Volare Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Brenham

I’m gonna give it to y’all straight- I don’t know what y’all see in Volare. This place is terrible.

That was hands down the worst Italian food I’ve ever had. From the giving us literal buttermilk biscuits passed off as homemade bread (you can argue with me all you wish. This was a buttmilk biscuit recipe that they did not fold to create layers. They just let it rise as is, left it out to set too long til it got that hard stale top, and used a biscuit cutter before cooking it- I will ALAMO on this), to not even 1/4 of a teaspoon of butter to go with said biscuits, my entree had a mixture of bagged Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese shreds on top of it with a barley a tablespoon of marinara, to the alfredo being flavorless and underwhelming. It was like they cooked the noodles in milk and served it in the very same. My Chicken Parmesan tasted like an overcooked Totino’s cheese pizza and I will forever die on that hill. How do you mess up chicken parm. That’s the easiest dish for any Italian place and this was straight trash.

I was so confident in the local reviews that I purchased a bottle of wine before tasting any of the food. Biggest mistake ever. Never will I ever support a new establishment in such a way again. Volare changed my whole set of values for the worst when approaching a new local restaurant.

It is to be noted that I love creme brulee and tiramisu.

We came fully prepared to order 3 desserts (chocolate eruption in addition to the 2 aforementioned). Do you know how bad the food has to be for me to pass up creme brulee??? I’m a foodie to the core and I’ve NEVER not made it to dessert when my all time favorite is on the menu before. When creme brulee is an option, I will NEVER not order it. The reason I didn’t is because I didn’t want this ruined for me too- I can’t continue going through life with the knowledge that creme brulee can be made nasty in my heart.

We got 2 bites into our terrible entrees and asked for the check. I sent mine back as both my partner and I had a conscious and decided we could not feed it to the dog. (Bonus points for the waiter asking with point blank attitude “What’s wrong with it?” when I told him I didn’t like it.) I thought my partner’s entree was okay, but his daughter told us it was nasty and now we can’t get anyone to eat that either.

I will give it the highlights it definitely deserves:

1. the stuffed mushrooms were fantastic. I doubt we will find better anywhere else. The sauce a paired with how tender and delicate the crab was an experience that we won’t forget. Sadly everything else was too overpowering so we won’t be back for these.

2. the ambiance was beautiful. If you’ve been to Cavatore Italian Restaurant in Houston (LEGENDARY!!!), you will find the atmosphere similar and very comforting.

We immediately left and went to El Charro T which was phenomal and I’m probably going back for the third consecutive time tomorrow.

I have so little faith in Italian food in Washington county that from this point forward I will be trying Italian places ALONE until I can deem them worthy to bring my family along. The only place on the county I have tried is Brossa’s. I will try it eventually, once my ptsd subsides...

We walked into this restaurant (after we saw a bus load of old people). In the Front room was a group of Women who were Cackling so loudly we asked if there was another room quieter. They were so loud we could hear it in the back room too. We sat down in the back room. The lighting was low and I had trouble seeing the menu. I picked out 1 of the 2 choices on the menu for a Steak. The waitress right off said they were out of what they called "Hand Cut Steaks" So I asked if they had shrimp as everything on the menu seemed to be Salmon and Red Snapper. So we ordered Iced Tea and placed the order. While we were sitting there surrounded by other tables there were these 2 women with dyed jet black hair and weird eye make up (they looked strange and acted even stranger) The younger of the 2 keep staring at me I got up to take a photo of the Christmas Tree in the Center of this old house (restaurant) She would not leave me alone and I moved in front of my Partner to avoid eye contact. Then she kept playing what I call "Peek A Boo" trying to bend over to get eye contact. We were upset about the lack of the Steaks (Probably eaten up by the Bus Group) and now this annoying behavior of both of these woman (one looked older and the other younger, might have been Mother/Daughter drinking wine and both looked like "Witches") So finally the Younger Woman would not stop this Game she was playing staring at me, so I told my Partner we are leaving this is ridiculous and I got up and walked by the table and told the young woman off and then my partner went by and told her and the old woman off further. At that point all that was brought out was the Ice Tea, so we left, no food had come. We then went to a Local Tex Mex restaurant where we knew the food was good, that they had all the food on their menu and that we would not get any Weirdo people staring at me (or us). We never got the food , so I cannot rate the food but they should have had plenty of Steak as they said it was Hand Cut. They need to order more Steak otherwise others will leave.

As my partner left and told this weird woman off , she turned her head and would not look at him. There sure are some strange an annoying people...

We had a pretty hectic dining experience here and probably won't be going back. Our main issues were,

1. The music was extremely loud. With the hardwood floors and exposed brick, it did not need to feel like a honky tonk bar- another customer complained about it and they turned it down.
2. The wait staff were zipping around like they had a packed house and were short on time. Neither of those things were true. We went at one pm, and there were perhaps a half dozen other people there. But the staff were half sprinting from room to room, and since we had a table right off their main pathway, every few minutes we were buffeted by someone racing past.
3. Our waitress had odd table manners. She kept asking if our table wanted to order, when half our party had (very clearly) left to wash their hands. She practically hovered until the moment the last bite left our plates and then she reached in and snatched them away before we had a chance to catch our breath. This happened several times, and it felt like she was rushing us through our courses. I understand they're probably told to be attentive to whomever they're waiting on, but it felt like she went overboard, and it wasn't very pleasant.

The place has an excellent reputation, and the food was good. But it wasn't so good that it justified the behavior of the staff and our waitress. I understand the restaurant closes at two pm so that they can prepare for the dinner crowd. It felt like the people who were there eating with us were more of an afterthought, and the main focus was on closing down and getting ready for dinner. If that's the case, why bother being open for lunch? Paying customers are paying customers, but it seemed clear where everyone's attention was focused. Maybe dinner would be a different experience, but like I said, we left feeling rushed and we didn't enjoy our experience. We probably won't be back, for the reasons listed, and...