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About the Business
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Roberto G.
Step inside Il Fornaio and take an award-winning culinary journey through Italy. Specialties include house made pastas, wood-fired pizza, grilled fish, authentic risotto, and rotisserie meats. Using the freshest ingredients and traditional cooking techniques, each Il Fornaio offers a wide variety of premium-quality Italian food paired with great wines and cocktails. With an event coordinator on site to handle all of your needs, Il Fornaio is the perfect location for special events and business functions. Repeat recipient of Wine Spectator's "Award of Excellence".
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- 57115842210Feb 18, 2024Updated review
I've been to Il Fornaio three times in the past 2 months. Twice at the Irvine location for customer meetings, but this recent time was in my hometown with my fiance for a date night. I haven't been to this location in years, and I vividly remember having just an OK experience the last time (also confirmed the sentiment as I reread my last review). That being said, I felt like an updated review was warranted since I had a much better experience this time around.
We had dinner reservations for 5:15pm on a Saturday night. Il Fornaio hasn't changed one bit. It's maintained its classiness over the years and aged quite well. When we sat at our table, there must've been 10 customers total in the entire restaurant. The restaurant quickly picked up, and as soon as you know it, the place was packed.
Service was excellent. Food came out in a timely manner, and our server was friendly and incredibly attentive. However, she seemed to be very diplomatic about her opinions on certain food items, so I had a hard time really choosing what to eat. I also wished that she brought to attention the menu with the specials, because I completely missed it. I had already placed my order for my entree by the time I saw what were the specials. (I would've gotten the lobster ravioli if I had known about them).
We shared the polpettine and calamari. The polpettine appetizer consisted of 3 beef meatballs in marinara sauce over soft polenta. The beef meetballs were particularly great. They had a nice smokiness to them. Enjoyed the calamari for the most part. The pieces were meaty and breaded well, but whoever prepared them had a heavy hand with the salt.
I was pretty stuffed with appetizers, so I opted for a caesar salad with anchovies. It was a very traditional caesar, which I enjoyed.
My fiance got braised short rib ravioli. This was a very interesting dish. Not saying it wasn't tasty, but it didn't taste Italian to me. It was like a beef dumpling stew.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0May 12, 2019Previous reviewI've been to Il Fornaio a handful of times - from casual sit-down dinners to banquet parties - but this review is specifically about Il Fornaio's Mother's Day Brunch Special. My family and I did Mother's Day at Il Fornaio's last year, and we really enjoyed it. Since we had a positive experience, we made reservations again for Mother's Day this year.
Il Fornaio does a brunch buffet for Mother's Day. The buffet consists of different areas including basic breakfast (e.g. scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast, and waffles), a carving station, an omelette station, seafood spread, non-breakfast hot food items, desserts, and cold cuts/artisan cheeses/breads/salads/other hors d'oeuvres.
The quality and variety of food just wasn't as impressive this time around. I actually had a difficult time choosing what to eat because nothing seemed that appealing to me... and trust me, I'm not a picky eater by any means! From what I ate today the roasted lamb and steamed vegetables were the only things I genuinely liked. The lamb, in particular, was tender, juicy, and cooked well.
I didn't care much for the desserts. The petit fours were good, but I've had store-bought cake that was better than the slice of chocolate cake I got from the buffet.
Overall service was fine. Our server was a very nice and friendly man. Although he wasn't that attentive, he had no problem making himself available whenever we needed assistance. - May 15, 20241 check-in
Made reservations just in case. The hostess was so kind when I let her know that we were having parking issues.
She seated us quickly
Our server was nice but could not understand him with his accent coupled with the noise level. He explained multiple times about the vegetarian part of the raviolis and I still couldn't make out what he said.
They brought our salad, but I would have thought in that upscale of a restaurant they would hold off bringing the entrees until they see that you finished your appetizers. I felt rushed.
The decor inside was so nostalgic with the vintage pictures of what the hotel and surrounding area looked like back in the day but just a warning that when they are busy it gets loud. The cozy feeling goes away. After our food was brought we didn't see our server again until he cleared our dishes and brought our check. It felt very robotic.
