IL Ritorno

First time there last night. Food was fresh and delicious. The presentation was top notch. It’s not traditional Italian food in the sense that there is pasta and red sauce for every entrée; but that’s why you should go there. The menu is unique to DTSP.
Our server Jeff was great. I’ve never had a server describe the food on the menu as well as him. He made you want to order everything. It was tough making a decision on what to order. I’m going to have to go back to try so many more items on the menu.

The truffle risotto is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Amazing.

I had wanted to check out IL Ritorno for some time, and once they announced their first beer pairing dinner with Green Bench Brewing, I had to go. I am really glad I did as it was a great experience. From the time I reserved my seat, Erica was very accommodating and understanding of my dietary restrictions, particularly a seafood allergy. They made substitutions for those seafood items on the menu and it was phenomenal. The beer paired well with the food and the dishes were very well prepared. This place really lived up to all the hype that I had heard. Highly recommended.

Do not expect your typical red sauce Italian. Instead, expect quality ingredients prepared in small portions with a delicate touch. Nice beer and wine selection too. I enjoyed the dipping oil, tomato burrata salad and short rib pasta. My companion enjoyed the beet salad and pasta with shrimp and clams. Service was good.

Dinner was absolutely fabulous. Service was impeccable. The people-​watching couldn’t be better. Every single course was exquisite from the bread at the beginning of dinner all the way through dessert. I loved the beet salad with lavender goat cheese. My main course was Amitriciana with guanciale. Dessert was vanilla bean gelato with a shot of espresso. I can’t wait to go back!

Everything I have had here has been perfect. I love that the menu changes with the seasons. The one word that comes to mind when I think of this place is «fresh». Definitely worth trying at least once, but you may be hooked after that.

This is a place to be a little late on your car payment for. Pricey? Worth it. I mean, you can get out with your shirt on if you skip the great wine selection and stick with the intriguing pastas on the primi menu (I will be back for you, rabbit bolognese!). The meats are amazing, though. The octopus puttanesca appetizer is no slouch, but the duck. My partner got the duck and I’m only grateful she was willing to trade a couple of medallions of that medium rare, fatty, crispy-​skinned quacking goodness for a largish tentacle. The creamy Rochette cheese paired well with Conundrum wine, and I liked the tiny little dabs of honey, mustard and, what the hell was that, habañero jelly? I don’t know, but it’s great with the cheese and grilled toast points as long as you resist the urge to swab the whole chickpea-​sized drop up in one go. Fair warning-​if you’ve got an American appetite, the European portions may surprise you. Plenty for a healthy meal, but your thirtyish dollar entrée won’t yield lunch leftovers unless you’ve had a lap band procedure.
I saw that some reviewers bemoaned the service, and management must have taken that to heart. Granted, we dined on a slow Thursday night, but I’m still glad I didn’t have to remember the names of everyone who spoke to us, brought us food or cleared a plate.
‘The Return’ is kind of a ballsy name for a restaurant-​imagine the sophomoric irony a dissatisfied reviewer could invoke-​but this is a confident kitchen that knows you’ll be back to try another tempting menu offering after you put in a little overtime at work.

The name Il Retomo is Italian for «the return,» a reference to the fact that Chef David Benstock returned to the Tampa Bay area where his culinary career began after many years spent abroad, in New York, California and Colorado and everywhere else he worked to perfect his skills.
The name just as easily speaks for what most of the downtown St. Petersburg restaurant’s patrons must think after dining here — how soon they will return.
With its exposed brick wall, high ceiling and discreet lighting, the 40-​plus seat restaurant is quite comfortable whether you are enjoying a casual night out or celebrating some special event.
The food is described as rustic Italian and features inventive and unexpected combinations of ingredients that will only be offered as long as they are in season and really fresh. Then other inspired dishes will take their place.
To really do justice to the menu, and not deny your tastebuds of the adventure that awaits, it may be best to order the Chef’s Five-​Course Tasting Menu and leave your dinner up to the discretion of the chef. You won’t be sorry and you certainly won’t go hungry.
I really took notice of Il Ritorno when it landed on the the 2016 Tampa Bay Times’ Top 50 Restaurants of Tampa Bay list. Out of all of the restaurants reviewed that I had not yet tried, it was at the top of my «got to go» list.
How good was my meal? I ate — make that devoured — vegetables I never touch. I was more than full but the food kept coming and I did not leave a single morsel untouched. I wanted to attack each course as it came out but consciously forced myself to take small bites and chew very slowly to make it last as long as possible.
I only know that I, too, will return. And it can’t be soon enough.

