Buona Forchetta – San Marcos
I’ve had Buona Forchetta on my list to try for a while now. Finally made it in with the fam on New Year’s Day. I made reservations on OpenTable and there was no issue. Buona Forchetta started back in 2011 in South Park and has since grown into a group of about six or so fine Italian restaurants throughout San Diego County. The location in San Marcos is interesting. Situated on the ground floor of a multi-story apartment building, all in a tree-lined town square type environment. It was a really nice setting. Parking was easy in the adjacent parking structure, it’s a very short walk. Service from everyone we encountered was excellent! The staff were all so friendly and genuine. We really felt welcomed. Some of the furnishings inside seemed rather avant-garde.
The food here is intriguing. I was impressed with their menu full of highly customizable pasta dishes, a vast array of pizzas, etc. There’s even a daily special menu with a number of creative looking entrees. We started with an appetizer called “Pizza in a Glass”. I had such high hopes for this one. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it though, it was terrible. Messy, hard to eat, not easily shareable and served stone cold. The fried dough nodules were roughly the size of a pinto bean or large polyp. This one should be a hard pass. The bread servcie was tasty, although sliced too thin and also served cold. Not impressed. Fortunately our mains were all very good. I had Bucatini Carbonara and the pasta was exquisite; cooked al dente. The carbonara was authentic, although could have used a little more moisture overall. I had a few bites of my sons lamb ragu pappardelle and it was outstanding. Very robust flavors.
I highly recommend checking out any of their locations. Although no full bar, they do have an impressive wine and beer list. Buona Forchetta is a fun and unique place to visit that is not like many other restaurant experiences in SoCal.
Food Observations 