Villa Roma Italian Ristorante — Restaurant in Texas

SLOOOOOWWWW service. We went on a Wednesday night and were there for 2 hours! The restaurant wasn’t full, yet our server also seemed to be rushing and have one foot already back into the kitchen every time he came to our table, which by the way wasn’t many times. We had to flag him down. The ambiance was very nice and our appetizers and salads were very good. There was just too many negatives to give this establishment more than 2 stars.

This was our first time here and from the pictures I saw online, it looked to be a very small restaurant, so I made reservations online. When I got there, the man who greeted me seemed extremely confused when I mentioned the reservations, so I just asked for a table for 4. I later learned that he was our server. We were there for 20 min before he came back to take our drink order and another 30 min before he came to take our appetizer order.

When he finally came to take our dinner order, I told him THREE times that I would like the trout almondine. I finally picked up the menu to check to see if I was ordering it by the correct name because the server looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. My fiancé had the tortalini and my kids had spaghetti with meat sauce.

45 min after we ordered, my fiancé flagged our server down & asked him where our food was. He said it was almost ready. 10 minutes after that, our server came back and said it was my trout holding everything up. We asked if the kids’ meals could be brought out. It was getting late.

I have to say, my trout was really not worth the wait at all!!!! It was soggy. So much so, that my fiancé checked it to make sure it was even cooked because it looked raw. It was cooked all the way through. I expected it to be almond crusted, but instead, it had almond slivers on top. That was my mistake though. I just assumed the incorrect thing when I read the menu. I should have asked about it. My dish also came with pasta that was supposed to be angel hair, but it was linguine, which was not terrible, but not what I ordered. It also had an extremely sad and limp vegetable medley. My fiancé and my kids were not impressed by their dishes either. Our server never came back to check how our food was once he brought the dishes. I would have told him then that my fish was horrible. He was extremely prompt about bringing our check though.

I included a photo from their website and a photo of what I was served. I could not eat this. It was horrible.

Needless to say, we...

If you're looking for a review from someone that's been to Italy multiple times, this is it.

It was okay, but not worth returning. The place was practically empty which made me suspicious. Honestly the foods just not that great. The menu has a great selection but nothing we ordered really 'wow'ed us.

The bread - HEB makes better bread. This stuff was probably from Walmart, not toasted or even warmed up.. came with a little bruschetta tomato blend, which was nice. I'd have preferred no bread at all though, if that's the only bread available.

Calamari - typical American-Italian style. A bit chewy, which a lot of calamari tends to be when it's not fresh. Edible though, mostly because I was starving.

A salad comes with each entree. And by "salad" I mean iceberg lettuce drowned in ranch. Again, would have preferred no salad if that's the best they can offer.

Manicotti - For whatever reason, I was getting a plastic-y flavor from this. It was really bizarre and if I didn't taste that it would've just been average.

My company ordered the mussel + shrimp, I think, linguine and the trout. They, too, found their food to be average or below.

The inside is nice and they had a piano player, which was a nice touch. The wait staff was fine, too so no complaints there. I think a few changes could perk this place up actually. Higher quality ingredients in general would change a lot. Some warm bread, maybe from a local bakery? A nice salad with no iceberg lettuce and an Italian dressing rather than ranch? Very simple changes.. Maybe have the pasta house-made as well (I don't believe it is, but I'm not positive). It has potential, but unless I happen to notice some reviews saying they've made some changes, I won't be returning. If possible, I'd give it 2.5 stars. 3 is pushing it, but I'd like to give them room for improvement

edit - I'd like to add that cell service in the restaurant is pretty bad. I struggled to load the Yelp page to get the appetizer discount. If they have wifi, which I didn't see, it's...

This is the definition of "Don't judge a book by its cover!" We drove by it the first time because it's nothing special to look at on the outside. However, the interior is intimate and classy. It isn't very big, though, so I would definitely go with reservations on their busy nights. We went on a Monday night, and there were only two other booths filled during our time there. Our server was very friendly & attentive. They only time we waited for anything longer than would be normal was for our 2nd basket of bread because it was still cooking. Acceptable answer! The crust was crisp, yet not too thick, and the center soft and tasty. I expected an herb/oil dip, but they brought a homemade bruschetta that was so good! Caesar salad was dressed exactly to my taste. Chicken Parm was very good. The cheese ravioli in vodka cream sauce was superb, but the biggest surprise was the chicken in pineapple vodka cream sauce. It was not something I had seen on an Italian menu before, so I tried it. I don't know how I will convince myself to order anything else in the future. It was amazing! Even the sides were great. The salted potatoes were very tasty and the vegetables were cooked to perfection. Everything was fresh and cooked just for us and the portions were perfect. Most of their desserts are made in-house. The spumoni ice cream was great and the creme brulee was one of the best we've had. They also had my favorite pinot grigio on the menu. If you're looking for the standard Italian chain restaurant experience, this place is not for you. If you want friendly, fresh, & flavorful, this is your hometown gem. And no, we don't work for them, nor did we get paid for writing this review. We just like good food & atmosphere, and will return often! UPDATE: We have been here dozens of times since & have brought visitors along frequently, as well. Review stands. This is our favorite restaurant in the...