Passerella — Restaurant in Texas

Took my husband here to celebrate his birthday with 6 of our friends. We had a reservation for 8 and when we walked in it wasn't super crowded so I thought maybe we would get good service. I found out about this restauraunt on Reddit. The Hostess at the front offered a complimentary glass of champagne which was unexpected and appreciated.

After that we sat for about 15 minutes before our server, named Lee, came up to our table. Not everyone in our party was here yet. We went ahead and started ordering drinks and a charcuterie board.

It took a while for us to even just get some water and had to ask a couple of times.

The charcuterie board had some tasty cheeses as well as salami and I believe prosciutto and some grapes, I got the full size which was about $27. I'm honestly glad I ordered this because when I got my food later on, I was disappointed in the portion size of the food.

Once we got our food our server would only come about every 20 minutes or so to check on us.

I had the chicken picatta which tasted just okay. It was pretty plain with the lemon sauce and honestly I think should've came with some pasta on the side atleast. The portion was very small and I was still hungry after. I've had picatta at other places and it was a bigger size and had way more flavor.

My husband got the "colossal shrimp" special which was a big prawn in the middle of a risotto with a cream sauce. My husband said it was very salty and disappointed that it came with just one "colossal" shrimp. Honestly for these prices versus portion sizes they should do a better job explaining things. He also had a Paradiso drink which was probably his only favorite part of the experience.

Other friends had the Marsala and Lasagna which they also said was just okay and not impressed with. My friend thought the chicken was just the frozen chicken you find at the grocery store that comes in a little bag.

We also had to ask for bread but the server brought one small loaf for a table of 8, that was kind of strange so we didn't bother asking for more.

Towards the end (around 950 PM...) the server asked us if we wanted plates for the cake but at that point I think everyone just wanted to leave after the disappointing experience so we declined and asked for a check. The restaurant closes at 10 on a Friday night so we could sense it as they were cleaning up the restaurant which seemed like we were being rushed.

I'm not sure if this place is just short staffed or what but you would think a table of 8 who spent over $300 in your establishment would be treated a little bit better.

I still left a decent tip because I know how hard it is to work in the service industry and maybe the server was having an off night or the place is understaffed.

I'm not one to complain in a restaurant and especially not during my husbands birthday but was pretty disappointed in the experience and won't be coming back.

I'm glad that we atleast had our friends there but was hoping to have that special ambiance for my husbands birthday and unfortunately it doesn't seem like this is the kind of place for a celebration.

I wish I had seen the other reviews. Management really needs to do better. I get better food and service at lower priced...

Took some of the ladies in my family out for diner for my daughter's birthday. I let my daughter choose the venue.

When we arrived, all seemed well. The weather was great and we sat outside on the patio with a great view of Town Lake.

Our waiter was a little iffy. He was polite and did his job well enough, but gave the impression that he drinks himself blind every night and is not overly fond of bathing - he had dirt under his fingernails.

Went to the bathroom to wash my hands and got a look at the decor on my way. Cheap pastiche posters of "Italian" stuff, like framed logos of Gucci, Ferrari and Prada. A little camp. Still, I don't go to restaurants for the decor.

The cuisine was the big disappointment.

Of the 6 dishes we ordered (2 appetizers and 4 main courses), every single one came to the table cold. This was particularly surprising as we got there at 530pm on a Tuesday, well before the dinner rush and we were practically the only people there.

With the exception of the sautéed brussels sprouts (which were mostly leaves, very few heads), all the meals were served with big heapings of bread.

Ok, fine. But the bread was all cold and burnt and not appetizing at all. The bread gave me the impression that it had been baked somewhere else yesterday and heated up in a too-hot over just before it was served to us. Mysteriously, the bread also was cold.

The main courses were disappointingly bland and tasteless. They gave the impression of being straight from Sysco's "ready-restaurant-in-a-can". No seasonings. The red sauce for instance was like it had come straight from the can to the plate, not even warmed-up first.

The sausage-and-peppers and the chicken-parmesan (both "chef-recommended" house specials) were both big disappointments. Bland and tasteless. The pasta straight from the shelves of Kroger. I could have made both dishes myself at home, better and for less money and in less time.

My wife had the ribeye steak, which mysteriously managed to be extra rare on half and well done on the other (she ordered it medium). She had indigestion afterword - probably from the low-quality seed oil used to make the aioli.

She also had two mixed drinks, neither of which had any detectable hint of alcohol in them.

Bottom line, this place is a poor excuse for fine dining, run by people who clearly think their patrons can't tell the difference.

If I was a retiree who was used to eating mush three times a day at the assisted living community cafeteria, I might have considered it a treat. But my tastebuds still function and I work for my money.

Next time, I'll just stick with my instincts and go to Carrabba's.

Do...

After passing by many times we decided to finally try out Passerela as we always see they are packed and had high expectations. We were offered champagne on the house which was a great start and I do apologize for knocking over a glass and breaking it and was even offered a new champagne glass by our server. I forgot her name, but our server was a darling and really made sure we were taken care of. We ordered the meat pizza, ribeye steak, and shrimp scampi. I review restaurants purely on the quality of the food and I must jump straight to the ribeye steak. For a steak that was $30+ I expected something quite good. I ordered the ribeye medium rare and got a blue steak. Yes, blue. Not rare, not medium rare... blue, seared outer and quite literally raw inside. Luckily, I do like a blue steak from time to time so I had no problem with the temp. However, for other guests that order a ribeye medium rare and gets blue, this is a BIG nono. The ribeye still had unrendered fat and sinew all around it. You can get a better quality and better cooked steak at Denny's and I don't mean to say it disrespectfully but more as a matter of fact. The green beans were practically boiled to a mush and the worst of all was the seasoning on the green beans. Please remind the chef to mix the salt on the green beans when seasoning it. Some beans had 0 salt on it while others tasted like they were dipped in the dead sea. The roasted potatoes were fine but just needed a bit more love, a bit more seasoning. Aside from the ribeye, the $16 meat pizza is nothing to really write about. An average pizza that got the job done for what it is. Now, the shrimp scampi was AMAZING. Absolutely delicious and the highlight of our meal. The pasta was perfectly al dente, the sauce was flavorful and creamy, and the shrimp was cooked to PERFECTION. My wife and daughter both agreed and cleaned the plate like no tomorrow. This dish is the only reason why this is a 2 star and not a 1 star rating. We also ordered a cocktail and it came out in a tall glasses looking like carrot juice. I had one sip and immediately thought it tasted like freshly cut grass which then I passed to my wife and she said it tastes like dishsoap. The service was great, the shrimp scampi was amazing, the view and atmostphere are amazing. The pizza was alright, the cocktail and especially, the ribeye, was NOT amazing. All in all, we are not given a reason to come back any time soon except maybe...