Fornos — Restaurant in Houston

Reviews like this are tough to write. There is so potential, but I’m doubtful things will change as the business has been open for many years. I got a “set in our ways vibe”. This once bustling shopping center, has turned into a desolate area. I wouldn’t be surprised to see tumbleweeds. The entrance itself, is grand. You walk up a few steps to see patio seating on either sides of the entry doors.They also have a ramp for handicap needs. My first issue was the specials board placed outside. Instead of reading specials, or welcoming you into the establishment, it’s simply states to not leave valuables in your car. Not a warm and fuzzy feeling. We went for an early dinner on this particular day, so it was not busy. Only one other table of two were in the restaurant. We were immediately greeted and seated by our waiter. He was extremely friendly, attentive, and helped with suggestions from the menu. He told us he had been there 29 years. The space itself has so much potential. There’s a beautiful mural of old world Italy on a large wall. The lighting is low and intimate. They have decorative wine cellars separating the bar area from the regular eating space. Unfortunately, boxes stacked behind a high backed booth seating area on the opposite corner of the restaurant, took away from the beautiful mural. It was definitely a storage area for wine boxes. As we waited for our drink orders to arrive, I noticed the music did not fit the environment. Britney Spears, Huey Lewis, Maroon 5, and other pop artists played overhead. I would expect an Italian restaurant to have more themed music. Sounds of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin would have been very welcomed. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. They were very good. They were large and had a tasty cream sauce. Four to a plate, which was perfect to split between the two of us. While we talked and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine, we looked over the menu and decided to ask our server for suggestions. He was very helpful. He suggested the Chicken Jerusalem for me since I was in the mood for a creamier sauce. Turns out, there was both cream sauce and marinara sauce, so I got the best of both worlds. The food itself was pretty good. The garlic bread was the best. For my aunt and I to dine that evening, the bill was $161 before tip. This was three glasses of wine for each of us an appetizer, our meal, an order of garlic bread, and one tiramisu. I felt the prices were a little high. My aunt had a steak which was $35 by itself. She did not feel it was that great, so at least my meal was better than hers. Before leaving, I headed to the restroom to check out that space. Ceiling tiles were removed and wires exposed, there was trash on the floor, the toilet was not solidly positioned to the floor, and the countertops were littered with debris and extra water. It’s such a shame to have great service and decent food, but have it ruined for things like music and atmosphere. My hope is for someone to see this review and tweak a few things that would be beneficial for their business. Unfortunately, unless I hear things have changed, I will not return. we still tipped our waiter 20%. Like I said, he was a good waiter. Maybe the restaurant is just a little...

Took my eleven year old son on a "date night", and he requested Italian. We had never been to Fornos, and after looking online, they had great prices and a delicious menu. The ambiance is wonderful. Warm, dark, and cozy with authentic Italian music, and the obligatory wine cellar look. We were greeted charmingly, and then seated. The man who sat us (chef? cook?) sort of abruptly asked what we wanted as far as water or soft drinks, and then disappeared. A few minutes later, our waiter appeared, and I ordered a glass of wine, and said we would look over the menu. We made our meal decision quickly, and the food arrived at lightning speed! My son's shrimp scampi was abundant and SO delicious! Absolutely worth the twenty bucks we paid, and a real bargain compared to a similar dish at other Italian restaurants! I ordered the lasagna (after the waiter "meh'd" the spaghetti Bolognese with a dissatisfied look), and while I will say it was absolutely fresh and totally delicious, it was a scant amount compared to the typical slab of lasagna at most other restaurants. This was a small, dainty square, and while super flavorful, and something I'd order again, it was really flat (about an inch high) and small compared to what is normally seen with an order of lasagna. Having said that, it was ALL delicious, and as I said, good enough to go back. My problem was with the service. While our waiter was friendly and upbeat, he simply never checked on us. He whizzed by ONE time and quickly, in passing, looked over his shoulder on his way to another table and asked "good?". The person we saw three times was the busboy, and on trip two by our table, he refreshed my water, and the ice poured out, over spilling the water and causing ice to scatter across the table. He said "Oh, sorry!" and I said "No worries!", yet he left it that way, never wiping up, or helping to clean, or offering a towel. Water pooled around my plate and utensils, and shortly, began to drizzle off the table and into my lap. I used my very unabsorbent cloth napkin to try and mop everything up. While we still had more than half of our plates left, the waiter appeared and asked "Box?", and I said "I'm sorry, what?" and he said "Do you want it to go? Do you need a box?" We hadn't even been eating for 15 minutes! He never said "How do you like it", or, "Is there anything I can get you?", he just suddenly appeared asking if we needed to pack it up and go. There were only two other tables in the place, but this made us feel very rushed. In summary, this place has a great look and feel, and the food was in fact, delicious, however, the lack of service was kind of a bummer. If you are looking for tasty, quality food at a good value, this is a great place, and I enjoyed it enough to absolutely return. I'm just hopeful that the waitstaff and management can better align to make the ENTIRE experience a great one. They definitely have the bones for a super nice spot, they simply need to do a little customer...

Bad service, food was ok! I ended up spending more than I wanted on dinner waiting on a to go order they never received which I already paid for and then over questioned if I had already paid and asked to take my phone to show the manager/owner the receipt proving I paid for my meal. Tried to overcharge me for house wine which I made them change and charged for a soda while I waited for a to go order (tip for someone who has worked in service, if you make the mistake you don’t charge a customer for a Coke while they wait for you to correct it) which I ultimately ended up eating at the restaurant. Wait staff is nice but confused and the wine is old and taste metallic! They have arbor mist behind the bar which is an indication to me...I don’t recommend this place at all. These high star ratings are very misleading, look for truth in lower stars as I read they’re quite accurate. Also, complimenting Shaneice, she was very nice and was basically waiting on the whole place herself. Your manager needs to be out front helping his wait staff when they’re in the weeds and bring his behind out front to look at the receipt on a customers phone instead of sending her back and forth to do so! The other servers were totally clueless... I’m surprised this place is still open given competition of...