Forcella

When ever I get to Chico I stop by Forcella for lunch. I love the bread! I try different things each time and cannot decide which meal I like best. Of the chicken choices I like the most is the piccata. The service is friendly and fast.

I came here with the girlfriend for valentine’s Day dinner. This was a pretty last second decision, so we didn’t expect too much. First thing I saw were people dressed up fairly nice. I was afraid that we would be turned away or given the stink eye for dressing in t shirt and jeans, but we weren’t. Maybe it was just because it was valentines.
We came without a reservation, and they warned us that we would have to leave when they came. We decided our meal (it was a special valentines day menu) while waiting for a table: fried mozzarella sticks and arancini for appetizers, 16oz rib eye steak and Parmesan eggplant [pasta] for entrée, and Chardonnay cake and tiramisu for dessert.
After they took out order, they served us sesame bread and a focaccia bread with olive oil and balsamic dip. The appetizer turned out to be a mix of both per person. The sticks weren’t too bready not stretchy. I have never tried arancini before but it was good. The ribeye was juicy, a bit fatty, and served with mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy, carrots, and crunchy green beans. The eggplant Parmesan’s eggplants were huge, and the pasta was interesting. It was like spaghetti but hollow inside. I forget the name, but it was delicious. It was also served with carrots and green beans. Finally, the dessert; the Chardonnay cake was sweet and moist, but didn’t taste the Chardonnay (if we really were supposed to), and the tiramisu was rich and stronger coffee than the usual tiramisu I have eaten.
The whole meal was fantastic, the environment was romantic, with the dim lights and fairly quiet despite it’s small size. The waitresses were kind and attentive. Worth the ~$ 60. Definitely would recommend and come again if we get the chance.

yum. I had the salmon and it was delicious! I was quite impressed, so much that the next time I went back I ordered the same thing because it was so good. Bread with balsamic oil is so good. can’t wait to go back!

Highly disappointed!
I wouldn’t have given them a star if I didn’t have to!
Went there the evening before Valentine’s Day and they took forever to seat the people that had reservations before us. Then they took forever to seat my fiancé and I and they had no idea which table we were supposed to be seated at. The restaurant wasn’t packed and they seated us right in the walkway even though there were open tables in the back (and a table for four compared to a table for two were the same size so it’s not like changing tables would have been such an issue). The hostess said she couldn’t give us a different table because «she had so many people coming in at different times,» even though she let the couple before us change tables. Then she proceeded to seat another couple in a back table…
The menus were on clipboards! So tacky! And they didn’t even have a house blend for their red wines! They only offered cheap wine. We ended up walking out with any explanation after two minutes of sitting down. The hostess didn’t even give any apology and more than likely didn’t notice us walking out. I can honestly say that we will never go there again. We went to Grana instead and they gave us a beautiful table as soon as we got there.
Forcella is very disappointing!

One word of advice, don’t make a reservation here, because they don’t honor it. We made reservations for Valentine’s weekend. Called in 3 days in advance, and reserved Saturday at 6pm. Get there Saturday at 5:50pm, give them my name to find out they can’t find me at all in their reservations. Can’t my phone number at all either, which I gave them when I called.
The lady up front was very unorganized, sloppy and a bit ruined. They pretty much ruined our valetine’s dinner because on this weekend you need a reservation to be able to eat anywhere nice and since they lost my reservations that means no nice dinner for us on Valentine’s, Thanks Forcella.
Also, when I got there most of the tables were open. And I over heard them talking about a large group that made a reservation at 5:30 but hadn’t come yet. But I came 10 before my reservations but since they didn’t write my reservation down right we got nothing.
Didn’t even get to try their food because they have such horrible customer service.

Terrific hospitality… we love Toni (owners mother), she always greets us as if we are family.
The food has been outstanding every time we have gone there. We have taken many friends and they have all enjoyed their meals.

Had dinner here for the first time tonight. The food was delicious. A friend and I did the Tuesday night special, Chicken Marsala. The bread and dipping sauce were my favorite part. I had a Cesar salad, the serving size was generous, I didn’t finish it. wanted to save room for dinner! We had the house Chardonnay, which was tasty. For the amount of food and a couple glasses of wine, it’s a good deal to come down on a Tuesday night. My one star ding is for the non committal wait time of «it could be 10 min, it could be an hour» and the slightly awkward «community table». Overall a good experience, I’d eat here again.

So good! We loved the food the eggplant parmigiana was fantastic as well as the special! Homemade pastas and desserts! Been meaning to try this place for months now and am wondering why we didn’t sooner!

Just had a wonderful meal. All the food was excellent. A bit of a wait to get a seat but you can order wine and appetizers while you wait for a table. We had to try dessert in spite of being stuffed and so glad we did. The Panna cotta was to die for.

