I really like Ruggero's the place is very nice We were greeted by the friendly staff we sat in the bar area where Jake was our bartender he made great martinis I tried a few different types we also ate the bar pizza which had a delusions crust cooked perfectly Can't wait to go back read more

We (me, husband & son) decided to try Ruggero's Family Kitchen in Wading River tonight for my birthday. Been wanting to try it but was hesitant because I incorrectly thought it was strictly a "family style" type restaurant. While they do serve entrees family style, you can also order a smaller individual portion. This restaurant is located at The Shoppes at East Wind, and is surrounded by a bunch of different stores and even a carousel ($5/person per ride). There was also a classic car show going on in the parking lot so there is plenty to do before/after your meal. We arrived around 6:30pm and were seated immediately with no wait. The restaurant wasn't crowded. We were brought water and a bread basket. Hey fellow carb addicts...the bread is really good and served with this delicious herb and garlic whipped butter. It took a lot of self control not to fill up on that. I ordered the arugula caprese salad for an appetizer. I was asked if we wanted large or small and I opted for small. Turns out this salad was HUGE. Shared with husband because it wouldn't have been physically possible for one individual to eat the entire thing. For our entrees my husband got the rigatoni bolognese which again was an individual size but HUGE. He commented how thick and chunky the sauce was. I got chicken Marsala without pasta. Again, a HUGE portion size. Three pieces of chicken. The sauce was perfect. My son got the typical kid's pick of chicken fingers and fries (3 fingers over a HUGE basket of fries). However it should be noted that after hubby and I did a taste test of the fries, they were really good. You'd think fries from an Italian restaurant would be mediocre but these were crisp on the outside and seasoned well. Hubby stayed with tap IPA and I was adventurous and tried one of the specialty drinks, the Pineapple Express. Definitely could taste the pineapple in that one, but not something I'd order again. Very pleased with our meal. Price was very reasonable for the quantity of food we were served. Food tasted great. Our server was attentive without being hovering. All the things you want from your dining experience. We'd definitely go back again. read more

They used to have good food but I don't know what happened because the food was so disappointing. The bread was stale, the calamari was rubber, and the beef barley soup had a pound of salt in it. I like salt and use salt, but not a pound d if it making it inedible! I ordered the steak ($38) and it was all grizzly and looked like they just steamed it and put a terrible red wine-like gravy over it with steamed broccoli and dry potato cuts. You get a better steak dinner at Applebee's!! Horrible. And the cheesecake tasted old and was so dry. My "maple bacon" old fashioned had no "maple bacon" taste to it at all. It was all in all a very bad dinner experience. I hope they fire the cook (that was no chef!) and put him back washing dishes!! Sorry but like I said, it USED TO be a good restaurant and I really hope they improve their food because the staff was nice and the place itself is terrific, but... sad to say, I won't be going there again for a LONG time. read more

My family and I have been patronizing this restaurant from its beginning. The food is always good, but lately I feel the service and cleanliness is slipping. Last week it took forever to get a waiter after we were seated. Once we did get a waiter, he was kind of obnoxious (or at least had a strange sense of humor) and was a bit of a "close talker" getting right up in my face to ask how my food was. When I was delivered the wrong meal and sent it back with the young man who delivered it (not the waiter), the waiter returned with the same dish moments later and asked why I didn't want this (it was a meat sauce when I had told him I'm a vegetarian when I ordered). They charged me for the incorrect more expensive dish once the check arrived. Luckily I caught that mistake but had to physically get up and go find the waiter to get the problem fixed because he just disappeared after dropping the check (and the restaurant was not busy at all). My other observation is the cleanliness has gone down hill. The last couple of times we've been there the placemats don't appear to have been wiped down at all from the previous customers (bread crumbs and food smudges on them). I hope they correct these issues. It would be nice to see a local Italian restaurant that's not a pizzeria thrive. Again, food is great, but service and cleaning need to be addressed. read more

My husband and I were here twice. First time we did apps at bar and loved the chips with Gorgonzola sauce. Second time was dinner. Food was ok. I would go back again to give it another try. read more

Unbelievable what the staff has done with this place! Great atmosphere, sophisticated and comfortable experience you would expect in that location. Be sure to ask about catering!! 100% suggest every single appetizer on that menu. For entrees/drinks would point out to ask the staff to point you in the right direction. Very knowledgeable with no hesitation to help and take the time to help you make sure you get what you would enjoy! Even management!! Even when we showed up a little late, no rush. Sorry about that! Thanks for the great night out to all. read more

Ordered door dash. Ruggero's cancelled my order, for no apparent reason, but charged my card anyway. Ummmm NO!

