli's. They have a long list of pasta dishes as entrees or sides to go along with your chicken, veal, pork or steak dinners. My fav's are the chicken parmesan, shrimp parmesan, any of the seafood scampi's and the crab stuffed shrimps. They have a firm clientele. Place could use a face lift, but then again, so could I.. The food is very good and the service is friendly. Closed Monday's and open for dinner only at 3PM. read more

Rizzo's is a Windber institution, according to the locals and my new AAA guidebook. We had visted the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center http://www.yelp.com/biz/heritage-discovery-center-johnstown and needed something to fill our stomaches after heading home. Our meal there consisted of a bowl wedding soup (3.95), breaded chicken strips & fries for our daughter (5.95), the main course was Shrimp Anthony (15.95) and a side of applesauce. Service was pretty alright, we were seated the whole way in the back of the restaurant (that's a lot of walking) and were given time to look over the menu and place an order. The food overall was good, fountain sodas are only 95 cents, but dont have free refills. The restroom is in the basement, down a long flight of stairs, so it looses 1 star for not being handicap accessable. Hours: Tues-Sat, 3pm-11pm, Sun & Mon: Closed. Rizzo's accept Visa, MC, Amex & Discover. There is private parking in the back of the restaurant. read more

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Not as good as the original Rizzo's. Same family but food has gone downhill, except the lasagna which is almost as good as mine! But then I make my own ricotta fresh in the recipe. read more

I can't write a review for any restaurant in western Pennsylvania than I'm more fond of than Rizzo's. My family and I have been coming here since I was a child and to date I don't crave any other restaurant more. Wonderful, friendly and accommodating staff... And while I miss having David stop at our table to say hello, the entire family are great people. But it all comes down to the food... Particularly the salads with house dressing, delicious marinara sauce, gnocchi and meatballs, fried hot banana peppers (or cheese sticks), chicken captiva, pork or steak tips, and their delicious homemade desserts. All for a reasonable price. Highly recommend a visit for anyone in the Laurel Highlands or surrounding areas. read more

We took my husband to dinner for his birthday. We have never had a bad experience at Rizzo's but tonight the meals were not the best. The dinners were not hot just eatable, don't know if it was the kitchen or the waitress maybe left them set in the back to long. The fettuccine could of been cooked longer. read more

Rizzo's is absolutely amazing. The service is unsurpassed!! The food is delicious. My husband had the cowboy steak it was cooked to perfection. I had the chicken Captiva I have never had such a delicious dish in my life. The chef actually came out to make sure our food was to our liking. Can't wait to go back! The restaurant itself is quaint. It's like walking into your grandmothers house. Must try!! read more

"I don't always eat Italian........ .......but when I do.......I go to this family owned dynamic eatery !!!!!!!! THE SAUCE!!!!! You cannot go wrong!!!! The best Italian sauce and nothing compares....slather it on any amazing dish and you be beggin for more!!!!! The veal dominick I ordered this eve was sinful. A seasoned breaded tender veal cutlet was topped with sautéed lump crab meat then blanketed with an Italian cheese blend that was broiled to perrrr-fection!!! Seriously scraping the ends of the dish to get every browned bit off the corners!!!! The wife went with chicken captiva. a chicken cutlet breaded and smothered in a creamy shrimp sauce and blanketed with cheese as well. Almost as amazing!!! Everyone on our party was equally as pleased with their meals. You just cant go wrong here. Apps included stuffed mushroom caps with crab and assorted Italian platter with housemade peppers n veggies served in a secret olive oil marinade and fontina cheese that complimented the pepper sting just perfectly. Housemade italian bread is lip smackin served with all meals!! The restaurant has a romantic dimly lit atmosphere great for first dates or family gorging.. Whatever the occasion!!!!!! Oh yeahhhh...gotta suck down an espresso martini...great dinner drink that keeps the conversation flowing when the " overeater's food coma" hits ya!!!!!!! read more

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People raving about this place must not have ever eaten at a good Italian restaurant. It's overpriced and the food is not great. My salad had bottled dressing and was on a small plate. Bread was ice cold, a shame for an Italian restaurant. The sauce was too acidic, not cooked long enough or too much tomato paste, an amateur mistake. read more

Wish I could give no stars but not a possibility. Everything is a la carte. The food is bland. Better places to go to in this area

Tuesday is Pasta Night. Pick any two pastas (including ravioli!) and meat or marinara sauce for 8.95 - you even get a big meatball! Now you have a nice date night AND room in the budget for wine and chocolate cheesecake. You know you wanna. read more

Love Rizzos. It's our go to restaurant for family parties. They have a nice back room to accommodate larger groups. The food is great, the staff is friendly. The owner walks around, says hello and checks to make sure our food and experience is the best. Would highly recommend. read more

