Big Guy's Italiano Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Bristol

I dined in and ordered the fettuccine carbonara. This should be a simple, clean, and delightful dish with little to no sauce. Pasta, egg and bacon is about all it should have. Some variants of the dish have a little sauce to compliment it. What was delivered to my table was in a pizza box containing an aluminum tub. This tub was filled with a culinary journey of disappointment.

The pasta was swimming in what tasted to be a cheap pre-canned bottom shelf cream sauce. My request for a spoon was denied despite the appearance of the dish being more akin to soup. It tasted of garlic and salt, lots of salt. The pasta was at most 2 inches long, obviously broken into short pieces. I imagined Italians yelling at the affront to their culinary pride as the container's contents sloshed within its walls.

I found myself having to tilt the container so the pasta would slide to the side enabling me twirl a bit of it on the fork. Twirling was my only hope of getting the pasta out of the container short of drinking from the side. The prospect of scooping it with the fork was just impossible.

I herded the pasta pieces to the side and twirled the fork. Some retained on the plastic fork but most slipped off back into its salty brine as I lifted the cheap disposable utensil towards my mouth. Before I managed the first taste the waitress reappeared and asked if I needed anything. I asked for bread in hope of sponging up the lake of sauce. She pointed at a waded piece of foil hiding in the box.

The foil contained the saddest excuse for garlic bread I had ever seen. It was nothing more than half of a small sub bun. This withered looking wonder bread of a hot dog bun had no hope of combating what I viewed as a lake of Great Value white sauce which contained the mangled, limp and broken remains of what used to be known as fettuccine.

My waitress returned saying she forgot. She sat down a bottle of Kroger's Grocery brand water. You know the sort of thin walled water bottle only found in cheap house brands. This bottle risked me dousing myself from it's walls collapsing just from pressure generated in removing the cap. The most delicate of grip was required so I did not find myself bathing at the table. I opened it carefully and thought at least it was something to cut the salt and garlic that was smothering thick in my mouth. Lucky only my hand got wet from this endeavor.

I struggled through the consumption of my soup-uccine carbonara in anticipation of that glorious Sicilian treat I had ordered; the Cannoli. Despite my dream of this delightful and simple treat to save me from my culinary nightmare, I was again disappointed. What was delivered to me was in a plastic box. It was a sad looking thing that tasted of dry grit, granulated sugar and cardboard. It tortured my pallet. I was not delighted at what should have been the salvation of my meal.

I departed feeling dejected at spending $30 on disappointment. At least it was over, so I thought. In about an hour and a half I found myself making several rushed trips to the bathroom. I suspect the massive amounts of salt had its way with me, reminding me of my depressing, and disappointed dining experience. It's very unlikely I will ever return to Big Guy's Italiano. I think I will leave the restaurant to the iron guts of the middle schoolers who the waitress mentioned several times. Good luck to them and any who...

If I could give no stars I would. We brought our boys up to a wrestling tournament the Bristol Brawl, and after the wrestled match after match for 5 hours they wanted pizza. This place was close by and we love giving local hole in the walls our business when we travel because 98% of the time they turn out to be the best. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE PLACES. The first pizza (I say first pizza because all three pizzas came out at different times) had 2 hairs baked on it. The waitress said I only see one hair. I pointed out the 2nd and she huffed. They did fix another but it took the 30 mins to remake it. The 2nd pizza came out 10 mins later and was literally dripping grease. The 3rd pizza was supposed to be Sicilian and came out 20 mins after the 2nd pizza. The only thing that made it even remotely that was the fact it was square. The crust was just the same as the round pizzas. Then the garlic knots came out after everyone was done eating but the person who order garlic knots. The garlic knots are nothing but cheese rolled up in a crescent roll! NOT even pizza dough.

The BATHROOMS are DISGUSTING!!!!🤢

Save your self disappointment and your money. Will NOT ever recommend or eat here again when back in the area.

They give you paper plates and salt and pepper packets. Just don’t darken...

EXCELLENT pizza. - No one around here makes a pizza like these guys. Thin crust, but still flimsy and rich with cheese and ingredients. - Flavor is through the roof! - With that said, the environment and the workers definitely have no experience in the realm of customer service. When you walk through the door, the dining area is basically one big staging area for them to fold boxes, and every time I've been in, its been cluttered with junk from the staff. - Just not the best 'first impression' you want when walking into a restaurant. - Most every time I go in, I'm very seldom ever greeted and welcomed by anyone. It takes them awhile to even acknowledge that I'm there, and when they do finally catch on, I usually get the 'what do you want?' vibe. - I always get the feeling that they're very scatterbrained and maybe too busy for the amount of people they have staffed? - On one visit, a girl actually quit her job right there in front of me. Walked out on the spot, because of some discrepancy with the owner? - Either way... I don't come to this establishment to get the warm and fuzzies, but I do know what makes me go back to a restaurant. Good food, and great service. Thankfully, they've got the 'good food' part down pat, or else I wouldn't...