First time here. The food is fabulous. The service is first class. I will definitely be coming back. If you are a pizza snob, you need to eat here. The cannolis are good too, very traditional with chocolate chips and pistachios. The service is the best I've had anywhere. Did I mention the food was fabulous? read more

High-End Pizza & Perfect Peronis If you're looking for authentic, high-quality pizza in North Liberty, Rusciano's is the spot. The pizza was excellent--perfectly cooked crust and fresh toppings that actually taste like they came from an Italian kitchen. It's hard to find a place that gets the balance of sauce and cheese just right, but they nailed it. To top it off, they have Peroni on deck. There's nothing better than a cold, crisp Italian lager to cut through a rich pizza. Great atmosphere, even better food. We'll definitely be back! read more

Poor service and rude ownership. Disappointed to have our time wasted by this establishment. I waited until the woman walked away to say, "she did not have to be such a b****" and unbeknownst to me, the husband approached our lone table outside as I was saying it. Good husband to stand up for his wife. Poor customer service to scold a customer instead of inquiring about the issues or concerns. read more

Such a warm and welcoming spot with delicious, comforting food! My family loved everything we had here including the Salsiccia pizza, calzone, and build your own pasta (Rigatoni with Rosé sauce and sausage). The service was excellent and everyone was very friendly. We loved this place and will definitely be returning! read more

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So happy to see that Rusciano's is in great hands with Steve as the new owner. He's kept the same awesome staff and energy that made this place special, and honestly, he's one of the most genuinely welcoming people you'll meet. You can tell he really cares -- about the food, the experience, and the people. Came in on a Wednesday night and found out about their fun deal -- buy a Margherita pizza, get a bottle of wine. It does about end up the same price because of course you're hungry after drinking wine, but it definitely makes for a good night! The Margherita pizza is still top-tier. Crisp, thin crust with the perfect char, bright tomato sauce, gooey mozzarella, and fresh basil. Simple but done so right. That plus the wine? Let's just say we stayed longer than we planned. This spot continues to be a favorite -- now with even more reason to come back. If you haven't been since the ownership change, go. Steve's keeping the magic alive (and possibly upgrading it). Waitress was nice and efficient! Will be back! read more

Rusciano's - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

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I chose to have my birthday dinner here after hearing about the pizza. It did not disappoint The pesto pizza was on point. My mom had the chicken Alfredo, which I tried since she can never finish and chicken Alfredo is like my favorite dish ever and it was also extremely good. For appetizers I recommend the meatballs. The service was good, but this is really more of a pizza and pasta house and not a full fledge Italian place. It's a little loud as well which makes the energy fun but not an intimate type of vibe. Overall, I still think it's an amazing value as the price for 3 with wine was about 100. read more

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This was a fantastic dining experience! I ordered the beef bolognese pizza and it was wonderful! The crust was perfectly chewy and the sauce was delightful. Our server was fantastic, friendly and super knowledgeable of the menu items. I was a little surprised of the interior as we were at a strip mall essentially. It felt homey and inviting. We told our friends we definitely have to return and spend more time as we were on a little bit of a time crunch this visit. read more

Rusciano's - Bolognese - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

Delicious! Great service! Pizza is authentic Italiano with high quality ingredients. Definitely will be back.

Meatball app. Perfect size to whet your appetite Bolognese-outstanding! Chianti- got better after breathing- would order again. Good white /red wine and ber offered Service- perfect! Efficient, friendly Management- checks on tables involved. A+ atmosphere- informal/cafe like outdoor seating looks nice! Pizza wood fired oven- impressive, will come back to try! Took dessert home but menu offers usual fair of Italian specialties. I'm looking forward to tiramisu Specials on chalkboard , tv with examples of appetizers shown,but a description would be helpful (note- maybe it was on menu and I didn't notice. Suggestions- offer a larger spoon for pasta eating/ swirling Ask if we'd like more cheese At some point an espresso machine? I recommend for good Italian in a no nonsense friendly environment read more

The Arancini appitizer was excellent. The server was very attentive, and the drink menu was good. The wood fired oven makes a nice pizza. My only complaint was the sausage on my pizza was not very good. So only 3 stars read more