Have been here many times and we love their Happy Hour. Great drink specials and great food choices. Wings are really good! Bartenders are fantastic. Place is super clean and the staff is always helpful. read more

I just had dinner here with a group of ladies after some wedding dress shopping, and given the amount of negative or just meh reviews here, we were all pleasantly surprised! We ate inside and maybe it just wasn't busy, but we were seated at a table very far from anybody else. I was wary to eat inside a restaurant, but it felt safe. The service was polite and attentive. The white peach mojito hit the spot on a hot day, but another member of my party thought her jalapeño margarita should've been spicier. This restaurant used to serve family style meals and it doesn't seem like they made their serving sizes any smaller because all of our meals came out HUGE; we all left with plenty of leftovers. I had a seafood special with squid ink and spinach pasta and it was good; nobody at the table seemed disappointed in any of their food. The place itself is pretty. There are open windows to the kitchen, which makes it pretty noisy, which in turn made it hard to hear the poor server in his face mask. But ‍ what are you gonna do? A few of the ladies in my group complained that the women's bathroom was messy, but it seemed like they got to cleaning it up pretty quickly and that easily could've been the work of one shitty person as opposed to a reflection of the restaurant itself. I'd like to come back and sit outside, or at the pretty bar once corona calms down a bit. I think prices were fair for what you got and like I said, the service was great. read more

Service was terrible food was not as good as previous visits .took away family style entrees .

Hey Ruggeros, I live very local and I've been a professional Chef for over 30 years. The restaurant architecture and menu seemed appealing. Please, please taste what you cook. The homemade Cavatelli had the opportunity to be great. You should have salted the water it was boiled in. The sauce had no taste, no zest and no life. The meatballs actually had taste but didn't have any beef taste. They appeared to be mainly pork or veal. I really really wanted to love this dish but it just fell short. There are way too many neighborhood Italian joints around town. You have such a beautiful place and it should stand out above the rest. read more

Went here last Thursday night with two friends. We ordered the family style linguine with clam sauce. The dish came out in 5 minutes which was a little suspect to start. I've had bigger single portions in any Italian restaurant I've ever been to. We told our server who said he would speak to the chef. We received another portion. We then overheard another patron talk about the Thursday special of parmigiana dishes, with pasta and salad for $20. We were never told about this. And the portion size was bigger than the family size!! I will never go back here again. read more

The food was average, lacking flavor. The servers were nice but sometimes forgetful.

Food was terrible as well as service not going back looked like 2 possible managers behind the bar drinking from their own personal tumblers and laughing with people they may have brought in to sit at bar and have fun with so sad they did not see the mess going on around them the few tables that were there sitting waiting over an hour for food that was terrible read more

On Easter Sunday my son took his family, including me, to Ruggero. Having been here recently I felt I would give them another chance at a fish dish. This time I ordered the salmon oreganoto. With lemon sauce as an entree. My son had the veal chop, granddaughter had the pork chop, grandson ordered personal size traditional pizza, and daughter in law had the largest lobster tail I ever saw. Veal, pork, lobster got a four. Pizza and salmon just a three. Grandson said too much cheese on pizza, completely covered the tomato sauce. He's becoming a gourmand as his dad is a wonderful chef. The appetizers were family size platters of burrata, tomatoes and prosciutto,,and cheese balls coated in breadcrumbs. If you have been to the Campagna area of Italy, the burrata is made from buffalo milk and the creamy center is as well, not ricotta . The American version uses ricotta for the center. Very few places make it as the Neapolitans do. I only know of one on Arthur Av. With that background the version served here is delicious but American style. Worth ordering. Forget the cheese balls unless you have young children with you. My grandson will be 9 shortly. He gave it a three. No room for dessert. They are on display when you arrive, so check them out. They are huge. Can accommodate two people at least. My salmon was smothered with garlicky breadcrumbs and an overzealous hand with garlic in the lemon sauce. Could only eat half. My breath will keep the witches away for a month. Popular family place, just don't expect properly prepared fish. I won't order any fish from them. A friend told me when he was there he ordered shrimp scampi, and the shrimp was over cooked. Stick to meat and veggies. read more

