Il Forte

I do not like Italian food at all but I thought why not. I ordered lasagna which is the one Italian food I hate most (I know why order it). I wanted to order something I don’t normally eat. OMG this was the best lasagna I have ever had. I mean me and this lasagna had a connection. It was intimate. I highly recommend this to everyone.

I arrived after work on a Friday night after being invited to listen to a friend’s coworker play at the restaurant. Although the waiter taking our orders was polite, I witnessed one of the waitresses walk up to the entertainer the restaurant hired and rudely tell him to turn down what was already a moderately quiet microphone. She returned later and essentially argued and demanded that he further turn down his microphone. Management did not appear to address the issue. I had ordered pizza which was adequate although slightly overpriced. Upon asking for the check in disgust with the waitresses behavior, the table had to wait quite a long time to receive the bill, which was incorrect, and then again in order to receive the correct bills.
Adequate food coupled with customer service more appropriately fitted for the DMV than a restaurant.

OMFG the food is so delicious! The head server (Dixanne) was super amazing and we loved chatting with her. To those that left her a bad review… In her defense it’s a restaurant not a bar and there is level of loudness that’s untolerable, like when your screaming at the person sitting next to you and they still can’t hear you. No one else that night seemed to have a problem with her «rudeness» only the entertainers friends who were upset about her ending his show early.
The chef asked us multiple times how our food was which shows genuine care and passion. And the food was to die for! Dixanne recommended dishes based on our preferences and since we are from out of town she gave us ideas on where to check out the nightlife. A very pleasant experience with a nice ambiance. They even gave us a small free helping of their tiramusu!
I would definitely check this place out if you haven’t already… just don’t bring your super loud obnoxious friends and an amped out guitar… acoustic only please.

Great Italian food and great live entertainment on Friday nights! The mushroom ravioli was delicious!

Walk in sit at the bar, and allow yourself to be pulled to coastal Italy. Chef started with a Brie and Orange salad. The Brie is sharp against the citrus and the candied walnuts are small treasures within. I am watching the chef make my calzone in the fired oven. Mushrooms subtle marinara, the mozzarella, it does not get much better. Stop in they treat you like family, and the food is worth it.

I brought a group of 17 co-​workers here for a dinner following our meeting. The owner was very welcoming and the wait staff was fantastic. We were in a rush to get to a social outing, but the drinks and food came out in a timely manner. The chef did a great job and the food was delicious! We will return the next time we are in Austin!

The service, food, and atmosphere were unbelievable! I visited with my girlfriend for date night and we were treated like ‘regulars.’ Our server was professional, humorous, and knowledgeable. Chef Giovanni, the owner, also came out of the kitchen to greet us and told us about the food. He told us about how the food was prepared and some other fun facts. The food itself was extraordinary and Chef Giovanni’s efforts made the difference. We were both very happy with everything and we are going to bring the family with us next time. Highly recommend for dates and family dinners!

In from out of town and pressed Unilocal.Will highly recommend to others. Nice atmosphere, incredible pizza. I don’t try different pizzas, but I tried the roasted Asparagas/​onion and mozzarella pie. Yum!

Il Forte remains awesome. On Friday nights they have a singer with a beautiful voice providing background music. It is truly a lovely place.

Arrived at the restaurant at our reservation time of 7 on a Saturday night to find the place with only one other set of diners. The waitress took our drink orders finally and then disappeared for a long time. How long does it take to open a bottle of wine and three beers? We sat for nearly an hour waiting for our salads. When the main course FINALlY came out only six of the seven meals were ready. Suffice it to say that service was terrible. Food was good but certainly not exceptional. We were very disappointed. Given the scarcity of patrons, others have found the poor service intolerable also. Do waste your time here until they figure out how to run the service part of a restaurant.

Service was amazing and the food even better! We had Duck Ragout, Bison Ragout, and Lobster Ravioli. Kids were catered to like they were VIPs. We will definitely be back!

Best Italian food we’ve had since we were in Rome
Small off the beaten path just down the street from the Omni downtown
everything is homemade from scratch
You won’t find better Italian food in Austin

We had a disappointing experience. The beers we requested were not cold so they had to be substituted for something else, we then waited 40mins for our meals while the restaurant was nearly empty. The food was okay. We then waited another 10 minutes for the check only to discover the wrong amount of change was given out, so we had to wait again for that to be sorted out. We won’t be returning again.

