| rev:text
| - First, let me state that I really, REALLY wanted to like La Fornarina. I love supporting local businesses and based on the reviews I was expecting an outstanding meal. I think from our experience, La Fornarina is a victim of their early success and our visit reflected this.
My wife and I were looking to try some local Italian as we don't want to have to drive uptown or to South Park every time we want quality food. Based on the Y! reviews, La Fornarina seemed like a no brainer.
The restaurant itself is a little wonky in how it's laid out. When you walk in, you're in front of the counter area where there's a table or two. Then, in an L shape around the kitchen, there are tables along the outside wall and into the back. This means that a big part of the restaurant has tables lined up along the wall/windows down a corridor. A couple of the tables are offset/positioned weirdly due to pillars.
We were seated when we arrived and the waitress took our drink orders. What's a little unusual is that while the waitress brought us our drinks, she retrieved them from the soda fountain which is in the middle of the floor. Not sure if it's supposed to be self service? It's a little confusing. Also, due to how close the soda machine is to the tables, I found myself having to talk over the roar of the ice maker.
After about 10 minutes waiting after our drinks were delivered, we placed our order. As with a first visit to any new restaurant, my wife and I try and order a cross section of what the menu has to offer. We ordered a Chef's Salad (which is La Fornarina's closest offering to an Antipasto Salad), my wife had the baked Penne and I ordered a Pizza.
Twice before our actual food arrived, we were brought the incorrect order which was intended for another table. Eventually our Salad arrived. While served on one giant plate, we were not given salad plates and my wife and I had to lean in and try and share the one plate. The Italian Dressing that came with the salad tasted like something from a bottle. I found it odd they didn't offer a red Italian house dressing?
The Baked Penne was a bit of a let down. Most "baked" pasta meals come served in the ramekin they were baked in as to preserve the cheese crust and the heat. The presentation at La Fornarina was a HUGE portion (a positive for some, but it was a bit much) with the crusted cheese slumped over to one side.
The pizza that was originally brought to the table was only a slice, which I had to clarify to the waiter that we ordered a full Pizza. They corrected the issue and let us keep the slice on the house to make right. The pizza itself I actually like, but for a specific reason. The crust reminded a LOT of Stouffer's French Bread Pizza that I used to make all the time growing up. Good or bad, this is EXACTLY what it tasted like to my wife and I.
We were brought our to-go containers (white styrofoam containers for pizza? no pizza boxes?) and we waited. After asking for our check we were told we needed to go up to the counter to pay. Thank god we asked or we might have been sitting there for a while!
All that being said, this wasn't BAD food. It was good (but not outstanding) and the wait staff was very friendly and attentive when we could grab their attention.
The reason I'm giving La Fornarina two stars is that this wasn't a five star experience and I expected better from a place with such a rating. I feel it was due to how busy they were. As I said in my opening, they seem to be a victim of their own success. They were under staffed for a full house and seemed disorganized for a Saturday night crowd. I feel because of the rush, food quality probably suffered.
The items that disappointed us, I feel, are correctable. Perhaps we'll give it another go in a couple months when they find their groove.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)