Piola Italian Restaurant & Garden — Restaurant in Fort Worth

I've had Piola on my local restaurant bucket list for at least a year. It's just 4 miles away from the Kimble Art Museum, which made a fine pairing with this delectable dining experience on my birthday.

We were greeted instantly at the door by the owner, Donna, who took immediate notice of my 7 year old's black velvet dress, matching kitty ears headband and American Girl doll dressed to the nines. They were instant best friends and she put our daughter in charge of the who dining experience which was positively adorable!!! Well mannered children are definitely welcome.

The dining area is beautifully appointed with long white table clothes, full table settings, wine glasses at the ready, all surrounded by soft greys and silver. I'm determined to visit again to see it all lit up with candle light. Elegant and Romantic.

The lunch is a 2 course menu with a 3rd course desert option. Portion sizes are just right at an exceptionally fair price. They have a very nice wine list and I recommend the Aquinas if you love Cabernet. Crabcake appetizer was topped with a no-doubt-about-it homemade lemon mayonnaise that I am tempted to call a confection. When my 7 year old ordered Caesar salad for her appetizer I was a little bummed, until I watcher her devour the whole thing and declare that it was the best salad she had ever had, especially the freshly shaved slices of Parmesan and then proceeded to impishly deny me a single taste, on my birthday no less.

2nd Course: Hubby reluctantly allowed me one bite of his lobster ravioli and then assumed a defensive posture when he saw the OMGosh-thats-good look in my eyes. My picky eater teen ate all of her chicken parmesan...all.of.it. My shrimp and risotto was excellent. Now let's get to the best part: We had peeked at a menu before we arrived and my 7 year old had planned to order the Chicken Alfredo but when we saw the lunch menu it wasn't listed. When I asked our waitress if it was still possible to order Chicken Alfredo, she checked with the kitchen and they were more than happy to accommodate. My daughter actually let me have bite this time and it was perfect, no joke perfect.

Desert Course: Just scoot on down and look at those pictures. Everything is made from scratch here. Yes, even the spumone icecream. The tripple chocolate torte is served just slightly warm which masterfully highlights it's silky texture. The tiramisu was so fresh, not overly sweet, moist and creamy. I...

So first, when we walked in it was about an hour before they closed. The restaurant was completely empty and was the first red flag. The tables and decorations were very nice and quaint, looking like a small cottage that was converted into a nice restaurant. Looks can be deceiving. The waitress was nice at first, but after being seated she clearly was unhappy because it meant she would probably have to stay later, making her actions cold and short, and we even heard her say loudly how she didnt want to come into work tomorrow. We ordered the garlic bread appetizer which was actually not bad, but our first sign of what was to come was when they brought out the regular bread that they serve to everyone. I kid you not, it tasted like Mrs. Bairds or some other store bought white bread. We were starting to get scared at this point, we ordered the Chicken Marsala and the Stuffed Chicken Breast entrees. My fiance tasted the Marsala and she hated it, she never hates it at other Italian restaurants it's either amazing or pretty good. She couldn't get more than 4 bites in before stopping. My Stuffed Chicken Breast was mediocre at best, not enough seasoning on the chicken and there was this weird taste like one of the ingredients went off, I finished about a third before I stopped. The artichoke hearts on the plate were clearly expired and I had to spit it out and the only thing we were okay with was the polenta which was just okay. The funniest thing was when we asked for the check, the waitress asked if we wanted anything to go since we clearly didnt eat much, but she said it with a tone like she knew the food was bad and that our answer was no. We were reminded of how awful the food was that night and the next day via frequent bathroom visits. Beware this place, if you go in to a restaurant and noone is there, there is a reason and we learned that...

Our family went to Piola on Saturday for my 60th birthday celebration. We have never been there and my college age daughter and her boyfriend made the reservation. I cannot review the food, only the service. My husband, son and I arrived first and were seated. When my daughter and her boyfriend arrived, they had a small box of cupcakes for my birthday to surprise me. Now I know that many restaurants do not allow that, but they are in college and didn’t think to check. I did not know they were bringing them. The owner was very rude to them and they put them in the car. I truly understand if that is your policy, asking them to do that and they did what the owner asked. What happened next was ridiculous. They were seated and we were there about 20 minutes and no one took our drink order. The owner then came over to me and told me how disrespectful they were and was pointing in my daughters boyfriends face, yelling and telling him to be respectful. This young man is a true gentleman and I could see the exchange before he took the cupcakes to the car and there was no disrespect at all - they were just unaware of the policy. Needless to say we got up and left and then he came out of the restaurant, telling me how sorry he was but that he cannot tolerate disrespect. The exchange continued for a minute or so, but I had no interest in talking to him and walked away. Well done to the owner of Piola for making 2 college kids feel terrible on my birthday. Shame on him! I am certain that this was not an isolated incident as he was completely obnoxious. The food may have been great but the service was...