Collina’s Italian Cafe

I loved the Greca pizza here, and used to order it for lunch delivery at least once a week for several weeks from the West U location. One day, I called up and the person answering insisted that they have NEVER delivered to my location, and that it was «impossible» that I’d ordered all those pizzas. Pretty sure I didn’t imagine all the money I had given them regularly, and all the tasty pizzas I’d enjoyed, especially since I was looking at a delivery receipt from them while I was on the phone with this guy. Apparently, though, I hallucinated all of it. I would have considered going there for dine-​in or takeout, but the attitude of that guy still sticks in my craw. How hard is it to instead say «I’m sorry, we weren’t supposed to deliver to that location» (if that was the issue) rather than being a jerk about it?

Used to be much better. Now it is the ‘Taco Bell’ of Italian food except for the price. Unless they make some changes, wouldn’t be surprised if they go out of business in short order.

Meet with my parents here about every other Wednesday. Its a nice place to go with groups/​first dates/​even alone I guess? Never too packed but they just started a new policy because of the parking situation near the bars. If you park in the lot they give you a ticket and if you have it validated by one of the restaurants or other establishments in that lot, you do not have to pay the 5 dollar parking fee. Otherwise, BAM! 5 dollars poorer.
This is a place where you can bring your own bottle of wine and the corking fee isnt too ridiculous. The food here is great, from their pizzas to their chicken masala. You name it, its probably good. I really like their margarita pizza, and my favorite customized pizza now is chicken, pepperoni, onions, and tomatoes. Write it down, it will change your life. Chicken Masala is pretty damn good too. They serve it with a small side portion of pasta and a wedge salad. Ask for the dressing on the side because unless you like a little bit of salad with your dressing its gonnna be too much. Always go home with leftovers and they are just as good microwaved the next day. My dad swears by the Italian muffaletta which comes on foccacia bread loaded with all the essentials and a side pasta salad.
As for the actual look of the place. Its what most Italian restaurants look like. Go figure.

They catered our lunch today and wow was it bad. The bread was chewy and hard. The chicken pasta was bland and lacking meat, the beef lasagna was OK but even pizza hut made a better lasagna. Their salad is covered in vinegar. All in all I did not enjoy the food, I did not get to experience their «wonderful service» that many others have described. I will stay away.

Okay, so here’s my story about this place.
It was Valentines Day and me and a group of my (single) friends decided that we’d all get together and have dinner. Someone recommended this place so we made the reservation. So we get there and are promptly seated… and that was where the promptness ends.
We then waited about 5 – 10 minutes for our waiter to acknowledge us and bring us menus, 5 – 10 minutes to get out drinks, and 5 – 10 minutes to get our order taken. I will say this… their food is good. I had some tortellini and I enjoyed it very much.
OK, so we’re ready for our check and the waiter brings us one check, we asked him if he could give us separate checks (something we had already mentioned to the hostess and the waiter that took our drink orders) and he… get this… rolls his eyes and says ‘you should have told me that in the beginning!’.and storms off. Umm wow. LoL So then he separates the checks and brings one pen for us, which is fine, we can pass it around, no biggie. And my friend makes a comment about what a nice pen it is and he then grabs the pen away from her and says ‘I’m just going to hold on to that, I don’t want someone to take it’ At that point I began looking around for the Punkd cameras to come out, cuz this can’t be real! But there was no cameras and it was really happening. Luckily one of us was carrying a pen. So we signed our checks and we chatting amongst each other when the waiter comes and asks us how much longer we were gonna be here cuz I have someone at home that I would like to see.’ We were speechless. so speechless we walked out without complaining to the manager. But needless to say I won’t be coming back again.

I have eaten in at least 3 locations of Collina’s. (Meyerland, Rice Village, and Richmond/​Weslayan). Of these: Meyerland sucks (both in taste and service). Rice Village is the best in taste and service. THe third one is between (service is bad, but food is good). Collina’s in general is good, tasty food with quick service. Plenty of vegetarian options for pizza.
I actually like the Cheese/​marinara calzone… in fact i want one now! (except i am not in H-​town now).
Overall a decent place.
Parking in Rice village is awful if you already didnt know that.

