North Italia — Restaurant in Riverton

Not comparable to the one in Houston Texas at all. The service was slow and nobody served us for 15 mins once sat, then it took another 10 mins to get water and another 15 mins to get orders in and we had to ask for silverware as the table was not set. We didn’t have a waiter because the bar staff were suppose to take our order so a random staff member named Emily ( she was great) had to take care of us. We noticed a bunch of staff would congregate at the back and just chit chat while customers waited to be serviced. The manager was not very accountable with how he handled things (he said the wait was not that long but we checked our time once we sat down and it was indeed 15 mins before our table had service)… he tried to make it right by giving us free desserts but we declined. Just disappointing as we spent about $80 per person here and left feeling like this was not up to par to what is being advertised.

The calamari app was good but portioned smaller than what we’re use to. My friend’s shrimp and crab pasta was dry and watery at the bottom. My fiancées lasagna portion was unacceptable (one slice of pasta with cheese and some meat on top) and my short rib risotto was good and had decent portion but not as good as the north Italia in Texas.. it’s usually extra tender but the one I had here was slightly tough. $45 carafe of sangria was all ice.

Decor was nice but the huge mural of “driver number 7” on the wall was definitely a choice as I see it used for a lot of restaurants around here.

I might give this place another try as it is a beloved staple back in Houston tx and we use to go all the time and never had a bad experience but I would have to see that the restaurant has rectified their issues in time through better reviews. It feels like opening was either rushed, hiring of staff was not intentional or it falls on the person running the restaurant.

Also my friend wants to add that they should give out bread if they’re going to make you wait so long to...

I had the strangest experience of my life. Omar is the reason this got a 2 star and not a 1 star.

The food was okay to poor. Pesto pasta, bland. Cheese pizza, bland. My wife had a salad and added chicken, that was good and we actually took a box home. The “good olive oil” was a sham and tasted awful in the bread. Super disappointing.

The server was not very nice at all. That was partly because we did not like the bread and olive oil, and we were not ecstatic about the food, so I assumed she thought I was going to tip poorly. Which I gave a 24% tip just to be nice, it was not deserved.

The weirdest part, and what makes me never return, was dessert. We ordered the lemon custard donuts. Presentation looked nice, but when I took a bite, it was rancid!!!! Absolutely awful. I was not able to eat a bite and no one else at the table did either. The custard was the problem. I smelled the custard and it smelled bad and a little spicy. Awful. We tell the waiter and ask to speak to someone. The manager came over and was extremely rude. He said “I never eat fried food”. Two sentences later he said “I ate this when I got here and it was fine”. Clearly lied. They take the food back and agree to compensate us on the bill. I was raging. Rude staff, poor food, miserable night out. Thankfully our company was nice, but that was it.

That is when Omar comes out to our table. He was the chef for the night and said a mistake was made while making our dessert and that is what happened. He was gracious and apologetic. I appreciated that. He asked if he could earn our trust back by making it again. We agreed. He brought it out, and the mistake was fixed and the donuts were okay. His attitude made a HUGE difference. Kudos to you Omar. I wish you the best in everything you hope to accomplish in this life.

All other employees - learn from Omar and be better. A great experience and mediocre food can have a return customer. In this instance, I won’t be...

My experience at North Italia was very interesting, and I can see why this place has very good potential. The ambiance is phenomenal, it gives me a Milan vibe with a twist of a slightly corporate but quality design that large restaurant groups would invest (like brio or Cheesecake Factory). The staff must be new since they just opened and they all seemed to know what they are supposed to do, props to the managers. We never missed a warm smile, they were very welcoming and conversational. The food was a bit of a let down.. To start, the bread didn’t seem fresh. It felt like it was yesterday’s and too room temperature.. We ordered the eggplant app, which was solid just unnecessarily spicy; we had the Lumache and it felt like it was missing flavor but the combination of the meats and asparagus was solid, I didn’t enjoy the truffle olive oil, I prefer real truffles but I understand how that could exaggerate the prices; and finally we got the white lasagna and that was a let down too, the pasta sheets felt like they were falling apart, the random meat on top doesn’t make sense and it just felt like it needed flavors. I know this isn’t 100% authentic Italian and that this isn’t the kind of experience someone from Italy would expect, but food is the important factor, at least for me. I can see this place being a successful spot for a bachelorette party or a girls night out or even a romantic dinner date, but if you’re looking for authentic, this place is just gorgeous restaurant with decent food. The wine and alcohol list seemed quite solid, which I was happy about. Overall this place is stunning, very pretty esthetics, location is prime, parking is perfect, staff was very friendly, but food left me with a lot to desire. I will be back to hopefully try some better options, I believe that there are better items...