Nina's Ristorante

The food was great, the service was great, the atmosphere was also great, so why am I giving them two stars? Let me explain.I organize very large group luncheons between 30 and 40 once a month. In order to find a great place to eat I bring two or three friends with me to scout a location. My friends and I sat down last night in a lonely table in the back of the place. Menu is hard to read because the room was quite dark. We chose three appetizers to begin our evening feast. Three of our group had cocktails they enjoyed very much. Kudos to the bar tender. At about $18 each we ordered the eggplant rollatini appetizer and two others. One small rollatini roll arrived about the size of a skinny eggroll we each had one very tiny taste of it. We ordered a mushroom appetizer stuffed with cheese at least it said it was but who could tell, and calamari. Four tiny mushrooms were brought to our table and the only appetizer that was big enough for a decent share was the calamari, which was nothing special. We asked for more bread as the tiny loaf that was first delivered to our table was not enough for the four of us. The second small loaf arrived. We then got our bill We expected the appetizers to be around $60 so that was no surprise but when we realized we were charged $8.00 for the second little loaf of bread that was a bit much. Overpriced for what it is. As a group location we will defiantly pass. As a dining place for me and friends, again we will pass.

This place has a great atmosphere for a romantic date or for a small group of friends. The menu has a lot of options and the food is really good. The service was top-notch as well. It's one of the better Italian restaurants in Raleigh.

I'm reluctant to write negative reviews but would have appreciated this recent type info before going in. I will check before going to a place in the future but my previous experience didn't seem to warrant it. I didn't realize it had changed ownership.My brother and his wife were in town for a rare visit. We decided to go here, admittedly w/o a reservation and a bit late (8:15 or so?).It took a good while for someone to acknowledge us...they were apparently short staffed. Asked us a couple times IF we had made a reservation. I'd been here years ago and had an amazing dining experience so was unfortunately repeatedly disappointed with various things.It took a good 20 minutes to get a table set up for us. It also took a good while to get drinks, menus, bread and watery bruschetta (no oil or butter).My brother ordered spaghetti & meatballs, his wife the shrimp, pasta, spinach entree (sorry don't recall dish names) and I just ordered calamari. There dishes were ok nothing spectacular; my calamari was not hot or even especially warm...disappointing.It was VERY, very loud...hard to have decent conversation unfortunately.The waiter was EXTREMELY apologetic but it's not his fault they were short staffed...he was embarrassed.He did offer and insist on comping us dessert...they ordered the gelato to split and said it was delicious.So all that said to say, unless the star rating improves I seriously doubt I will ever come back to dine here unfortunately. Apparently the new ownership has had a poor impact?! I can walk to this restaurant so it's very disappointing as I was really hoping to take my brother and his wife out to a really nice meal. Pretty pricey considering all things. It also only had a 97.5 sanitation rating?!

I finally made it back to Nina's Ristorante after a stressful week and this was the perfect choice. Nina's takes reservations so I would highly recommend a reservation if you want to dine at a certain time.The staff was friendly and we were told all of the specials. I went with the homemade fettuccine noodles again with the alfredo sauce as that is my comfort food of choice after a long work week. I added the shrimp again but think I had six this time. We had a new waitress who was training but she knew her stuff and was on top of her game. My iced tea was not refilled though.I also went with the cheesecake with strawberries for dessert. It was really good. The portion size of the cheesecake was larger than I expected and the strawberries were delicious.I have to make sure to order a different dish next time as the menu has so many options.