If I were in a better mood, I would think about switching Collina’s to three stars. But for now, two stars will do just fine.
I didn’t know much about Collina’s imagined that it was the type of place that is a little better than Olive Garden /​Macaroni Grill in terms of food and a little worse in terms of ambiance/​service/​everything else.
I think it is considerably worse in all categories and just oh-​so-​slightly cheaper. My friend had some sort of pasta with chicken, spinach, tomatos, red sauce that looked very promising but fell way short: despite its appearance, all the flavors were overpowered by some red wine they put in the sauce.
I had the chicken lasagna which was just not an impressive dish (lasagna except the first layer is just a slab of chicken). It was tiny as in 2 by 4 inches but I still couldn’t finish it. It was also smothered in some sort of basil tomato cream sauce. Both dishes were $ 13.
This was foretold however, because the bread was awful. You can always tell the caliber of a restaurant by their bread. It says so much. Collina’s bread is pizza crust and if you’d like, you can pour the olive oil and grind some black pepper yourself.
Best part of the meal was the calamari but honestly, where (except Kona Grill) do they botch calamari?
Service just seemed unprofessional. I know this place is supposed to be super casual but I didn’t even know our server was a server until he asked us what we’d like to drink. Everyone else was wearing a black shirt and I think he was wearing a blue-​gray one.
Maybe I am being overly nitpicky because of this whole economy situation but I would just go to Carabba’s and shell out the extra $ 3 per person than come back here. Pass on this one.

When I’m on a first date/​group of gals/​casual Italian kind of mode, Colinna’s is the first place I think of.
Had I written this a year ago on my first visit where our waitress forgot everything we ordered, switched out items – you name it, she did it wrong – I would have given this place fewer stars. But I’ve come back to this place because I’m sure that was just a one time deal. Wonder where this girl is now…
I came here for lunch today with my lovely sis, craving a carb-​o-​licious slice of warm and crisp peeksa (pizza). Other than the fettuccine Alfredo and pizza, I haven’t really delved into the menu. Mmmm. The peeksa.
Knowing that our meal would be bread-​heavy, we didn’t opt for apps, but I have had their artichoke dip (yum-​worthy) and calamari (tasty, but not the best in H-​tizzle). The pizza menu varies from the typical margherita to the Primavera – fresh spinach, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, red and green bell peppers, and carrots. You can also build your own pizza with your choice of three toppings.
We had our eyes set on the Mona Lisa (fresh roma tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, and feta cheese) and the Abruzzo (marinated artichokes, basil, various cheeses in a white cream sauce) … so we did a half order of each … and we added chicken.
The server was supper attentive, which, for me, is a first for this particular location.
I have to say that I have brought my own bottle of wine here (it’s BYOB), but have also opted not to come here on certain occasion because I didn’t have a bottle in my car (You can’t go to a BYOB without alcohol, people!), but surprisingly, they do offer a wine list. Didn’t know you could do that.

I feel cruel giving such a low rating to a cute little restaurant in an awesome part of town (Rice Village) with decent service and good-​tasting food.
But…portion sizes! Portions were absolutely abysmal! I’m not sure if their meals could satisfy the hunger of a mouse! When I order an entrée and pay $ 10ish per menu item, I expect that the food they serve might feasibly fill me up! But these entrees aren’t even big enough to pass as a snack!
After leaving this restaurant, we went and got fast food because we were still starving.

nice, convenient spot in rice village that serves reliably good italian food. you won’t find the ultimate italian here, but it will be consistently tasty. the pizza with chicken and basil on top is really yummy, and i’m also partial to the chicken rosmarino. prices are also decent, and the service is great. it’s never *too* crowded, but, rather, comfortably filled. check it out if you’re in the neighborhood and craving italian.