Fera's Pasta & Pizza — Restaurant in Denton

BLUF: Great local Italian, clean, good service, tasty food, good value.

We always like to support local restaurants, even when traveling, and we were looking for Italian tonight. Fera's was on a couple of "best of" lists in a Google search, and had good reviews here and on Yelp. The restaurant is a bit off the beaten path and takes a little effort to find. It is in what looks like a large house with the first floor converted. The decor is rustic and simple. It was clean and comfortably arranged. There were 5 other groups already seated and 1 checking out when we arrived about an hour before closing. Wait staff was limited to 1 (Christmas break for UNT, we figured) who turned out to be one of the owners. There was a steady stream of takeout orders during the 45 minutes we were there. Service was great, especially considering the number of tables being covered by one person. Our house salad and appetizer came quickly, accompanied by 2 garlic rolls, and our meals arrived only minutes after we finished them. The food was hot and tasted very good. Portions were not massive, which I find to actually be a problem at some Italian places. I'm a big guy, and I was absolutely full when we were done. My wife didn't quite finish her whole meal. In the end, we paid about $40 (before tip) for a wine, softdrink, appetizer, house salad, pasta sampler, and chicken piccata. We had a pleasant conversation with the chef/owner who was helping to clear tables with his server/cashier/server/wife. All in all, just the type of restaurant we like, with...

One of the absolute worst dining experiences I've ever had. We walked into this restaurant on a sultry, rainy night with no air conditioning turned on. It was muggy and sticky. The back door was fashionably propped open by a chair. The waiter, although pleasant, was clad in a printed t-shirt and jeans. The menus looked old and the lamination was wearing off. There was no bruschetta available to go with the artichoke dip...in an Italian restaurant. My tortellini was topped with two slices, yes, slices, of some sort of white filmy cheese that looked similar to what I imagine alien skin would resemble. My two friends ordered chicken. Both of their dishes contained rubbery, over-cooked fowl. The pink sweetener in the packets was clumpy which indicates to me that they were nowhere near fresh. The toilet in the bathroom was clogged and there was no spare toilet paper to be found. To top it all off, we all felt ill the next day. I literally cannot imagine anyone but a broke college student thinking this place is anywhere near four stars. Spare yourself the anguish. My advice to the restauranteur would be: close it down or get completely new management and an...

I imagine this is a family run business. We were promptly greeted and sat with the waitress taking our drink orders immediately. After she brought out our drinks I ordered the veal marsala and my wife ordered the tortellini. Mind you, there were only 4 diners total in the restaurant, this should have been a hint, and the other party already had their food.

About 15 minutes later our order came out and we began our meal. The veal tasted like it had been in a freezer since July 2020 and the tortellini looked and tasted like it had been microwaved before being placed in a 400° oven for 5 minutes. It was too hot to even eat.

The waitress was eating in a table towards the back of the dining area, but was intently focused on her phone and sharing videos with the other 2 boys (who I assume are waitstaff as well) and never came back to the table to check on us.

We waited another 10 minutes after not being able to eat our food before the waitress noticed that I was trying to get her attention for the check.

All in all, we were very disappointed and hope someone else has a better experience than us IF they decide to try...