Enjoyed a quiet evening with good pizza and excellent gluten free pasta (which we were not expecting)! Staff is great, took the time to check on things. Place is quaint and homey. Will return read more

This is one of my friend's favorite restaurants and she treated us to pizza and desserts from there! We got to try several of the pizzas and I enjoyed them all! Her favorite is the cinque fromaggi and it was lovely! I was expecting it to be overloaded with cheese and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't! We got to try the vegetable, pesto, and Iowan ones as well. I don't usually think of corn as a pizza topping but it worked well! Toppings on these pizzas are not the most uniform as pieces of toppings are large and used relatively sparingly. If you're eating only an eighth of a pie, you might not get a piece of each topping on your slice. We tried the fried risotto and sausage bites, they were okay but I liked the pizza better. We also had a salad with mixed greens, fresh mozzarella, olives, pecan and a balsamic vinaigrette which was very nice. We also sampled the lemon cheesecake and tiramisu, both of which were delicious! It was a proper and traditional tiramisu with everything you would expect and nothing that you wouldn't (garnished with coffee beans was the only non-traditional part.) There's definitely several things on this menu that I might end up craving, and I think I'm a convert to the five cheese pizza! read more

Great food and fire fly service. We enjoyed a pasta dish and a calzone recently and it was delicious. Greet to have this restaurant nearby in NL! read more

Good pizza but ear splitting noise level when busy. Get take out to preserve your hearing

Great atmosphere food was delicious decent portions .. staff was very friendly .. will definitely be back

I hope their pizza is better in person. I ordered delivery from CHOMP. Friends had said their pizza was good, which I didn't find to be the case. I like a crispy crust and Rusciano's was floppy and soggy, with hardly any toppings. I ordered the Margherita pizza (which looked like very sparse plain cheese) and Salsiccia (sausage - also sparse). A total of $72 for two very floppy, soggy, ordinary at best, pizzas, including delivery charges and tip. We ate one piece and threw the rest out. My suggestion: go to Pagliai's. read more

As much as I love going out to eat sometimes I just wanna stay at home and chill. Chilling with a Russiano's pizza is next level chilling! Margarita with pepperoni, you cannot go wrong! read more

Rusciano's - Pizza to go! - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

We go at least a couple times a month for pizza and appetizers. Service is great as well as food is fresh and authentic.

Wanted some tasty pizza so ordered takeout from here. Food: We ordered the pesto gnocchi and it was tasty. Small portion size though. We also ordered the Cinque Formaggi, a combination of tasty cheeses, pecans, and fresh basal leaves garnish. The pizza was a perfect blend of the subtle flavors of the different cheeses with the basil accentuating that taste and the crunch of pecans. Of note the pizza was also small portion. Service: Pick up was prompt and direct and easy to order. Price: I usually don't talk specifically about price but this is a bit pricier place with ~ $15/ entree with small portions but the food is authentic and tasty. The part that overcooked my grits was the $2 takeout charge and $1.68 non cash charges and they still had a spot for a tip. Absolutely in their purview to charge whatever but it was never mentioned while ordering or picking up. If you go here, read the fine print unlike us who didn't see all the charges till home. Star off for every fee that wasn't explained. TLDR: tasty, authentic, look at your receipt before paying read more

Rusciano's - Pesto gnocchi - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

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I has great hopes for this place but it didn't quite live up to my expectation. I checked the menu online it had my mouth set for a couple different dishes. However, when we got there we found a glorified pizza place and the pizza was nothing to write home about. Edible but overpriced. It may be just me, but while the sauce had a nice fresh tomatoe flavor, I found myself wishing it had been developed more with some garlic and spices. We opted to just drink water that night, but I forgot how bad North Liberty water is since most restaurants in the area must filter theirs. The venue is small but with a lot of echos making it quite noisy. While the food was edible, I probably won't return with so many good other options in the area. read more

Rusciano's - Pizza looks good. - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

I love this place, it's definitely a treat to go here. It has a small focused menu which allows them to execute their dishes at a very high level. They use fresh simple ingredients and they let them shine. I've had about every dish in the menu, but the real stats are the pizzas. They are so good I get a little sad when I have one piece left knowing my meal is almost over. The staff is always friendly and take good care of you. It is small but not cramped. They have booths and tables for seating. The decor is simple and relaxing, great for an easy date night. read more

