il Modo — Restaurant in Fort Worth

THE SHORT: Pristine: beautiful and very clean. Great service- from arrival to departure. Server Brandon and Manager Christine were amazing. Incredible Food: everything we ate was great- so was everything we drank! Impeccable experience, Highly Recommend

THE DETAILS We came here Tuesday, Aug 24th to celebrate our anniversary. We had to scramble and made the reservation a little last minute as our original plan (reservation at Capital Grille) fell through- the restaurant was rented in whole and we got bounced.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by an incredibly friendly young lady (Christine) who had clearly gone to great lengths to make the night extra special. There were flowers at our table and also a card signed by the whole staff working that night. I would have been impressed in any circumstance, but having made the reservation last minute, It was that much more remarkable.

Our server, Brandon was truly top notch! He gave us plenty of attention without being interruptive and was a ninja with water and drink refills. He was knowledgable about the menu and was able to give us great recommendations.

The food was SO GOOD! I am a chef, and in addition to my husband and I, another chef lives at our house. We eat well- and I am generally difficult to impress- this was a truly exceptional food experience. The meatballs were easily the best I’ve ever had. We also ordered the Burrata which was simple and paired really well the with fruit mostarda it came with. We shared a kale salad (which was huge)- Im not always a fan of kale but this salad was well prepared and the perfect precursor to our delicious entrees. My husband had the risotto- which was easily as good as mine (and I make a stellar risotto) and which enjoyed and finished (he doesn’t usually clean his plate…but we did clean EVERY plate here! I had the filet, ordered rare. It came cooked to perfection and was accompanied by 6- SIX cipollini onions- if you have ever had to peel one (I have), you understand why I was impressed. Sadly, they had run out of cannoli for dessert, but they did present us with a tiramisu. Im not a dessert person but I had a bit and it was definitely delicious! My husband had the old fashioned (w/ Rye) and it was great. I had a gin drink (the Zippa) and it was also really delicious. We also polished off a bottle of bubbles.

I would recommend this spot to anyone looking for a high quality dining experience. In the end, we were thrilled Capital Grille cancelled our reservation because I am positive our experience wouldn’t have measured up to the one we had...

Took my Bambina here for our 2 year Pre-Christmas Eve in Downtown Fort Worth! When making the reservation I asked for a nice area to enjoy our Anniversary but unfortunately got the table right by the host stand and front door on a really cold night! (Everytime the front foot opened we got a chilly draft 🌬️).

Our waitress was nice and greeted us with bread & water. We ordered a couple cocktails & meatballs (we both loved the meatballs) to start off with. While my Bambina went to the restroom I mentioned once again that I we were celebrating an anniversary and that I wanted it to be special for my GF. Also mentioned the table being by the front door and it being cold but wasn’t offered any other options.

For dinner we ordered chef special pizza & gnocchi pasta plate. We both really enjoyed the pizza (finished the plate easily) but we weren’t really wowed/didn’t love the gnocchi. Surprisingly never was asked if we liked our meals or how everything was. After some time the waitress finally came out after delivering the food (her time away could have been preparing the special dessert they had done for us). When she cleared the table after we ate I was hoping she asked why we had only eaten half of the gnocchi or offered to box the rest to give me opportunity to give feedback on our dissatisfaction of that particular dish etc. But unfortunately that didn’t happen.

We were a late 8:30 reservation that checked in late to the hotel and arrived at 8:45 so that’s our fault, but I did feel at the end a little rushed being we were her last table and it was a slower cold Friday night getting close to 9:45 by the end of our meal.

What made the night special was the dessert (cannoli with I ❤️ Maria on it) that was on the house and was very much appreciated by both of us! One more thing that was nice was I asked for a small box to take home the remaining portion of the cannoli and she brought out 2 additional cannolis (on the house as well) in addition to the box I had requested! So that did kind of make up for the gnocchi plate we weren’t asked about nor did we enjoy or like.

All in all I would go back here, it was a very clean nice restaurant but I would ask to sit in the main dining area towards the back where most guests were sat, regardless of the weather.

On a final note we did see a homeless gentleman come in to warm up & get a bag of food to go with a soda to go, all on the house so good on them for doing...

On June 25 I chose Il Modo as the place to celebrate my birthday with a few close friends. I’d been to the Kimpton Harper and Refinery 74 a few times, and wanted to try the restaurant out. The appetizer pictured (the calamari) and the cocktails were the only decent part of our meal. Three of us had rigatoni and one had the chicken cacciatore. Our rigatoni was only warm (somewhat) in the middle and literally cold on the outside. The pasta and bolognese around the bowl had no warmth at all, and my friends chicken cacciatore was scorched on the outside and undercooked on the inside. Needless to say I was upset because this was my suggestion and no one’s food was edible. My friend didn’t even want to try to get his chicken cacciatore fixed, he opted for not eating at all. Myself and two of my girlfriends allowed the waiter (who was extremely nice and attentive) to take our rigatoni back to fix it. As we’re waiting one of the managers goes to a table next to us and asks how their night is going and how their meal is. I’m sure she noticed our food going back, but she opted to ask another table about their experience. We got our food back, while it was warmer this time it seems they just heated it up, however two of the entrees barely had any sauce in it and wasn’t appealing to the eye or the palate. I asked for the manager. A different manager from the one we saw earlier came over and politely listened and apologized for our experience. By this time I was so disappointed and disgusted at the whole ordeal I just told her we wanted our tickets, we wanted to leave. She ended up comping the meal for us, I told her and the waiter that that wasn’t necessary but it was appreciated because I wouldn’t come back here after this experience, I was extremely disappointed. Fast forward to today July 5, and I get a parking ticket!!!! The valet parked my Infiniti somewhere he wasn’t supposed to and I’m being told I have to pay $90.00 for a ticket that their valet caused. I’m EXTREMELY upset. Not only will I never eat here again, I’ll make sure none of my friends do either. I will be calling asking to speak to a manager/owner when they’re open. This place isn’t worth it at all. I cannot believe as much as I eat in downtown Ft Worth, that this is my one and only horrible experience. Lesson is...