I make bloody good risotto. So does mr_tom. Restaurants make shocking risotto unless (i) they're making it to order or (ii) they're a very good Italian place who know how to keep it nearly-cooked, instead of having a vat of it overcooking over the course of an evening, or send it out undercooked.

The thing is, I like to order risotto at restaurants. It's one of the things which (along with torta di limone) I use as an indicator of quality. One day I will find a restaurant which does good risotto, and I'll go back to it again and again, finding other stuff on the menu, because it's a good place.

FTR, the mushroom risotto at Salt's Diner is the exception; I must have eaten tons of the stuff over the years we've been going there, and it has always been excellent.