Il Fornaro

Excellent service from start to finish. Very attentive without being intrusive. Winterlicious menu had a lot to choose from and was excellent value at $ 25 for three courses. We enjoyed the Caesar salad, arugula salad, penne with salmon, veal, tartufo x 2. Will try the wood-​fired pizza on our next visit.

Ordered delivery and the food was very bland. Soup had no flavour… Ravioli was very salty. Only thing that was okay was the tiramisu. Won’t order from here again though.

Worst service ever and the food was mediocre.
The waitress was not happy that my party of 7 walked in. We weren’t allowed to order from their regular menu as winterlicious was on. I ordered the osso bucco with pasta which took half an hour to arrive. When the food finally came the pasta was cold and the osso bucco was way too salty. One girl in our party told the waitress that she could not eat anything with black pepper in her food due to an intolerance. Her plate came sprinkled with pepper and was unable to eat it. The waitress ended up charging her for the whole meal explaining that it was not their fault that she could not have pepper. It took one of us to get the manager, she couldn’t even do that when we asked. I will definitely not be coming back and would not recommend this place to anyone.

3.5÷5, +.5 for service.
My second stop for Summerlicious 2013 took me to this Italian restaurant, after looking at the prix fixe menu with the combination of looking at reviews here. My party of five arrived at 6:30pm and were seated immediately and served cold water.
I ordered the following from the prix fixe menu:
— Caesar salad
— Penne Cacciatore
— Cheese cake
The menu also came with flatbread as a starter, in which I did the usual Italian way of eating by dipping some extra virgin olive oil. Mmm, not too hard of a texture unlike Hot House Café yesterday!
The caesar salad was nothing special, and I was satisfied enough with it. Everyone else ordered the baby argula salad and seemed to love it… maybe I should’ve ordered that instead. The penne cacciatore was picture perfect, with the exception of the rose sauce, which I felt was slightly too watered for me as there wasn’t that pungent taste that came after having the pasta. Finally, the cheesecake was very good, again I was satisfied enough with it to have no complaints about it.
My relatives enjoyed the salmon filet (fish of the day), veal marsala, and veal chop, and were all satisfied, with the exception of one who argued the veal chop was too dry for her. I also had a small sample of the tartuffo ice cream, which had quite unique of a taste, however I didn’t like the red (strawberry?) portion very much.
Service was fantastic, and to my huge surprise, very quick for an Italian restaurant. We were out the door by 7:35pm, and I had my car parked till 8:30pm!
I didn’t have a look at their actual menu to see if it’s as much of a value as this. If so, I definitely recommend this place for people living around the area.

I went here for Winterlicious and had the Prix Fixe Menu. It was for my boyfriend’s birthday. We arrived there about a half hour early before our reservation and they were able to seat us about 15 min later. The staff were courteous and friendly, always checking in to make sure everything was good and asking if we needed anything. The food arrived in a good amount of time. It tasted delicious, especially the chocolate cake :) The atmosphere was cozy and intimate. Overall we didn’t have any complaints about this place and we would definitely come back again.

Il Fornaro is a gem.
The first time I went was during Summerlicious and the prix fixe menu certainly helped sell the value of the dinner. I have returned since and the food is consistently fantastic, but I do find it a bit of a stretch financially without the prix fixe option.
Try the ceaser salad, and any of the pasta dishes! I was disappointed with the risotto, but otherwise I have always been impressed.
The service is fantastic! It is relaxed enough to be romantic, but when one course ends they are ready to serve you the next course, which is refreshing.

I find it shocking that there are so few reviews about this place.
I was first introduced to this place by my fiancée and soon to be wife (they are the same person). When I first laid eyes on it I was under the impression I was going to be severely let down as I saw it from behind and it didnt make a great impression.
Then we walked around the block to the front of the building and the restaurant did a full 180 as it looked so rustic and authentic as we stepped into a whole new place that I didn’t know existed at all. We were greeted with smiles and led to our table to sit and order our meal. We were greeted by John who took great care of us for the entirety of our meal. He was courteous to make sure allergies were not triggered and kept checking in on us regularly.
I ordered the Arugula salad, Mediterranean Pizza and had the Tiramisu for dessert.
I could write a whole review about this Tiramisu. But I don’t have the time. All I can say is that it is a 35 year old recipe and it is mind blowing. I wanted to take another piece home but we didnt have time. Now I just dream about it.
Price Fixe for Summerlicious for 2012 is $ 25. Well worth it. Definitely making my way here again soon.