Rusciano's - Salumi my favorite - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

I was looking forward to a nice sit down meal and felt like I walked into a fast food chain. The place was very well lit/bright. We were provided a very limited menu. If you are interested in a brick oven pizza this is not a bad place to go but we were interested in pasta. There was one choice! We ordered some Greek olives, which were tasty but there was only 2 different kinds in the bowl. Nice touch placing them on a bed of lettuce. I ordered a calzone, it was good and the cheese tasted fresh. But it was not anything special I felt I could not get anywhere else. Service was acceptable, not horrible but not friendly either. I believe I share the opinion of my other two guests in saying we do not expect to go back. read more

Rusciano's - Fire brick oven - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

very good! we drove from iowa city to try. the bruschetta was ok i would have liked more tomatoes and balsamic because the bread itself was a bit dry for my liking. The pesto is amazing on the pizza and the pizza crust is so good and perfectly done in the oven!!! One of the best pizza crusts in my opinion! The lemon cheesecake and the tiramisu were great but so tiny! The ambiance is just ok given it faces directly into the parking lot. The service was kind! read more

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Burrata 10/10 Charcuterie 10/10 Margherita Pizza 12/10 Iowan Pizza 10/10 - don't be fooled by everything that's going on ingredients wise, they all blend together so well! Mastroberardino Campania was the sweet red wine I chose, it was very nice and I enjoyed it to the point where I ordered another. The service is superb, Sierra took care of us like a true professional, matter of fact even the head chef/co owner Gennaro comes out to make sure everything is made right. As for the ambiance it is a family style restaurant, so very open and with good lighting and the most shocking part is the prices aren't insane for the how fine the ingredients are.. so don't worry about having your bank account drained on a nice night out! Come to Rusciano's for the real taste of Napoli! You will not regret it. Make sure you come in and sit down and enjoy yourself, the food is best within two minutes of being placed in front of you. read more

By far, the best pizza in Iowa. Do not be fooled by its midwestern location - eating at Rusciano's will transport you straight to Italy, especially because everything is made from a family recipe. The owner has been on the oven both times we've dined here and was visiting with patrons in between pizzas. He is kind and proud and genuinely loves sharing his culture with his customers. I've been dying to bring my pizza obsessed fiancé here, but we just kept missing the hours. Since it was our first dinner as a family since my brother moved to town, we went all out. We started with olives, bruschetta, and burrata. The bread and the balsamic got high praise from the table, but of course the fresh mozzarella is always the winner for me. My Nana's entree spaghetti with meatballs came out well before our pizzas. We didn't think much of it because there's only so much room in the wood fire oven and the pizza is basically their main event. Certainly not a big deal for us and definitely worth the wait. We opted for 4 different pizzas - margherita, salumi, saliccia, and pesto. This allowed us each to swap for pieces of the other pies and still have half a plate of what we ordered. The crust here is perfection. Marg is my go-to 99% of the time, but the pesto pizza was the star of the show for me today. That prosciutto is freaking delicious. As if that wasn't more than enough food to go around, we also talked ourselves into dessert. Our waitress rattled off a list of 5-6 desserts and we went with just about one of each. Everything was beautifully plated and came with generous portions compared to other restaurant desserts. Limoncello cheesecake for Nana was fluffy and tart. Vanilla crème brûlée for my fiancé was light and sweet. And two tiramisu - one for me, one for my dad and brother to share. It wasn't as espresso-y as I'd expected but very good. We highly recommend making your way to Rusciano's for traditional Neapolitan fare. You will not be disappointed. Go for a marg or a pesto pizza and your tastebuds will die and go straight to heaven. (Also, huge personal thank you for reminding my fiancé why he wants to go to pizza school :D) read more

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Decor/service: doesn't really remind you of a pizza place inside or out. It's located in a strip mall and the inside is kind bare. The service was friendly but they didn't have cups for soda other than tiny sampling cups stating they ran out of bigger ones. Food: the arancini was solid but nothing spectacular. The pizza was very good as we tried a couple and all had great flavor. Deff a must try if your in the area. read more

