Al Forno | Rated Louisville's #1 Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Louisville

Mama Mia! I didn't know what restaurant these other reviewers went to, but it's not the experience I had.

830 Saturday night, the restaurant was less than half full--not a criticism, but relevant. Got seated immediately, which turned out to be the high point of the evening.

Should have known the bar situation was gonna be weird when the wine list looked like a Hobo's wet dream--shocked Boone's Farm or Herb Ertlinger weren't on it. Ordered a Manhattan and waiter came back saying, "The owner says we don't make special occasion drinks here." That was my fault, I guess, for thinking a place with a bar that takes up half the width of the restaurant would have vermouth. Settled for a margarita, because it was featured prominently on the sandwich board. Is it a red flag when your Italian restaurant's featured cocktail is a margarita?

Now the food. Ordered cheese sticks and Caesar salad to start, and both tasted exactly like the price on the menu. Not bad, not good, but they exist. Ordered dinner, waiter came back to tell my wife they're out of Alfedo sauce...what‽ How do you run out of al Fredo? Even if you're cutting corners and using jarred sauce, how do you run out of the base sauce for more than half the menu?

I can't review the food further, because we never got it. After 45 minutes of waiting in an increasingly empty restaurant, we left.

Google also asked me to rate the service and the atmosphere. The waiter was fine... He can't help whatever mismanagement is happening in the back. The table next to mine had their food come out wrong twice, and he was very apologetic. The same thing happened to another table, along with the tremendous wait and that guy asked for a discount when he went to pay at the counter. A cook, maybe the owner, stormed out of the back to argue with the guy while three or four servers crowded around like they were going to jump him. I don't think they were going to fight, but it was still a bad look.

Another weird thing that happened was that there was no music, but then there was for about 15 minutes, and then there wasn't again. As we and the other tables waited for our food, it was just a weird silence.

I almost forgot to include the part where two lady servers almost got in a fight in front of the kitchen door. They were very animated at each other and one took a step toward the other before spinning and storming off.

On a positive note, several people ordered calzones, and those looked okay. I can't speak for the taste, but the crusts...

I ordered meatball sub. It came with Parmesan Chrisps which had No flavor and sauce tasted like metal can. I’d rather them keep the parm crisps and do a better sub. Flavor of meatballs were ok not the best flavor. But it was falling apart being all soggy like a wet diaper, bad texture. They should put the sun on toasted sub bread kinda gross. Unless they contact me that they corrected it not going back.

Ps the waitress was ver friendly and helpful but I guess owner was walking around with phone on speaker and loud for like at least 15 min. I was taking out not staying but if I ate in that would have been annoying. Good luck can’t believe it’s same as there other place and people like it someone change my Mind

Figured I’d try again ordered the baked ziti and baked spaghetti with meatballs. The worst baked ziti I’d ever had. The cheese was barely melted and only like on half of meal. The ziti was overcooked and was swimming like soup. Needed a lot more time in oven. Same with spaghetti cheese only a little and barely melted. The bread was...

We stopped here for lunch. I had the gluten-free pizza which was very good. The crust was more on the thin side which I totally enjoyed and the toppings were plentiful and very good. I got it with fresh mushrooms and pepperoni and green pepper and was crisp the way I like it. It's one of the better gluten-free pizzas I have had. My boyfriend got the pescatore which he enjoyed. They also put a type of thin parmesan cheese bread with a marinara sauce on the table which he said was very good. The only negative comment I could give is that they use a lot of Parmesan cheese as a topping on their items. I did not find it a very strong parmesan cheese but my boyfriend was not fond of it. But because it was so mild it really did not change the flavor just the texture. The waitress was very attentive bringing us multiple refills on our drinks and brought to go boxes without even being asked. I would...