Il Falò Wood-Fired Kitchen — Restaurant in Raleigh

I visited Il Falò which is located inside The new Westin hotel on Macaw St. This is an area that is currently being developed. Il Falò which means bonfire is local and appeared to present some of the aesthetics that I had in mind for a relaxed birthday dinner close to home. The open concept and modern farm table interior design was refreshing. The restaurant truly pairs well with the Westin's modern contemporary and unique flair. Typically I do not have high expectations of hotel restaurants but I was impressed with the service here.

Ava was our waitress and she was excellent. I enjoyed her spirit and dining recommendations. She aimed to please. We started with focaccia bread. Focaccia is my favorite when dining Italian. The bread missed the mark for me. It was served cold and was not flavorful at all. Disappointing. The condiments for this were just plain olive oil which was not good at all. Had a weird aftertaste. I decided on the Sicilian Spike for my cocktail. This was a perfect choice for me. The Tajin rim and fresh cucumber made it aesthetically appealing and delicious. The presentation of the menu items at Il Falo is spot on for me. Everything was plated to perfection but many items missed the mark concerning freshness and temperature. Meatballs arrived as an appetizer and they were luke warm. They appeared beautiful and delicious but appeared to have been sitting for while. The sauce was luke warm. I ordered arancini which are Italian rice balls with a similar recipe to pimento balls here in the south. They were very tiny compared to arancini I have had previously. Typically they are made the size of meatballs. They were not served hot as well. Our entrees arrived and I ordered the bolognese with a side of zucchini in pesto sauce. I enjoyed both equally. Really flavorful and rich. The zucchini was very creative with the pesto sauce and how they sliced the squash as well. The pasta was said to be made in house and I really enjoyed it. However, again the dish did not arrive hot. I sampled my friend's steak and it was the same issue. Luke warm steak ? I would assume the chef and kitchen could not move quickly enough for the night. Our plates probably all came out at different times or were pre-prepped. This left much to the imagination. At these price points, we need hot food to be served. It was after 9:00 p.m. and we could not possibly think to send plates back. Had it been earlier, I absolutely would have.

I received a free dessert of choice to celebrate my birthday. I decided on the chocolate torte and it was everything I hoped for. I enjoyed the fudge like mousse decked out in hazelnuts, chocolate, marshmallow whip and a beautiful orange flower which is my favorite color.I would absolutely return for cocktails at the bar but won't race back for the menu items. Special thanks to Ava for making my evening special. Another gentleman was...

I wanted to wait 48 before writing this review…. Isiah was a polite and good server! My review doesn’t reflect on him. He properly and appropriately handled a party of 8 women!!

I made a reservation at this restaurant approximately 4 weeks ago for a party of 9 After submitting the request the party organizer called me. I asked about a cake cutting fee and if we could spilt the check, She quickly responded with multiple questions that were almost offensive ( has your party looked at the menu? Do they know what kind of restaurant this is? ) I tried to kindly tell her we are in our mid 20’s and don’t have an extended credit limit to put a $400 dinner on one card. The event coordinator then ask me another set of intrusive questions ( who’s hosting the dinner? Who is paying for your food? Usually the one hosting the dinner pays for everyone.) these are all invasive questions and a traditional way of thinking. I just wanted a reservation for 7 of my girlfriends and I to celebrate my birthday. She then tells me they can only spilt the tab on 2 cards. After this phone call I am overwhelmed and worried.

Night of dinner The reservation was made for 8:45 3/8 arrive before hand I arrive at 8:54, we are seated I picked this restaurant because on the website burrata is listed on the menu (Went to order appetizers: no burrata on the menu; disappointing) Waiting time seemed to be long By 10:15 I felt rushed to leave the restaurant. Why? Because this coordinator takes off her blazer and begins to sweep the table immediately behind us and has staff collect vacant table settings. 1 of my girls goat chesse ravioli was cold Another didn’t finish her food and didn’t want to take it, the coordinator makes it a point to question why the food wasn’t finished or why didn’t she want to take her food. For a $400 bill and a restaurant set with a certain exception, I’m disappointed 😔 it was the worst part of my birthday 🎉

Overall the coordinator isn’t welcoming or polite. I had high expectations for this restaurant and was let down. Highly suggest keeping the menu...

We went one of the first weeks it opened, and we’re hesitant on leaving a review since we figured every new restaurant has its issues when it opens. However, given all of the reviews we’ve seen recently, we felt this was worth sharing. We were super excited to try a new place and one that photographed so beautifully. When we got there, we were one of maybe two or three tables occupied, so the restaurant was basically empty. It took about 30 minutes for them to get our drinks out to us and that was the farthest we got, because they took our order shortly before that, and after an hour of waiting, we still had nothing, not even bread. Again, this was a completely empty restaurant, so there should not have been a wait on anything. Completely inattentive staff, and totally incompetent manager. She was barely there. She was more concerned with catching up with one of her friends who is sitting in one of the lounge chairs, and making sure they were served before actual customers. When we informed the manager that they could cancel our order after over an hour of waiting, she didn’t offer any kind of apology, and ended up charging us for the drinks. $40 for two drinks that were not good and took half an hour to get. By the time we left, it was almost 10 o’clock so that left us with very few options. We ended up going to another restaurant in Cary, and had drinks, meals, and our bill in under 40 minutes. That’s how service should be in a virtually empty restaurant. Really nice venue, but otherwise I would never go back there unless they were able to re-staff the entire restaurant with a new manager, and servers that actually came to the table more than once every 30...