Ruffino's Spaghetti House in Arlington

We had the salmon Tuscany and the tortellini. Both were excellent. The service was fast and friendly. A new go to spot in Fairfax City.

We decided to give it a try because we heard there was new management or new owners. But wow, still not great. Prices were very strange — $3.99 for 3 pieces of garlic bread but $6.99 for 3 pieces of cheesy garlic bread? The bread was very soft on the cut side and burnt on the crust side. The chicken Caesar was pretty good because the dressing was great but the chicken was very tough and chewy. I think they need to get a new chef…

I forgot to post this from my visit a while ago... I really had high hopes for this place but you cant judge a book by its cover or name in this case. I am giving 2 stars because the service was great and the place is cute inside. The food however.... we ordered Spaghetti with marinara sauce and meat balls, a side of meat sauce, garlic bread, the mussels in wine sauce and tortellini de chef. The marina sauce reminded me of Paces mild salsa which isnt awful but it's not Italian food, the meatballs... you can get better ones from Costco frozen, the meat sauce literally tasted like chef boyardee, the tortellini de chef was okay but it tasted like the fresh pasta you buy at the grocery store and throw ragu white sauce on top of... the muscles were okay but was missing that "umph" to really put you over the top and set the mood for the rest of your experience there. The garlic bread was not great but the best thing we had probably. I really had high Hope's for this place but they arent trying to be authentic. If they spent a little more money on fresh ingredients and focused  more on the recipes, they would have better reviews and probably more profit. They have a great atmosphere and the staff was great but the food needs to be fixed especially with the name they have... Ruffino's Spaghetti House.