La Grotta - Richmond

The two best restaurant experiences we have had in Richmond have been at La Grotta: food was tasty, hot, and served promptly.

Great food and great service!

The food and service are fantastic. Started with the trio of pastas (absolutely great) and beef carpaccio (also great). Went with the wine-paring three course dinner - outstanding pastas and veal - thin sliced and beautifully seasoned. Cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough.

Everything was wonderful! The food, the service and the ambiance. Sometimes the silliest things can deter from a perfect experience.... in this case, it was charging us $18 for 3 bottles of water. Noticed that the entrees are very reasonably priced but this “amenities” are not ... water $6 a bottle along with charges for little things that was just surprising. Now I know.

Would go again and do without the little things... like bottled water. Sigh.

Team work dinner, always one of our favorites.

The food at La Grotta is always superb. Whenever my wife and I have enjoyed the specials that La Grotta offers, the cuisine has been beautifully prepared and delicious. One cannot find better than La Grotta for fine dining!

It was great! Highly recommend!

I highly recommend the $60 wine pairing dinner. The pasta trio appetizer was amazing. My husband had the tenderloin and loved every bite. I had the shrimp/scallop dish over polenta which was tasty and PLENTIFUL.

I take pride in baking a world class Italian coconut cake. The coconut cake at La Grotta just may have taken first place. It was superb!

Celebrated my wife’s birthday and had a great time! Food was really good, and the service was excellent. Definitely would recommend for a special ocassion.

We three dined to celebrate a birthday! LaGrotta has become our favorite dining spot for a great meal in a very safe environment.
Our birthday celebrant enjoyed one of the fabulous fresh homemade pastas with lovely light Parma ham & other yummy ingredients!!
My husband had the chefs special seafood meal of the day oven steamed in butcher paper, a mix of fresh seafoods, Lobster to Grouper & all crustaceans in between. Dramatic table side presentation by the chef! Crunchy Caesar salad and Devine coconut cake along with excellent cocktails made this an evening & birthday to remember!!

Fabulous food, friendly service and great ambiance. The quail stuffed with Italian sausage was delicious...and the fish special cooked in a bag (and opened at the table) was spectacular.

Very good service and food was great. Thanks

We had not dined with La Grotta since leaving the Shockoe Slip. What a lovely dining room, the food is still delicious and very nice service. I personally appreciate the gluten free options!

Excellent dinner and service. I felt very safe as they had the tables spaced out well.

The food was delicious. I dined with two friend and everyone enjoyed what they ordered. The entire staff was so kind and our server was great! I also enjoyed the wine he suggested to pair with my pasta.

Wonderful meal, excellent service, and the perfect ambiance

All in all it was a very nice experience and the food was very good. We were all out off a bit by our waiter. He seemed to be very out of sync and totally out of touch with dynamics of the table. He was clearing food before we were done and almost pressing us to finish it so he could clear it off. I specifically annotated in the reservation that it was my daughters 16th Birthday dinner, but there was no mention to her or the typical special candle on a complementary dessert.

Diners were well spaced out and staff were following COVID Safety measures. The food was delicious and the wine was great too. Prices were great for what the food was... on the fancier side but not too expensive. We would definitely visit again if we lived in the area!

Authentic Italian Cuisine cooked to perfection... Quiet relaxing atmosphere made for a very enjoyable evening!

I had dined at La Grotta in the past and have a very nice experience. However, this past weekend was very different. My wife and I were pleasantly to find out upon arrival that it was restaurant week. This is typically when restaurants bring out their best to try to capture new regular customers. What my wife and I were served was mediocre by Olive Garden standards:

* Appetizers - actually started out ok with friend calamari
* Main course - we both got the filet mignon - fatty, tough and salty at the same time. One of the worst filets that I've ever had. Broccolini side was extremely salty
* Desert - cheesecake with blueberries was covered with some type of film. Nasty. Cheesecake itself was not as good as Kroger's

All around, it was a subpar experience. We won't be going back.