Best Italian food I have had in Texas! I’ve had the Mushroom Ravioli, the Caprese Salad, and a lunch special that was marvelous.
The bread, the hand-​made pasta, the sauce, the CAPRESE — it’s all lovely, authentic, and tastes like true handmade Italian cuisine.
The chef came to our table throughout the meal to check in and ensure that we loved our food — Il Forte is definitely our new go-​to Italian place in Austin.

Had a very enjoyable supper at Il Forte last night. We tried the pasta with meat balls. It was delicious! We also met the owner, and the Chef.
Such a pleasant surprise to find this place downtown! I almost kept it to myself…

Incredible meal here for lunch. The food was fresh — tender homemade pasta with light and delicate sauces. The bread was fresh and warm. DELISH!
Do not hesitate. Have a meal at Il Forte — you will love it!!!

Months later, I’d like to make an overdue update.
I have returned to Il Forte several times now and have even had an event catered.
You can show up to Il Forte in Gucci or in sandals and expect the same marvelous service. All waitstaff and kitchen staff are happy to explain ingredients and will speak in their native Italian!
Il Forte is cheaper than a plane ticket to Italy itself but will give you the same satisfaction and reception. I look forward to every dinner and lunch as an event.
Be sure to say hello to Gianni and his beautiful wife, Anna! They are the captains of the kitchen and give it zest, life and flavor!

I had heard good things about Il Forte and so we made the extra 3 block walk from Italic to Il Forte. Upon entering I was slightly flummoxed by the décor. It is a weird combination of Italian and Texas Longhorns. The stained concrete floor looks great but then there are weird college teams and logos in the floor and on the walls. It just seems to clash. They aren’t sure if they are a sports bar or a nice Italian place.
We started with Pane caldo del cassa, or warm bread with red sauce. The bread looks like a big empty calzone but is delicious. I would have prefered having it with olive oi instead of the sauce, but that’s mainly because red sauce on bread feels weird to me. The sauce itself was pretty tasty.
The caprese salad claims it uses bufala mozzarella, but I don’t buy it. It was very dry and felt and tasted more like plain mozzarella. The tomatoes were delicious though.
The side salad was very forgettable but the dressing was fine.
The spaghetti carbonara was delicious, but I don’t think it is as good as the carbonara at Italic. The lasagna and lobster ravioli were both big hits at out table, very flavorful.
I would rank this place behind both Italic and Numero 28, but if you find yourself east of Congress looking for some Italian food, you could do a lot worse than Il Forte.

Do not come here for dinner if you are in a rush. That being said, if you are looking for an enjoyable dinner that is relaxing, with good food I highly recommend this place. We came here Friday night to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We ordered a bottle of wine and two salads to start. I ordered the bufala pizza, my dad the mushroom ravioli, and my boyfriend the shrimp with pink sauce. The one problem with the shrimp dish is half of the shrimp were not completely de-​shelled.
It probably took 20 minutes or so for us to get our food after the appetizer, however, this was not a problem for us. Traditionally Italian meals take a long time anyway, and this allowed us to digest our starters and prepare for our meals, as well as drink our wine and talk. This also showed us that they were cooking all of our meals fresh. The tiramisu for desert was a delight! And our waiter gave us a sample of their limoncello, probably hoping we’d order it. It was not like any other limoncello I’ve ever seen. It was thicker and creamier looking, but it was tasty and very very strong.
After 2 bottles of wine, starters, entrees and desert, the three of us were probably there for almost 3 hours. The food was tasty and authentic, our waiter had recently moved here from Italy. Don’t let the décor fool you. Although from the sidewalk it may not look gourmet, and the food is reasonably priced, you definitely get what you pay for if not more. I highly recommend this place, and I will be back!

What an incredible find next to our hotel, the Omni! We tried it after reading the amazing Unilocal reviews. We were so happy that we gave this restaurant a try. We had the Marguerite pizza, which was extraordinarily. The crust was supper thin and delicious. The pizza literally melted in our mouthes with a perfect amount of basil and seasoning. It was very reminiscent of pizzas that I have eaten in Italy and France. The service was exceptional. The owner/​chef paid a visit to our table at the end of the meal. This was a special touch to round out our very lovely and memorable dining experience.