Restaurante la Forchetta — Restaurant in Ensenada

This Italian restaurant in Ensenada is an unnatural disaster and a stain on the city’s dining scene. I’ve never had such a terrible experience, from the abysmal food to the outright hostile management. If you’re looking for a place to ruin your evening, this is it.

The food was beyond disappointing. The pasta was overcooked to a mushy mess, the marinara sauce tasted like it was scraped from a discount can, and the so-called “fresh” Caesar salad was wilted and drowned in a dressing that screamed store-bought. For the prices they charge, you’d expect at least edible food, but the portions were tiny, and the quality was worse than a frozen TV dinner. I’ve had better Italian food at a food court.

The service was equally atrocious. Our server was disengaged, borderline rude, and took forever to bring out our order—only to mess it up not once, but twice. The restaurant itself felt grimy, with a cramped dining area and a weird, off-putting smell that lingered the entire time. It’s clear they don’t care about maintaining a pleasant atmosphere or even basic cleanliness.

As an aside, the owner’s behavior was the nail in the coffin for this place. While we were there, a group of customers—got caught up in a ridiculous situation. They had parked their car in the restaurant’s lot, as you’d expect patrons to do, but the owner apparently didn’t realize they were customers. Instead of checking with the group or handling it professionally, he called the police to have their car towed, claiming they’d parked there hours earlier than they actually had.

When the cops showed up, it was obvious they were buddies with the owner—laughing and chatting like it was a casual favor. The owner outright lied to the police about when the car had been parked, trying to justify his overreaction.

The poor customers were humiliated having to negotiate with the police while the owner stood there smugly. It was a disgusting display of unprofessionalism and made the entire place uncomfortable. Who treats their own customers like that?

This place is a joke. The food is awful, the service is nonexistent, the atmosphere is unpleasant, and the owner’s behavior is downright shameful. Save yourself the headache and go literally anywhere else in Ensenada. There are plenty of restaurants that actually respect their customers and serve food...

I suppose there's an audience for La Forchetta, but I am certainly not it. The menu presents itself with a certain gravitas, listing classics that require precision and quality ingredients, so I decided to try the Carpaccio di Manzo. It was an absolute failure of a dish. The beef was cut far too thick and was watery, suggesting it was poorly defrosted, and it was aggressively hidden under a mountain of cheap, bone-dry arugula with a few shavings of tasteless, hard cheese that was definitely not Parmigiano-Reggiano. This wasn't just a simple mistake; it was a profound misunderstanding of a fundamental Italian dish. It speaks to a kitchen that is more concerned with sounding Italian than with executing the cuisine faithfully. The entire experience felt pretentious and hollow, leaving me with an overpriced plate and the distinct feeling that...

My recent visit to La Forchetta was a deeply disappointing experience, defined by exceptionally poor service and thoroughly mediocre food. From the moment we sat down, the staff was inattentive and frustratingly slow, leaving us feeling ignored for most of the evening. Simple requests were met with long delays, and empty plates cluttered our table, a clear sign of the staff's disinterest in providing a pleasant dining experience. When the food finally arrived, it was as uninspired as the service. The pasta was bland, swimming in a sauce that lacked any real depth, and the pizza was simply forgettable, with a lackluster crust and sparse toppings. For an establishment promising authentic Italian fare, La Forchetta delivered a wholly underwhelming meal that, combined with the awful service, makes it an easy...