Il Fornaio - San Jose

Review summary

1. C

   Cornelia

   Fort Lauderdale

   94 reviews

   vip
   5.0

   94 reviews

   Dined today

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Service was excellent. Food was outstanding. Server was excellent.
   

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2. N

   Norma

   San Joaquin

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Our waitress was amazing, it was Thanksgiving and the staff were very overwhelmed. Even though it took longer than normal to get our drinks and food, our waitress was very apologetic and was working extremely hard to do her job. The food was just ok. For a semi upscale restaurant and inside of a historic hotel, the food was just ok. I would have expected more.
   

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3. l

   liz

   Alabama

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Good food. Very poor service. Very long waits for food, Beverages. After main meal, dishes were cleared and we wired 30 minutes until we finally flagged down the waiter for a dessert menu. My wine was finally served with dessert. I had to ask for the check 3 times. This used to be our favorite restaurant but we won’t go there again.
   

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4. G

   Gary

   San Francisco

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Have been to the San Jose Il Fornaio dozens of times since it opened years ago but would not recommend visiting there on a major holiday (i.e. Thanksgiving Day). The food was very good, as usual, but the service was exceptionally poor. Midway into our meal, which took 3 hours in duration, excluding desert (many things went wrong), we finally ask our waiter if he was new, to which he responded "No, I've been here a month and I'm a fast learner!". Years ago, the service at this location was excellent. Wish that was still so but unfortunately sometimes staff changes are not for the better. All that said, I still highly recommend this location in terms of their food, just avoid a really busy day/event.
   

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5. L

   Laurie

   San Francisco

   13 reviews

   5.0

   13 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We went for the Thanksgiving Dinner. The food was excellent and we appreciated the full dinner options plus additional sides Ala Carte.
   

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6. P

   Paul

   San Francisco

   58 reviews

   vip
   3.0

   58 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   We had a table for 4 reserved. We were taken to our table with no contact from a server until 10 minutes went by. When the server showed up we ordered a bottle of wine. She came back in 5 minutes and we ordered one salad and four dishes. 20 minutes later our one salad arrived for my wife. An hour and 10 minutes later the server sets another salad down in front of my wife thinking she has not had her salad yet. We sent it back and requested our meals. Within 5 minutes our dishes arrived, all cold. We ordered another bottle of wine just to calm our frustrations. Not a good night downtown.
   

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7. A

   Ada

   Tahoe

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We always have a excellent meal and one of the best service ! Thank you again . A. Budetti .
   

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8. M

   Michael

   San Francisco

   15 reviews

   5.0

   15 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Never disappoints. Food and service always excellent. Perfect early dinner after a matinée show.
   

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9. C

   Christina

   San Francisco

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   Unfortunately our meal was a total fail. The drinks and burrata appetizer were good, but 2 of the four meals were inedible. The pasta rigatoni wasn't fully cooked, and the shrimp scampi with polenta was all shell and the polenta was clumpy. The waiter tried to make it up to us by offering to bring something else, but we didn't have time since we were seeing a show. He ended up removing them from the bill but never brought any bread (despite saying he would) or anything for our friends to eat instead before we went to the show. The gnocchi entree and arugula with couscous salad were both good, but the whole experience was disappointing and our poor friends left hungry.
   

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10. J

    Jared

    San Francisco

    31 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    31 reviews

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    It's a beautiful room with a high ceiling and big windows and an open kitchen. Service was super! Fast, attentive and nice (bearded European). The pear salad was excellent, the steak was just right (for me), and the lobster pasta was good too ... but better to just serve a good lobster without sauce and a bed of red sauce pasta. Generally, very good, but this time (during a pre-theater rush) the service was efficient and .. outstanding. thanks!
    

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