il forno NY Pizza and Pasta

a Lunch spot review

Stay away from Il Forno (at least the branch on College Park) if you're looking for quick and competent service. We walked in to a little room bustling with activity. The only table empty had leftover effects from a previous meal. Not finding anyone approaching us with assistance, we sat ourselves down at the table to wait. Thankfully, there was a shortage of chairs, which forced one of us to grab an extra chair, and on his way back, as at the counter if service could be expected (or if it was an "order-first and sit-to-wait"-type place). We were assured that someone would come to take our order. Having waited a little while, we decided to browse through the menus, which had a decent selection. After a little eternity, the table was cleaned. After another eternity, someone came to take our order. My companions ordered a salad as well. The salads came first, and then the water. Another eternity ticked by: how can I tell? Well, we managed to discuss (a) the entire Hannibal Lecter series, in book AND movie form (that's all 4 versions!) (b) the issues that a store/restaurant allowing payment by credit card would have to deal with (c) the "Help Wanted" sign (how appropriate!!) on the front window. This lag was really unfortunate, because the Milano's Pizza we got was quite tasty and filling without being heavy (I could taste the bread too, which is a rarity in this age of topping-heavy overbaked crust). When the tab came, one of the staff offered to divide it conveniently for us. And vanished, never to be seen again. Desirous of not destroying an already overlong lunch break, we walked up to the register to pay. The person at the register agreed to split the tab, except he executed a simple 3-way split, instead of a fairly easy split based on the orders (despite receiving and understanding an explanation of what his associate had promised). On the drive back, we settled our deficits, but the suboptimal service (3 entities in all!) overwhelmed any positive reactions we had to the food.