Il Fornaio

We had a family event in one of the banquet rooms this past weekend. Marina, the event coordinator, was responsive and communicative and was able to get all my questions answered in advance. Our servers Ray and Jose were always two steps ahead and so kind throughout the whole process, even when I messed up on head count which led to them having to do some extra work.

As someone who works in events, I know how much work goes into making an event be a smooth and enjoyable experience for the participants, so it meant a lot that we could enjoy the day without worrying about anything. Our guests all said how much they loved the food and the room. (I had the branzino and it was delicious!) It was really a perfect day!

Sorry Yelp, you did me dirty on this one. I read the reviews, looked at the menu and off we went.

The good:
- making a reservation on open table was very easy
- dining room was spacious and comfortable
- waitstaff was very attentive and friendly

The meh
- food was basic, not super flavorful
- the menu looked creative but execution was flat
- the zucchini blossom app description read beautifully, but they tasted like beer battered bread
- the pizza was oily and some of the toppings were unrecognizable
- the vodka pasta did not have the taste my friend was expecting- she didn't finish it

We had high hopes, the menu looked interesting, but they just didn't deliver. Maybe it was an off night?
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Food was amazing, they serve bread as an appetizer? I ordered the insalata de pere and it was a good starter before my food. For my meal I ordered the pollo toscano, and the sauce that it was with tasted very good. It was sweet and savory!
My coworker ordered the capesante allo zafferano and it smelled so delicious!
Service was awesome too! Our server was a little busy because the restaurant filled up very quick. But he was so nice!
restaurant can get a little loud as a lot of people come in to have a meal and talk.

I booked a last-minute reservation (aka the night before) for a team dinner. The Il Fornaio team accommodated our reservation updates, and we were seated immediately upon arrival. I noticed that the restaurant has a surprisingly large dining area, yet most tables were full on a weeknight with groups that appeared to be celebrating a special occasion.

Our table ordered several rounds of appetizers, which were brought out quickly despite the bustling dinner crowd. Everything we ordered hit the spot - I especially enjoyed the roasted cauliflower appetizer that had a nice touch of rosemary. For my main course, I ordered the mafaldine pasta with squid. The pasta, cooked to a perfect al dente, was enrobed in a delicious tomato-seafood sauce. As a bonus, I soaked up the remaining sauce with the (complimentary!) bread that was served at our table. My team enjoyed the evening of elevated Italian comfort food accompanied by warm hospitality.

Great ambience and menu. The restaurant is located in a historical building in downtown Burlingame, which is great for exploring. We enjoyed the happy hour which runs from 3 to 6 and has a varied menu. We also chose a couple items off the seasonal menu. There are low top sit down tables in the bar area, which is nice. Be patient - service can be spotty even when it is slow. Recommend sitting at the bar if you are in a hurry or need better service.

Our server Heather was so attentive and sweet, made date night special. Everything was really delicious and very nice presentation.. we shared Regina salad, I had chicken mushroom entree and my husband had tagliatelle bolognese

We went to Il Fornaio after we went to the Orpheum. I'll Fornaio is a very fancy Italian restaurant with great decor and atmosphere as soon as you enter the restaurant.

We started our meal with calamari, burrata, and bruscetta. Free bruscetta with Yelp check in!! The bruscetta was different from traditional bruscetta and had three different toppings on it. I tried the calamari and it was good. My daughter kept asking for more on her plate. The burrata cheese was also very creamy and smooth.

For our meals, my daughter got kids meal pasta with meat sauce, I got the linguine mare chiaro. The linguine had thin pasta with clams, mussels, prawns, and scallops in tomato sauce. My husband got the ravioli di brasato which was ravioli filed with braised short ribs.

I got a chance to taste all of the dishes we all had. I liked mine and all the seafood there was in there and I really liked my husbands ravioli. It was very tasty. I wasn't a fan of my daughters meal since it was pretty much just like spaghetti. She didn't really enjoy it too much either and instead ate some of my mussels and some ravioli.

Overall a very nice restaurant to have a delicious meal.

Can't believe it took me so long to come to this place. Il fornanio is a staple of Burlingame and they serve really good Italian food.

The pasta is on point here and I really liked the roasted cauliflower.

Ambiance of this place is great as well. Highly recommend if you're looking for a family friendly place for Italian food.

Parking could be tricky since it's located in downtown Burlingame but we were able to secured a spot at a parking lot near by

This review is for happy hour only! We came for their M-F 3-6pm happy hour and had a great time.

This Burlingame location has a large bar area somewhat separate from the main dining room. The bar has both standard bar seating as well as small tables, which was nice since we were ordering food to share and needed more space than what you get at the bar.

Service was wonderful despite there only being about 2-3 employees manning the whole bar. The drinks were strong; we got 2 different cocktails (milano mule and margarita italiano, $8 each) and they were both great. We ordered the fried calamari ($13) and both happy hour pizzas. We'll probably skip the fradiavola ($13) next time and just get the margherita pizza ($12).

The food was decent. The service left us feeling quite awkward and uncomfortable everytime we interacted with the server.