The food was decent. Our Caesar salad was portioned enough to share for 2 ppl. It could have used less sauce but croutons were really good with the garlic taste.
The meat sauce for the lasagna was flavorful but other than that I thought it was on the bland side. Definitely could have used more spice.
The butternut squash ravioli was good. The sauce had just enough brown sugar to round out the taste. The butternut inside was again just ok. Could have used more flavor.
We enjoyed the fresh bread.
I had mentioned that it was a special occasion on the reservation but no one asked about it.
Just an FYI...parking is absurd. We paid $15 across the street for little over an hour. Our alternative was valet through the hotel for $30. Personally it's a rip off.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Mar 23, 2024
Thai restaurant takes us right back to our trip in Italy. Restaurant is a good set up for first dates or anniversary celebrations. Food and menu are very authentic, service is very quick and everybody there were so nice. We came on a rainy Friday night at dinner time and were seated right away. We had a reservation, but the restaurant could've easily accommodated anybody without. We started with carpaccio and calamari for the table's appetizer and both were delicious. Linguini had the perfect amount of sauce and tasted very light, the seafood in it was fresh. The salmon had a slight crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, sitting on a bed of spinach with a side of potatoes.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Rosa A.Petaluma, CA097155May 8, 2024
Guest at the Westin had their breakfast. The ambiance is clean, elegant, with Italian murals painted in the walls, service was good. Food was fresh, good portion. Price was $$$$ but maybe that is the same everywhere for this area.
Helpful 1Thanks 1Love this 1Oh no 0 - Ashraf S.Trabuco Canyon, CA17May 16, 2024
This place was absolutely perfect!
Hosted a large group of 25 and the staff was amazing! Ihab is an absolute gem! Consummate professional, pleasant, polite. He is the type of person to make you come back again and again. Food is also good, but this guy is something else.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Sep 27, 2023
Had a work meeting here today with a reservation.
The ambiance of this place is cute. Our table was just behind the whole wall of wines which I thought was a nice view. They also offered outdoor seating which I think would be great for a dinner as they had string lights out there as well.
We were able to sit down while waiting for the rest of the party to arrive and ordered 3 apps: the calamari, capriccio, and the bruschetta. Size for calamari isn't much but was crunchy and flavorful. As for the capriccio, it was just okay but I did like the dressing on the greens. Paired well with it. First time trying the bruschetta and i loved the basil pesto one! Delicious.
I got their rigattoni, gluten free with scallop and it was great! Scallop tasted fresh. Wished I had asked for cheese but thats okay. Pairs well with the sparkling water I ordered!
Service was really nice. Had our server checked up on us periodically and refilled our water/took our plates away.
Would come back again to try their lasagna, ravioli or even their linguinie!! First time at an upscale italian restaurant and met my expectations.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - 38982282Jan 2, 2024
My bf took me here for our anniversary and I loved it! We ordered an espresso martini and the Tuscan lemonade for bar drinks. They were both delicious and dangerous since you couldn't really taste the alcohol. For food we ordered the lasagna and the rigatoni alla vodka. Both were amazing and we had no complaints about taste. The position for the rigatoni could have been a little better but it got me to a good full that doesn't put you over the top. The service was great as well, everyone was helpful and super attentive. The place itself is definitely casual for lunch but we were a little more dressed up for our occasion. I would definitely recommend trying this place out :)
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 2 - Kevin S.Campbell, CA03May 19, 2024
Great brunch and service. The food was good and the atmosphere was sufficient and service was good.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Oct 7, 2023
Came here with some work colleagues and had a great lunch. The interior is beautiful and elegant. The staff was very knowledgeable, attentive and took great care of us. I had the Branzino Al Limone and it was great. The fish was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I usually don't like capers but the combination of the string beans, potatoes and the sauce was really good. Overall it was a great experience and I would definitely come back again.
Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 3Oh no 0
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