Nina's Italian Ristorante
Real Italian rustica served in an atmosphere that's anything but rustic.
(919) 518-9566
8801 Leadmine Rd
(at New World Circle)
Raleigh,
NC
27615
35.9045
-78.6617
Neighborhood: North
What People Are Saying About Nina's Italian Ristorante
The Owner
Nina's Italian Ristorante
Owner
Nina's is a warm and inviting place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.
We pledge to provide the finest personal service, food, drinks and knowledge for our guests who will always enjoy a friendly and fun experience at Nina's. Nina's strives to fulfill even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. Nina's is pleased to accommodate your culinary requests. Please do not hesitate to ask.
Owners Chris and Nina Psarros of Nina's Ristorante warmly opened its doors to the ever-growing Raleigh area in September of 1999, to an overwhelming and highly praised reception that hasn't stopped. They continue to receive high praise from not only local restaurant critics but from the people who are most important to them, the guests that happily line the bar to experience for the first or tenth time the magic of food and wine.
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
In Short
Nina's is housed in one of those shopping center eyesores. But step through the doors of this chic ristorante and you'll forget all about its banal locale. Walls washed in deep red, majolica ceramics and a sweeping green mural of old-country hills welcome diners straight into the heart of Tuscany. Tuscan bread and ripe salsa fresca. Canneloni filled with spinach ricotta. And fresh sea bass swimming in a caper marinara.
User Reviews
Anonymous
February 19, 2009
Nina??????s has a friendly atmosphere. My family loved it??????the owner Nina came out and introduced herself. This is a great place and I often suggest that my friend and coworkers try them out.
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CaseyinRaleigh
February 14, 2009
We had reservations for 7:45. We finally were seated at 8:10. The first thing that we noticed is that the tables are incredibly close together; I was uncomfortable having a private conversation with my wife since I could clearly hear the discussions on my left and right. We ordered an appetizer of breaded clams which took 20 minutes to be served. We never got any appetizer plates, so the clamshells remained on our bread plates until after we left the restaurant an hour and a half later. The breaded clams tasted like burnt bread crumbs and salt. Very unsatisfying. About 15 minutes later, the salad and soup arrived. My wife had ordered the salad with grilled shrimp special and I ordered the egg drop soup special. My wife's shrimp was burned; the only flavor was charred meat. The soup was bland. It tasted like canned, low-sodium chicken broth; I didn't bother to finish it. By now, we had been there for over an hour, and the only decent food we had was the bread. (The bread was adequate; good but nothing worth noting.) We waited another fifteen to twenty minutes before we asked the waiter to hurry with the entrees. He returned 5 minutes later to tell us it would be ready in another 4 minutes, which it was. My wife's cannelloni was "okay", but the sauce was starting to caramelize. Perhaps this was intentional, but to us it just tasted either burned or overheated. I got the Linguine con Vongole, which was EXCELLENT! This was the best Linguine with white clam sauce that I have had since I worked in a 5-star Italian restaurant in DC almost 15 years ago. It was amazing - big chunks of garlic, a generous portion of clams, al dente linguine. At this point, my wife gave up on her cannelloni and we shared the linguine con vongole. (Which got us some very snotty looks from other patrons, but at this point we didn't care.) In short, with the exception of the Linguine con Vongole, the whole restaurant was awful. It cost us $90 and 2 hours to get a bad meal.
read full reviewAnonymous
February 12, 2009
We had a wonderful experience at Nina's. The food and service were excellent, but I did think the wine was a little over-priced. I would highly recommend it for nice evening out with your special someone.
read full reviewThe Details on Nina's Italian Ristorante
Know Before You Go:
Make reservations and get directions. Nina's is hard to find.
Smoking Permitted:
No
Message from Nina's Italian Ristorante
- Antipasti and Salad
- Extensive Wine List
- Call for reservations
Nina's is a warm and inviting place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.
We pledge to provide the finest personal service, food, drinks and knowledge for our guests who will always enjoy a friendly and fun experience at Nina's. Nina's strives to fulfill even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. Nina's is pleased to accommodate your culinary requests. Please do not hesitate to ask.
Owners Chris and Nina Psarros of Nina's Ristorante warmly opened its doors to the ever-growing Raleigh area in September of 1999, to an overwhelming and highly praised reception that hasn't stopped. They continue to receive high praise from not only local restaurant critics but from the people who are most important to them, the guests that happily line the bar to experience for the first or tenth time the magic of food and wine.
