IL FORNO FUSION CANMORE — Restaurant in Alberta

Came in an hour or so before closing time with 4 overtired kids under 10 & were well looked after by the great service staff. Nice man from India was the Manager on Duty & a pleasant lady from the Czech Republic was serving, I'm terrible with names & forgot to ask for them but enjoy people & learning about them & their backgrounds.

Looked after every incessant query & request from the kids & checked in on our food & any needs throughout. An example of some of the requests that were efficiently addressed with a beaming smile : Plastic cups & straws, but the 1 year old still managed to spill the whole cup whom the waitress was quick to assist in wiping up. 2 more lemon wedges please for the kids to squeeze into their water, then the other 2 kids who didn't want a wedge 5 mins later requested as well. . . Of course. . . Lava Cake for desert with an extra scoop of ice cream & 4 ramikens to share with the aforementioned 4 kids. . . .

Food : We had the Calamari that was awesome & crispy & lightly battered perfectly. Spinach dip that was nice & cheesy & flavourful with a nice mix of herbs & seasoning mixed in, Gnocchi with a 6oz steak that was decent. Nice & plumb but just a lil under cooked but gnocchi is always a challenge to cook properly in my experience. Steak requested was med rare & it was a nice plumb, thick & juicy cut. Kids spaghetti with tomato or creamy Alfredo sauce but of course mine wanted a rose that wasn't even listed as an option but they happily obliged which my kids thoroughly enjoyed. Baked lasagna that was nice & cheesy with lotsa sauce but just a little overly salty for my personal preference.

All in all a nice spontaneous dinner out in Canmore with exceptional service while we were there for Hockey Day in Canada & would return again when we're in Canmore & wanting some...

Listen, im not trying to be rude, but I feel this is necessary. As actually Italians, we were thrilled to see an Italian restaurant in the area. Figured to give it a try.

We were seated within moments as the restaurant was fairly unoccupied. Upon sitting, we received some water and placed our drink order. It took almost 10 minutes for our drinks to be brought to the table.

The waiter sneezed into his open hands, did not sanitize or wash and continued to serve customers food and drinks with bacteria infested hands.

House "foccacia" was brought to the table. Two dinky slices of what seemed to taste like drywall, 2"x3.5" big. Oil was tasteless and seemed to be sitting there for some time.

We ordered calamari. Looks to me as it was double fried. Fried once, put to the fridge, and then refried again. Tasted like stale oil. Soggy to some degree. Like burnt batter. Bitter.

Manacotti tasted frozen and put into the microwave. Outside was burning hot and the inside was cooler and dry. No flavor, too much cheese.

The Pollo Parmigiano was rubber, no flavor, straight from the microwave. Plastic chicken, TV dinner style. Pasta spaghetti tasted bland. Sauce was plain, baptized in parsley, and basil to mask the taste of nothing. No taste. Dry even when saturated in the most bland sauce I ever tasted.

Service was slow, and I had a drink sat there for 10 minutes, basically empty. Never inquired if another one would be wanted.

As an Italian, I'm throughly embarrassed that this is labeled Italian cuisine. Take your money somewhere else. Don't even bother. I'm shocked at all the positive reviews. Clearly, no one here has ever tasted AUTHENTIC REAL Italian cuisine before, but this is definitely not...

So we went here whilst in holiday visiting my son on 20th January.

To start with the main server tried to sell my son an iced tea when he wanted a coke. Turns out the gas to carbonate the coke wasn't working, but this was not made clear to after we repeated we wanted a coke, Graze down the road actively went out and got us orange juice at breakfast when they ran out! No such service here.

My son then ordered pizza. But pizza was off. Apparently a sign by the door advised this but it's a newly opened Italian restaurant for goodness sake. Turns out they only had 1 chef and they can't do pizza and other stuff at the same time. On top of that his Arancini starter had soggy breadcrumbs.

My partner ordered Portabello mushroom and crab, the mushroom was minced into the dish making it just grey and unappetising. Her main was just as bad, the chicken and mushroom risotto, crusty and dry. Not only was it over cooked but the toast was burnt. When we asked for replacement unburnt toast the server said "I'm glad you asked me that." When we questioned that statement he admitted he knew it was bad but was too tired to argue it with chef so brought it out anyway! WTH!? They've only been open a month!

My meal was OK. Just ok, nothing special. That said, the carpaccio had clearly been slightly cooked as the edges were ever so slightly browned. Italian carpaccio should be raw!

In fairness to the waiter he reduced our bill but it should never have got to that point. We were surprised the owners were not present at their newly opened venue given the Calgary one is supposedly so good.

Our advice, wait until the kinks are ironed out and try Where the Buffalo Roam or Murrieta's instead, both which...