Rifugio's Country Italian Cuisine

My wife and I have eaten here a number of times and always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. I went through a long stretch of ordering the Capicola sandwich to-go every week. The sandwich was just marvelous; I really hope they bring it back sometime soon! Chef Richard is one of a kind. -Capicola guy

What a wonderful place to eat. Family owned. Great food, great service.

Wish I had read the negative reviews. To preface, I've been a breakfast cook for 8 years and had spent 10+ years in the restaurant industry before making a career change. I went here on a date for Sunday brunch, 4/2023, we entered and were very confused as to where to sit, seeing as there was no wait staff or seat yourself sign. We stood there for about 5 minutes before we decided to seat ourselves, seeing as the place was pretty empty. As we tried to sit down, the owner came over and asked us about a reservation, we said no reservation, just 2 walk-ins. He did not seem very pleased with this. When finally seated, we got a coffee and had to wait another 3 minutes cause it's a French press. Coffee was great, but I prefer refills if I'm being completely honest. I ordered the biscuits and gravy. The eggs were overcooked, and gravy was too thin. At one point, I even hear him say to the cook, "That gravy looks a bit thin." In my mind, I was like, "Great, glad you noticed after serving it because I was thinking the same thing." The focaccia was the only thing worthwhile about the dish, and I swear if I come to find out it wasn't made in house, I'll make this a 1 star review. Everything was under seasoned, and we were very unimpressed. The owner, definitely a little pretentious. Overheard a conversation with a customer. When asked if they could have a Bloody Mary, the owner stopped, stared, and simply said no. Like, come on, it's a "brunch" I don't want a can of beer with my eggs. And when asked why there was only one cook, he replied,"It's hard to find good workers." I'm sorry to tell you but just from our experience I'm sure you are a nightmare to work with. All in all, it was a total flop. About $70-80 for the two of us, and definitely not worth it. You'll find a much better breakfast in Bellingham, whether it's at the Fork at Agate Bay or Avenue Bread, or just stay home and cook. Note to the owner: humble yourself a bit. And if you expect people to have a reservat

To be honest the service and atmosphere was quite nice however the food was not to my expectation, it is not an authentic italian food and that threw me off a lot. I ordered the lasagna and it was horrendous, imagine egg and scallions in your lasagna. Honestly pizza hut is better and more worth it at its price since the place is soooo expensive.

No-guilt delicious pasta after a day of snowboarding! Very tasty, exactly what we needed after the day of riding workout. The meatball is the biggest meatball I have ever seen :) really enjoyed the experience

Stopped for a post-ski pasta and wine on Sunday. Was excellent. Wish we checked that dinner was only Friday-Saturday so we could order off the full menu. Will have to come back!

The food is sooo delicious! I am pregnant and I haven't been able to eat any pork or beef. But their spaghetti and meatballs were so good we ate it all and we asked to take an order home! Highly recommend! The service was welcoming, friendly, and accommodating. Richard was great and showed the same care and friendliness to everyone who walked through the door! We're definitely coming back!

It was a lovely experience! The restaurant is beautiful and the food was amazing! We are excited to go again.

Wonderful dinner! Everything was tasty. The kale Caesar was different, but delicious. The restaurant had a great ambiance.

Delightful restaurant off of mt baker hwy. Only open a couple days a week on the weekend. Make sure to make reservations. We had the pleasure of dining here and experiencing Rifugio's Italian. We ordered - wine, the daily bread, kale ceaser salad, spaghetti with a meatball and rigatoni alfredo with shrimp. The bread was good, kale salad hit the spot, the spaghetti and rigatoni were al dente just the way we like it. Meatball was mostly pork. My only recommendation would be for the shrimp to be larger. They were so tiny, about the size of a caper. You could barely see them in the pasta. I was anticipating larger shrimp for a pasta dish. Great experience other than the pasta dish. I highly recommend checking out this fine establishment if you're in the area!

Currently sitting at the bar in a daze. The food is divine. No exaggeration. The beef stew was both hardy and exquisite. The mushroom Ragu was exemplary. The restaurant was run by a server and a cook, both made us feel like old welcomed friends, and poured us generous servings. Five star experience all around, maybe the best Italian food I’ve ever had, and I’m Italian so that’s saying a lot. More home cooking than fine dining, and in the best way. Highly recommend.

Ive been meaning to write this review since October and I finally remembered tonight because we’ve been craving pasta... My husband and I stopped here on a whim after a hiking trip up at Baker. Let me just say, WOW. We’re from NY and a little snobby when it comes to our Italian food and we did NOT expect to find the best Italian we’ve had on the west coast wayyy out in the cascade mountains. But we did at Rifugios. The owner was so friendly, funny and personable.. the overall vibes of the place are so cozy and homey. The food was authentic, thoughtful and soo delicious. I had the chicken alfredo and my husband had the spaghetti and meatballs. The ingredients and seasonings were so fresh. We are going to bring my mom here when she visits WA in her summer. Highly recommend :)

5 star gourmet Italian food where you least expect it. Treat yourself to exceptional food after you finish your hike.

Delicious! Very comfy atmosphere. All the dishes were flavorful and unique.

The servers were cold and rude, it felt like they were annoyed with me being there. 28$ for gummy undercooked pasta and 12$ for a tiny soupy Caesar salad , it was so disappointing. I would not recommend stopping here unless you have no other options. Drastically overpriced and bad service..

If you want some amazing local food, look no further. Consistently fantastic food.

Absolutely fabulous lasagna. Never had better. Highly recommend

We had a small wedding in July with food from Rifugio’s. The owners were incredibly friendly and easy to work with -they walked us through the different options available for takeout and helped determine an appropriate amount for our group. We had the lasagna, meatballs and Caesar salad. Everything was absolutely delicious and we had plenty of food! (Just enough left over for lunch for a few people.) We couldn’t have asked for a better food experience at our wedding 😊.

If you don't live in the Deming/Maple Falls/Van Zandt area, you may not know about this little gem of a restaurant. Located on Mt. Baker Hwy just beyond the Hwy 9 traffic circle, it is definitely worth the drive if you are 'in town.' Pro tip: make a reservation online--it is an intimate destination (though the covered/heated patio provides some breathing room), and only open on the weekends. The menu is limited to a few delicious interpretations of Italian classic dishes, and the wine menu features a fine selection of Washington wines; we look forward to working our way through BOTH menus!

We were so happy to find this place. Eating at the bar as we watched the team cook and prep our meal felt so hospitable and special. I had such a fun time chatting with everyone and the pasta was incredible. The dishes were so imaginative and had me wanting more.