IL Forno — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I was part of a group of five friends who ate at Il Forno last night. I had initially made the reservation for three of us, but a couple of hours before we were supposed to arrive, two more joined our group. I called the restaurant and they were quick to change our reservation to accommodate our larger party. This was much appreciated. We arrived about 10 minutes early and were told our table would be ready in 5-10 minutes. It ended up being closer to 20 minutes, but that wasn't a problem. They were busy and we could all see that.

Once we were seated, we were promptly attended to by our server. We asked for water to start with and he said, "Sparkling or still?" Four of us said "still", one said "sparkling". A few minutes later he came back with a bottle of water and proceeded to fill all of our glasses about halfway with still water — what we in Nashville call tap water. "Interesting", I thought. At that moment, I also ordered a beer. I was the only one to order anything besides water. So far, so good...but I remained curious about the bottled still water. And my friend who ordered sparkling water never got it. He was so thirsty that he just drank what was in front of him.

After that visit to our table, it took him another 20 minutes to return to the table to take our food orders. By that time, everyone had drained their water glasses, so while he was at the table I asked if he could top off everyone's glass. He promptly returned with another bottle and filled them all about halfway again.

After that visit to our table, he didn't return for 25 minutes, and that was only to bring the salads that two of our party ordered. After that, it was another 25 minutes before he brought my pasta — pappardelle — and the other food item, a pizza being shared by two people. So now we're about 75 minutes into our stay and we've just been served the food. Everyone was very, very hungry by this time and we dived right in.

I soon noticed everyone was out of water again, so I motioned for the server. He came over and I said can you keep bringing water. Then a different server appeared with a water pitcher to top off all the glasses. I had to ask myself, "Why the water pitcher now?"

My pappardelle was, as my father used to say, absolutely average. The portion was fine, but the taste was somewhat bland, which is unfortunate because I love how the sauce sticks to those large noodles. But every bite was just...average. My friends said their pizza was very good.

When we were finished, our plates were cleared pretty quickly, but it was another 20 minutes before our server returned to ask about dessert. "Just the checks, please", we all said. Sure enough, when he brought the checks, each bill had a $3.50 charge for "bottled still water", when there had been no mention of us being charged for the water.

I understand servers being busy and needing extra time to attend to everyone. And we could see the kitchen and they were obviously working hard. But nobody ever said, "Sorry for the delay" or even acknowledged that things were moving slowly. The thing that really bothered me, however — in case you can't tell from this review — is the feeling that I was nickel-and-dimed with the water. I suppose it's a pet peeve of mine, but I must say that I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys being nickel-and-dimed, so I know I'm not alone. I just don't think there's any place in the service industries for those kind of sneaky charges. Be up front about these things, and if you don't know how to be up front about it, then it's probably because it's a questionable practice.

All in all, the poor service and average food quality are enough to keep me away from Il Forno for a while. But charging for still water? That seals the deal for me and actually makes my dining options a little clearer since I no longer have to think about including Il Forno on my list of...

iL Forno was a spot we had to check out while in Nashville. I love Italian food and I know Nashville isn’t by any chance known for this type of cuisine but the owners of this restaurant are. Chef Egi Franciosa was born in a sea side city just outside Naples. He brings his love of his home to their restaurant in Nashville. I mean how cool husband and wife business owners who went from sharing their love of Italian cuisine out of a food truck to a brick and mortar. I actually got to meet Chef Egi while we were dining for dinner. He was kind and thankful for us coming to spending our time in their restaurant.

The restaurant was aesthetically appealing to the eye. A nice clean, simple style. The food was true to Chef Egi’s roots.

We ordered: Espresso Martini (7/10) - this was made with real espresso which I greatly appreciated. It wasn’t my favorite way to enjoy an espresso martini and although I’m quite the fan favorite of them I’m not a purist. I like mine creamy. This flavor profile wasn’t creamy it was very espresso forward. I am certain an espresso martini purist would very much so enjoy this version.

Margherita Pizza (10/10) - I want to start with other reviews that I read about the pizza and how wet it is/was. I’m not sure if people are aware that… it’s supposed to be that way. It’s googlelable. The first thing that comes up when googling it is “Unlike typical American pizza, a delicious pool of flavor forms in the middle of a Neapolitan pie during its short time in the oven making it what one might call wet or “soupy”.” So, I think it’s only fair to rate this pizza on the flavors and its traditional style. The flavors were robust. The cheese wasn’t overpowering, it blended well with the sauce. It wasn’t greasy and the crust was crispy. It was true to its roots. I can appreciate that.

Rigatoni in cream sauce (10/10) - this wasn’t on the menu I inquired about just having a noodle in a cream sauce. It’s my favorite way to evaluate the quality of noodles. This did not disappoint. The noodles were made in house and cooked perfectly al dente. The cream sauce was thick and striking.

Rigatoni (8.5/10) - the sauce was creamy with a pronounced truffle flavor. The noodles were made...

Unfortunately this restaurant missed the mark in what I was hoping to be a really good experience. There were some highs and lows in the experience.

To start, parking is not great here. Parking spots are extremely limited, and you’re likely to be either parking on the sides of a road or further away and walking up a steep hill to get here.

The atmosphere was nice albeit a little weird to be “below ground” in a sense. The windows up top show you people walking which is a little weird for ambience when eating.

We started with their focaccia appetizer. This was easily the best item of the night. The bread was thick yet super soft and delicate. It had oregano all on top, and bottles of olive oil and chili infused olive oil were provided. The chili oil is definitely the one to use!

We then got the octopus ragu pasta. At first, this tasted extremely fishy. But it started growing on us as we ate it and soon became our second favorite dish 3.5/5). The noodles were pretty undercooked and not al dente as we would have liked.

We went with the prosciutto e funghi and the bella pizzas. The bella was decent and the goat cheese was sweet and interesting. Unfortunately the prosciutto pizza was a mess. It was so watery that the slices didn’t even hold together. The toppings just slid right off the pizza as you try to take a slice. The prosciutto definitely weren’t as high quality as I would like and was scarcely placed on our pizza. This was easily the least favorite item of the night. Additionally, there is so much crust on these pizzas. Even Italian pizzas have ingredients that cover a wider array of pies and a little less crust (or at least more flavorful).

At this point, staff came to us and made us switch tables which was incredibly unprofessional for an establishment. We had to move and then order desserts. We ended with a tiramisu and panna cotta dessert. Neither were memorable and tasted like your standard desserts.

Overall a disappointing dinner that started strong and consistently went down throughout...