We decided to give this place a shot for Valentine’s Day. We’d heard a lot of really good things and the menu looked great online. We arrived a little early so sat at the bar for a bit the server was helpful when it came to picking out wine. So that was a plus
When we were seated it was less than comfortable .the tables very close so every time you get. up you feel like your going to hit the table next to you. The server was very nice but the service was so slow. We tried two different appetizers they were ok but small.
We both ordered dinner but the server had already taken the menus so not the best move on our part. But who takes the menus before you ordered?
The portions are very small and the grouper wasn’t anything special… Hubby had the duck he wasn’t a fan. Over all for the price we expected more. Better service. Faster service. More food …

We were sooooo excited to eat here. Let me start with the great. The food is masterful and thoughtful. So delicious and innovative. The pasta was perfect. Great flavors. Unfortunately we were very disappointed in the atmosphere and service. And so were the two tables next to us. The host stand was unattended and weird looking. The lighting is very odd, bright and uneven in the restaurant. The service was soooo slow, and we were not greeted with water until 10 min after being seated. Were not asked for drinks until after bread came… About 20 in. We will go back for the food… But kinda killed the mood.

Awesome. Beet salad and bone in pork chop. This is such a high quality experience for down town.

My husband and I came tonight expecting a wonderful meal like we had our first time here (a few months ago). Instead, we were rushed even though there was no wait and we felt our waitress Chrissy was rude. Tonight we ordered 3 small plates and beers and the second we finished a sip or a bite she was moving plates away. The whole meal felt hurried and she never asked if we’d like another drink. She took our menus away and we didn’t feel
comfortable ordering anything else so we left. It felt like she was in a rush to leave from our first encounter. Although the food is great we will plan on going elsewhere in the future for better customer service!

Spektakular! This restaurant, it’s chef and owners are the real deal. The food is luscious, service outstanding and vibe is just right. Dining here is truly an experience not to be missed. You will return often.

I’m so glad that I decided to return here and give this place another try. The result was one of the best dinner experiences I’ve had in a long time.
The restaurant is still decorated as beautifully as ever. They were having a little trouble with some of their lights, so it was darker than usual, but there was still plenty of light to see and read the menu by. The decorations are simple, but feel appropriate for such a nice Italian restaurant. The tables are a little small, but everything is very comfortable.
My partner and I were seated right away, the restaurant was in the later half of its service but there weren’t too many other patrons. Our server went through the entire menu with us, explaining what to expect, and then recommended a wonderful bottle of wine.
We ordered two appetizers (the octopus and the stone crab), two entrees (the duck breast and the culotte) and two desserts (the canoli tini and the vanilla bean mousse) and everything was just absolutely delicious. My biggest complaint was that the crab appetizer was very small. However, the octopus was much more reasonably sized (and my partner called it one of the most delicious things he’d ever eaten (and I intend to agree)). The duck and steak were both delicious as well. The plates were a perfect serving (chances are you wont have leftovers to go home with) and the food was delicious. Since the plates are not very large we both had room for dessert, and found dessert were the largest plates we got all night. Again, both desserts were delicious and a wonderful way to finish off the night. I’d imagine that pretty much anything here would be just as delicious as what we ordered, so I would encourage you to explore the menu a little.
As I alluded to above, our service was amazing. The restaurant was fairly quiet all night, but they were still very attentive to our water/​wine/​food needs, we never had to wait long. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be getting served well, too.
I will warn you: the restaurant is not cheap. The food is absolutely worth the price, but it did not seem like there would be any way to leave with a full stomach for under $ 30 – 40 per person. But as to be expected at a small, high class restaurant, everything is worth it. Even the complementary bread at the beginning of the meal was amazing.
I truly can’t sing the praises of this restaurant enough. When the realized my partner and I had had a bad first experience with them they did everything in their power to make it up to us and they absolutely succeeded. The is what a real, small, locally owned restaurant can achieve when it puts a lot of heart and soul into the entire experience. I hope you take the chance to visit them as soon as possible.

A real gem, with an interesting menu and good wine list. I had the roasted beet starter, which was beautifully presented and a wonderful mix of flavors. Followed by their duck entrée — I asked how the chef normally cooked it, and they said medium rare. I asked for medium (I hate medium rare with duck, too slimy in the middle) — it was perfect with pink instead of any red. Lovely flavor, with a nice crispness on the outside, and again beautiful to the eye too.
Like most restaurants these days, hard surfaces contribute to decibel level being a little too much — but certainly not like some in downtown St. Pete. But this seems to be the norm these days.