I have this weakness for Prix Fixe Menu… I just could not forgo a good deal.
I have to say Il Fornaro has the most extensive menu I ever see in an Italian restaurant… There are over 15 main entrees one can choose from including pasta, meat, fish and pizzas.
Prix Fixe Menu ($ 25)
— Baby Arugula Salad (tons of goat cheese)
— Veal Chop (over cooked and dry but with tons of veggie on the side)
— Tiramisu (creamy and tasty)
and
— Caesar Salad (fresh and crispy with the right amount of dressing)
— Linguine Pescatore (tons of seafood, huge scallops!!!)
— Chocolate Cake (meh…skip!!)
A good value for $ 25, but without the prix fixe then this place would definitely be a 2 star.
Services was efficient but cold. We got all our food fast and hot… but no one really care to come to ask us if everything is ok? The waiter just left the bill on our table when he served us the dessert… that ‘s really odd in a restaurant… we felt like he was trying to get rid of us?!
Il Fornaro serves OK food at a great price point but I don’t know if I would come back because the services here just not what I expected…

Went here for Summerlicious lunch — great atmosphere and décor. Air conditioning kept us nice cool. Food was good, specifically the pizza which was made in a wood burning oven, really delicious. Service was great. Overall, excellent meal at a very reasonable price.

Went here for Summerlicious on Saturday night.
Overall I liked the atmosphere and the food was ok.
My issue was this place has NO A/​C and considering the temperatures we’re having these day, it made our stay quite uncomfortable.
Didn’t help that the waiter sat us in the corner near the stove where they make the pizzas at the front.
I think they should have more servers to accommodate the amount of customers they have.
Our was an older gentleman and he was running around like a chicken with no head. We had to flag him down to get the bill.
The food was good — though I’ve had better.
Presentation wasn’t the best and the Caesar Salad was nothing special (a little too overdone).
I probably wouldn’t come here again because I’ve just had better Italian food else where.

My girlfriend and I went to Il Fornaro this past Friday night for dinner. We’ve gone there in the past and we’ve liked it. The décor reminds me of an old rustic Italian Villa. It wasn’t too busy where the servers were rushing around.
We ordered from the fixed price menu —
I ordered the minestrone soup, The Meat Amore pizza, and tiramisu for dessert. My girlfriend ordered the Caesar Salad, the tilapia and chocolate cake for dessert.
Our apps came, and I found my soup to be oily. You know it can’t be good when you see oil droplets floating. Her Caesar salad was nothing special — laced with dressing — almost completely saturated.
The waiter came back to take our plates away when we were done and a few minutes later, my pizza arrived. He placed the pizza on the table and left. I was thinking that my girlfriend’s dinner should be arriving soon, but after 8 minutes of my pizza sitting and getting cold, still no dinner for her showing up. The waiter was making himself very busy serving other tables. When he came by with the pitcher of water, he told us that the fish would be another 2 mins. I told him I wasn’t starting to eat until her dinner arrived. He offered to take my pizza away to reheat it. 4 – 5 mins later, the fish came. We never really got an explanation as to why it took so long. Total time 15 mins until her food arrived. Totally pathetic and all without an explanation.
When her fish arrived, it was saturated with the sauce … almost to a point to cover up a mistake or blemish. To me it seemed a little undercooked or cooked from frozen. It was soggy and unseasoned.
When my pizza came back the crust was dry (probably because of overcooking) and looked very oily on the top. Usually fresh meat ingredients don’t produce that much oil/​grease.
During the time we were eating, the waiter never came back to refill our water glasses. It was also an impossible task for the waiter to come by to see if everything was fine. We were never asked how our dinner was.
When he did come back, after we had completed our meals (my girlfriend left ¾ of her fish), he offered dessert. We just took it to go.
I asked for the bill and I paid it.
To add insult to injury, the waiter never thanked us for our business.
He just plunked the bill on the table.
As we walked out, we may of just been invisible because all the staff at the front of the restaurant never thanked us for coming either.
We won’t be going back for substandard food and extremely poor service. I’d rather take my hard earned money elsewhere for more attentive service and better quality food.