il fornaio

good not great. i come toilfornaio every month with friends. we come late in the evening, when it isn't so crowded, and we always order from the regional tasting menu (fixed price, 3 courses, about $40). i've done this for 2 years now. now and then, i have a great meal. there is usually one very good course on the tasting menu. one month, it was just meh all around. that's not bad over a 2-year period.
i do not eat here otherwise; it is too crowded and expensive. the kitchen can be slow when the restaurant is busy.

crunchy risotto, stacked chairs, arrogant staff. this is such a nice location in a nice building with the promise of being a place you can use as a reliable and upscale eatery for business meetings or a relaxing brunch. too bad, fooled you again.

il fornaio is chain with pretensions and no ability to cook risotto. really, risotto is something so easy a child could make it but theilfornaio one is undercooked and hard on the inside with absolutely no taste.

there is nothing on the menu that i have tried that is actually well made. it sounds nice, looks ok but the food is really poor. the sf restaurant is the best one i have found and it rises only to the level of competent.

don't rely on the nice pics of this place. the patio had a bunch of stacked chairs stored on it and the seats were wobbly. for the price of this place you think they could afford a closet to store things.

the service is lousy with nary a smile anywhere which, in my mind, is indicative of poor management and hiring practices. what does a smiling wait staff go for these days? how expensive is a host or hostess who enjoys being in the retail business? apparently they are priced out of the market andilfornaio has to scoop up the arrogant and unprofessional slumming until a real career comes up.

this chain relies on looking good rather than being good so if you like what you see much more than what you eat you can be pretentious and spend too much money for a bad meal and arrogant service.

disappointed. we love italian and look forward to trying new new places as we are new to the area. we went toilfornaio based on the urbspn reviews. no one in our party of five had a good experience, we ranged from just ok to awful. we started with the calamari (under cooked) and carpaccio (good) appetizers. our entrees included a homemade flat pasta with seafood special which was absolutely horrible, the pasta was cooked down to the consistency of mashed potatoes and the seafood was fishy tasting (not fresh). the spinach ravioli with italian sausage was underwhelming and left you wishing you ordered something else. the best of the five entrees was the ravioli filled with butternut squash which we agreed was pretty good. we were seated right away and we were initially well attended to with drinks and bread. we did not see our waitress again after our food was served so the service was poor. if you are looking for great italian i would recommend looking elsewhere.

it's a pleasure to find a white-tablecloth restaurant that will gracefully accommodate children.ilfornaio ("the baker") is that kind of place. adults will enjoy the changing regional menu