Rico’s Cafe & Pizzeria

Rajin Cajun month and the Jambalaya was excellent. The service is too. Atmosphere is simple and friendly. As a local, this is a go to place for us. You won’t be disappointed for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

A 2 star review for my first experience 4 star review for my last two experiences. Came here once for Polish Fest, I think?
Absolutely terrible bland meal. Do NOT order off of it when it is offered.
Came back a year later and ordered off the regular dinner menu! Lasagna was awesome very good and flavorful.
The soup that came with it was homemade.
My third– 4^th experiences I ordered the burger. Fantastic burger huge warm juicy, I was throughly impressed.
Service all three times was average. Nothing more and nothing less then what I would expect service wise.
Overall I will certainly return here in the future– and make sure to order of the regular menu.

My family was vacationing in Traverse City not too long ago. The team was hungry. We asked around and got a referral to Rico’s Café. It was a busy night and the place was packed. Which is a good sign for a restaurant but also makes you a little worried that you may not eat for a while. My wife and three kids were seated after just a few moments. Our waitress was fantastic. Her name was Cindy. I remember this not from her name tag but because when she sat us and introduced herself she was not in that hectic rush format where they say their name and say they will be right back to get drinks and then whisk away and you don’t see them for 20 minutes. But she actually took time to warmly welcome us, ask us if we were visiting, took our drink order immediately and had the best smile.
The kids on her suggestion ordered the all you can eat pizza buffet which was awesome because they got to eat immediately and I did not have to hear them whine anymore. My wife and I ordered the ribs. I don’t know if it was because we were both totally starved… but they were the best ribs I have ever eaten. And I always eat ribs. They were fall off the bone tender, generous portion and the flavor was perfect. My wife could not finish all of hers so I helped her out.
I had a couple of beers with my meal. And what blew me away was that Cindy our waitress (without having to be asked) brought me a fresh frosted mug each time. My wife had a house wine and enjoyed it. The kids had soft drinks and Cindy kept them full as the kids chowed on the pizza. Although we were pretty full — our waitress suggested that we try the triple chocolate cake with ice cream. She brought one for the table with fresh forks for everyone. My children devoured it.
Our bill was easily under $ 70.00. Rico’s food was warm, fast and affordable and I would recommend to anyone traveling to the Traverse City area. It was the best meal we had on our entire week vacation. And, thanks again to Cindy our waitress who went above and beyond to make it a pleasurable dining experience even though it was a busy night.

Low Quality High Prices. This may be the only actual restaurant to eat at within miles of here. But, the high prices and the chipped plates may bring your attention away to the wholesome goodness of the food here.

octoberfest — sounds like fun. perhaps should have ordered the sauerbraten rather than the rouaden. it was tough and the filling was non-​traditional, kind of a mix of sausage and stuffing. the potato pancakes were gooey, not crisp. the cabbage was good. everything was served hot, a plus. the TVnads said German beer but none was available. so… don’t go expecting an authentic German meal. the breakfast is usually very good, on the other hand and staff is great. I just would not expect anything special on their ethnic specials.

This is a great little hole in the wall. Great food. Great service. We’ve been here a few times and had great food and great experiences each time. The pizza is great. They also have great daily specials including all you can eat pizza night. The staff is very friendly. A great place to stop in for some food and a drink.

Had dinner there last night, was not Impressed at all. Felt sick all day today. Had nothing else, so I have to think it was the poor quality steak or something on salad bar.

We were very disappointed in the food and service the food was sent sent back several times and never came out correct… Tried to speak with owner and he refused to take care of the situation and was very unprofessional about how he handled customers and the situation… We have been coming here for years and never had this happen and have never been treated this way. we will not be returning any time soon… Very very disappointed

Nice location, like the up north feel to the place but do not like the high prices. I won’t be back and I live close by

I have been hearing good things about this place for a while so I decided to come in for a broasted chicken dinner which (I think) Ricos is supposed to be known for. The service was horrible. I was surprised to see my dinner salad was prepared by the waitress at the buffet line. I have seen this before but it kind of already tells you the kind of place it is. The chicken dinner I had came with mashed potatoes which were rather gross and tasteless. The broasted chicken was another story, but worse! I’m not sure how they did it but I have never seen more disgusting cooked chicken in my life. One piece of chicken actually had a piece of gizzard deep fried right into the side of a thigh piece. Then it was cooked so bad I couldn’t eat it because it was so burnt and dry. Absolutely gross. All I know is, if this is supposed to be one of your signature dishes then you need to go back to cooking school. This place is trash. Don’t waste your time or money stopping here.

Usually get a awesome food at Rico’s, only reason I’m giving 4 instead of 5 stars is because their AYCE pizza buffet for lunch and all day Saturday’s takes a while to have fresh pizza brought out and enough of it. All of their menu items are great and priced well.
Usually always have Lindsey as our server and she is absolutely wonderful!

Delicious food! We had the philly steak and cheese omelette. It was phenomenal and so were the pancakes. Coffee was decent. Service was okay.

It was good for a small diner type restaurant. I ordered the House Burger and my bf got the Pollock fish special.
My cheese burger was good but I’d prefer a handmade verses a pre-​made patty. I liked the fries, crispy and hot. My bf really liked his meal and breading was crisp and had a good flavor. Overall I’ve had better food but it was fine for what it was — a small restaurant in the middle if nowhere.
They seem to have an extensive breakfast menu so maybe we’ll give that a try if we come back to town.

Went to Rico’s for a late lunch. I wish I could rate the service and the food separately because the deluxe personal pizza I had was really really good. The crust was amazing and there was the right amount of cheese and ingredients on top. I highly recommend their pizza. The rest of my party had French dips, a chicken sandwhich and a kids cheeseburger with fries. The French dips were liked by everyone that ordered one, the chicken sandwhich was also pleasing (and the one that ordered the sandwhich is on a strict diet and Rico’s didn’t hesitate to modify the sandwhich to her liking) and the kid ate the entire burger and fries. So the food at Rico’s is amazing. Now onto the service… one star maybe one and a half stars. I was not to sure who our waitress was because about three or four different ones attended our table. All were nice but took awhile to fulfill our requests. And the one that brought us our food was rude. So if you want good food and don’t mind not so great service go to Rico’s. great food.

We had deep dish pizza was really good. We also ordered the combo appetizer and it was a bit weak for the price. Two chicken strips, two cheese sticks, four fried mushrooms and a few onion rings for 8.50. The dining room is small, but we luckily sat right down. The waitress was great even with a spilled drink.

We ordered pizza for take-​out our first night in Traverse City. We ordred 2 pizzas (one was a specialty pizza) and 2 ordered of breadsticks, and our total was $ 47. We thought it was a little overpriced for pizza, but if it was really good, it may be worth it. Although the pizza was decent, it wasn’t worth the money. The ‘specialty’ pizza was actually charged as a regular pepperoni and each individual topping was an additional $ 1.50. It was okay for a quick meal, but probably wouldn’t choose it again. Maybe eating in the restaurant provides better results:-)

Stopped in here for breakfast, excellent specials, bustling atmosphere.

Good prices & good food. Oktoberfest menu on special through the month of October. We visited on a weekend evening, go early or you might expect to wait. The dining room is on the small side, but they turn over relatively fast. Pizza was good, not to many veg. options but they do have a salad bar that is decent. I’ll be back for more.