Matt V.
Yelp
Very disappointing.
We had the spaghetti with pesto, added chicken. Also had the riggatoni with mamma rosa, also added chicken.
Pasta were undercooked, still tasted raw and chewy. Not al dente at all, like all good pasta should be.
Most highly disappointing was the sauces. Under seasoned, dry. Pesto needed more olive oil! There was very little if any at all, it is as if the chef completely forgot about the olive oil. Mamma rosa sauce was way too salty, very unbalanced, non acidic 100%. You could get better sauce from Chef Boyardee! The cook at Dal Moro, please pay attention to the recipe on how to make each sauce!
The chicken cubes were frozen defrosted chicken, as it was very evident that it was not fresh chicken at all. Worst of all, the chicken was added after the fact, meaning it had no flavor at all. It was not blended with the sauces, as any amateur cook would know to do. You gain a lot of flavor if you cook your sauces along with your protein!
Moving on, counter service was very unfriendly.
The menu lists free toppings such as garlic powder, parmesan cheese, chili flakes. Only chili flakes were on the counter for you to use. You had to ask for extra garlic powder and parmesan cheese from what I assume, was the manager. She dressed in casual clothes versus that of the rest of the crew who wore Dal Moro uniforms. She had to give me the two shakers for these respective toppings from the back, and worst, even kept an eye on me like she was supervising me when I was shaking it onto my pasta! You're a franchise, this is part of your operating costs. Give the people their parmesan cheese and garlic powder! We are paying customers, not to be looked at like we're freeloading your toppings!
There was a long line up forming to wait for their pasta orders, and they had a guy slowly at a turtle's pace refilling the drinks that no one was ordering at the time. Meanwhile, they had two people in the kitchen cooking pasta who were getting overwhelmed. This is when a good manager would tell the worker to help out in the kitchen. People are there for the pasta, not for $2.25 cans of Coke! He was blocking people who was trying to get their orders. There was a severe lack of organization.
To sum it up, I would not recommend this place to anyone at all for now. There are better alternatives in the Food District, such as La Carnita, or the speciality pie place. There are major, major glaring issues from the front of house to the back of house at Dal Moro's Square One. The owner of this franchise needs to get involved, as this was also a Saturday, a busy day for any restauranteur to observe the flow of their business!
