il Bracco — Restaurant in University Park

First time going here. Took my wife for her birthday. The reception staff were very attentive and recognized the birthday on the reservation and wished my wife a happy birthday. After that, it was forgotten until we left, and the reception staff again wished us happy birthday. I was disappointed that despite ordering 3 courses of meals, there was nothing to acknowledge the birthday as many other restaurants do--usually with dessert.

The food was fantastic--we loved the focaccia and fried artichoke hearts. The roasted chicken and burger were delicious and I tried the special of lasagna--a unique take on the traditional fare, very tasty and well presented and prepared. The wines were excellent and great variety of options.

My biggest issue was the overall ambience of the experience. The place was very busy and crowded--the bar appears to take up nearly 1/3 of the restaurant, is seated in the middle, and has lots of activity and movement--creating some distractions for the tables right beside the bar. Our waiter, while very attentive and professional, seemed to be hurrying us to finish our meals and leave. Our plates were removed immediately when it appeared we were finished for each course, and our check was presented even as dessert was just arriving. In fact, when finished with dessert and as my wife was still finishing her wine, the staff removed all the dishes, spilling a spoon with ice cream onto the table, splattering onto my phone. I would have preferred that they just wait 5 more minutes to allow us to finish our drinks and leave before completely clearing the table. I don't recall asking for the check or being asked if we wanted any after dessert coffee or drinks. We felt rushed--and frankly were--despite having made reservations for this table. Overall, we had a 3 course meal and were out in 1 hour. Great food but not the experience I had wanted for the price or for the occasion. Maybe my expectations were out of sync with what the restaurant is...

Il Bracco is one our main GoTo’s in Dallas. We love this restaurant. I will even do takeout a couple of times a month. Today, (Mother’s Day) we made reservations for two ppl at 4:00 pm. After we had already had an earlier brunch with the family, I wanted to experience a dessert and cappuccino with my wife. Our plan was to relax on Mother’s Day with just the two of us after a busy morning of wonderful chaos with the grandkids and then order a full meal takeout to enjoy later tonight at home. We communicated our plan to the waitstaff individual who was serving us. After she brought us the two desserts, we waited and we waited and we waited for the Cappuccino to be brought to our table. No biggie. Have grace, it’s busy and it is Mother’s Day. But then we started to the passive aggressive vibes from her that made us feel rushed to get the takeout food order in. We responded, that we had not had a chance to look at the menu but that we kind of wanted to enjoy the moment to eat our dessert and cappuccino. She said, “no problem, take your time”. But then a few minutes later, she returned and asked us again! What the HELL? Literally 5 minutes later and she was back to put the hard court press on us. We still had half of our desserts. I said to my wife that she wants our table. We quickly placed our Takeout Order (Meatballs and two pasta dishes). The order was brought to our table in a paper sack within 5 minutes. OMG! I still had cappuccino to drink and we just gave up the table. I tipped her 20% and the total spend was $150. We were there 40 minutes. We felt hurried and really disappointed in the way we were treated. I may be second guessing our frequency to spend money at Il Bracco going forward. There is nothing like being hurried...

An absolute relatively hidden gem of an Italian restaurant that deserves more stars, guests and reviews!

The food - 5/5 - is insanely delicious, fresh and has an interpretation without going off the rails! You know there is a daring bunch behind in the kitchen that works hard & smart

The service - 5/5 - was delightful. Shirley helped us with her recommendations without being intrusive & was spot on in suggestions when asked direct questions. Thanks Shirley!

The atmosphere - 5/5 - is elegant and upscale without being pretensive! A good family outing, date night or with business associates....i would totally recommend.

Now let's look at the food we tried

Starter: Housemade foccacia - delightfully crusty on both sides feels like it has been baked on an iron skillet. Served with Whipped ricotta.

Salad: Burrata salad - fresh burrata with market produce which was in our case grapes, fresh figs, shaved radish, arugula dressed with a citrusy vinaigrette & topped with toasted walnuts

Pastas:

1. Spicy Gemelli - one of a kind Gemelli pasta made with a spicy vodka sauce. Delightful. A must try!
2. Cacio e pepe - a nice warm creation. Very impressive in expected taste. Not the best Cacio e pepe but you can't go wrong if you chose this

Sides: Heirloom carrots - whipped ricotta, pistachios served warm with the carrots caramelized/burnt perfectly

Seasonal Veg - Cauliflower florets seasoned and roasted to be a good supporting cast to the Pasta

Dessert: Italian sundae: a house creation and what i would say is an "All flavor attack" in a positive sense. It has some 3 scoops of bluebell home made vanilla ice cream in a pool of olive oil topped with Whipped cream that has a drizzle of sea salt + crunchy nuts in there. A whirlwind...