I ate here this past Friday night for dinner with three other dining companions. The decor of the restaurant is nice and inviting with white table cloths and cheery walls. We were greeted by the server almost immediately after sitting with him giving us the specials and a wine list. For dinner our group decided to start off with two appetizers, the assorted platter and grilled calamari . While we were waiting for some appetizers a bread basket was served and much to the chagrin of my dining companions it was plain old white bread and nothing special. Shortly thereafter our appetizers were served and while they looked good, my initial thought was "That's all of it?" since they seemed to be quite small. Both appetizers tasted decent with the standout portion for me being the sauce from the calamari which I happily dipped some of the bread into. After our appetizers were cleared I was told that they had run out of french onion soup that came with my meal but if I was willing to wait ten minutes, they could make some more. The decision to wait was well worth it as the soup was excellent with a large amount of cheese on the top, a flavorful broth and a good amount of croutons inside. For dinner I had decided upon the fresh baked stuffed flounder which consisted of two flounder fillets stuffed with crab meat. Whenever our entrees came out, there were only three of them and our server told us that the kitchen had over fired the haddock of one of my dining companions and that a replacement would be up shortly. However, it did not come for quite a while and the three of us who had been served dinner were completely done by the time the fourth dinner was served. I understand why they served us at that point though as my flounder was not even luke warm whenever it was presented to me. Due to that it had a rubbery consistency and I considered the dish altogether below average. It was not only me though as the rest of my companions also thought that their meals were average at best. The bottom line for me is that I would not waste my time here again in the future. Between the waits for the soup and the fourth dinner combined with the sub par food it was not even close to the worth the money that we spent. The only redeeming factor that I liked about the restaurant was that they had a decent wine list with many bottles for $25. read more

A little over 20 miles from Interstate 70 and Somerset, Pennsylvania where we stayed in a quaint B&B, we found Rizzo's when nothing in Somerset looked very interesting for our anniversary dinner. Al large building in Eastern Windber, the family lives upstairs and the restaurant is downstairs. The restaurant itself is somewhat nondescript with bright lighting. The bar has a little more ambience, but we were seated in the "hallway" behind the bar, a high traffic area with little charm. The service was friendly and efficient. I started with the house Burgundy ($4.50), coming in a small glass, it was chilled and somewhat sweet as expected of most inexpensive burgundies. My wife ordered the Fettucine Maria ($13.50), homemade fettucine noodles with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and peas in a light alfredo sauce. The noodles were perfectly cooked, but the sauce was rather bland. My wife, who is Italian and rarely adds grated cheese to her pasta, had to resort to the shaker of parmesan (parmigiano) in order to add some flavor. I had the Veal Parmigiana ($17.95), a large and very tasty cutlet topped with a delicious homemade marinara sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese and baked or broiled until melted. The New York Cheesecake ($4.75) was rich and delicious, as good as any I have had whether or not in was made in-house. The owner's son stopped by to chat briefly, then brought me a small glass of homemade orangecello (orange version of limoncello) as a digestivo (after dinner drink to aid in digestion). My only gripes were the small, inexpensive, cold glass of burgundy (I was expecting something different), no soup or salad with the meal, the rather bland fettucine sauce, and the absence of much atmosphere in the restaurant. CombatCritic Gives Rizzo's 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better! read more

We discovered Rizzo's a few weeks ago (we're about 15 minutes away). We've been there twice now. All four meals we have had have been amazing! Tonight I had the pork tips in steak marinade and they were unbelievable. My wife had eggplant parm, which was some of the best I've ever had. The atmosphere is casual, the owner/manager walks around checking up on people in a very friendly way. The staff that we have encountered have all been very pleasant. It definitely has the feel of a neighborhood gathering place where people all know each other. Their sauce is very good - we prefer the meat sauce over the marinara, but both are good. This is coming from someone who makes their own sauce. The prices are reasonable, the service is very good. Tonight we shared the chocolate cheesecake (homemade) and it was simply delicious. The first time we went we asked for extra sauce for our leftover pasta and they gladly and generously gave us more to go. This has become one of my favorite restaurants. Nicely done, Rizzo's! read more

From the oustide, it is tough to spot the restaurant and the decor is non existant. Outside is filled with trash and cigarette butts. Get inside and wait to be greeted and seated. Large seating area provides ample amt of people for the restaurant. Inside decor is pretty and nice. Service was great, very attentive waitress. Large amount of choices for food selection. Party of 4 ordered the pork tips, steak tips, ny strip, and lasagna. Steak tips were good, i recommend getting mushrooms over it. Ny strip wasnt very good. Wasnt very tasty like the steak tips. Pork tips were great. Lasagna use to be better but it is still good...same with the meatballs that come with the meal. The restaurant offers bread complimentary. Unfortunately, its store bought, not home made. Not even warmed. Nothing good at all. Salads with meals, spare me. Bag lettuce from Walmart. Dessert was the highlight of the meal. Had carrot cake and chocolate cheesecake. Both are apparently home made in the restaurant. Good desserts and portions were large eno to share with the 4 of us. read more

This is one of the best Italian restaurants in town. My first visit here and I would definitely come again. The service here is top notch!!