Delicious foods along with great service. Nice atmosphere as well. Drinks are top notch. Can't say anything negative about this place. Always a good meal. read more

Decent place. Very new, very clean. Food-wise my wife and I split a house salad = big enough to share and it was fine. For entrees we stayed with the staples - baked ziti and the stuffed rigatoni w/ bolenese special. She was very pleased with the special but my ziti was just OK - heavy on the cheese but not much sauce, making it a little on the dry side. It was till good though, especially after I borrowed the sauce from the side of meatballs (2). Passed on dessert as we were there way too long - see below for that aspect. Prices where very reasonable. Service: Very young staff. Polite and efficient. Unfortunately between the salad and entree was 45+ minutes, enough for me to have to flag the 'kid' down. Personally I think they just lost the order in the kitchen so I didn't want to get on the waiter too much, I just wanted him to stand up to the kitchen guys a little bit. It didn't reflect in the tip, as my wife and I both waited tables in our lives and we know that $@#& happens. Will we come back? Yeah, probably. I'd like to give it another shot.... read more

Went for dinner with a friend. Was very excited to try this place for a while. Got there early about 5:30. The bar was packed , so i sat at a small table. Happy hour was 3-7 pm. The bartender Emily ?? Was fantastic and was on the ball making drinks and serving the tables near by. Then i went into the dining room for dinner. I ordered the baked clams which were very good and tasty. The shrimp cocktail was also excellent and very cold like it should be! Then came the pasta dish that I ordered. Orrichete with broccoli rabe and sausage. Out came a large plate of pasta with a 1/2 of a cup of sausage and 1/2 a cup of broccoli rabe! Come on , don't be stingy! What would have it cost to put a little more sausage and broccoli rabe in the dish ? For $26 I should have sent it back. BTW , the older waiter was pre occupied and slow. Will try again , but disappointed. read more

Everything about Ruggero's was exceptional up until we walked out their doors. The food was amazing as per usual & our waiter was extremely nice. We were all impressed up until a woman who works there ran out after us asking if everything was okay because "we did not tip." My family all turned around shocked because we left $40 in cash on the table. We understand that it's important to look after employees however the situation was handled completely wrong. We went back inside to make sure the server got the tip & the woman who chased after us said it landed on the floor... (even though we left it slightly under one of the plates or something so that it wouldn't fall.) If there had been other customers leaving next to us we would have been even more embarrassed to be accused of being cheap/not leaving a tip. There are ways of going about things but being ran after / raising her voice to ask why there "wasn't a tip" when we left one - was not it. Most likely will not be returning to dine in because it left a bad taste in all of our mouths. read more

went here the other night as wanted to towel advantage of the prod fix dinner since I wasn't working as usual. we were seated within minutes which was great, but we waited for 25 minutes after being seated and looking over menu and nobody came over to take a drink order, serve bread or water or anything. 2 tables that were seated after us were attendees to. I know in these times good help is hard to find and everyone is short staffed but some acknowledgement/recognition would've been nice. we walked out after mentioning to speak with the manager who was colder than ace and non sympathetic read more

(3) of us Visited on a Thursday night for the first time & it was very good! We got there at 6:30p.m. with no reservations and were seated immediately. Damien was our server and he was AWESOME. He was VERY very honest and patient as we had MANY questions. To start we shared the burrata & prosciutto appetizer and it was o.k. Then my 2 friends got the Pappardelle Short Rib Ragu (out of this world), and I got the Pear, Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad topped with grilled chicken (SO SO GOOD). For dessert the 3 of us shared the tiramisu (one of the best I've ever had). The portions are extremely generous and the wait staff were fantastic. The restaurant has a very cool vibe to it and I hope they stick around for a long time as I'd like to visit again! Def recommend....... read more

