Il Fornaio - Irvine

Review summary

1. C

   Chris

   Orange County

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   I recently visited this restaurant, and unfortunately, my experience wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped. I ordered the pasta, but it arrived overcooked, lacking the texture and flavor I was expecting. It was disappointing, especially since pasta is usually a safe bet. Additionally, I had issues with parking. The restaurant offers validation, but somehow my parking ticket wasn't processed properly, leaving me with a $27 fee. I expected more attention to detail, especially when it comes to something as straightforward as parking validation. Overall, I left feeling frustrated. Between the overcooked pasta and the unexpected parking charge, I won't be rushing back anytime soon.
   

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2. E

   Elise

   VIP

   Orange County

   26 reviews

   5.0

   26 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

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

   El Fornaio has the most delicious food…especially the fish. The ambiance is lovely and lively but never loud…..one of my favorite restaurants!!!
   

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3. Q

   Q

   Orange County

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 5 days ago

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

   The server guy was careless and took so long for him to come back.... He does not like to answer your questions, he is not a polite person; not training well here in customer service. We ordered decaf coffee and emphasized about it, he provided my guests and me regular dark coffee in the later afternoon, made us whole night unable to sleep. We had other 4 events during the holidays, due to the bad service, we have to reschedule to another restaurant.
   

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4. J

   Janice

   VIP

   Orange County

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

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

   We have dined here for over 30 years and have never had even a mediocre meal. Dishes are fresh and each one has a distinct flavor profile.Fresh, house made pasta shines every time. Our only regret is not living next door to this restaurant in order to eat here more often!
   

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5. C

   Chris

   Orange County

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

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

   It's probably not fair to only put a review up when it's a bad experience VS the many good experiences that I've had at this restaurant, but I will go ahead and put this review up along with a note that says this is actually the first negative experience I've had at this particular restaurant. That's what happens when you have a stellar reputation. You have to keep doing great things to maintain it. I was a little leery about booking a birthday dinner so close to the holidays but was happy to see that there was a reservation available for an evening on Sunday (12/15) night. The issue that I had was that it was probably a little too crowded so the service did suffer unfortunately. I won't go into the very gritty details, but let's just say that service was not good. The salads did not come out the same time and we had to remind the server that we had a salad. Then we had to wait a long time to get our actual main course, which was about an hour from the time we walked in. And then, lastly, we thought it was pretty interesting that when we first got there we were asked if it was a special occasion. We said yes, it was a birthday. The server wrote that down in their pad and then at the very end, didn't really do anything about it. Why are you asking people if it's your birthday. And to top it off it's pretty interesting because someone else had a birthday and they brought something out to them. So I just thought that was kind of weak. Overall it was a very disappointing experience from an establishment where I've always gotten great service. It was one of the last places that still had pre Covid Service levels, post Covid. Not anymore. The food was great as usual. Anyway, there you go. Final verdict. Stay away from this place during the holidays.
   

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6. c

   cyd

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   18 reviews

   5.0

   18 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

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

   Great food, terrific service and very nice atmosphere! Couldn’t be happier. Need to visit more often.
   

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7. D

   DeeDee

   San Diego

   13 reviews

   4.0

   13 reviews

   Dined on December 13, 2024

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

   Haven’t been there in over 10 years. Food quality was still very good, though the temperature of my pizza was room temperature. Server was nice, but never came around to ask about refills on our drinks or cocktails. That being said, would still enjoy a return visit!
   

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8. F

   Frank

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   560 reviews

   3.0

   560 reviews

   Dined on December 12, 2024

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

   A friendly hostess, decent Italian food but the service wasn’t that great. Additionally, the acoustics are awful here so be prepared to scream over dinner. We will not return.
   

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9. D

   David

   Orange County

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on December 12, 2024

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

   Wonderful selection of Italian food. Very attentive waiters. Outstand quality and atmosphere.
   

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10. S

    Sandra

    Dallas

    21 reviews

    4.0

    21 reviews

    Dined on December 11, 2024

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

    Server was nice, but very scattered. We placed an order and then she came back to ask us what we ordered because she forgot. We ordered dessert and then received the wrong one. We requested a kids corkscrew pasta plain (no toppings or sauce) for takeout and we were charged as a normal entree and then told that entree isn’t available as a kids entree, which was very annoying. The restaurant was busy, however for what we paid, service should’ve been better and server could have been more accommodating (offering free dessert for when things weren’t going right).
    

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