La Grotta is a wonderful restaurant located in downtown Richmond. The food, service and attention to special requests, be they dietary or otherwise, are met with care to the needs of patrons. Their specials are to die for, especially the fish items. The halibut and salmon are so well prepared and a favorite of ours. Go, try it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

We absolutely love this restaurant. The wine list is extensive, the food is incredible and the service is absolutely outstanding. Thanks John for making both dinners wonderful.

Great food, great service and wonderful atmosphere.

Lovely restaurant, upscale ambience, excellent service, great wine selection, and very good food. My husband and I had a lovely romantic dining experience.

Good Italian food and a comfortable surrounding. The service was excellent.

It was for our anniversary and John, our server, was phenomenal! It is expensive but totally worth it! I highly recommend this place for any special event or for when you are just feeling fancy!!!!!

We cannot say enough about this restaurant. What an amazing dining experience. The service was above and beyond expectation. The appetizers, entrees and desserts all exceeded expectation on presentation and taste. We enjoyed the wine selection and the time taken to share the knowledge. We were celebrating a birthday and the additional personal touch with the dessert was greatly appreciated. This type of pride in culinary art and attention to detail is not easy to find today. We'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in a true dining experience.

la grotta has become one of our favorites. the food and wine are always outstanding. the owner (tony) always comes out to help us select the wine and some of the food.
this time, we selected a wine that had a funny finish to it. tony asked us how we liked it and we mentioned this. after tasting it, he returned with a replacement bottle: same grape, better quality. and we didnt even ask for this!

Fantastic service...excellent food...no complaints!! Great place for an intimate dinner or family Gathering!!

As always, LaGrotta never disappoints. The Owner is so welcoming, and is always such a learned help with choosing perfect Wine pairings. . Likewise, the service is attentive without being overly invasive. The food is always fresh, tasty, and beautifully presented. In essence, LaGrotta is the upscale Italian Restaurant choice, for those occasions when you deserve the best Richmond has to offer.

I typically do not go past the Stars when reviewing, but I feel it necessary to give this restaurant all the kudos available. Our server and the owner/chef were both incredibly friendly and attentive to our needs. The complete meal/desserts were excellent. I highly recommend this establishment and will be frequenting on a regular basis moving forward. Great job!!

Always the highest quality food and service!

Covid restrictions were handled very well with placing of tables and service. Our dinner was delicious as always and the server made sure we six were served in time to make our 7:30 symphony plans at the Carpenter Center.
La Grotta is one of our favorite restaurants in Richmond.

Dining in La Grotta is always a special occasion particularly in Covid time!! We dined prior to the Richmond Symphony Masterworks concert!! Dinner was fresh, delicious and professionally served!! My husband had delightful homemade pasta with lovely light cream sauce, Caesar salad fresh & crispy, carpaccio d’ Manza delight!! Then fresh delectable coconut cake!!

Felt like we were in Italy
Very intimate dinner.

Celebrated by son's 30th at La Grotta Saturday night. Had to change the reservation time once and the number of people three times, but restaurant handled in with no attitude or problem. The chef attended to our table and was super awesome. He recommended a perfect wine, with plenty on stock for our complete party. The food was fabulous, from appetizers (try the octopus carpaccio!!) to desserts, it was all stellar! The night could not have been better.

Great food!

During this time of COVID-19 social distancing, missing gathering friends and strongest ever emphasis on cleanliness, dinner with La Grotta is a perfect gift to guests!!
Food, wine cocktails ambiance friendly professional service each superb!! This was our at least our 5 th visit since their reopening end of July!!

Still liked the old place better for the ambiance but the food remains outstanding as always!

The food is fabulous and the wine list is very extensive. But what makes la grotta truly wonderful is the overall service, and specifically the personal attention of the owner and chef. He helped us to pick the right wine and pare it with the appropriate food. This was not our first visit and it won’t be our last.