Experienced, late Sunday 10/7 at night. Sit down in a booth, only to get dripped on from the a/c ducts. Apparently condensation wasn't thought of when designing the units... Server was very friendly, but a little aloof. Came over to greet us, said she'd be back to take our drink order but took the cocktail list with her. Whoops! Everyone makes mistakes. We laughed that off. The biggest issue? What you came to pay for... The food! Fried Calamari Appetizer - ZERO taste, none. It was all batter and super small pieces of actual calamari. Burrata Appetizer - It's not homemade, tastes like the one out of a container from Stop and Shop. Overpriced. Chicken parm - Small pieces of chicken, sauce was okay. Rigatoni Bolognese - Who in their right mind puts spinach and peas in a bolognese sauce... with barely any meat? Kind of the opposite of a meat sauce, I would think. Veal chop - vastly overpriced. Not pounded thin enough, deep fried to catastrophe. And for a little more than $30? No way. FAMILY SIZE PORTIONS ARE NOT FOR 3 PEOPLE. Chicken parm family style had four cutlets on the plate and did not come with pasta... $4 up charge for pasta. There are too many Italian restaurants in the area for this to stand up to anything. I don't see it becoming "the" place. Disclosure: we didn't complain to the server at the time. We were shot from a weekend traveling and just wanted to get home. read more

In my opinion, this place is awful. This was our second time coming. The first time the food was good but service bad; we figured we'd give it another shot. Big mistake. The portions this time were so small. $29 for a pasta meal for 2 is definitely reasonably priced but when it came out this time, it was like it was for 1. I left hungry because I split the family style meal with another person. Half the menu was out of stock during our visit- no salmon, no tuna. The service was friendly but slow. The reason why we will never come back is because this restaurant did not take my husband's food allergy seriously. My husband has celiac disease and was given gluten mixed in his meal!!! Before he ordered, he notified the waiter of the allergy but somehow there was spaghetti mixed in his broccoli rabe. He didn't realize the restaurant's mistake until he was eating his meal. He got glutened! We immediately notified the waiter who took the meal away. We waited about 5 minutes and the waiter came back and said that the manager would be over. 10 minutes later the manager appeared and apologized and asked if he wanted anything to eat. Ummmm why wasn't a new meal ordered 15 minutes ago?! We were with a party of 20 who was already ready to order dessert. How would he order a new meal and be able to eat it in time?! Absolutely ridiculous. We went to the Greek Island Diner immediately after and he ate an amazing meal with fantastic service! read more

I had an Extremely disappointing experience here. To start, they were out of Tuna which was one of their specials. Next, they were out of Salmon which is on their menu. So after they have something that I'd like to order, I do. To note I have a gluten allergy which I advised the waiter, next my meal comes out, and as I am eating, I notice that there are some pieces of pasta mixed into my dish. So, they obviously do not take allergies seriously. All in all, they say they are family style, but their family style dishes are extremely small, and their regular portions are like appetizer sizes. The prices do not match up to their portions, way over priced, and the quality very poor. In my opinion, I do NOT recommend this place to anyone. read more

Was very excited to try the restaurant. After a long day at the pumpkin patch, figured we'd try out the restaurant. What a disappointment. We ordered chicken parmigiana, spaghetti and meatballs, and Rigatoni Bolognes. As well as the Pear Gorgonzola salad. Off the kids menu, chicken strips and fries. The best part of our meal was the salad and fries. None of the pasta dishes had little to NO taste. So disappointed. Our waitress was not slacking and busy waiting on the tables outside, but some things we asked for took awhile but not her fault. For a pricey dinner, not worth it when the food tastes like nothing. No salt & pepper on the table or parmigian cheese. The beef meatballs looked like chicken or veal or something other than red meat. Wanted to order the Chicken Francese to share with my sister....but not for $33! One plus...the fresh bread and garlic butter. Prices are high for large portions of tasteless food. Sorry but please look into seasoning the food. read more

I have wanted to try a Ruggero's for awhile, and was really looking forward to it. We were a family of five, having dinner on a Saturday night. We had a very nice waiter named Carlos. He was friendly and attentive, and made some good suggestions as we ordered. We had fried mozzarella and eggplant rollatini for appetizers- both delicious, but not hot. We opted for family style entrees of chicken parm, chicken francese and baked ziti. Again, food could have been hotter. Chicken parm and ziti were pretty good, the francese had an odd taste (think instant potatoes). Family style portions were great, we had leftovers to bring home. There was live music, which was way too loud. Not much conversation could take place at the table. During music breaks, restaurant was loud enough to make us think crowd sounds were played on the speakers. Undecided if we would return, which is unfortunate as we live nearby. We ordered desert to go, thinking we would enjoy later. Cheesecake: Unlike any cheesecake I've ever had. Should call it lemon cake. Chipwich: yuck. Heavy, dry cannoli. Tiramisu: no coffee flavor at all. Whipped Cream garnish was actually Cool Whip- yuck. read more

Service was outstanding, we had meatballs and the gnocci and it was absolutely amazing! We will definitely revisit!

