Il Fornaio

Just had an event here for my job, and I want to personally thank our servers, Venezia, Elmer, and Hugo for providing excellent service. They were very attentive to all our guests, and were more than happy to answer all my inquiries, and provide needed assistance. I am a server myself, and I truly hope they get the recognition they deserve for providing such pleasurable and memorable service. Thanks again, and I can't wait to come here with my friends and family!

A little overrated. Affordable prices, very good pizza, but don't order a special. I went on a weekday for dinner and it was very slow. I ordered the risotto listed as a special of the day and... well, it wasn't risotto and the entire dish was mainly one flavor. I expected more overall, because you can see that the food is made fresh (you can see the chefs making pizza and you can see rotisserie chicken being made. We weren't offered bread, but ended up asking for some right before our food came out. Bread was great, wasn't warm like others have described, but still delicious with the oil and balsamic. For the "risotto" they really should have placed the chicken on top and seasoned it differently than the rice instead of mixing it all together. There was a sauce underneath with the same flavor that was present throughout (mushroom). I mean... it was okay but not what I was expecting for being advertised as a special. It really just seemed like ingredients they were trying to clean out of the kitchen, without a lot of thought. My boyfriend ordered the pizza, which was fantastic and really the only reason for the 4 star rating. If you go here, definitely order the pizza. It's the closest to an authentic Italian flavor I've experienced outside of Italy (and I've spent a lot of time there). The weird thing was this part. My boyfriend doesn't eat pork so he asked about one of the ingredients being pork and the server confidently told him "yeah it IS a type of pork". But I Googled it and sure enough... cheese. Not pork. It didn't bother me that he didn't know, but just that he pretended to know instead of just asking someone.

I would say 4.5 as shown is accurate. Could be rated slightly higher. Food is 9/10 easy. Prices are a little higher than the quality and quantity they represent. Other than that, great service and good. The manager Marcello, is a big part of all that! They don't change the quality of food!!!! They stay consistent! :)

Loved everything here. The service was excellent, the food was amazing and delicious, the atmosphere was incredible. My food was so hot I know it was freshly made. This has been the best day I've ever had dining out, I rarely give 5 stars but everything about today was just so magical. Fresh pasta and pizza wow, just everything we ate was so delicious

We enjoyed a very special dinner date last night at Il Fornaio, Irvine. We originally intended to order takeout, but when Marcello (managing partner) heard about our special situation, he and the staff made accommodations and took good care of us. We sincerely appreciate the clear professionalism and excellent customer care, not to mention the delicious food. (The burrata and prosciutto appetizer disappeared too quickly to snap a photo.) Il Fornaio will easily be our first choice when we're in the area in the future.