Pallotta’s Italian Grill

Our favorite go-​to Italian restaurant. Phil, the owner, is always making sure all customers are taken care of. Chicken ala Pallotta and Chicken Bella are my favorite dishes. The salads are always crisp and the plate is cold. The minestrone (yum) and Tomato Basil (yum) soups are piping hot and so flavorful. Portions are really generous, plan to take some home. Love the appetizers — the lolli pop meatballs are so flavorful. And the desserts… well there is always a new treat on the menu.

My family likes Pallotta’s a lot. Decent Italian food and decent service. The food is hit-​or-​miss. Sometimes it’s really good and sometimes it’s mediocre. It has never been bad and sometimes it has been excellent. If you like Italian and have never been it’s worth a visit.

Good dining experience once again. Arrived at seven on Saturday night, so had a little wait. Decided to grab two seats at the bar. Good bar service and full scale bar. Got seated by the hostess before the given wait time. Our dinner was on point again. Looking forward to coming back again.

This is my wife and I favorite Italian restaurant. We have been regulars for over five years. The food is fresh and delicious. There are lots of off the menu items. They have great traditional Italian dishes as well.

I had heard so many great things about Palotta’s on my Foodie group, I thought they may have changed over the years because we never did care for it. First, I will say the service was wonderful. Very friendly, attentive and patient. Quaint restaurant, pleasant atmosphere, can’t be why there weren’t too many patrons at noon on Friday, so that leads me back to suspect it has something to do with the food. My friend loves Italian food and with my Uncle being Sicilian, also loves my cooking; I know good food, whether Sicilian or Italian. We looked at the menu and nothing stood out as a must have dish. We ordered Tomato Basil Soup with our lunch. Again, I had heard how delicious it was so we thought we couldn’t go wrong. The soup was good, had a nice flavor, but by no means was it the best I have ever had. I always know a (real) homemade meatball and I asked it they made them in house? Wait Staff said yes so I ordered one to try. Dry, not tender with very little to nil seasoning and if I had ordered an order of Spaghetti and Meatballs, would have been very disappointed. Instead, I ordered the Sausalita. Chicken, mushrooms and a few other things I can’t remember because I ate only a few bites and took it home to my husband (Mikey) since he eats everything. Another friend joined us and they both tasted what my friend ordered and both concurred it tasted like a store bought sauce. I brought my food to my husband and even he didn’t care for it. Really hoping things had changed; guess I am hard to please. Was so hoping to have a stand out Italian Place to go to near us and leave a better review.

Didn’t care for the food here. Bland, cheesy. We like Carabbas across the Highway much better

Amazing food and great service. We go there at least once a week and can’t get enough. Phil the owner is a great guy with a great business. Alaina is our go to server and she just blows it out the water. Thanks for the great and original dishes.

Delicious. The owner is super friendly, we love this place. Family friendly and all food is fresh and awesome. The best place for Italian in the woodlands

Visit on 3÷11÷16 — evening
It was our first trip here after hearing wonderful things about it. The décor was nice and the live guitar wasn’t too bad either. Food quality was excellent. We had a few bumps along the way though.
I’m guessing that our server had a headache or was just having a particularly bad day. She seemed so-​so happy one trip and downright surly the next. Wife asked about juices for the kids (options were pineapple, orange and something else) and the server huffed them out and made sure to point out the upcharge (that’ll be important later). We ended up opting for sprite and drinks showed up in short order. Had another huffy incident an there was something on the table where the server wanted to place the drinks. Rather than place the drinks in the available open space, I had to keep moving stuff around like puzzle pieces (w/​o guidance) until the server felt it was OK to put down the drinks… or slam them down in my case.
About 15 – 20 minutes later, she comes back for our order. Kids got bowtie pasta, wife got Manicotti and I ordered the Shrimp Alexa. I’d asked the server about trying to get marinara on the pasta instead, got huffed at (again) and she gave me that «tone» as she pointed at the menu and said «see, it says hint of tomato sauce right there». Not willing to further endanger my meal by pointing out that the two weren’t equivalent, I instead asked for no mushrooms which she had no issue with.
Fast forward to plates coming out about 15 minutes later. Kids plates were well-​sized and our portions were as well. As mine is being placed on the table, I hear the server state, Shrimp Alexa… no olive oil. I point out that mine was supposed to be sans mushrooms and the server smiles and says loudly «will there be anything else?». Now, despite the music playing, there’s zero chance she didn’t hear me and she only wants to get away from the table. Grrr.
Now, for those of you who really LIKE mushrooms, let me tell you that you will truly love the Shrimp Alexa as I spent the better part of the next ten minutes extracting them from the dish. The volume of mushrooms was only exceeded by the pasta itself and was greater than that of the shrimp.
Another 10 minutes goes b and our waitress stops by. Yay! I can finally get a drink refill. She immediately notices the rather large pile of mushrooms I’ve extracted onto a nearby bread plate and asks the captain obvious question at this point…“Oh, did they put mushrooms on it?“
At this point, I’ve waited long enough for dinner and I’ve just decided to tolerate it. (Server didn’t seem to inclined to do anything about it anyway)
We’re done in relatively short order (which is a miracle considering our picky 4 yr-​old), and the server asks the wife and I if we wanted anything for dessert. I opted out for me personally and the check is there in a flash.
I wish I’d seen her drop it, as I was wondering where the kids Ice Cream was. Another 5 minutes go by, we flag her down and ask that very question. Her response? «I always leave that up to the parents.» Hmm. Don’t you have to actually ASK the parents in order to get a response? You made sure to point out fine print on the kids menu earlier, yet the bold print about the ice cream slipped your mind? Not sure if this is a house policy, but making folks ask for items that are plainly listed seems silly. While I get that some parents would like the choice to opt-​out, it doesn’t follow that we should have to opt-​in.
Other than the Ice Cream (which was hard and had a consistency closer to that of ice milk), the food was excellent in portion sizes, taste, and presentation. I’m hoping that if I decide to visit in the future, it’ll go more smoothly.

