Rovalis Ristorante Italiano

They had a good selection even for Ogden City's Restaurant Week. I had the Pesto Manicotti which you could also get with a meat or veggie marinara and my wife got the Lasagna with the meat marinara. 3 course meal for $17 each but this was the Restaurant Week promo.

the owner alex was so sweet and inviting, our waitress carly was helpful and so nice. we had a great time here!!

Great atmosphere, staff was great and the food was wonderful! Dessert is a must!

The atmosphere was a bit disappointing. The exterior signs and the vintage brick lead this restaurant to have so much potential to be elevated and unique. But this was lost in cheap amenities and decor. The I ordered cheese garlic bread and cheese ravioli with a tomato basil sauce with crumbled sausage. Both dishes seemed to suffer from a lack of flavor. They were fairly bland, missing some much desired depth. My pasta felt like it was not homemade and was likely frozen before. The pasta itself was cold and relied on the sauce to warm it up. The food felt the same as the interior of the restaurant, so much potential wasted in cheap components.

I could regale you with the story of my 20 year quest to find a restaurant with as good as food as a different location I visited frequently in my childhood, and how Rovalis is indeed that restaurant. But I won't do that - it wouldn't do you any good.

Instead, I'll tell you the three reasons you should sit down and eat at this wonderful restaurant:

1) The Food - Of course you go to a restaurant to eat the food and this place has got their food on lock. With portion sizes so large a competitive eater would need a take-home box, you aren't going to go hungry here. And beyond that is the flavor - it is so good as to leave me without words at moments so you'll forgive this inadequate review: the blend of flavors is so exquisite as to marry that which seems un-marriable and produce not only a robust flavor but a deep and profound layer to those flavors as to have you consistently going back for more.

But make sure to save room for desert. I have for 20 years searched high and low for an Italian restaurant to bring me back to my childhood, always tasting and sampling their tiramisu as a result. In my search I learned one lesson: lots of people think they make a great tiramisu, but few ever actually do. Rovalis makes the best tiramisu I've ever had - without flaw, and so delicate my wife became concerned my tears of joy would ruin the dish. (Worry not friends, I dabbed my eyes with my napkin before any such ill fate could befall my dish).

2) The atmosphere - Be honest, you forgot I was listing reasons to eat here, and got enthralled in the above paragraphs. It's okay, it happens to the best of us. And a similar fate will befall you at Rovalis. You will forget you're at a restaurant and feel as if you're at home dining with family or friends.

The wait staff is beyond curteous, constantly checking and rechecking every detail. But you're also greeted by the owner himself, gifted with a photo tour of the specials, and you feel truly welcome.

As a marginalized individual, welcome is a feeling that is often missing whenever I am in public, but here that was not the case. Even while waiting for a table, servers were greeting us as they went by, treating us like family and friends in the process.

You will feel that the moment you walk in the door.

3) The Desert - I know I touched on this already in the food section, but I'd be remiss if I didn't say more. The rotating nature of the desert menu means constantly evolving flavors that will wow the sense and enthrall even the most distractable. There are of course main staples, but with seasonal menu items rotating weekly, it truly feels like a home-baked desert waiting just for you to come over and try some.

And try some our table did. We tried all of them in fact, and they each left me equally reaching for words I couldn't find - as you can probably tell, that doesn't happen often.

-

In summary, if you haven't been to Rovali's please stop in. Become a member of their family. Make a new friend. Enjoy some amazing food, drinks, and desert. You won't regret it.

P.S. THE ROLLS ARE TO DIE FOR.

food is delicious!! owner and staff are so friendly and made the experience wonderful!!

The service was beyond great, I enjoyed my chicken parmigiana! My guest liked the spaghetti and meat ball. The deep fried ravioli was good!

Fair price, generous portions. Deliciouso and ditch the olive garden to go here! I got the Spaghetti n meatballs and fried ravioli. 10/10

Good food, delicious desserts, and the rolls are to die for! Staff was incredibly friendly, we would definitely go back when in Ogden!

When you want delicious Italian food, yummy homemade bread, specialty desserts all served in a nice atmosphere, this is your place for lunch or dinner. The food is always great and the owner is there to greet you, take you to your table and tell you a joke!
Great view from the front windows of downtown 25th Street. A favorite for us!