Calabrese Southlake — Restaurant in Southlake

Went for our anniversary dinner on a Monday. Booked a reservation and stated this was an anniversary dinner even arrived a few early for our reservation. Once arrived we were greeted as soon as we opened we were rushed with a greeter stating “do you have a reservation” almost pushing us back out the door. When we replied yes she backed up and said “oh” then proceeded to look for the reservation in their system. The couple behind us was very politely greeted and offered to sit at the bar or the table, no question of a reservation.

We were sat at a table near the bathroom on the corner of the couches. Very busy section with a lot of rear ends near my food and table because they continued to get into traffic jams in the walk way.

Bathrooms were unattended, several people walked out of the restroom asking the staff to tend to it. Either to clean it, provide toilet paper or soap.

We were sat at 7:30 Greeted by an awesome server by 7:40 & ordered everything (food,drinks, and appetizers) Drinks received (glass of wine) 8:00 Appetizers received 8:30 By 9:00 we had discussed taking our food to go just because the left of comfort was decreasing dramatically as others continued to finished off their 2nd and 3rd bottles of wine. When the table next to us who had been there well before 7:30 barely received their entree. We requested for it to be Togo. 9:20 entrees are delivered to the table wrapped to go.

Didn’t get the experience we read about and hoped for for our anniversary. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Food pictured Salmon, branzino, tomato basil soup, fried calamari altogether $140.

UPDATE: So we got several calls from managers the next day asking about this review and what could they do to make this better. First they blamed it on the server which I quickly disputed because the server was great and she was doing her job. He tried to say that it was because she was new and he had to work with her and train her on placing the orders in a timely fashion.

Anyways they offered us a gift card to come back and try again. Stated to send the manager a message of when we are coming and he will make sure we have the best experience next time. We received the gift card In the mail for $50 even though we spent $140 and this was supposed to be a do-over 🤷🏽‍♀️then got really busy during the week with the holidays and work just to be met with text messages “did you get the gift card” “will you change your review now since we sent you a gift card”

I sent a family member to the restaurant I didn’t tell them about my experience or anything because I wanted them to have an authentic response to the experience not a slighted one based on reviews, when I asked them what they thought they felt similar to everything I said before. We decided to donate the gift card to a charity auction as we will not...

I am so disappointed to be writing this review. I really wanted to like this place after reading the great reviews on this site and on Google. We were celebrating two mothers on Mother's Day and my birthday. For those reasons we were prepared to spend a little extra money for a special experience. What we got instead was a mediocre, over-priced, underwhelming experience. The atmosphere in the place is really nice and gives the impression that you are in for something special. For the amount of money that this place charges for food, I am expecting perfection. $26 for Chicken Parmesan? Ok, this better be good. I don't know how you can mess up Chicken Parmesan but they figured it out. Both of my sons ordered it and both orders were bland, flavorless and dry. The same goes for the Veal Scaloppine Al Marsala, the meatballs and the Branzino Con Spinachi E Grancio. I was shocked at the lack of flavor in this Italian food. How hard can it be? Tomatoes, salt, garlic.... To their credit, the cannelloni was delicious and the Cioppino was pretty good. My daughter ordered Chicken Alfredo and that was tasty. The homemade pasta was cooked al dente and was enjoyable. The worst part of the experience was how detached our waiter was from making sure we were enjoying ourselves. I was disappointed that our server didn't ask us one time how our food tasted. When he cleared the table and saw my sons barely ate their food, he didn't ask if everything was ok or if there was anything he could do. He didn't really care that we were having an enjoyable experience. When it came time to settle up, we had a $400 tab for 8 people which included the 20% gratuity that the waiter added. Probably a smart move on his part because we wouldn't have given him more than 15%. Overall, this was a meh experience and we will not be returning nor will we recommend this restaurant to anyone. The waiter could have saved it by being tuned in to our experience and doing something to make it right. Instead, you have 8 people who will not return and will share their experience with the people they know. I don't...

I usually avoid Italian restaurants with high price points because to me the best Italian is often found in more mom-and-pop locations at near bargain prices. But we had passed this restaurant traveling on 114 many times and decided we had to try it. From the outside it looks upscale, when you get inside you know if is very upscale. A look at the menu confirms that. So, the food had better really really really stand out for it to meet my Italian restaurant standard. Good news, Calabrese did. We were not quite dressed (I had golf shirt and shorts rather than dress shirt and sports coat) for this level of restaurant which is probably why we were herded right upstairs. No issues though because I liked the look and feel of the upstairs better – less white tablecloth. Booths so comfortable you could sleep in them. Our server, Christian, greeted us and proceed to provide excellent advice and perfect service. We had a couple of drinks to start because the wine list was very pricy. Both good. From there we went to the bruschetta which was a reasonable price and outstanding. Perfect flavors and mix of vegetable topping. We split a Caesar salad and the server did what a high-level restaurant should have done – served it in two bowls of equal size. Then on to the main courses, both in the $30 to $40 range. First were my wife’s cannelloni. What a flavor sensation and a beautiful presentation. Rivals any cannelloni we have had anywhere in the world, including many stops in Italy. I had the cioppino. This seafood stew does not waste any space in the bowl on fillers. It is basically a mix of seafood piled high in just enough broth to allow it to be called a stew. Absolutely wonderful, and I ate every bite because I know reheating seafood can be a disappointment. We ended with the almond pear cake which was a perfect conclusion. Highly recommend this restaurant, especially for special occasions. We won’t go regularly because of the price, but it is...