Il Fornaio - Burlingame

Review summary

1. S

   Shannon

   VIP

   San Francisco

   12 reviews

   2.0

   12 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   The service was really odd. The server seemed to be in a major hurry even though we were seated well ahead of our reservation and they weren’t super busy. My sister literally had to grab the bread off of her bread plate while the server was pulling the plate away. Our food was brought to us about 5 minutes after ordering it. It was really odd. Every step was rushed. We sat down at 6pm and were out the door at 6:40. We wanted to relax and spend time together, but felt so rushed, we just left. The food itself was very, very bland. Two of us had the risotto, which came out with black rice. Unsure why. Came with prawns and scallops. Nothing on the plate had flavor. Another one had pesto pasta, also with no flavor. And the pizza was ok, just very limp. Definitely do not recommend this place
   

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2. K

   Karen

   San Francisco

   15 reviews

   5.0

   15 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   the waiter was wonderful and the booth was very comfortable
   

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3. T

   Tracey

   VIP

   San Francisco

   4 reviews

   3.0

   4 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Service was choppy, food was cold, but GM was accommodating
   

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4. G

   Geri

   San Francisco

   9 reviews

   5.0

   9 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

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

   This is our "go to" place whenever my friend and it meet for lunch. Always wonderful food, lovely servers and a great place to eat. We will continue to meet there.
   

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5. M

   Michael

   San Francisco

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 6 days ago

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

   Came here again after a great anniversary dinner with my wife. Our second (most recent) time was for my wife’s birthday. The food was delicious and the restaurant had a nice warm ambiance. The service was what ruined it for us. The server rarely checked in on us. Many times we needed refills on drinks and olive oil and vinegar but we had to flag down anyone working that we saw. I told the waitress if I can have a refill on the drink but by the time she brought it, we finished our meals with our tables cleared via busboy. The missed refills I brush off. It was happens next what bothered me. I reserved tonights dinner via internet stating it’s her birthday because I know the restaurant usually gives a dessert that spells out happy birthday or congratulations. My waitress didn’t get the memo and I had to ask her about it at the table which totally broke any element of a surprise to my wife. I told the waitress and she said yea they do that but kept insisting if I wanted dessert when I said once that I didn’t. The waitress asked if I would like any coffee or tea and I said “ a coffee w/sugar please”. My wife’s dessert w/candle on it came out and was delicious. I paid the bill and we walked out the restaurant and we concluded that the was excellent. We didn’t care for the service as they didn’t care for us. Would we go back? Probably not for an occasion and only for the food. By the way, I never received that coffee w/sugar, never came lol.
   

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6. K

   Kathryn

   VIP

   San Francisco

   145 reviews

   5.0

   145 reviews

   Dined on 11 January 2025

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

   Overall excellent experience. Attentive wait staff, quality and delicious food, lovely ambiance. Il fornaio is a classic.
   

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7. M

   Maria

   VIP

   San Francisco

   9 reviews

   5.0

   9 reviews

   Dined on 7 January 2025

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

   Our meal was delicious and our waitress Karla gave us excellent service.
   

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8. W

   Ward

   Tahoe

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 3 January 2025

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

   Party of 4 and everyone raved about the food. Really great service and fast too.
   

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9. K

   Kenneth

   San Francisco

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 2 January 2025

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

   The place was beautiful on the outside and inside. The food was very good and our server, Karen, was great. I tried the pistachio calzone, Cristina Pizza, and the Italian sampler and everything was tasty. The only negative is the sampler should have been less pricey.
   

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10. T

    Tammy

    San Francisco

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on 2 January 2025

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

    Fabulous food, tremendous service from the attentive and knowledgeable Bella!
    

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