🤩 Rule Italian Prime & Pasta: A Culinary Victory Lap! 🥂 My wife and I celebrated a big work-week win with a date night at Rule Italian Prime and Pasta, and let me tell you, it was a triumph! This wasn't just dinner; it was an event, packed with fun and phenomenal flavors. We started with the house-made ravioli appetizer—tender, little pillows of pasta perfection that set the stage beautifully. For the main courses, we were treated to a feast. The Carciofi piccata (pan-roasted chicken) was utterly loaded with flavor. I indulged in the Parmesan crusted scallops, which were tender, delicious, and utterly mesmerizing thanks to the subtle magic of the truffle butter. But the real, hilarious surprise was the Parma ham and fig jam pizza. Ordered with the noble intent of being a take-home snack, we decided to try just one slice while it was hot. Boom! A flavor explosion! The savory Parma met the sweet fig jam in a stunning balance that simply commanded immediate consumption. Our take-home plan evaporated instantly—it was too good to wait! Dessert was the sweet finish: a flourless torte and a classic tiramisu. Both were rich, yet delightfully light, avoiding that heavy, post-meal slump. The entire experience was magnified tenfold by our server, Destiney. She didn't just serve; she brought enthusiasm, laughter, and pure joy to the table. She was the reason the whole night felt so special. We made sure to tell the manager, Courtney, just how much Destiney meant to our evening. The 45-minute drive home was filled with nothing but gushing over the incredible food and the wonderful hospitality. Rule Italian Prime and Pasta is a destination. We're already planning our return!
Lora
Service was great. Waiter very attentive but not pushy. He was patient as we chose to share some wine before ordering. Food was excellent. Pasta dishes were delicious and Pork chops were moist.
Curt
The food was good and well prepared. Long wait time between courses. They need to work on getting the food out to the table fastest between the courses.
Timothy
Great anniversary dinner, a definite do again!! Food was excellent, service was great and they offered us a nice dessert on the house in honor of our special night.
Neil
Overall our experience was good. The waitress provided the right amount of service without being too pushy. The spinach/artichoke dip was nice. The ribeye was flavorful, but quite tough. I would not pay $39 for it again knowing now that it was not a good cut of meat. The sauteed spinach was overly salted. My wife enjoyed the shrimp scampi. She said it was flavored just right, and the amount of shrimp was filling. The cheesecake was not quite up to par. I don't want to leave the impression our experience was bad, because we will go again. There are plenty of menu items to try.
Emily
The food was pretty bad and overpriced. This used to be a very good restaurant! Still has a good atmosphere and drinks but could work on recipes.
Andy
Food was great. Had an old fashioned which was good and they had a nice wine selection Servi e was awesome and a very nice atmosphere.
Inea
This restaurant is lovely and the dishes are very good quality, prepared well. Prices are fair. We had a wonderful experience, great staff and a wonderful ambiance.
Fue
The food is great! Best Italian food I've had in a long time. The Penne Vodka with chicken parm is definitely on another level! Service is great!
Annarria
The food could use some fine tuning on the italian side. Beverages were delicious. Service very goos. Need better selection of deserts!
Alfredo with chicken was dry and bland. Shrimp Scampi was very spicy hot and this was not mentioned in the description. Lasagna was nothing spectacular- DaVinci's or Olive Garden is much better. Service was great but food was disappointing. We are one and done!
Tina
Had a great meal. Celebrated a birthday and they made a point to make it special. We got pasta dishes, but can't wait to go back and try their pizza and again to try their steak.
Thomas
The “special” Caprese salad for $17 had the worst grocery store tomatoes imaginable. In August. In North Carolina. That is inexcusable. The pizza was disappointing, more like a flatbread. The lasagna was different but quite good. Our server was friendly.
Greg
We went back to café rule for the first time since they made the transition to Italian based food. Such a wonderful experience. The service, the food quality, the ambience the drink selection... Everything was on point. We both had the fillets and the sides and probably the best fillets we've had at a restaurant in a long time. The wine that my wife had and the martini that I had was perfect. It really didn't feel like we were in Hickory, North Carolina when we were there last night. There is nowhere in this town that can match the total experience of this restaurant. Not sure what they did when they made the change, but we will gladly come back. keep up the great work!
heidi
We were disappointed in the food quality. I had been to this restaurant a few years ago and everything we ordered was fantastic so I was very excited to go here again when in town. However, much like some of the other reviews I have seen recently, the food does not appear to be up to the same standards that it was previously. We ordered a pizza and the ribeye. The pizza was ok. However, the ribeye was very chewy and grizzly and the asparagus side was shriveled and pretty tasteless. Also, though the steak had been cooked to medium rare, it along with the sides were not hot when it got to the table. Our server was very nice but would disappear for long periods of time and also did not offer any type of service recovery for the mediocre steak dinner.