The grilled mushrooms are the best I’ve had any where and I’ve tried many others. Also the tenderloin dinner with 3 medallions are fantastic! Great food, great live music, great time, must try!

Where to begin! I can’t say enough good about this place! If I could give 10 stars I would! It’s in an older strip center but don’t let the outside fool you. The best tomato basil soup I’ve ever had! The pasta is light and so fresh. Phil has a monthly special which I always try and I’ve never been disappointed. The owner, Phil, is very personable and when he’s there it’s not unusual to see him walking around asking everyone how their meal is, great customer service! Prices and portions are the best!!! If I’m not ordering the special I always get the lasagna, it’s amazing! They have weekly lunch specials for $ 6 and you can’t beat that for the awesome food you get and I promise you will leave stuffed!!! I’ve had a few bday dinners here with 15+ ppl and they accommodate at last minute. They also have a banquet room you can reserve for large groups. I chose this place over ANY Italian restaurant anywhere in the Houston area. You will not be disappointed, everyone I have introduced this place to is addicted!

First, the service was great, and the restaurant is very nice. Second, Being of Italian descent, I can be quite biased when it comes to Italian food. I use my Great Grandmothers sauce recipe. On that note, I was EXTREMELY disappointed in my main course. The sauce tasted like Ragu, not homemade or, to me truly Italian. But, my in laws did enjoy their meal, although my SIL, agreed that the sauce was Ragu. I can go to a grocery store and get my own Ragu and throw it on some linguine. I don’t want to pay double that for the same jar.
Update: I will say, I am impressed by the owners response to my messages. And, yes sir I will definitely give your restaurant another shot.

The boyfriend and I are always raving about Pallotta’s, but the food missed the mark a bit on our visit last night. We arrived earlier than the rest of our guests to get a table because we know how busy it can get. The hostess and front of house manager were VERY polite and accommodating and we were seated within about 30 minutes by the time the rest of our party arrived.
Our waiter informed us the bottle of wine we wanted to order was sold out but a few minutes later the front of house manager informed us that he had found a bottle and was chilling it for us! That was great service, especially since the boyfriend and I were talking about how Pallotta’s introduced us to this particular wine and now we buy it for home!
We ordered calamari for a table appetizer and I thought it was wonderful as it has been. I think everyone liked their soups or salads that came with the entrees too. However, for several of us, the entrees just weren’t as spectacular as I remember it being in the past. Maybe it’s because we ordered something different from our regular favorites? I ordered The Benjamin which says that it has a spicy pavia sauce, but there was no spice at all — not even salt it seemed. The boyfriend ordered the 53 ½ and he said it was okay but not as good as other things he has ordered in the past.
I’m hoping it was just a busy Saturday night for them and this is not the direction Pallotta’s is heading. Since I saw Phil walking around the restaurant I’m just going to assume it was an off night for us. Hopefully the next time we swing up to the Woodlands area we’ll have a better experience.

Hadn’t been here in YEARS, but the day after Thanksgiving when no one was open, we were excited to throw it back to an old favorite. My family and I all tried different entrees– I opted for the Ziti w/​Sausage. Not only was it huge, but it came with a dinner salad as well. Our waiter was great, but it did take quite some time for our dinner to arrive. We also decided to try their coffee a long with their Italian cream cake for dessert. Both were delicious, but once again took forever. I like this place overall– its cute, the service is great, but I wouldn’t come back if I was in a hurry.