This place is great. I would put it in the top three pizzas in the area. While you should not go here expecting it the super extra large deep dish meat lovers extravaganza that you might get for seven dollars at some chain pizza joint, you will get a much higher quality pizza with even higher quality ingredients. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but the last time I had brick oven pizza on this level, I was in Naples, Italy. That is honestly what this pizza reminded me of. But, I get ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning. We arrived on a Saturday night at 8:30 PM. The place was practically empty. I was incredibly surprised because the reviews for this restaurant are stellar. The service was prompt and attentive. We ordered two appetizers. One of which was the street sampler and the other was the olive mix. Holy cow. Both of those appetizers were amazing. I could've just eaten that ball of our lives all night long. It was a wonderful variety of savory treats. The streets sampler was also delicious. For the pizza, we ordered the Salumi as well as the Margharetta. The crust was perfect. Often times at a brick oven restaurant the bottom of the crust is so black with char that all you taste is soot. Not here. The crust was light and tender with a nice crispness around the edges. There was just the right amount of cheese that it did not overwhelm the flavor but also let you know that it was there. As far as the toppings...yuuuuuuummmmmmyyyyy. The meat on the Salumi was flavorful and distant. While the toppings on the Margharetta were fresh and tasty. We intentionally only ate half of each pizza so we could save room for the Nutella dessert pizza. That did not disappoint. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I can tell you that when I was in Italy, the Nutella advertisements were everywhere. You literally could not walk a block without seeing a billboard featuring an Italian actor or actress with a jar of Nutella. On the pizza? Really? Yes! When you go here, you must save room for this dessert pizza. We also took half of it home. Let's just say that these leftovers were a welcome treat the next day for lunch. We are looking forward to our next trip to this wonderful pizza place. read more

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Wow. Wow. Wow. What a treat! I went here with my son and daughter-in-law this past weekend and it was amazing. Absolutely everything we had was spot-on. They had a great selection of beer and wine, but the food what is what you came for. Apparently the owner was raised in Italy. The food is authentic. Fantastic pasta dishes and oven Fired Pizza is. We had the burrata, special pizza and gnocchi. We topped it off with limoncello cheesecake. PERFECT!!! read more

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The pizza there was soooo good!!! It was amazing. Great service, even better food, and the price was reasonable. Overall great place to come and have a relaxed dining experience! read more

I was visiting a small community in Iowa and was looking for an independent local restaurant. This fit the bill. The restaurant is small and family friendly. Our waitress, as well as the manager were very attentive and quick to get our food order taken and delivered to us. We ordered the bruschetta toast and Margherita pizza. The toast was very good as well as the pizza. The crust on the pizza was thin and light and very tasty. read more

Rusciano's - Margherita pizza - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

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Very relaxing little restaurant, it was an enjoyable environment to converse and have a meal. I would skip the meatballs next time but both the pizzas were very enjoyable. They're definitely one of the more authentic pizza choices in the area. I'd suggest the margherita, the salami wasn't my favorite ever but definitely still good. read more

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I am so torn with my experience at Rusciano's. I really want to love it based off all the great things I have heard and read on Yelp. While the service was spot on, with sharing all the details on their dough making process right down to recommendations on how to fold and eat the perfect slice. Once the pizza hit the table is where the rest of the experience started to fall short for me. My husband I ordered two different types of pizzas so we could share and try couple different styles/flavors. Neither were something I would crave or put at the top of my pizza list. I feel like the dough was soggy making it hard to eat without all the toppings falling off and this was even after executing the folding techniques recommended by the waiter. After my husband and I left we both agreed that there are at least two other spots in town/surrounding area that do wood fired thin crust pizza better. We were truly torn as we felt the service was great but the pizza fell flat. We have a gift card with $$ remaining so we will give them another shot. read more

They don't answer the phone, called 8:30pm on Sunday and the phone kept ringing, it says they open till 9pm!!!!

