Wolveshead Pizza & Wings - West Bradenton — Restaurant in Florida

As foodies living in Bradenton, my wife and I now have a must-go to place every month: Fresca Pizza and Pasta (and recently added Vietnamese cuisine to the menu :-). All the rave Google reviews that have been posted are all absolutely true about this restaurant: Simply spectacular food (at a fair price). We found out about this place from a Vietnamese friend who recommended it to us because we are always on the lookout for a "true" Vietnamese restaurant that served authentic Vietnamese food (the type of food close to what you would find if you visited Vietnam itself). Unfortunately for Manatee and Sarasota Counties, most Vietnamese restaurants serve "Americanized" style food, similar to the style you would find ordering Chinese food take-out. Before Fresca, my wife and I would have to trek 45 mins to St Pete or Pinellas Park outside of Tampa to find good, authentic Vietnamese food.

So the first time eating at Fresca, we actually met and spoke with the owners themselves, a Vietnamese husband-and-wife team that hailed from Rochester, NY. They spoke of their intentions to add Vietnamese dishes to the menu in order to expand upon the Italian offering. Nowadays, you will find it difficult in seeing Vietnamese chefs that can also pull double-duty whipping out excellent Italian dishes, but this team does it with aplomb. From the menu, my wife ordered her favorite all-time Vietnamese noodle soup, Bun Bo Hue. For those of you who eat Pho a lot at Vietnamese restaurants, we suggest you try this soup at Fresca the next time you visit because it will bring your Pho taste-buds to a whole new level. NOTE: The soup dish is usually served with a mild spiciness in the broth, which gives it its unique taste. As for myself, I ordered the BBQ and shredded pork chop served on a bed of broken rice, served with pickled relish, sunny-side egg, and quiche. Not many non-Vietnamese guests are familiar with this dish, but I highly recommend it. Once you eat it, you will never touch or see any fried-rice dish in the same light. Finally, we absolutely recommend you finish your meal with a Vietnamese dessert called "che." For those unfamiliar, the dessert is like a fruit smoothie combined with flavorful tapioca and sweeten condensed milk. If you thought key-lime pie is something to go for as a de facto dessert, the "che" will have you asking if it can be brought home by the gallon. It is THAT good!!

About two weeks before the end of December 2024, we invited a group of friends with us to try-out Fresca, and they all left that evening smiling and content. In fact, some of them came back recently on their own, inviting others like friends and family members. ...

I debated to give a 4 or a 5 star rating and I will explain why. This is a pizza and pasta restaurant but feel the owners need to remember the basics for the "Pasta" side of this business. They need to have at least a couple simple dishes that the average person may order. Not everyone will want goat cheese or wine sauce; things they may not be as familiar with. I suggest a " Build your own pasta" where the customer can pick their noodle, sauce, and meat.

With that said I will review the food. We ordered two different pizzas, a deluxe and a veggie. We had an order of cheese garlic bread and a customized pasta order with a creamy cheese sauce with grilled chicken. The owner was more than happy to make the pasta to our liking. The sauce was delicious but needed a little more of it. The chicken was moist and flavorful. I would say it was "crave worthy" for sure. The pizza and the bread is made fresh and hand tossed. The crust was very good. They make it thin enough that you do not feel like your eating a lot of dough with a little pizza! They had fresh toppings and plenty of cheese. The pizza and bread were cooked in a stone pizza oven and the crisp on the crust was perfect. The cheese garlic bread had plenty of cheese and is enough for four people to share. It does come with pesto sprinkles upon it but this is not written on the menu. They should ask customers if they would like pesto on their bread because not everyone likes it or expects it on cheese bread.

This restaurant has Vietnamese dishes offered and I will definitely try some in the future.

Over all, I say you should definitely give this one a try. The location is clean, the worker's were very nice and wanted you to be happy. Don't be afraid to request a change or a customized dish. They seem happy to do it. Sorry I forgot to...

Ordered a beef pho for take out (the one with beef, beef ball, tripe etc.), by pointing it out on the menu to the lady behind the counter. When it rang up, it showed "vege" pho, so I asked about it but she seemed clueless, as if she didn't even understand. When I asked and pointed again to the menu item, she seemed to indicate as though she knew. I thought ok, how bad can it be if she saw which item I was pointing to?

After waiting a long time for the wings that I also ordered while the other food got cold, went home to find out that sure enough, there was not a single shred of beef. Who orders vegetarian pho that comes in beef broth anyway? Completely disappointing experience for trying this place the first time.

I see most people praised the pizza in their reviews, maybe that's their forte, and if so, maybe don't try to do too much and focus on what's good. Unfortunately I didn't try the pizza this time, and there's no fixing my pho because they were closed by the time I discovered the mistake. They even charged the same price as the meal with the beef, which makes me feel I got cheated.

Also ordered wings and summer rolls, which were ok. No big complaints about flavors but no special praises either. Just miffed about the lousy mistake with...