I am conflicted on this review: 3 of us went for dinner and the service was great! Granted we were the first of very few covers but it was top notch.
An earlier review referred to «too much Salt» I agree! But my 2 pals felt the seasoning was appropriate!
The 10 – 12 inch hair in my pasta was another of my complaints but my pals found none in theirs.
My chicken was barely warm and parts of it was cold. Fresh? Maybe but I’d be real surprised if any of it was cooked fresh. Re-​barely heated is probably closer to it. Some of the ingredients were probably fresh but the chicken and pasta –I doubt it. The excess salt may have been more of a preservative?
My pals said the deserts they got were outstanding. I ordered none but believe them. We had 2 main courses, salad, two pastas, two desserts, 3 glasses of wine, 3 espressos, and one beer = $ 194 or about $ 65 a head. Way toooooo pricey. I am not a foodie so maybe I am ill equipped to properly value it but I was ready to run by the end of the meal

We went to Il Ritorno for an Anniversary dinner — as vegetarians, it’s a little tough to find an upscale spot that has anything vegetarian at all on the menu. I chose this restaurant on a friends recommendation and the fact that they had a main course on the menu that was veg.
The Early Spring Garganelli was a wonderful main course, but the entire meal was exceptional as well. It’s hard to choose a star dish — the home-​made focaccia came with an amazing pesto sauce, the Garganelli was great, the desert. a pistachio semifreddo, was terrific. BUT I think the most surprisingly tasty dish was our pea shoot salad! Okay, I know it doesn’t sound like much to get excited about, but it was just so surprisingly tasty. :)
Overall, this restaurant serves great, upscale fare that’s presented beautifully.
My one complaint? One of the other reasons I chose this spot was because it had a «business casual» dress code as we were looking for a «fancy» evening at least. As soon as we were seated there were 2 couples seated nearby in flip flops — specifically prohibited by the restaurant on their website.
Careful Il Ritorno, or this will degenerate into one of the other casual beachy spots on Central and you’ll lose the ability to charge a premium price for premium food.

This place serves great Italian food.
I was so excited that they had fresh white truffles on their specials. Who can resist fresh tagliatelle with truffle shaved over it?
We started with the charcuterie, and it was good, but they gave very small portions of cheese. I suppose for the price, that was expected.
My husband had the flounder, which he thought was pretty good. He really wanted the porchetta, but they were out.
The wine list is very reasonable and had a couple interesting bottles.
Prices are good, but serving sizes are on the small side. Unless you aren’t hungry, remember, the pasta dishes are meant to leave room for a secondi, not be your main course.

I’ve recently relocated from Los Angeles 6 weeks ago and I live right in downtown St. Pete. Ive been walking around the city trying not to eat at the same place twice for at least as long as I can. My wife and I made reservations last week at Il Ritorno and we had the best meal in St. Pete so far. It was so good we just went back last night. The owner Erica is very sweet and spent time chatting with us like we were family. She explained everything on the menu and over the two nights we had dinner there we tried the Short Rib Mezzaluna, Grilled Octopus, Porchetta, Pan Seared Chicken and the NY Strip.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate but OMG is their food good. We absolutely loved everything we tried and will continue to go back for more. We’ll make Il Ritorno a weekly dinner destination for sure. Call ahead and make reservations or get there early as just walking up and getting a table is hard. Its a small intimate place with a great vibe. I’ve read some of the reviews prior to eating there where people complained about the price. Being from LA its not expensive for top quality food prepared perfectly. Good food isn’t cheap and cheap food isn’t good.
A couple, with wine, appetizers and a main course will spend about $ 100.00 so if you can’t afford that then just keep on walking by. If you can then it’ll be the best dinner you’ll have all week.

Il Ritorno was on my list of places to try. My dinner companion and I were welcomed by a very friendly hostess that seated us in the cozy dinning room. I love the way they have decorated.
My companion was a few minutes late but I went ahead sat at our table. The server came over to introduced herself and I told her I was waiting on my friend, She never asked if I wanted anything to drink while I waited or if I wanted to know about the wine list which I thought was a little odd, usually that’s one of the first things a server asks.
Fast forward and our server has come over to welcome my friend and to go over the menu. She asked if were ready to order but again never asked for our drink order or offered any type of wine list. So I just ordered a Pinor Noir. That probably was my only complaint about our dinning experience. Besides not asking for a beverage order, she was great. She was very friendly and attentive, she checked on our table, filled our water, came back to ask if our food was good and if we needed anything.
We started our dinning experience with really good bread. It’s always a good sign when you are served good bread. For starters we had the Roasted Baby Beets with
Lavender Goat Cheese, Smoked Shishitos, Meyer Lemon Gel, Crispy Pecorino and the Short Rib Mezzaluna with truffle Fonduta, Concentrate Tomatoes, Pecorino. The beet salad was light and full of flavor but me personally I could do without pickled beets. The short rib mezzaluna was delicious, the pasta was tender and full of flavorful short rib. For dinner we had the Mushroom Tagliatelle and the Australian Lamb Duo. The Tagliatelle had good flavor but was a bit over salted, and some of the fava beans were soft and kind of creamy while other were dry and bland. My friend said every bit of his lamb dish was good and the lamb was cooked perfectly. We ended our meal with a delicious dessert.
I would definitely come back because overall we had a very good meal. I’m not sure when they change the menu or if the have specials but I will be looking out for some new items to try.