Farotto's Rock Hill - May 2013 Review From My Wife

The following is a review from my wife who visited Farotto's in Rock Hill with her mother this week. I know I have not been there myself in several years after remembering that it was just okay and nothing fantastic myself. They have been in business a long time and definitely have a following, but they just have never excited anyone in our family. Here is what my wife had to say:

Every time we pass Farotto's, my mother asks if we've been there.  She always notices how full the parking lot is and wonders if it's any good.  I kept telling her that we had eaten there a long time ago and that it was only mediocre.  In fact, I remember having fettucine alfredo that had too much garlic in it and sitting at a table that seemed like it was in a thoroughfare.  I kept telling my mom that the reason the parking lot is so full is that there are so few spaces.  However, I finally gave in and today we went to Farotto's for lunch.  We parked in one of the few spaces along the front of the restaurant, right along Manchester Road.  We were seated in a bright atrium-like room by the window, across the room from the only other customers at the time.  (By the end of our meal, these table was vacated but only one other was filled.) 

We decided to order the daily lunch special in which we got a 9" thin crust pizza, house salad, and a drink for just under $10.  I asked our waiter how flavorful the pizza was, as I was trying to decide whether to have my usual plain pizza or to get pepperoni on top, but he said that it was very flavorful.  In fact, he said that he thought that Farotto's had the best pizza in St. Louis.  Incredulous, I asked if he had ever been to La Pizza (I think their pizza is best) and he said that he had, but he thought Farotto's pizza was better.  I ordered my pizza plain.  To cut to the chase, I disagree wholeheartedly with our waiter.  Farotto's thin crust pizza was bland.  The provel cheese and sauce "merged" to make a bland but very orange layer of cheese over what was actually a decent crispy (wood fired?) crust.  Frankly, a $3 Super Jack's pizza from the freezer section of the grocery store is more flavorful.  Farotto's pizza is not even in the same ballpark as La Pizza's pizza.  The salad was also bland. It was just iceberg lettuce drowning in a bland viniagarette with not quite enough provel cheese and a single cherry tomato cut in half.  Ironically, my iced tea glass honored Farotto's 25 years in business, but I can't imagine why people would keep coming back.  The maze of intimate dining areas is kind of cool, but the food is sub par.