Stella Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Southlake

Let me start off by saying I really enjoy dining in Southlake but this restaurant was a complete "BUST" from start to finish....Reservations were very limited when we looked online, so I opted to do a very early dinner at 4:45pm so that we could avoid the insane dinner crowd that I had seen the previous night....So we get there at 4:40 pm & were mildly greeted by a girl that easily looked like she was in the 6th grade, seems like she may have been related to the manager....(Keep in mind the restaurant was only about 10-15% occupied at the time)....She immediately attempts to put us in the closest high-top table near the front door, of course I ask for a different booth due to my guests limitations and the open tables throughout the entire restaurant....That was NOT met with a warm response at all, she had an immediate attitude about my request but with the help of a slightly older looking young lady, we were ultimately seated at a normal yet small table just behind it. The youngest girl proceeded to complain about us to the owner regarding our request as they both stood next to our table. We were also told the other bench/table areas were for large parties but proceeded to seat other 4-party groups at those tables as we sat there observing. Someone needs to coach the young lady on customer service and although she may be entitled, it's very off putting to have temper tantrums in front of customers when they are not happy with her selected seating area. They need to help her understand that one customers money is as good as the next persons. Very unprofessional.

As other posts have indicated the seats were incredibly unstable, I feel like my chair was going to fall apart at any moment....They certainly want to pack as many tables in there as humanly possible with little regard for personal boundaries or people constantly bumping your chair, which happened constantly throughout our dinner. It was such a stressful dinner we will not ever return.

The food was average at best! I ordered a pizza and the crust was "white-ish" all the way around and a bit soggy, NO golden brown crust as shown on their website; my guests orders were also very bland.

Because of the negative, off-putting & arrogant attitude the Manager or Ownership has towards some of their patrons....I will never return to Stellas or recommend any of my friends spend money there. They were very selective as to who they interacted with. We sat at the table, watched the owner walk around our table, speak with others around us and never checked on us until he brought us a bag to take our leftovers with us. He said nothing but put our leftovers in the bag. I will never go back, save your money. Eating a meal with friends should be an enjoyable experience and this was...

Victim of Their Own Success

We went to Stella on Saturday night 5/7/22. The restaurant is a beautiful conversion of what was once a Five Guys. The atmosphere was fun with music playing and an open kitchen concept. It truly feels like you are dining in an Italian kitchen. The hostess was pleasant and clearly hard working, turning tables and frequently assisting the service staff. The four servers were hard working as was the kitchen staff and the food reflected the dedication of the kitchen. We had two pizzas and four pastas and all were fantastic. The wine menu is also varied and fairly priced.

Unfortunately, the quality of the food could not make up for choices the owners have made in the restaurant. The servers’ sections were too big for each of them to handle individually and we had to ask our server multiple times for small things like the table service bread and parmesan for the pizza. The owner went so far as to say that we had already received our bread when we had not. It was clear that the owners were attempting to cram as many tables as possible into the relatively intimate restaurant and that made for a cramped environment and overburdened service staff.

Our biggest issue was with unequal service. There was a large group in our section and our server and the owners spent their entire time with the larger group, forgetting about the twenty other people in the section. The owners were clearly giving service and kitchen priority to the larger group as their food and drinks were arriving significantly more quickly than the rest of the restaurant. This made us walk away from our dinner disappointed despite the wonderful food.

Restaurant success in Southlake is a tricky business but the quickest way to burning out is through poor service, especially in a smaller restaurant. I’m writing this review because I truly hope that Stella fixes these issues. Southlake is overdue for an authentic Italian restaurant. The potential is there for Stella to be an institution in the community but you don’t get there by crowding a restaurant with four more tables than is appropriate for the space and treating some customers different than others. That is short term thinking and Stella could be better than that. I hope things are...

This was an awful experience.

Upon arrival I went to the mens' room to wash my hands. It was single use, so I was somewhat startled when I walked in and one of the servers was sitting in a chair, texting. He excused himself and left without washing his hands. I noticed that the toilet was unflushed, and I doubt that the server had washed because when I washed my hands I discovered that there were no paper towels, cloths, or blow dryers. Not a great start! I wiped my hands on the table cloth (and why is there a table and chair in the mens' room?)

We were seated and the obligatory oil and vinegar was put on a plate, but no bread showed up for 10 minutes. When 6 pieces of flatbread showed up for 4 of us, that was it for the night. Nobody noticed or cared to refill the bread.

The rucola and parmigiano salad with walnuts and apples had a citrus dressing that wasn't bad. I would have liked some pepper on it and could see the pepper mill 10 feet away, but there was no way to flag down our server because he was deeply engrossed in conversation with another table (theme of the night). The restaurant is so loud, that even a raised voice cannot be heard (several attempts, including trying to get our bill at the end of the evening).

The carbonara was lousy. It tasted of two things, salt and black pepper. Any other flavors were lost. Two of us had it and we both agreed that it was terrible.

We had a Tuscan cab blend that wasn't too bad at all. Once again, the initial glasses were poured and we never saw the server again until he stopped in to ask, "Have you already eaten?" Nope, we hadn't been served our entrees yet... and you should know that.

No dessert for us, and that was the very last interaction we had with the server. I had to walk to the open kitchen to get my check and pay.

If it was just shoddy service, or the noisy atmosphere, or the so-so food, this place would make it. I suspect that Southlake residents will soon be petitioning Town Square to bring...