Rafael’s Italian Restaurant

I came here with two co-​workers for lunch. Their menu ranges from Italian to Greek to Tex-​Mex and even some hamburgers and chicken stir fry thrown in there. It’s like Epcot’s World Showcase on a menu board (??) I was worried when I saw that since that typically means they’re doing too much mediocre instead of a few things well. Two of us ordered a house special calzone and the third ordered the eggplant with a salad.
The calzones might be premade and baked to order because I placed my order at the counter last and my calzone came out quickly, even before the eggplant which was ordered before me. At first I thought that it would be unlikely that it was premade because the sauce on the inside would have made it pretty soggy, until I got a couple of bites in and realized that the center wasn’t very hot and the crust was quite doughy.
The house special calzone was STUFFED with toppings. Beef, sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions galore. The sausage was good. The Canadian bacon looked more like thinly sliced deli ham diced up. It was a generous amount of ingredients for $ 5.75 +tax.
The crust wasn’t noticeable; the inside was still very doughy. I’ve tried making calzones at home and they always suck. This kind of reminded me of one of my failed attempts.
The marinara sauce tasted like straight up canned tomatoes. I saw herbs in it, just didn’t taste them. My lunch mate who ordered the eggplant said the sauce for her eggplant and spaghetti tasted just the same, canned tomatoes. :-/​
Thank goodness the prices were reasonable so I didn’t feel overly disappointed.

Pizzas are usually pretty good and it’s always BOGO free on the pizza. The only complaint I really have is that the staff is kind of awkward.

Rafael’s is a casual, family-​oriented Italian restaurant. I would say the food is 3 to 4 stars. My personal favorites are the beef ravioli (4 – 5 stars), chicken parmesan (4 stars), and their calzones (4 stars). The pizza is decent but unimpressive (3 stars). They do not serve alcohol. The atmosphere is clean, casual, comfortable, and family oriented. It’s not a romantic, date-​night atmosphere.

DELICIOUS!!! This place opened up next to the new Publix in a shop where atleast two other italian/​pizza places used to reside but closed down. I didn’t figure this one had much of a chance. We decided to place a take out order and we were blown away! The pizza is phenomenal! With each pizza you order, you get another one free. We always get extra cheese, tomatoes and spinach and are always amazed at how completely DELICIOUS it is! It is literally my favorite pizza in Huntsville and the prices can’t be beat. People have realized how wonderful the food is and now they have alot of business. The dine-​in is a nice experience, very clean and new. Wonderful place to take alot of people. The prices are wonderful! Try this pizza and it will no doubt be your favorite! The cheese sticks are good too! Rafael’s will be around for a long time!