Ripa's Restaurant. - Lancaster

We have been meaning to come here for dinner for quite some time. Both of us do remember coming for some kind of banquet at one time a long time ago. For an appetizer, I had the block of onions (which were onion rings formed into a block at least 4 inches high and wide. It was so unique. My hubby who could care less about onion rings was nibbling off the block. My recommendation is that it serves at least 4 people. Hubby had the clams casino and they were very good. We had two old fashion cocktails, and they were perfectly made. For dinner we had the two house specialties, the pork chops and the Italian style fish. We split our dishes. The pork chops were HUGE and cooked medium just like we requested. The fish was baked with breadcrumbs, butter and spices. It was kind of ho-hum. I had a salad which was good but not great. My hubby had the soup (ham and potato which was great. We both opted for the side of pasta instead of potato. He had the garlic and oil, I had the alfredo sauce. We ended the evening with a slice of chocolate cake and coffee....delicious. Our server Sandy was excellent.

The Char broiled fish is literally one of the most consistent, amazing dishes I've ever eaten anywhere in this COUNTRY! It's that good! And eat every bite w the sherbet that accompanies it, and add a side of pasta and you have perfection! Seriously!

We went to Ripa's right around Halloween time. The entire restaurant had Halloween decorations all over from top to bottom of the walls. Our waitress was extremely attentive and made sure our drinks were full and we had anything we had requested. The dining room seems to need a little bit of an update, but it was cozy. I ordered the chicken Maria, full order. It was delicious. The portion was decent and seemingly was one large chicken breast, split. I would recommend.

Average Italian at best and prices have gone up. Wasn't as impressed as in past years with the food . Service was good we had a table of 6. Ambiance old school hasn't been redone in a very long time .

Ripa 's was on our way to a special event, and we needed to eat after a long busy day. I wanted a no fuss bite to eat and knew it was a risky move to stop at a full service Italian restaurant. My partner craved some pasta, in contrast to my appetite which was for something totally different. Of course, I can find options on any menu, but my advice would be not to choose Ripa 's if you don 't have time or desire for a full dinner meal. We didn 't order any special drinks or appetizers. I went straight for a cheese pizza (oops I did it again) with additional mushrooms. I just wanted mushrooms, but without meat. My partner opted for homemade pasta 'Rigatoni Marchigiane ' and an extra meatball. All pasta dinners come with a choice of soup or salad and bread with butter. Waiting for the pizza I was watching my partner eating his bread, then soup. I finally got my food and wasn 't too impressed because of the mushrooms. It was maybe one or two regular mushrooms sliced, dried out, with not much of a pleasant flavor. The rest was very good. The pie was loaded with mozzarella and the tomato sauce wasn 't sweet with just the right amount of tanginess. My partner definitely enjoyed his pasta dish. He liked the flavor of all ingredients and the delightful tasted broth. Did I ruin my chance to like Ripa 's because of my attitude and circumstances? Possibly yes, but no regrets. I just wished we didn 't choose it last night. It felt old and outdated and I needed something more energizing, definitely something more refreshing.