Really enjoyed an early New Year's Eve dinner on 12/31/18. Food excellent, great service (Susan), not rushed and we enjoyed a combo family style and a few individual meals. We'll be back! read more

We called this place last minute to accommodate 26 of us coming from a funeral. We are all from Howard beach n it was a 2hr drive back..we were very pleased we called them. They took us in no problem. The waiter damien was very kind and attentive. Our meals were amazing. You get so much delicious food. Every thing was superb..thank you I will recommend it to everyone. read more

The place is nice. The thing i like the most is that is was not as noisy as most restaurants. That being said, they didn't have a full house either. I am not a fan of a la carte menu's and the individual portions are small. I almost never order dessert, but did this time as i was still hungry after after my meal. The meal itself was presented nicely, but underwhelming nonetheless. To be fair, i have had worse and they did just open. I may try them again in a few months. read more

Good news and bad news! First visit was good, except the added charge for my gluten free pasta ($12). Bad news for second visit as my mild, practically non-existent fra diavolo sauce had very little taste. Too expensive a restaurant to have so many issues. read more

Not good. It took years literally for this place to open so we were looking forward to it. First impression both water glasses on the table were dirty. They were very nice about swapping them out. We both ordered entrees from the specials menu. My husband's dinner was drowning in sauce, it looked more like soup than a seafood entree. I ordered a pasta dish, the flavor was decent but the pasta was undercooked. Totally underwhelming! We will not return. read more

One of my favorite places to dine and have cocktails! Patrick the bartender is a friendly face each time I come in. He remembers me, my sisters and what we enjoy. The food is always plentiful and delicious. Tonight I had calamari (small portion) and shrimp fra diavlo, both were huge and delicious. Highly recommend! read more

See all

Pineapple Express was the bomb! Stopped in after a relaxing Spa experience and was very happy to try what another spa-goer suggested. Ok, so one wasn't enough. Gotta love the pineapple. read more

Stopped here off the cuff and couldn't be more pleased. The food was amazing. The restaurant has a great feel and the staff was great(thanks Jake). We came in on a Monday, which is their pasta night. Scott ordered the pasta purses, which was excellent. It came with a delicious Caesar salad and a yummy dessert. I ordered the shrimp fra diavlo and it too was delicious. Our waiter said they have an awesome happy hour Monday- Friday too. I would definitely come again and I recommend this restaurant whole heartedly. read more

Wanted to give this place its due, have taken my young boys here a couple of times for an early dinner, and they have always been very accommodating and the food excellent. I'm very picky with certain things, and in particular Linguini with seafood Fra Diavolo, it was excellent, I ate it all. read more

Wouldn't seat us because we were only going to order dessert. Turned us away. No wait or line to get in.

Good experience here, family style plates can be a bit bigger compared to other Italian places I ate at with the same concept but also just a little too over priced for me. Just be aware your going to spend a good amount of $ after just 2 plates. read more

Though I have dined at Ruggero's several times, and always loved the food, this past Saturday night visit was a disappointment. My favorite, eggplant Parmesan, was unrecognizable from the food i'd eaten there several times before. Instead of a stack of fresh, thinly sliced eggplant in a light, fresh sauce, my dinner was a flat, tasteless, plate of hard to recognize mushy eggplant, muddy sauce ( jarred?)barely warm andsmothered with mostly mozzarella. This was a celebratory dinner( my birthday) with my children and grandchildren and I was very disappointed. Another guest had another favorite of ours, pappardell with short rib sauce and the pasta was over cooked / mushy. Our waitress was great but the food overall was off. Is there a new chef ? Is Saturday night a bad time to dine there? We'll probably try one more time but I've heard others say they don't like the food so I am just not sure. read more

By far the best restaurant I've ever been to. The 2 expedites working on Friday's are always the 2 just most polite, dapper gentlemen 10/10 would recommend read more