Cafe Italia Grapevine — Restaurant in Grapevine

This past Saturday night, I celebrated my birthday at Cafe Italia on Northwest Hwy in Grapevine with about 13 of my closest friends. I have been to this restaurant multiple times (normally just a small party of 2 or 3) and have always had great experiences with delicious food. For this particular party, I reserved our table about 2 weeks in advance and was told we could have it until 8pm, as they had another party that would need it at 8:30. When I called on the day of the party to confirm the final headcount, I was told the same thing. While at our dinner, our waiter told me we were being too loud (there was another party going on right behind us, and we were no louder than they were). A little while later, he came back and told us we needed to leave by 7:30, and we had not even gotten finished with our entrees and on to the dessert portion yet. I went to speak to the manager, whose name I was told was Sal), and he was absolutely, mortifyingly rude to me. He asked me to point out to him the person who told me we could have our table until 8, which of course I couldn't do since my conversations had taken place by phone, and he waved me away and said I was lying. When I told him he was being inexcusably rude and nearly ruining my birthday party, he called me a profane name, which I will not stoop to writing here, but it was two words and the letters start with "f" and "b." I was absolutely astounded at such disgusting and unwarranted treatment. The ONLY reason I'm giving a 2-star rating instead of 1 on all my reviews is because of the good service from our waiter and his apology after what had happened. I am beyond disappointed and will NEVER return to this establishment again. There are plenty of equally good, if not better, restaurants in the DFW area to give my business to who will treat me with respect and who enjoy helping their patrons celebrate special events. If you go here, just be aware. So sad and disappointed by...

My family’s first time visiting this establishment and we really wanted to like Cafe Italia. We put our faith in these online reviews and we’re sadly very disappointed. There were 4 adults and 1 child in our group. First, the negatives, the complimentary bread was extremely low quality, stale, and seemed like something out of the dollar store. The bread was nearly impossible to eat. Second, the dining space itself is overly cramped and your packed in like sardines. We visited on a Saturday around 3pm and there was an adult birthday party and the noise and lack of space really put a damper on our experience. It was as if you could feel the nearby patrons breathing down your neck. Third, the quality of the main dishes was so underwhelming and generally poorly prepared. My wife had the fettuccine and it was gummy and hard to chew. My mother had the chicken breast with vegetables and she could hardly finish half a chicken breast. It appeared microwaved and little effort was put into preparation. Fourth, the price was outrageous when compared to the quality. Each meal is generally around $20 and up and out of all our meals the quality was poor. We don’t mind paying for quality but we feel like we were tricked. Last, there is no kid’s menu and they must order off of the adult menu, which is absurd. Positives, the wait staff are helpful and friendly. And the calamari as an appetizer was tasty and best dish we had while there. Overall, we will definitely not be visiting this eatery again and would recommend you do better research when choosing...

I went to Café Italia in Grapevine on a Sunday. It was a nice place for a group like ours, with no waiting around - we got a table right away. This was a big plus for us. The service was also great. The staff was helpful and made sure we had everything we needed.

My main problem was with the food. I ordered cheese ravioli which comes with a small side salad. The price was $17.95. When you add a drink, tax, and tip, the total for lunch was close to $30. That's quite a bit for lunch, especially for a basic dish like cheese ravioli.

Now, if the food had been amazing, I wouldn't mind the price. But, to be honest, it was just okay. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Considering the price, I was expecting more.

But remember, everyone has different tastes. There are people I know who really like the food here. So, give it a try for sure and you be the judge.

Even though I wasn't blown away by the food, I still think Café Italia deserves 4 stars. It's a good place for groups, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is welcoming. This place could be a gem with some tweaks in the food department, and I remain hopeful for the future.

Side note: I’ve been there 4 times all with friends that really like the place and I’ve tried 4 different dishes and all 4 times I’ve left thinking the food was ok at best. Maybe my 5th dish will prove to be a great one. I’m not...