🤩 Rule Italian Prime & Pasta: A Culinary Victory Lap! 🥂 My wife and I celebrated a big work-week win with a date night at Rule Italian Prime and Pasta, and let me tell you, it was a triumph! This wasn't just dinner; it was an event, packed with fun and phenomenal flavors. We started with the house-made ravioli appetizer—tender, little pillows of pasta perfection that set the stage beautifully. For the main courses, we were treated to a feast. The Carciofi piccata (pan-roasted chicken) was utterly loaded with flavor. I indulged in the Parmesan crusted scallops, which were tender, delicious, and utterly mesmerizing thanks to the subtle magic of the truffle butter. But the real, hilarious surprise was the Parma ham and fig jam pizza. Ordered with the noble intent of being a take-home snack, we decided to try just one slice while it was hot. Boom! A flavor explosion! The savory Parma met the sweet fig jam in a stunning balance that simply commanded immediate consumption. Our take-home plan evaporated instantly—it was too good to wait! Dessert was the sweet finish: a flourless torte and a classic tiramisu. Both were rich, yet delightfully light, avoiding that heavy, post-meal slump. The entire experience was magnified tenfold by our server, Destiney. She didn't just serve; she brought enthusiasm, laughter, and pure joy to the table. She was the reason the whole night felt so special. We made sure to tell the manager, Courtney, just how much Destiney meant to our evening. The 45-minute drive home was filled with nothing but gushing over the incredible food and the wonderful hospitality. Rule Italian Prime and Pasta is a destination. We're already planning our return!
Service was great. Waiter very attentive but not pushy. He was patient as we chose to share some wine before ordering. Food was excellent. Pasta dishes were delicious and Pork chops were moist.
The food was good and well prepared. Long wait time between courses. They need to work on getting the food out to the table fastest between the courses.
Great anniversary dinner, a definite do again!! Food was excellent, service was great and they offered us a nice dessert on the house in honor of our special night.
Overall our experience was good. The waitress provided the right amount of service without being too pushy. The spinach/artichoke dip was nice. The ribeye was flavorful, but quite tough. I would not pay $39 for it again knowing now that it was not a good cut of meat. The sauteed spinach was overly salted. My wife enjoyed the shrimp scampi. She said it was flavored just right, and the amount of shrimp was filling. The cheesecake was not quite up to par. I don't want to leave the impression our experience was bad, because we will go again. There are plenty of menu items to try.
The food was pretty bad and overpriced. This used to be a very good restaurant! Still has a good atmosphere and drinks but could work on recipes.
Food was great. Had an old fashioned which was good and they had a nice wine selection Servi e was awesome and a very nice atmosphere.
This restaurant is lovely and the dishes are very good quality, prepared well. Prices are fair. We had a wonderful experience, great staff and a wonderful ambiance.
The food is great! Best Italian food I've had in a long time. The Penne Vodka with chicken parm is definitely on another level! Service is great!
The food could use some fine tuning on the italian side. Beverages were delicious. Service very goos. Need better selection of deserts!
Restaurantji Recommends
Alfredo with chicken was dry and bland. Shrimp Scampi was very spicy hot and this was not mentioned in the description. Lasagna was nothing spectacular- DaVinci's or Olive Garden is much better. Service was great but food was disappointing. We are one and done!
Had a great meal. Celebrated a birthday and they made a point to make it special. We got pasta dishes, but can't wait to go back and try their pizza and again to try their steak.
The “special” Caprese salad for $17 had the worst grocery store tomatoes imaginable. In August. In North Carolina. That is inexcusable. The pizza was disappointing, more like a flatbread. The lasagna was different but quite good. Our server was friendly.
We went back to café rule for the first time since they made the transition to Italian based food. Such a wonderful experience. The service, the food quality, the ambience the drink selection... Everything was on point. We both had the fillets and the sides and probably the best fillets we've had at a restaurant in a long time. The wine that my wife had and the martini that I had was perfect. It really didn't feel like we were in Hickory, North Carolina when we were there last night. There is nowhere in this town that can match the total experience of this restaurant. Not sure what they did when they made the change, but we will gladly come back. keep up the great work!
We were disappointed in the food quality. I had been to this restaurant a few years ago and everything we ordered was fantastic so I was very excited to go here again when in town. However, much like some of the other reviews I have seen recently, the food does not appear to be up to the same standards that it was previously. We ordered a pizza and the ribeye. The pizza was ok. However, the ribeye was very chewy and grizzly and the asparagus side was shriveled and pretty tasteless. Also, though the steak had been cooked to medium rare, it along with the sides were not hot when it got to the table. Our server was very nice but would disappear for long periods of time and also did not offer any type of service recovery for the mediocre steak dinner.
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