Bocca Osteria Romana Brings Italian Back to South Main - A FWF Review
Handmade pastas, unbelievable focaccia bread, warm hospitality, and a cozy ambiance.
No other cuisine has seen the surge of new openings in Fort Worth quite like Italian cuisine has. From Downtown spots like il Modo and Osteria 61, over to River District favorite, Gemelle, and Stockyards sweetheart, Caterina’s - Italian concepts have been hot in Cowtown. These openings join great company with longtime Fort Worth staples like Piola, Aventino’s, Nonna Tatta, and Bella Italia, giving Fort Worth locals handful of options to get their pasta fix.
In the face of many great options for Italian in town, Alfonso and Alessandro Salvatore and their cousin, Eduardo Mariel, are building something special at South Main’s newest opening: Bocca Osteria Romana.
Bocca Osteria Romana courtyard entrance (Image Source: Bocca Osteria Romana Fort Worth's Instagram)
For anyone that has walked South Main, you might remember the Rancho Loma Winery tasting room, which was tucked down the alley next to Emporium Pies. With their exit, locals have wondered the fate of the unique space. That is, until seasoned restaurant owners Alfonso and Alessandro announced their first U.S. concept. The brothers also own three other restaurants in San Juan, Puerto Rico: two locations of their Mexican concept, Acapulco, and the original location of Bocca Oseria Romana.
The new Fort Worth location for Bocca Osteria Romana opened in late August and is coming up on its 4th week open. While many restaurants focus heavily on PR and making their brand known ahead of time, a Google search reveals that they don’t even have a website. Until earlier this week, online reservations weren’t even available. For what we’d assume is 99% of other restaurants, this would make for a slower opening. Not for Bocca Osteria Romana. A quick glance at online reservations shows just about every reservation being swooped up for this past weekend and after chatting with the host, that’s been the case for the past three weekends. To me, that speaks to two things: one, Fort Worth locals support new openings in a big way and two, once folks tried it out, they spread the positive word to get their friends there.
Despite their packed reservation list for this most recent Friday night, I gave them a call Friday morning to see if we could grab ourselves a reservation. The space only seats about 40 inside and an additional 20 outside, so reservations can be tight. Luckily, they were able to move a few things around and set us up with a table for four on their patio. Despite the heat index at 95 degrees for 7pm that evening, we were thrilled to be able to get in.
As the restaurant waits for approval for their liquor license, it’s BYOB. So as we walked down the buzzy street of South Main, an older couple with a takeout box and corked wine noticed our wine in passing and said, “You’re going to love it. It’s amazing!” Anticipation was already high, but this was a great stamp of approval just minutes after their meal.
The Carbanara at Bocca Osteria Romana
As you walk down the alleyway, the gateway into the courtyard patio almost pops up on you with the words “Bocca Osteria Romana” painted over the arch. As we checked in for our reservation with the host, the indoor space was full. The host moved a few things around on his iPad and asked if we’d prefer a table inside instead of our patio reservation. With it still being over 90 outside, we jumped at the opportunity and were seated a few minutes later at an indoor four top table in the middle of the restaurant. The renovated space created a very warm and inviting experience - the conversation of each guest perfectly filled the air where it felt buzzy, but not loud. And you can see the team working in the kitchen and at the pass as each order fires to its destined table.
As the waiter opened and pour our first bottle of wine, we started with two orders of the focaccia bread. Most focaccia bread in my recent memory was pretty dense, but this was fluffy and full of flavor, and was almost a reevaluation of what focaccia bread could - and should - be. From my novice understanding, the 48 hour fermentation of the bread is the key to get that kind of profile. We followed up the bread with the arugula salad - a refreshing opener to our pasta dishes that were on the way.
The Rigatoni Arrabbiata at Bocca Osteria Romana which is made with pomodoro, sun dried tomatoes, and topped with serrano peppers
Between the four of us, we each chose different pasta dishes as our main course. I chose the Carbonara, my wife, Sara, chose the Rigatoni Arrabbiata, and our friends ordered the Bucatini All’Amatriciana and the Papperdelle Bolognese. For pasta dishes, I’m a sucker for a quality white sauce, while my wife loves a Rigatoni. Both of our meals hit the mark. Our friends shared they felt the same. Three of us practically licked the plate clean and Sara only had a few pieces left over because she knew she’d love the leftovers for lunch the next day. My only regret is not getting to try the rest of the options and not selecting one of their “secondi” dishes, which were either a veal shank or chicken breast. The table adjacent to us got both and both seemed to disappear as quickly as our pasta.
As we wrapped up our meal, one of the brothers, Alfonso, came over to ask how everything was. He is exceptionally warm and thrilled to welcome people in - a sentiment that was shared across every staff member we interacted with. We asked how they landed on Fort Worth and he shared that after the success at their other restaurants, they knew they wanted to open one in The States, specifically in a growing city. They thought about Nashville, Denver, and a few others, but set their sights on Dallas. After a few trips, he laughed saying that despite looking for spaces in Dallas, they kept being drawn back to Fort Worth and would spend most of their free time here. When they found the old Rancho Loma space, they couldn’t pass it up.
Overall, we’re excited Bocca Osteria Romana landed in Fort Worth and not Dallas. Their friendly hospitality, handmade pastas, and lovely atmosphere is a wonderful addition to the Fort Worth dining scene. We look forward to spending plenty more nights tucked away down the alley off South Main.
Bocca Osteria Romana is located at 411 S Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76104 (down the alley next to Emporium Pies) and is now open for dinner service Tuesday - Thursday from 4 - 9pm, Friday - Sunday from 4 - 10pm, and lunch service on Sunday from 11am - 4pm.
Bocca Osteria Romana is Fort Worth Founded certified.