Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana
San Jose, CA 95113-2817
Phone: (408) 271-3366
- Price:
- $$$
- Cross Street:
- West San Carlos Street
- Hours:
- M-Th 7a-10:30a, 11:30a-11p, F 7a-10:30a, 11:30a-12a, Sa 8a-12a, Su 8a-11p
Editorial Review for Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana – by Laura Reiley
The Scene
Il Fornaio wisely chose its locations on the Peninsula, its restaurants ensconced in the vintage Sainte Claire Hotel in downtown San Jose and in the tony Garden Court at the center of Palo Alto. And despite the double stigma of being both a hotel restaurant and a chain, Silicon Valley movers and shakers still stop in to conduct business over a little omelette ai formaggi at breakfast, wood-fired pizzas at lunch, or golden-skinned roast chicken at dinner.
The Food
Bruschettas, designer pizzas, tricked-out pastas and virtually anything emanating from the wood-fired oven are reliable bets. The bread basket always holds a lot of Italian temptations, and the wine list has lots of appropriate Italian varietals from Italy and California to get a meal rolling. Il Fornaio's bakery roots show at dessert--biscotti and other Italian cookies are peerless.
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Insider Tips
Save MoneyGo for happy hour on Monday through Friday from 4:30pm to 6:30pm for $5 glasses of wine, $1 off pints and complimentary appetizers.
User Reviews for Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana
11/11/2007 Posted by lajolla
Me, my wife and two teenage doughters visitied the San Jose location for a lunch on Sunday. The dining area itself was rather impressive, roomy, nice decoration, and very Italian athmosphere. Very nice! However, the great expectations started to fade away due to lazy service. Everything was done slowly. All together we ended up waiting 40 minutes before the food was served eventually.. The food was OK but did not meet expectations either. Ravioli was heated to right temperature but kind of "tasteless". Veal was a bit of seasoned, been waiting (not served fresh) and kind of "messy" combination with mushrooms, sauce, etc. Also a bit "tasteless", have to say. But pizza was one of the best ever had, very tasty. kid's loved it too. Overall, very nice athmosphere, nice decoration, but food unfortunately didn't meet the expectations...
12/21/2006 Posted by mbar5sam
Il Fornaio is an excellent restaurant with fabulous flavors, great service and a very inviting ambiance. The food is authentic Italian- D E L I C I O U S. They also offer reasonable size portions, not supersized heart attack specials with a 12 gallon drum of soda allowing you to feed your entire family and bring home "a doggie bag" to feed a small country for under 20 bucks. The food is meant to be savored to allow you to enjoy several courses. While the food is not cheap, it is priced to keep an adult type clientele. The servers are very knowledgeable of their wines and make excellent recommendations. This is one of our favorite spots downtown and will continue enjoying for the years to come.
Pros: Food, Service, Ambiance, knowledgeable staff
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
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