The food is SO FRESH here! And not in the slang way. It's literally fresh. As in freshly picked. Probably some of the most authentic Italian food you can get in Iowa. Yes, the entire state. On our second visit we actually spoke with the owner, who is from Naples. The special oven used for the pizza also came straight from Naples. They have a different fresh pasta they offer I think each week. Haven't had the desserts yet, but I can say we loved the bruschetta, salad (forgot which kind), pizza, and pasta. My husband literally wants to eat there every week now. read more

I LOVE Italian food and since moving to the area we have been looking for a place we enjoyed as much as our old town. Rusciano's looked promising. A small, but good selection of red and white wines. The menu was comprised or primarily pizza and a select few pastas. I originally wanted the Rose sauce with Italian sausage; they were all out of the mornay sauce, thus I couldn't have the rose. Options were thrown pesto or marinara. Went with chicken pesto fettuccine. I appreciated the serving size - not an overwhelming amount. The entrées were good, but did not blow our tastebuds away. At the end of our dinner we enjoyed a limoncello cheesecake - beautiful presentation and delectable. Overall nice place, but We were disappointed with the atmosphere - not romantic like most Italian restaurants - environment was cramped and loud. We will likely come back for pizza and dessert, but sit outside where it is more intimate. read more

Rusciano's - Limoncello cheesecake - Italian Near Me - North Liberty, Iowa

Rusciano's social media posts are on point! After consistently viewing their pictures on Instagram, I decided to try it out to see if they're just as good as it looks. I must say, not being a huge fan of ricotta to start with, their ricotta mousse is the most amazing thing I have ever tasted on a pizza,fluffy and full of flavor. Their dishes are all full of flavor. They appear to have weekly specials and they change from time to time. Brownie point for creativity and variations ! It's a cute little place for family dinners or date night. I hope to return soon. read more

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Because sometimes this mom of two doesn't want to wrestle her two children while eating out. And other times, she just wants her wine and yoga pants with some good eats. This review is for takeout. I have been dying to try Ruscianos. Like, dying. (Their Instagram guys!?) So it was an easy decision one Friday night. Gave them a call-- the order was done on time and correctly. We tried arancini and frittatine. Divine. I will come back and try their entire street food menu, without a doubt. Oh, of course the focaccia with mozzarella and marinara was had and promptly devoured. After trying the margherita, salsicca and vegitariana, I can say without hesitation my favorite was the salsicca. That sausage was absolutely sublime, not to spicy. Juicy and flavorful. (I'm honestly not even a sausage person, I normally choose pizza without meat! So that's saying something.) True Neapolitan 'za done right. The crust is flavorful. It's substantial but not too filling. The San Marzano sauce is the star, however. Mostly, I can't give it five stars just because I haven't gotten a chance to try the restaurant as a whole. (Their wine list looks legit and I really wanna try a calzone, burrata, meatballs... I guess like the whole menu.) I can't wait to come back and try more of this North Liberty must-have. read more

Excellent pizza, appetizer and service! I highly recommend Rusciano's! You won't be disappointed!

This is the only pizzeria we go to as their pizzas are incredible. My favorite pizza topping is tuna and there is no pizza place in the US that have that topping. I randomly asked Ruscianos if they could add tuna as a topping and the chef was so accommodating and told me that yes, they can. The pizza I ordered today was a margarita pizza with tuna and mushrooms. It was so good. I savored every bite of it and can't wait to come back! read more

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Sadly disappointed in our meal from Rusciano's... I have heard many good things about this place, so I was looking forward to our meal. I hate to give a bad review during these tough times, but ultimately we paid a lot for a meal that we truly didn't enjoy. We ordered take out on Sunday night. We ordered a Rusciano salad, an order of focaccia bread, a margarita pizza, the pasta with marinara and meatballs, and the pasta with pesto and chicken. To begin the salad had "fresh" mozzarella that was very dry and unappetizing. Next, The focaccia bread was basically just pizza dough with garlic and oil. Something on the bread had a very off-putting sour taste. It tasted like something had gone bad or rancid. We moved on to our margarita pizza. This had good flavor, but it was really cold by the time we had received it. The pasta dishes were also just okay. When ordering, we were surprised that they were only offering one type of pasta. We got rigatoni for both dishes. The sauces were both okay. The meatballs, however, were also very bad. They again tasted like they had gone bad... we didn't eat most of the meal because it was such a turn off. We seriously questioned the freshness of any of our food. Hopefully our bad experience was not something common from them, but I will certainly not recommend Rusciano's. read more