Forno Diablo: User Reviews

Love this place!!
By Megan2182 from Lakeview, August 28, 2009

Overall rating:

First off, the food is delicious - every time I've come here, never had a bad meal. The service is outstanding - the waiters and maitre d are excellent and always so friendly. The atmosphere is great - soft and quiet. I took my parents here and they LOVED it. The food is VERY reasonably priced - the BEST GNOCCHI in the city, and for $12 - can't beat that.

Three strikes and your out ....
By cezzane29 from Lakeview, August 6, 2009

Overall rating:

I’ve reached my limit of kindness …. I have been to Forno on five separate occasions. On the first two were when they first opened so I’m always forgiving on a new restaurant until they get all the glitches. But is been a while now and on the last three visit something has gone wrong. On visit number 1 with my Fiancé the service was lacking on a slow night which always irks me. Shouldn’t the service be better when the restaurant in not supper busy. Guess not! On visit number two with my friend we both ordered pizza and no matter where I am I always ask for my pizza to be well done so it is hot. Yes, I’m one of those people who like my food HOT. Both of are pizzas come and while they are tasty, they are luke warm at best. We send them back and not even five minutes late they are back not any hotter just the plate is. I give up. We tell the waitress and she just flitters off to chat with her friends. Luckily the maitre d stopped by and we explained and he apologized which was nice and gave up pizzas to take home. Now those pizzas were so darn hot we couldn’t hold the boxes from the bottom. Now why couldn’t I get that in the first place? On to last night’s visit with my friend again and her husband, we ordered the Bruschetta for appetizer, meatball sandwich, chicken parm sandwich and a pizza again.
Here’s where it went wrong: the chick pea bruschetta had brie cheese on it instead of having fresh mozzarella. The meatball hero and chicken parm both had red and yellow peppers on it. Even steak fries were covered in rosemary (branches of it) and sea salt and of course the pizza was cold after we specifically asked for it to be hot! Yes the food was ok but I expect when I order items from the menu that is how you get them. When we told the waiter all the items that were different he blamed the chefs and said they do whatever they want. That is such a ridiculous answer. Restaurants work for months perfecting the menu and it should be followed. If you’re going to get what the chef feels like then we don’t need a menu.
Our waiter did take our three sodas off the check to apologize which was strange since that was the only thing right about the meal. I ’m done with inconsistent service and food as well and the ridiculous menu changes. There are too many other restaurants in the area that do it right and that’s where I will spend my money.

Yummy
By Nikkilovesitalian from Southside, May 27, 2009

Overall rating:

The gnocchi. Get the gnocchi. Best I've ever had!
The 3 way bruschetta is neat too. It's good that you can order just one kind if you're not too adventurous though! Creme brulee is also very good.

Atmosphere is great. I like the red led's on the bar, & the Charlie Chaplan silent films playing on the flat screens. Small candles, big booths, open wood burning stove/fireplace. All very unique, yet romantic and cool all in one? Everything is red & black. And fireballs instead of mints after dinner? Nice.

Besides this, the prices are reasonable for what you get. You won't be disappointed!

awesome gnocchi !
By Megan from Lakeview, December 5, 2008

Overall rating:

This place is great for so many reasons - the atmosphere is relaxing and chill. The wait staff is super friendly and very attentive. The drinks are great and the gnocchi sauce is the best I've ever had.

Forno
By kz from Lakeview, November 21, 2008

Overall rating:

I have been to this restaurant twice. The first time I had the ahi tuna salad and it was delicious - the ahi was incredibly fresh. The second time I had the chickpea bruschetta as an appetizer - it was ok - nothing special. The pizza would have been delicious, but only 1 out of every 3 slices had cheese (it was a cheese pizza) and the sauce was not sufficientlyflavorfull on its own. The service was medicore the first visit, but good the second. The ambience is nice. The outdoor deck was great in the summer. It's one of the better neighborhood restaurants.

Neighborhood Gem!
By WildWoman86 from Edgewater, July 19, 2008

Overall rating:

My boyfriend and I went to this place the other night on a random, I heard they allow dogs on the patio which is great because I just got a new puppy. The service was great and the cute fenced in patio is so homey! I had a margarhitta pizza and my he had the bella luna shrimp ( usually appitizer ) as an entree'. Both were outstanding! The shrimp had great italian spices. It's a perfect place to pop in on at least once a week. We were there on the Prix Fixe night...and though we didn't take up the offer, it does seem like a pretty good deal for $25. I am so happy I found a nice, clean place to go within walking distance that doesn't have sports and drunk people!

Diablo
By JR from Lakeview, July 12, 2008

Overall rating:

From the outside, this looks like a great place to hang out and get dinner and drinks but it was quite disappointing. The entrees were bland and the staff inexeperienced. The restaurant is overpriced for the quality of food that it is serving.

Must have been a different restaurant
By MMT from Lakeview, July 1, 2008

Overall rating:

I must have gone to a completely different restaurant than what I'm seeing reviewed. The overall service was adequate at best, but the food was completely boring and tasteless. When we asked the server about a wine, she didn't know anything about it so went to ask the bartender. The description we received was that it was fruity. That's it? The two pasta entrees we had had zero seasoning and were very bland. It's a shame because it could be a great addition to the neighborhood.

Great food, don't let the hostess turn you off.
By MiaLu from MiaLu, June 10, 2008

Overall rating:

The food at Forno Diablo is impressive. We came with a group on a Sunday night and sampled the pizza, risotto and a pasta special. Everything was terrific and the atmosphere is unique. Wait staff was attentive. The only turnoff was the hostess. She was rude and a bit mean.

Great Food...Service needs work
By ChrisJ007 from Lakeview, March 16, 2008

Overall rating:

I just had Sunday brunch here with a friend. There were a total of 5 tables that were sat with guests and one server on and one bartender. The service was VERY slow considering there didn't appear to be much going on. Service is key to any dining experience. The food was quite good, but with poor service even the best meal seems lackluster.