Forno Bello Wood Fired Pizza & Italian Cuisine

Reviews 7

JI

Jim4tier

First and last time. We started with a pizza which was very good despite cheap cheese that burns. We ordered a glass of wine and a beer. The beer had no carbonation and I decided to not say anything because its really not in my nature to complain when eating out. Entrees included alfredo which was basically soup, and chicken marsala which had crusty hard little pieces of I dont know what in it, tried to ignore it but it was grossing me out. I decided to mention it to the waitress and her response was along the lines of "wow really, ok. Ill say something to the kitchen. Do you want a box?" We both said no and she responded sarcastically asking us if we want deserts or coffee. She came back and at that time I mentioned the flat beer that I never even drank. Again she was sarcastic and said I will say something. No apology, no rectifying the situation, no remorse. We are not scum bags trying to get free food even know thats how we were treated. We left both our meals and my beer at the table. And paid for it all. I work in customer service and this was unacceptable. Any compensation would have helped either the beer or the food even know both should have been addressed. I should of just walked across the street to checkers in retrospect... btw this is not authentic Italian cuisine, its a joke to even call it that.

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JE

Jerry Minnick

Wow! Super everything at Forno Bello!! My favorite "any cuisine" restaurant in Florida. Seriously. We drive an hour to Deland just to eat at Forno Bello. Always fresh and tasty. Everything! Start off with the Drunken Mussels... absolutely the best mussels Ive eaten anywhere in the world. A generous number of very clean, fresh and flavorful mussels with a complement of garlic garnished with basil and diced tomatoes in white wine sauce. The sauce with their fresh bread is a meal in itself. MmmmmMmm! Bistecca Insalata is very good. The wedge salad is loaded with thick chunks of bacon, yummy blue cheese and tomato. Boom! Awesome! Then, the wood fired pizza. OMGosh!!! The reason we drive an hour for dinner. Nothing is comparable to a pizza baked in a wood fired oven. The wood enhances the already incredible Cremini Mushroom pizza. They make their own sweet sausage -- an art form -- with fresh mozzarella and garlic then caramelized onions. One review I read stated "the bottom of the pizza was burned"... thats what happens to the bottom of a pizza in a 600°+ oven. Thankfully, it doesnt have corn meal on the bottom like Dominos, either. A "must" if you visit this quaint and clean small college town. My wife and I make a point of driving to Deland for this gem.

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Jennifer N

Small town has limited options on places to eat. Ive been to DeLand a few time now and have found some great gems and some Downtown. I was not impressed with the food here. My boyfriend and I went here, he asked the server is the lasagna was made fresh every day, nope, its made once a week.... I dont even know what to think of that. Then he asked about the ravioli, she stated they were frozen. Needless to say Im not really impressed with your Italian offerings. I told him to get a pizza since that is in the name and there is a wood fire so it cant be frozen right. The pizza was super greasy and the "bacon" was giant chunks. The Pasta Ala Vodka was so so, the pasta was very al dente, maybe so much it wasnt cooked. The chicken was dry and not very well flavored. We also ordered the appetizer sampler, pretty sure most everything was frozen, but since it was all deep fried it wasnt so bad. Server never really stopped by to check up on us, and didnt bring plates for the sampler. In addition the pizza came out much later than the rest of the table.

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EL

Elizabeth Shuart

I dont normally post reviews online, but after reading a few that were posted here and other sites, I felt compelled to defend this yummy, new establishment to the Downtown DeLand area. I went solely for the wood fire pizza and I was not disappointed! The crust was perfect and the sauce was very tasty. Im from New York and generally enjoy a thinner crust, but I was delightfully surprised at how crispy this one was. I did the Make your Own and chose sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and sausage. The tomatoes were amazing and the pizza was yummy. The decor and look of the place is beautiful. The server was very kind and attentive. The wait was a little long on the pizza, but from where we were seated, we could see that he was very busy. We were told that it was the owner making the pizzas. He didnt stop the entire time we were there! My friends ate pizza as well, so we havent tried the pasta dishes or sandwiches. I will be back to try a few things that caught my eye.

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Don Millett

I was absolutely flabbergasted with our "attempt" at a meal tonight, Fri, 9/20/13. We were promptly seated at 6:10pm -- four adults and a child. We ordered an appetizer which was delivered after our salads. The childs pizza was delivered fairly promptly. We (adults) waited over two hours for our meals -- on four separate occasions (without us asking), our waitress said "your meals are the next up," only to be disappointed. Three of the four meals were stone cold. A person identifying herself as the Owner came to our table and apologized as, and I quote it is "trial and error" and we werent prepared. Shocked is beyond belief. Needless to say I came home without eating as did my daughter-in-law. The others were just plain not satisfied. The "owner" you would have thought, would have comped all the meals and offered a coupon for our next visit -- FORGET IT, we will not be back!!! The Worst!!

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P Bananaland

Stopped in on a Saturday afternoon. We were a large party and sat in the bar. Once our food was served (about 45 minutes after arrival), a woman who never introduced herself, came to our table and stated that someone complained that we were loud amd we need to quiet down. She promptly walked away without waiting for a response. There had been another large party that had left a few minutes prior and the only other customers were a party of two sitting next to us and who were chatting with us the entire time. We were loud. There 10 of us. In a bar area. The food was just okay. Our waiter was not knowledgeable of menu items and seemed genuinely terrified of the woman who scolded our table. It was an awkward situation. I was mortified. I will never return. There are far too many restaurant choices

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RO

robert hiller

Well my daughter had been here before. This was my first time. We ordered the caesar salad. Which was fresh and delicious would be nice to have some garlic bread with it. Then my daughter had the raviolis /w sauces and a chicken parmesan light sauce. Which both were delicious. I had the eggplant parm. Sub. /w bread on the side which I had them put, Butter on and put in oven. I then put some garlic and parm. cheese on it. It was so good I would have paid for the bread as a side order. The waitress was very good. We had more there one person ask how everything was. I will be back again. Leanora Guyett Theresa B. Hiller

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