Il Fornaio

October 22, 2025

We were invited by friends for dinner. It is in an historic building with a lot of characters. Service was excellent. We felt a bit cramped at the assigned table. They immediately moved us to a more desirable table. Food was great, but dessert was the highlight of the night. I must be getting old to like sweets? You could always valet park at the front, but we parked about a block away at the convention center parking. The area felt safe for the casual stroll back to the parking garage.

October 19, 2025

I travel for a living so see lots of places all over the world. I went at 6PM so it was not too busy yet. I had the Linguine Mare and it did not disappoint! Nice portion size. Huge scallops. Would highly recommend

June 16, 2025

A good Italian restaurant but a bit disappointing. First on the positives, it's in a historic building and a great location. It's also a very classic feeling Italian. The customer service is excellent. The staff is friendly and attentive. I couldn't give this five stars because my beef carpaccio was below average. The lemon sauce overpowered the taste of the beef. The cheese was not fresh- I'm guessing it was shaved but the block sat there and aired out too long. They say the pasta is homemade. The minestrone soup was delicious. The beef ragu sauce was good but unremarkable.

September 16, 2025

Every dish was fantastic! It was the best restaurant during my stay in the U.S. this time, both San Jose and D.C.

June 4, 2025

Hosted a birthday party for approximately 70 people. The only positive experience was the waitstaff, especially the bartender and porter. The food was not up to the reputation of the restaurant, and as an event planner who holds food service licenses, I question the temperature of the food served. The catering manager I worked with originally was wonderful, but Ms. Mendoza, the new catering manager, and Sergio Lopez, the GM, were defensive and argumentative, something professionals in customer service industries should never be. When trying to discuss issues, they interrupted me multiple times, to the point where I had to ask them to let me finish. Needless to say, they failed to meet my customer service expectations. Here is the list of concerns presented after my event: *Numerous emails communicating expectations to catering manager, but expectations not met *Communicated via writing, so all expectations were documented *Venue's lack of continuity of communications internally affected service (change in staffing) *Had to repeat requests multiple times, and when attempting to confirm requests, would discover they were not implemented or were not documented in the contract *Requested food be available throughout the event - hot food not available until 3:00 *Hot in the room, to the point that guests complained - requested it be adjusted twice *No gift table set up *No cocktail table set up *No easel set up *No speakers for playlist *Bartender not clear on full bar, asked if serving only beer and wine, after a list of specific alcohol was submitted *Waitstaff was wonderful, especially the bartender and Mohamed, the porter *Food was subpar at best and did not rise to the reputation of the restaurant - tasted like frozen, precooked items you could purchase at Costco *Presentation of cold items was nice at set up, but was not serviced during event so table was messy *Cold items were out approximately two hours prior to event, without temperature control (ice) *Pizza station became messy and wasn't serviced during event *Cold food was warm, and cheese was sweating - code/health issue *Warm appetizers were cold *Pizza was very bland *Line at bar was too long, although I inquired about having two bartenders *Pie was not "delicate" as described, and worse, tasted like a cheap, frozen brand - crust was hard, served in an aluminum tin, and worst of all the guest of honor complained about the flavor *Requested Pie be served uncut - it was cut, and cold *No desserts were served, after lengthy discussions about them (a loss of approximately $1400 in sales to the venue) *Valet parking employees were wonderful *Trash cart at elevator exit to room - aesthetics were not good *Hallway to room was hot; the bathrooom temperature was sauna-like in nature I requested a 20% refund based on these issues, but was only granted a 10% for "inconvenience". I will not plan another event at this venue.