About Forbici Modern Italian
The name is Italian for scissors — the tool used to cut Roman-style pizza into irregular, shareable pieces at the table — and it signals Forbici's philosophy from the outset. This is Italian food designed for the table rather than the individual: pizza that comes to the center, pasta that arrives in portions meant to be passed around, antipasto that begins a meal rather than anchors it. The format is social, the room is energetic, and the Hyde Park Village location means the outdoor tables and the bar both fill quickly after 7pm.
Located on Snow Avenue in Hyde Park Village, Forbici sits a block from Meat Market Tampa — two restaurants that have given the neighbourhood a dining identity that extends beyond the inevitable Hyde Park sushi and brunch spots. The building is modern but unpretentious: high ceilings, warm lighting, a bar that functions as a genuine room rather than a waiting area. The kitchen is open enough that you can follow the pizza operation from your seat, which is part of the appeal of the format.
The Roman-style pizza is the opening argument for Forbici. Baked in rectangular trays and cut with scissors, it has a different character from Neapolitan or New York — a lighter, airier crumb, a crust that is crisp without being crackerlike, a base that can support toppings without sagging. The kitchen uses it as a canvas for preparations that feel Italian without being predictable: cured meats sourced with intention, fresh mozzarella made properly, vegetable combinations that season with intelligence.
The pasta menu is the second reason to visit and, for some regulars, the primary one. Housemade pasta prepared daily, treated as the central expression of the kitchen's skill. Cacio e pepe executed with enough pepper and enough cheese to be legitimate. Carbonara that does not contain cream. A seasonal pasta that changes to follow what is excellent rather than what is consistent. The kitchen has a point of view about Italian cooking, and it shows.
Why Forbici is Hyde Park's Best Birthday Table
Forbici's format was designed, consciously or not, for birthdays. The shareable pizza and pasta create a communal table dynamic — everything arrives at the center, everyone reaches across, the meal becomes a shared experience rather than a series of individual plates. The room's energy rises through the evening, and by 9pm on a weekend, Forbici has the kind of festive atmosphere that makes a birthday feel genuinely celebratory rather than merely noted. The Italian-American cocktail programme — Aperol spritzes, Negroni variations, amaro digestifs — provides the structure for an evening that does not have to end with the dessert course.
The Roman Pizza
The technique behind Roman-style pizza requires different equipment and a different dough formulation than Neapolitan, and the result is categorically different rather than merely similar. The rectangular trays produce a pizza with consistent thickness and an even distribution of topping that round pies make structurally difficult. The scissors service is theatrical but also practical — the irregular shapes and sizes allow the table to take what it wants from a central dish, and the format encourages ordering more than one variety to cover the table rather than committing each person to a single preparation.
The Pasta Programme
Daily pasta production is the commitment that distinguishes serious Italian restaurants from the ones that serve dried pasta and call it Italian. Forbici's kitchen makes its pasta each morning, and the difference is in the texture — the resistance, the way the sauce clings differently to fresh pasta, the egg-richness that gives the dishes their density. The cacio e pepe is the benchmark preparation: three ingredients, one technique, and complete exposure of both. Forbici's version passes the test.
What Diners Say
Celebrated my 40th at Forbici with twelve people. The shareable pizza format meant we ordered everything and tried everything. The cacio e pepe alone would have been worth the evening. The room got progressively louder and more fun as the night went on. Exactly what a birthday should feel like.
The Roman pizza format is ideal for a first date — ordering one to share immediately creates a shared decision, and eating from the same plate makes the meal feel less formal than the typical first-date dinner. The pasta is genuinely excellent. The Negroni is very good. My date became my partner. Forbici takes partial credit.
Took the team here after a hard quarter. The shareable format made the dinner feel like a celebration rather than an obligation. The kitchen sent out three pizzas and four pasta dishes for eight people and the table cleared every plate. The energy in that room on a Friday night is genuinely excellent.