Monday, July 5, 2010

Patrizio's (almost), La Familia and a Stroll along 7th Street.

I have been wanting to go to Patrizio's. My son had spoken highly of their Dallas location and had brought home some pasta from a visit to their restaurant on 7th. It was very tasty and had the texture of fresh, not dried pasta. I was intrigued. But he warned me, "they just opened, and the service was bad, worse than bad." I heard the same from one other person. Good food, bad service. I still wanted to try it.

Saturday night we did, or almost did. We knew it would be crowded and it was. 30 - 60 minute wait. We signed up, walked around a bit, and at thirty minutes checked in to see how much longer, "at least another 30 minutes," said the hostess. I had been watching the outdoor diners and there were way too many tables without food, so I bailed. We walked up to La Familia. Good food, great service, very friendly people.

I'll return to Patrizio's. I'm not bashing them for what I have heard about the service, or the wait, it's new and it was Saturday night. Your opinion and comments would be appreciated here.

7th Street is hopping, though. W7th has got it going on. Fred's was doing well. As was Baileys, Pachuigo, Sweet Sammies, and everybody but Brownstone. They looked kind of slow. But it's hard to tell with them because all the seating is inside.

What is most interesting to me is all the development behind the W7th buildings. Fred's has got to be loving all the new attention. But also a place called the Backyard at Capital Bar, Poag Mahone's, and a few other bars were doing well.

7th Street is growing in all directions, with more to come. We did walk up to La Familia from Patrizio's, and I hope the city can somehow make 7th more pedestrian and bicycle friendly from the river to University. As Kevin Buchanan at FortWorthology suggests, take out a car lane each way, add a bike lane and a wide sidewalk. Make crossing the street easy, which it is not, right now.

How much development can the Fort Worth take?  No one knows, of course, but I love the kind of funky, warehouse conversions behind 7th, and I especially hope they do well.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

good post. hope Patrizio's gets better.

Unknown said...

Don't give up on it yet. If you can go for lunch, the service is much better when they are a little less crowded. I lived in Dallas for a while and I can tell you it is just as good as that location or better minus the service, which you are right they don't have down yet.

Defnitely try it out! The open faced ravioli is pretty amazing

Francis Shivone said...

Thanks Lorene -- good suggestion.

Callie Salls said...

I had excellent service on a Sunday evening a couple weeks ago. The pasta dishes were poor (overcooked pasta, watery sauce)but I enjoyed the bellinis and crab cakes.

Francis Shivone said...

Sorry to hear that, Callie. I have still not made my first visit. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Patrizios Fort Worth has been having big issues with crime. People are having purses and wallets stolen while eating. I don't remember what the food or service is like because I'm so focused on keeping my purse in my lap since I myself had a wallet stolen from me last time I ate there.