Ricardo’s Cafe Trattoria

Ate here the other weekend on a Sat night. Place was full. Food was what I would say is reasonable for the price in an above average way. Our waitress was really great. They were clearly short staffed but she did great — bumped it up half a star just because the service was good. Kitchen must have been backed up a bit too but we weren’t in a hurry so it was fine. There were four of us and we all agreed to come back, though maybe not on a busy night.

I am going to give this 5 stars. It was quite worth the drive to Lowell.
Getting here was a little tricky, the map led me to the wrong area and I ended up pulling out of a parking lot and turning the wrong way down a one way street that was not marked as such. I found a place to park a block away and then finally found my way to the restaurant.
When I entered the restaurant I was immediately taken back to Roma to one of my favorite places, L’Angoletto ai Musei, with the same color scheme on the tablecloths, the same wine bottles on the wall, very quaint and simple. The place was being ran by two young ladies and they seemed to be handling the crowd nicely. I was seated right away and had a look at the menu.
Their menu has a lot of very traditional choices and not so many americanized dishes; I wish I could have tried everything. I went for the chicken broccolini and that was definitely a good choice. The pasta was fresh, chicken was tender, and everything was hot til the last bite.
I will absolutely be back when I stay in Lowell next time.

Awesome Food. Awesome wait staff. Some of the best Italian food i have ever had .
Rob from New Haven Ct

Don’t waste your time or money. Too bad there are really no other Italian options in Lowell. The place is dirty and the food is mediocre at best. Some other reviews have mentioned the owner being pretty mean to the staff and I am not surprised.

Ricardo’s is an excellent restaurant that I highly recommend. It’s worth the trip to the downtown Lowell area to enjoy the delicious food, awesome pizza, and wonderful service. I want to give specific applause to Amanda who made my guests and me feel as if we were receiving special attention. After looking around, we noticed that was the attention all of her guests were receiving. Lots of fun and a very enjoyable dining experience.

My wife and I love this place. We were there tonight and our waitress and the food was wonderful.

We have gone to Ricardo’s about a half dozen times in about the same number of years. The biggest problem that I have is parking in the neighborhood. The area is filled with one-​way streets and parking, while not difficult, is certainly not a plus. The one other issue that I had was the heat. We kept the sweaters on during our last visit.
I have found the food to be good to very good. You are better off with the specials. The chef seems more interested in those than food of the Chicken Marsala ilk. This place has an excellent bar, and drinks are reasonable. They have a good selection of wines by the glass. I have experienced excellent service. They are friendly, and answered questions about the food.
Prices on the food side are reasonable. On the beverage side they are a relative bargain– particularly for the wine.

Food was very average at best. Have to comment on the behavior of a person I assume was the owner. Saw him on several occasions during my visit berating several employees, especially waitresses. He even stepped in when a couple at the bar wanted to buy a drink for the 3 piece band, who were excellent by the way. He prevented them from doing it by proudly stating that musicians cannot drink in his restaurant! What a jerk! Will be sure to not go back. did I mention the food was not that good.

This place serves very middle-​of-​the-​road quality food at high prices. I didn’t dislike the food, but it was not worth what we paid. The place itself is nice: the bar is pretty, with big mirrors behind it. But I wouldn’t come back — if I’m going to get a $ 22 entrée I might as well go somewhere with better, more interesting food. My guess is that this place is still in business because it’s one of the few «nicer» restaurants in Lowell.

Went to Ricardo’s Café Trattoria in Lowell MA few weeks ago. We saw the 4 star rating on Unilocal and thought we’d try it out.
When we first got there we were greeted by a older gentleman that asked «can I help you?» with a very strange look on his face like what are you even doing here.
My husband and I looked at each other like is this a private club or something?
He replied yes, we’d like a table for two.
His response to him was «do you have reservations?» I first thought, oh, you have to have reservations to dine here? But then I looked in the dining room and it was empty except for two tables. Finally he sat us, and we both said the experience so far was strange at best.
OK, so we sat down, and playing in the background was a music ensemble VERY LOUD. Now I guess this would be OK if the dining room was closed and it was just bar clientele, but that wasn’t the case.
The waitress came over and asked us what we would like for drinks. We told her, and she proceeded to tell us the specials. Unfortunately I couldn’t hear a word she was saying.
We got some sort of Scala bread that was the same stuff we could get at any grocery store. It was served in a plastic basket with NO napkin liner. People have been putting their hands all over that basket and now my bread is touching it. YUK and unsanitary!!!
I got soup that had more thyme in it than anything else. They may as well call it Thyme soup. In a word GROSS!!!
I ordered Chicken Picatta, which definitely did not match the description on their on line menu.
Thier listing below.
Sautéed breast of chicken or scaloppini of veal accompanied with mushrooms, served with a lemon caper demi-​glacé.
Chicken $ 16.95 Veal $ 17.95
It describes it above as sauteed breast of chicken, with mushrooms and lemon caper demi glaze. All I have to say is the chicken was boiled not sauteed, no mushrooms, and hardly any sauce at all. Check out the picture I posted.
I don’t know how they could call it sauteed, because sauteed means in a frying pan, and my chicken was white as a ghost. Definitely not appetizing at all. Not to mention it had an off smell. All in all not enjoyable at all.
My hubby said his entrée was horrible as well.
We got coffee after and the waitress brought the coffee and the cream and took off. No sugar, no spoons. It’s always a pleasure when you have to track down your server for things they should have brought in the beginning.
Just a sign of a crappy server. A server is supposed to dote on their customers, making sure they have everything they need BEFORE they leave to take care of other tables.
Overall a horrid experience and another $ 50.00+/- donation down the drain.
Not quite sure where on earth the 4 stars come from on Unilocal?This is not a restaurant we would recommend to anyone.

