Salerno Cucina Italiana — Restaurant in Cedar Park

Worst Italian I've ever tried. Decided to stop in here for quick lunch and her. Nothing but good things about this place. When you walk in everything looks great, Everything looks legit. But that's where they get you

I know that I should have left when I read the menu and it said the carbonara comes with fettuccine noodles, mushrooms and alfredo sauce. When I asked the so-called Italian waiter if they make traditional carbonara he said " what are you talking about? What is traditional carbonara?" So apparently in his part of Italy where he's from, he does not know what the ingredients are to carbonara.

For starters, we tried the fried ravioli alla panna. They weren't bad but I really wasn't thinking that it was actually going to be fried raviolis tossed in a tomato sauce. Typically you'd get fried ravioli and there would be a marinara sauce to dip in or a sauce on the side. Not a full-on ravioli meal as an appetizer.

I ordered the ziti pomodoro and I received penne with hunks of raw tomato and green onion. I called the waiter over and said I'm sorry. There must be a mistake because this is not ziti. This is penne pasta and pomodoro sauce isn't supposed to have hard hunks of tomato.. when I mean hard hunks, I mean huge chunks of uncooked tomato.

I told the waiter very nicely that this is not what I ordered. He got extremely upset with me and said what's the difference. Pasta is pasta. I smiled and sad if you take a pizza and fold it a half does that make it a taco???

I explained to the waiter that I would pay for the drinks and I would pay for my appetizer. He then accused me of getting full on the fried raviolis and that's the reason why I didn't want to eat my lunch. He then just told me go ahead and leave. I said that's not what this is about. I will pay for my drink and the appetizer but I'm not paying for something that I did not eat and it's completely deceptive on the menu.

The bill came to a total of $36. I left $40 on the table and walked out.

Anyways, in closing I would just say this. This is nowhere near an Italian restaurant. Not really sure what they're trying to pass off as Italian cuisine in Texas but I can tell you...

The short version: I love this place. Nice big windows for natural light, comfortable seating, friendlist staff I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with, and, of course, the food is phenomenal.

The detailed version: Italian has always been a "take it leave it" cuisine for me. It's rare I'm ever in the mood for it, and chronic heartburn does a good job at keeping me away.

Well, in one of those rare moods, I scoured the area for anything that wasn't an Olive Garden or Bella Sera. I saw the reviews, and a friend and I decided to check out Salerno.

The chicken picatta was that perfect mix of lemony and creamy though I prefer mine with angel hair rather than spaghetti. My friend got the lobster ravioli and I think might be the best Italian dish I've ever tasted in my life.

I don't think I have ever had better service. The food was amazing, our waiter Rob was an absolute delight. I was almost converted.

Imagine my surprise when I visited again weeks later and Rob greeted me and picked back up a conversation we'd had on my first visit! This time he gushed about the new bread. He was right. And, of course, I ordered the lobster ravioli. Amazing.

Again, weeks later, my partner and I went to have a nice birthday dinner. Rob recognized me immediately. My partner got the chicken parmigiana. Flavorful without being too rich. Well seasoned too. I'll have to order it for myself next time. I was less adventurous and tried the veal piccata (I can't resist the lemons). Perfectly cooked, and the sauce is just immaculate.

Salerno is permanently in my rotation of dinner spots. I've stocked up on antacids, and I look forward to future chats with Rob and the best little Italian...

My wife and I have been here numerous times and had great experiences. Today was anything but great. We arrived at a little before 3:00pm with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. We wanted to grab a bite to eat before seeing a movie. We were the only customers there at the time and at least four employees were working.

It was apparent the A/C was out and it was a little stifling inside.

Our waiter seemed a bit surprised, even somewhat annoyed that we asked for an extra order of garlic knots with our appetizer. Seemed weird.

By the time our food arrived we all needed refills of our drinks and our waiter never asked. I could see him and two others at the bar and they were all on their cell phones. I kept looking over my shoulder thinking I would catch his attention, but my wife decided to get up and request a refill. Rather than bring a pitcher over and refill all our glasses he takes her glass with him and later returns with a full glass before returning to his cell phone.

After looking over my shoulder a number of times he finally takes his eyes off his cell phone and comes over and asks the rest of us if we’d like more to drink and we eagerly say yes… duh. Again, he takes our glasses, but never returns. I had to get up and walk to the bar, where I see him again sitting and playing on his cell phone with our two refilled glasses on the counter behind him, along with filled pitchers of tea and water. What a clueless dullard.

I’m wondering if my $2 tip on a $90 bill made a statement or not. I’m accustomed to tipping well for good service, but this place went...