Just had the smoked salmon fettuccine Alfredo, WOW. It was wonderful!
Wife had the chicken piccata and said it was very good. Kids were very happy with their pastas as well, 1 of them said «this is amazing».
Keep it up Forcella!

Homemade pasta, ragu, and cheeses in Chico! Be still my heart. Nice people and really authentic Italian eats. The prices are very reasonable too. Highly recommended.

Decided to try this restaurant and glad we did. They weren’t to busy so we got seated right away. Our server brought our menus and water and gave us ample time to look and order. Servings were large, salads were plentiful and very tasty, soup was hot and tasty. Pasta was cooked perfectly… all and all food was tasty, not overly expensive and service was friendly and efficient. When I am back in Chico I will eat here again.

Great food! Little hole in the wall restaurant, but excellent pasta!
I had the pork chops and they were amazing! Comes with green beans, carrots, on a bed of awesome mashed potatoes. My wife had the eggplant parmigiana and it was also great! Crispy breaded eggplant and a side of pasta. (Pics posted) We had a great meal!!!
Will be going back SOON!
CONS: The seating is not secluded, and the service is mediocre. Watch them send people away every time. (It’d be easy to offer them a seat at their front bar and maybe a glass of wine).
It’s worth the wait and meh service for the great food though!
Btw, $ 8 wine corking fee.

I’ve been here a few times now and really enjoy the chicken piccata. The bread with balsamic vinegar and oil is a nice touch and they set the right mood with the lighting and ambiance. It seems that they are making each dish individually as ordered, which I love and appreciate how fresh everything is. My only concern is that sometimes orders seems to take quite awhile. Good food takes time. Go in with the right mindset.

Stormy and I are split on this place. I thought it was a nice addition to the local scene but she thought the food was bland.
I was a bit surprised by the evening as I’d been led to believe that the place was more of a specialty deli experience by a friend. It’s a sit-​down restaurant.
Pros:
A nice variety of dishes and each we tried (soups, pasta and entrée) was an unexpected version of each. The hit for our party was the exceptional minestrone.
Friendly if clueless staff.
Cons:
Most of the dishes needed seasoning. Pretty obvious no one tasted things before sending them out or a decided choice was made to minimize salt use (my preference actually but should be stated on the menu if that is the case).
Really dismal wine list for an Italian place. Really dismal.
Wait staff insulted my wife but I’m pretty sure they were just inexperienced.
Will we go back? I think so. The food was actually decent and different enough to warrant more investigation but I also think there are things to be fixed that a new place needs more time to accomplish. I’m willing to give them that time.

The food is incredible but service is slllooooowwwww. We have been here a few times and the place is always packed. The first time we visited it was really busy and I think the hostess was bussing tables. She was gone so often that when a group of people walked in a grumpy old man that had been waiting a while told them the wait was ridiculous and the other party walked out. I’m not sure if it is poor management, or just working out the kinks of a new restaurant.
In any case, the food is amazing and we’ll definitely eat there again. but if were ever in a hurry we will avoid this place like the plague.
Food — five stars (I would go higher. it’s that good :)
Service — three stars

Oct 2015 dinner … they’ve improved their wall décor which makes the feel much better.
Good service and the food was good.

Every time I’ve been here I have a good experience. Their food is good, service is good, wine is good. Their two for $ 24 on Tuesday deal they ran was genius.
I really like that I can buy their pasta and take it home to make later.

If you liked to be ignored… look no further! I am highly disappointed in this place. I gave it 4 tries.
1^st try took about 40 mins to get our food. The place had about 10 people total as guests. Food was not that great for the wait.
2^nd try. The tables we empty and we waited 15 mins before a waitress or hostess to greet us. We ended up leaving as they said it would be 20mins for a table. The place was empty, not crowed at all.
3^rd time. We waited 10 mins and we’re completely ignored by all waitresses and not even greeted. We left.
4^th try we got a table after about a 10mins wait. It took the waitress 20mins to bring us ice tea and 1 beer. We placed our order and they ran out of the meal. It was 6:10pm. Very early for a restaurant to run out of food for a special for the evening. I will Never go back.

So much better! No crashing plates, constantly full water glasses, more starter bread, and (as usual) delicious food. The wait staff was friendly as can be (also standard) and the timeliness/​service was exponentially better than our first experience.
Best of all, our waitress recognized us from Unilocal!and remembered our previous experience. She went out of her way to ensure we have a better experience and addressed our previous concerns in person. She did a wonderful job and definitely made for some happy customers.
Forcella is quickly becoming one of our favorite date night spots. So glad to see such improvements! Yay!