This was the first time we have gone to Ricardo’s. We went to celebrate a birthday and they were able to accommodate a large group. I made a last minute change of adding 2 guests last minute which made us a party of 16, and the seating was tight, but I feel if I gave advance notice, this would not have been an issue. I got the chicken parm which was prepared very well and the portion was also generous. Ricardo had made the reservation for me and asked if I needed a cake. I did, and he provided a high quality cake and even wrote on it for my fiancées birthday, then cut and served to all 16 guests. All and all, I will be going back here again for sure

To be honest I wanted to like this place and write an amazing review but it fell short. I had high expectations as we walked into a well decorated cute restaurant with great music playing in the background. After waiting for friends for a few minutes we noticed the menus were quite dirty. In fact we had to take the plastic covering off to even read them. Our waitress was attentive and did everything in her power to make our experience wonderful but the food took nearly 45 minutes to arrive. When it arrived three of us had ordered a chicken dish and one piece of chicken was completely inedible due to the fat veining. It was disappointing to say the least. The food was good (of what was edible) but I expected higher quality for the price. I think next time I will skip this one and check out one of the other local venues.

Great. We went here for my daughters birthday and will be back again. I am not a big fan of Italian food but this place was great and reminds me of the restaurants I use to visit when I lived in NJ/​NY. Starters were awesome, mains were even better and the desserts were perfect to end the meal. The flavors worked well together and these meals were nothing like what you get at Olive Garden. Cozy setting.

I went here on a Friday night and it was pretty slow so I figured we wouldn’t have a long wait. We waited 15 minutes just for our drink order. The waiter was super slow and we ended up having to walk over to the kitchen to place our food order because our waiter was no where to be found. We never heard about any specials, no water or bread at the table. The food was horrible. Large portions and bland. The drinks were even worse. Then at the end where all I wanted to do was leave, a drink comes over that we never ordered but still had to pay for. This place was horrible and by far the worst service, food and drinks I have ever dealt with and I go out often. I will never go back nor would I recommend this to any one. This is a horrible place to dine at.

Great wine (Deadbolt Winemaker’s Blend), fantastic Caesar salad, delicious eggplant parmesan (they called it something different but close enough). Too bad I’m from out of town and couldn’t take the leftovers home! (The servings are massive.) Ambience is nothing special but the food is delicious!

Ricardo’s is one of three restaurants in the North End that I have gone to in the past year since moving to Boston. My parents love it, the owner is usually there and provides an excellent family atmosphere. The food is outstanding. And, as an individual with serious food allergies, I feel safe eating at Ricardo’s because the wait staff ensure that they are aware, they know what is in each dish and that it is safe for me, and they put up with my incessant questions about ingredients. I hadn’t eaten out in a restaurant in a while and was nervous approaching going out with a good friend, but the waiter we had at Ricardo’s was so patient and understanding when I kept bothering him for more questions about what’s in this and what’s in that. I didn’t feel like a bother and my anxiety level lowered. I can’t express the appreciation I have for that.
Not only is the food delicious, but when I go to Ricardo’s I feel taken care of, and that is the ultimate in dining experiences.

We have been going to Ricardo’s for many years. We keep going back because the food, wine selection and service are great.
Typically, we sit at the bar because of the great service and wine recommendations from Dennis the bartender.
The food is consistently great. We have tried most everything on the menu and have rarely been disappointed. You should always consider the specials. My favorites are the chicken saltimbocca and tenderloin, while my wife loves the marsala and lobster ravioli.
The only «complaints» that I have are: the red sauce and the desserts. This isn’t my style of red sauce and the desserts are ordinary.

Came in for restaurant week & was pleasantly surprised! Seated by the owner and waited on by long time employee Kim. She did an excellent job taking care of us while training a new guy. Would definitely come back! Great food & excellent service!

Stopped in last Friday for the first time and was very impressed. The atmosphere was great and we had exceptional service. We always look for a good restaurant close to home and we’ve found it. I recommend their special crab stuffed haddock.

Had a softshell crab snack there, this past week. The Bartender Dennis is fabulous, always having some piece of trivia to share or a bottle of wine to recommend or taste. Ricardo is always fun to sit and chat with telling of his latest adventure while I spread the olive oil, roasted garlic, and Parmesan cheese on the soft white bread with the perfect crumb to soak up the oil. Sitting at the bar you can watch the city as it passes by and keep an eye on the door to see if someone familiar comes in.
Great wine list, not all the wines are on the list so talk to the bartenders and wait staff: Ryan, Kim. Getting the right wine is all the better to enjoy the culinary creations of Chef Colin. If you prefer Vodka you are in luck they have many!