Ristata Cucina ToDoTC.com To Do Twin Cities Date: Sept 25, 2026 4168 W Broadway Ave, Robbinsdale, MN 55422 (763) 703-4889 www.risatacucina.com/ Home All AllZIP # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

We go to a lot of restaurants in the Twin Cities, 40 or more in a given year, it’s what we do. Do we know every nuance about food, etiquette, wine, service? Nope but we know what WE like we hope you will like the same. Or go to places we don’t like for something you do.

We are business owners. Are we perfect? Hell no! But what we do offer is ever changing and hopefully ever improving. I have a degree in Management & Marketing, and other then companies we have started I never worked in it. The hours and the pay suck. Engineering that I have done all my life pays better and have better working conditions. As part of my management education, I read a lot of management books. Books like in search of excellence, where I learned the most important management theory I have ever discovered. It’s called management by walking around.

Look at things, it’s that simple. Take your car in for repair, they start by looking at it. When I’m asked to improve a manufacturing line I spend an hour working in it. Why? I had a great, well-educated engineer once use the phrase: Look at it! It will become intuitively obvious to the casual observer.

I was on my hour-long stint on a manufacturing line once. And quickly I noticed they had ONE tiny screwdriver; they would SHARE to get the product out the line. This was the exact same screwdriver we THREW AWAY daily in engineering because they came with something we regularly ordered. We in engineering had DOZENS!

The next hour I took a dozen of these THROW AWAY screwdrivers and took them to the manufacturing line. The supervisor was absolutely amazed by the increase in production. Instead of a common screwdriver they need to share, and at the same time talk about their weekend, they each had their own. Their own they would keep in a safe/and convenient place and cherish. It was a damn cheap screwdriver, yet it made a huge difference.

New story. E&I once taught Hunter Safety for the DNR to twelve-year-old young men & ladies. Before we started teaching, we taught with another group of established Hunter Safety teachers. Then we sat in on several groups and just watches. There were a few things we noticed. Again, management by walking around. First in a class that is only twelve hours long most teaching groups would WASTE the first hour signing paperwork. That’s TEN PERCENT! We noticed that during that hour that most of the twelve-year-olds would sit and fidget. A huge time waster.

We on the other hand took that same first hour and made it useful. We had everyone email us the student & parents name and on OUR time we filled out everyone’s registration form and put them in an alphabetized accordion folder. So when they came in it took ten seconds to get their paperwork signed CORRECTLY and on with the class.

Then instead of waiting they could walk around the room and see the guns and information and pre-learn what we were going to teach them. And there was a LOT of parents telling their kids about an over-under gun that grandpa had one just like it. Then in ten minutes time we started the class and not only gained that extra hour, that ten percent, but got them an education.

And now to Risata Cucina the reason you are reading this article. First, what does Risata Cucina mean? We go to Italian Wine classes and spent a week in Italy last year and did not have a clue. Risata Cucina stands for Rustic Kitchen. We knew nothing of that after spending an hour there. Nothing on the walls resembling Rustic Cooking.

I’m a stickler about names. We own a magazine called Bird Dog News, what do you think it has for content. One of our favorite restaurants is Mongolian Stir Fry, I wonder what kind of food THEY have? It’s not difficult we did we not see old cooking stuff on the walls instead of me asking E about the row of toys a foot from the ceiling. Did you notice Gavin Kallen has a display of a DOZEN SPOONS he got from all over the world at SPOON and stable?

Do you get a clue we were NOT impressed with Risata Cucina? You’re following well! We went to and knew Risata Cucina was an Italian Restaurant. We go to more Italian Restaurants in town than any other cuisine. We wish the owners of Risata would visit a few.

After Covid when the restaurants again opened up our first restaurant, we returned to was La Grolla. An incredible Italian Restaurant a few blocks from the Cathedral of St Paul on Selby. Why La Grolla? They are about the same size as Risata Cucina but they serve a LOT more meals and people. We ALWAYS have reservations for 7:30P or we wait until we can get that time. What it does is it put all restaurants on the same level. It is not fair to judge one at 5:30 and another one at 7PM. They are different crowds and different restaurants problems.

A couple of weeks ago we went to La Grolla at 7:30P. There was a TON of people at the entrance. I entered the restaurant after dropping off E at the front door. When I entered La Grolla there was twenty people waiting. But knowing my bride we had a place, we HAD reservations. I got to the Maitra D and before I could open my mouth, I was asked if I was Dennis? I said astonishingly Yes! The Maitre D said I seated Ellen right over here your table is ready. Apparently, the people I crawled over did not have reservation or they were early. We don’t wait in lines and La Grolla made sure we did not that night. La Grolla is an incredible restaurant.

Back to the other night at Risata. We got in the restaurant after I took some pictures outside for you, and we were told it would be a bit of a wait for our 7:30P reservations, even though it was 7:25P. Perhaps they needed to visit La Grolla or a dozen OTHER Italian restaurants who did it right. Management by walking around. If we ever need to wait at restaurants when some people take extra time to eat, we sometimes get complimentary drinks. Not so much at Risata Cucina, maybe they need to visit a few other well run Italian restaurants.

So, we sat. Five minutes went by a group of five came in with also 7:30P reservations, they were immediately seated.  Our reservations, the same time, been there for five minutes, nothing! Fifteen minutes later we finally got out of the entry to our seats. We walked past the group that came in after us and they had their drinks already. We did get a nice window seat.

Risata Cucina is a very loud place. I looked up at the ceiling, and it was metal sound reflective decor. But it was quiet compared to a wine tasting we have in the same room several years ago when we sat through a Momma Rosa Wine tasting, when we all but had to yell in each other’s ear. We HATE loud restaurants. Your friends may want to hear about your terrible week, we do not. Look when you are at a quiet place and try to figure out why. Some people LIKE loud restaurants we do to, that’s when we go to Sports bars, not out for a quiet meal. Low metal ceilings as Resata are the loudest.

The wine menu was less than stellar. This year after taking an Italian Wine class from Doug’s 6 Oz Pour, we are trying more Italian wines. E ordered a Chianti for $12 and I a Toscana Rosso for $12. Neither was wine we’d write home about. Normally E has a second wine, this night she did not. That was followed by a Small Caesar Salad for $10 again not real great.

Then for our main courses E ordered spaghettis for $15, and I had a Linguine and shrimp for $23. Neither was unique or tasty. More like assembly line dishes: this noodle, this sauces, add some shrimp, here you go. Neither dish was not hot, warm but again clearly not made like other quality Italian restaurants in the metro. And both dishes were mostly tasteless.

As part of doing these reviews I watch other tables and customers. I notice something interesting I had never seen at other quality restaurants. People with their food finished sitting ten minutes without a bill. No one leaves without a bill. Normally after clearing a table, you are asked about desert and then get a bill. Clearly there is a reason people like us wait past our reservation time.

The bill was $78 with two wines, two entrees and a salad, reasonably priced. But the meal, drinks and service were less than spectacular.

No we won’t go back.

TO DO Twin Cities

500+ things TO DO and places To GO in the Twin Cities

Home All AllZIP # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

KSTP 5 Radar Weather    DOT MSP Traffic Cams   Traffic Map UPCOMING EVENTS

Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com

Copyrights ToDoTC Sept 2026