Delicious Italian cuisine in quiet setting. Dinner at Nina's on a recent Friday night. For a restaurant with food this good it was a surprise that every table was not full. It's a square room, about a dozen tables to the right, a bar surrounded on 3 sides with additional tables to the left. Service was quick and friendly. We were surprised that there are no kids choices on the menu.. think twice about bringing food-picky youngsters. We started with calamari and caprese salad. An excellent rendition with equal number of rings and tentacles. Deep fried golden crispy brown, served with tomato sauce with a slight kick. The caprese was unique by adding prosciutto to the standard tomato, mozzarella and basil. Fresh, creamy mozzarella combines with the salty prosciutto for a great taste. Great appetizers! For entree, I chose the capellini con gamberoni, ponolle spinaci. Six perfectly cooked shrimp are served over capellini, laced with spinach and pine nuts, sauteed in garlic and lemon wine sauce. The thin capellini is cooked perfectly, the shrimp crisp with a hearty crunch in every bite. The lemon wine sauce is a nice complement to the spinach, enhancing the taste without being too bitter. Delicious! Cannoli and cheesecake for dessert. Cheesecake is NY-style, with strawberries. It's creamy and tart/sweet with a perfect crust. Cannoli was OK. The shell here is dipped in chocolate, which to me takes away from the taste. The filling was excellent though - creamy and just sweet enough.Not a pizza-place kind of restaurant, Nana's is a solid choice for upscale Italian fare at a reasonable price. Recommended.

Amber and I finally were able.to connect to celebrate my birthday last night. We were both going to be in Raleigh so I searched Google Maps for restaurants near our location. My favorite food is Italian so decided to give Nina's a whirl! To start we were trying to set up her phone to take a pic and the bartender, Chris, noticed and came outside to take it. Chris also ended up being our waiter and made us feel right at home. He was amazing! We recognized they are a little short staffed and service would take longer which gave us visiting/talking time. They have a herb garden where the chef (Roberto?) And Chris get fresh herbs for the drinks and dishes We ordered the Eggplant Rolletini and Gorganzolla Salad to share. The entrees were the Diver Scallops and Ravioli with Salmon. Chris brought the best Salted Carmel ice cream (Gelato?) with whipped cream and a candle for my bday. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and will most certainly be back!

We met two other couples for dinner. The service was excellent as was the food. Portions are good size. We all had wine. We have not been here in some time and were pleasantly surprised how good it was.

I hesitate to give this review but everything went downhill. The server was decent at first but kept going MIA (actually we knew where he was, he was managing the bar as well as serving so he disappeared for long periods of time). We ordered two dishes, a drink and a dessert.. total cost, $94.82. How? We're not sure, the math was very funky. First off, they charge a 4% fee for paying by credit card. That's just odd. So, drink $13, soda $3, spaghetti $25, Fettuccine $24, and choc cake $13... subtotal says $84, which it isn't, it's $78. The server said there's a 4% cc charge but that still doesn't total $84. That's magic math right there. We didn't bother arguing the math anymore and just paid it. We're not from NC but isn't there supposed to be an alcohol tax? There wasn't one on the bill. On to the food... $25 for spaghetti and $24 for fettuccine. That's a seriously high amount for the small portions you get. Worse yet, it was good but not anything special. Some would almost say it was plain. At least they had enough sauce so it wasn't dry. All in all, the place was highly recommended but very disappointing. We will be back to Raleigh but not to this restaurant. Apparently when the place was ran my Nina it was amazing but whoever is doing it now is focusing on massive profits and lowered the standards. One stop visits and no repeat customers with food and prices like this.

Haven't eaten here in a while, and after we sat down, remembered why. Very tired restaurant!1. Although the server was friendly, the service was sloppy - wait staff wearing big baggy sweatshirt with dirty sleeves - not ok, set some standardsEnsure the team wears proper black uniforms that fit.2. White table cloths nice touch, old dried center pieces, not so much. How much can a single fresh carnation cost? Simple and says volumes about someone caring about the details.3. If you're going to charge $24-30 for pasta dishes, should be fresh pasta, with flavor and know what you're serving. Ordered carbonara- NOT carbonara nor did the server know.4. Pricey for the experience- one app, 2 pasta dishes, dessert + one glass of house wine- $125Overall, all signs look like this restaurant is struggling to stay aloft, it's dated, worn, food is dull, and staff couldn't care less if they work there. The restaurant was crowded so perhaps they are not putting their profits back into the business or still catching up after Covid?Unfortunately, better restaurants in Raleigh to enjoy!

Food was OK. Service was terrible. Ambiance was very loud. Prices were high but then charged us for extra bread and a 4% service fee to use Credit card. We wanted separate checks and to split the cost of the appetizers between us but they couldn't figure that out. All in all a poor experience. Never experienced this before there.