Michael J's Italian-American Restaurant

Made reservations the day before for 7:15 pm. Arrived on time. Sat 3 other parties before us and said we were designated for a table that was part of a 16-top table and couldn’t/wouldn’t move us to a different table.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

Such a UNIQUE restaurant. I like the exclusive feel that it offers. Very very VERY good food and the service is also not too bad. I will always consider this one of my favorite “ultimate date night” restaurants

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Minestrone Soup, Garlic Bread, Spaghetti Bolognese, Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp, Tiramisu Cake, Fettuccini Carmella, House Salad

I am beyond disappointed with the treatment we received at Michael J’s Italian Restaurant. As a group visiting from out of town to assist with the wildfire efforts and supporting local workers, we were shocked by the behavior of the owner, Nicole. Despite understanding there may have been a staffing shortage, her rude and disrespectful demeanor was absolutely uncalled for. When we inquired about seating, she went as far as to tell us to “get the hell out.” It’s one thing to experience a delay or inconvenience, but being treated so poorly by an owner of an establishment was incredibly disheartening. We expected better hospitality, especially given the circumstances of our visit. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for even the most basic level of respect.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The warm crusty bread was very good to sop up the sauces, which were seasoned well and flavorful. The pasta (noodles) unfortunately are suspiciously commercial, precooked and reheated; the texture was gummy and too soft. The olive oil on the table smelled stale/plastic. The caprese was basic/fine but overpriced, and entrees were fairly priced. The outdoor patio seating would be very nice in fair weather. Staff were very attentive, despite our table being “ready” with no tableware on arrival

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

Was a little bit warm inside the dining area.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

We were just asked to leave.
Made a reservation over 2 weeks ago (August 1st) for a party of 12 to celebrate daughters birthday and specifically asking to be sat outside, even asking if it were to rain would we be accommodated inside, which they said yes... We were asked to leave a $150 deposit. We got there on time and were told that there was no seating outside because others had already reserved the tables... We expressed our discontent and obviously a little irritated having paid $150 for the reservation... The manager, Nichole Flowers then asked us to leave because she assumed that we would be rude to the staff.... My daughters are in the service industry and were among our party, there is absolutely NO WAY that I or anyone in our party could be rude to the servers... They were not the ones who took our reservation... And even if they were we could never be rude... I had been looking forward to their veal dish for over 2 weeks, again not even thinking twice about leaving a $150 deposit since we have been here plenty of times... But being pre-judged because we were a little irritated about not honoring a reservation, again with a $150 deposit, is ridiculous and very unprofessional. Food by the way is delicious and every time we have been there the wait staff have been excellent... Not so sure about the "management". Makes me question if it was because our entire party is Mexican and the party who were sitting at the outside at the tables we RESERVED with a $150 deposit were Caucasian.... We'll never know...

Made a reservation two weeks in advance for outdoor patio seating and paid a $150 deposit. Once we arrived they told us they could not accommodate the reservation any longer due to a mess up on their end. They said they could give us indoor seating and we said okay that’s fine but then they assumed we were going to be rude to the staff for some reason??

Half of our family have worked in the restaurant industry for the majority of our lives and even owned our own establishments in El Paso, so we would never be rude to any staff or workers because we understand mistakes happen.

I am in disbelief and honestly really curious as to why an establishment would just automatically assume people would be rude to their staff?? We were calm and just asking questions as to why they would take a $150 deposit but then not be able to accommodate. Very disappointed and feel profiled to be quite honest.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

We had a lot of great food while we were vacationing in Ruidoso, but this was my personal favorite. We started with a couple of lobster cakes that were delicious. The sauce that came with them was very tasty. My entre was a spicy shrimp over pasta dish. It was absolutely amazing. Definitely recommend! Oh, and our waiter was extremely attentive and knowledgeable...and dressed very professionally. It was definitely out of place to see the female servers wearing cut off shorts ?‍♀️

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Minestrone Soup, Caesar Salad, Bread & Olive Oil

We visited the restaurant. We had reservations and were promptly seated. We placed our order and waited a normal amount of time. Then our server came and told us our meal was given to others, so it would be remade. So far all is understandable. Our meals arrived and all of our dinners were not hot, since they were remade we had issues with this. Others in our party stated their lasagna was one step below Costco’s. I ordered iced tea, it was delivered as expected. I question any chef that would allow any drink that looks like this and more importantly something that tastes so bad. Does the establishment taste what they serve?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 3

Michael J's is by far the best small business Italian restaurant I've been to. The food was delicious, the staff were super friendly, and the price was affordable for the quality of service provided. I had to eat here about five times during my two week work trip.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Garlic Bread, Tiramisu Cake

Absolute horrible management and treatment towards employees!! Ive seen and even experienced this wrongful treatment as a server at Michael J's. Horrible attitude from the manager!
She acts extremely childish and speaks about her employees in an unprofessional and disrespectful manner to OTHER employees. To add on to her childish acts, she quite clearly has favorites when it comes to her servers. Her favoritism applies in the amount of tables and opportunities she's willing to give to certain employees. This is obviously not the right way to manage a restaurant!

This was a great Italian Restaurant. The staff was amazing as well as the food. Plus it seems like the staff has been very well trained including the cooks. As we were leaving they seemed to really appreciate us trying them out. What a great restaurant

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We love the quality and creativity that Brian has given to his dishes. Nicole is always so attentive and gives us great service. Everything tastes delicious and the peach butter berry cake is to die for.
Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chicken Marsala, Lasagna, Fettuccini Carmella

I loved the saucy lasagna. The Chicken Parmesan and the Chicken Marsala were pretty good as well. We had excellent service from Nicole. She was very polite, attentive, and professional in her service. I would totally plan a return trip.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A very nice italian restaurant, service good, staff attentive and food very good too

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5