Kids eat free on Mondays!!! A great reason to come here! Great portions for children and they get ice cream slice as dessert! I’ve never seen an ice cream shaped into a slice! :) Dinner was good. I ordered the dish under «lighter» side. Vegetables with linguine pasta sauced with olive oil. Ummmm… this plain dish was $ 13. A little steep for this dish. I won’t be getting this one. There is a salad dressing that’s red and is super good!!! You can put on your pasta. In fact, the owner/​chef came to chat with is. He will know what’s Good on the menu! ;) Will be back! The Restuarant is a tad bit loud! You can hear everyone!!! Therefore, if you have a crying baby or need a date night and had to take the baby you still can! They will fit right in! ;)

So, first of all the hostess was anything but hostess-​like. I used to be in the restaurant industry and know how hard the job is-​but seriously? I’ve never seen a person so uninterested.
Next, I waited five minutes to be greeted. No one would even acknowledge my presence until I flagged down said uninterested hostess for a waiter.
Finally, the food was really sub-​par. The fish tasted frozen and the noodles were swimming in an overwhelming butter sauce. Couldn’t even finish a few bites.
There are so many places in The Woodlands, I’m disappointed that I spent all my per diem here:(

Went there this past week with my mom and grandma. They ordered lasagna and said there was no meat in either of theirs, the sauce was too sweet, and way too much cheese. Neither ate even half of their meal and did not get it to go. They said they were sick the rest of the day.
I ordered a chicken dish and the chicken was luke warm, the fettuccine alfredo sauce tasted store bought.
The waitress never introduced her name. She never refilled my water and seemed to hurry us through by keep coming by and trying to take our plates.
This is 2^nd time we tried this place. The last time was for my grandma’s birthday. Again the waitstaff was lacking and several times we had empty drinks. At the end my mom had several togo boxes all in one bag. She left with my grandma, who is disabled, and forgot the food. No one brought it out and it takes them a good 10 minutes to get in their car. I know during that time they cleared the table and didn’t even try to see if she left and bring her food to her. Or even offer to help since my mother is elderly and busy with my disabled grandma.
There are so many better Italian restaurants and much much better service elsewhere.

Margarita pizza is bad! Worse than microwave pizza. Eggplant parm was tasty but a little tough. Minestrone soup was below average. Bowtie pesto was ok but nothing to rave about. Tilapia is said to be good. Nice ambience. Overall, average.

Extremely disappointed, I really wanted to like this place, which is why I had it bookmarked for so long.
When I asked for vegetarian options from our mediocre waitress, she simply said «salad». I even asked if they could substitute veggies in a pasta or something, but nope. The shrimp dish I ordered was sub par, missing any type of seasoning. When I asked the waitress for parmesan, she pointed to the old bottle on the table. The Alfredo was nothing special, I could have got a better one down the road at a franchise, and that’s saying something. The salad was the only good thing, and the rolls and butter were fine. I mainly wanted to try the tomato soup, but it’s made with chicken stock.
When we were fixing to leave, I asked for a to go box and bag since we were in a hurry, which the waitress knew, but she still only brought me a box and not a bag. I asked again for a bag and saw her decide to take others orders instead and let me wait. I paid my bill and left, with salad dressing dripping from the box when I got to the car. It was wasted, and I was mad that she didn’t even care enough to take care of one customer before starting on others, especially since she knew we were in a hurry. I wanted to try a few of there apps at happy hour, but we were there on the weekend. I usually try to try a place a couple of times before writing a review, but I can’t say that I would come back. Our waitress was lucky she even got a tip. I left very angry at even suggesting this restaurant to my family.

I have lived in the area for over 10 years and have never tried Pallotta’s. Boy, I have been missing out on ten years worth of great Italian food!
I went on a Friday night during Happy Hour. There was live music and quite a crowd at the bar. Our party was seated right away and our excellent server Mark proceeded to thoroughly explain the entire menu. He clarified that top tomato is their marinara, Pavia sauce is like Alfredo, CBP is cracked black pepper, and YRG is yellow, red, and green bell peppers. The menu is quite extensive and they even have two pages of healthy options with weight watchers points included.
Decided to try some of the Happy Hour apps for only $ 3.50. They are smaller portions which you will be thankful for once you see the size of your entrée! Tried the toasted ravioli and the Italian lollipops and both were served with the fabulous top tomato sauce and garlic bread. I paired them with a Christina Aguilera martini served extra dirrrty.
Entrees come with soup or salad, but I of course tried both. The tomato basil soup is absolutely delicious! The Greek salad is so big it could be a meal on it’s own. Did I mention the warm rolls and garlic butter that come with your soup and salad? Yum!
For my main dish I went with the lighter Chicken a la Catie, a goat cheese topped chicken which I opted to have served over spinach instead of whole wheat pasta. I also tasted the Chicken Sausalito and that spicy sausage made the dish!
It will be impossible to do, but try and save room for dessert or take some home to go. I had the carrot cake and it was incredibly moist and not overly sweet. I plan on returning soon to try the seasonal pumpkin cheesecake.