Il Fornaio
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Phone: (310) 725-9555
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- Aviation Boulevard
- Hours:
- Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri 11:30am-11:30pm, Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm
Editorial Review for Il Fornaio – by Bryan Miller
The Scene
At first glance Il Fornaio looks too frenetic and unwieldy to be a serious restaurant--but it is. The sprawling, stylish dining room attracts a diverse crowd. Adding to the show are the pyrotechnics in the gleaming open kitchen. At peak hours the place can be loud but not distractingly so.
The Food
The kitchen turns out well-honed renditions of regional northern Italian fare, with a dozen or more daily specials. For starters, salads are vibrant and attractive, as is the grilled ciabatta bread swathed with chopped tomatoes, basil and kalamata olives. All the pastas can be recommended--don't miss the ravioli filled with Swiss chard and pinenuts, and the mesquite-grilled chicken flattened with a brick (no joke) to make it extra crispy. Be sure to check out the impressive and fairly priced wine list.
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User Reviews for Il Fornaio
08/01/2007 Posted by cirawigglepuppy
we went to il fornaio last night for a friends 30th. they warned us that they were very 'crazy busy' (unprofessional to begin with), but we couldn't have expected such poor service! a server dropped a plate of pasta next to one of our group and it spattered all over him, and he was hardly offered an apology. the service was slow and inept--although they were busy, the servers seemed to be bustling about aimlessly. it took 30 minutes to get wine (and they forgot the water, which we had to ask for 4 times, and then only brought to half our table!), 20 more minutes for them to take our order, and another 30 minutes to get our food.we were not offered a second glass of wine ,or coffee at the end of our meal (talk about dropping the ball on sales!). besides the horrible service, the food was mediocre at best--my meal was quite good (i had a pasta special--beet ravioli w/sage cream sauce), but my boyfriend's salmon was fishy and overcooked and they forgot the crispy leeks that were supposed to be served with it, and another guest in our party had the rissotto special which was underseasoned and undercooked--hard rice=sooo gross! if you want crappy italian food you might as well go across the street to the macaroni grill. its about half the price and the service couldn't be any worse! i waited tables thru college and am usually the first one to 'cut some slack' to servers, but this was outrageous!!! i could go on and on about how bad it was!
Pros: nice ambiance
Cons: bad service, mediocre food
12/27/2002 Posted by fsnalepa
The food at Il Fornaio was poor at best. The service was slow and the food came out wrong. We tried them a second time, but it was the same. I am Italian and have never seen such poor quality in food presentation.
Pros: none
Cons: expensive, poor food, poor service
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