Reviews for Il Fornaio in San Jose, CA

How do I put this lightly... It's absolutely dreadful. I used to rave about this place because the chefs had passion. The pasta... was fresh and the ingredients were also fresh. There was just enough sauce to coat the pasta and not drown it. The pasta wasperfectly al dente. When I went here before the pandemic, the waiter and the chefs were both born and raised in Italy, so youknow the food is authentic BUT NOW? NO IT'S AWFUL. When I came back about a few months ago for my birthday, I was expecting thesame delicious, authentic Italian delight that I had before the pandemic. What I got was half cooked pasta. The flavor was okaybut definitely richer, a more American style take on what pasta sauce is. The undercooked pasta was drowning in this sauce. Theseafood was okay. Some were perfect, some were slightly overcooked. The calamari was mediocre at best. I'm no chef, but I bet Ican make calamari without a recipe better than the clowns in the kitchen. The waitress did not come back to us for a good 20-30some minutes. We just told her that we would like some time to think about what to order and I guess she just took that as anexcuse to go to every table but us. Maybe they're understaffed? Either way it's inexcusable. The only good thing left about thisrestaurant is the bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. That is still good. DO NOT GO HERE. If you want to pay way toomuch money for something that tastes pretty much like Chef Boyardee, be my guest. It is a shame they downgraded this bad. Read more

4 stars for the location and ambience. Food gets 2 stars. No good taste or worth mentioning. Appetizers were ok but entrées... were not good. Lots of seating available. Think it’s all indoors only. Read more

It’s a nice restaurant, service is good. I ordered soft scrambled eggs but it was overcooked and dry. Doesn’t taste like... real eggs but the coffee, bacon was good that’s about it. Read more

Ordered: Paccheri Vodka, Minestrone Soup with Side of Bread Paccheri: Pasta was fresh, cooked al dente. Sauce was fairly decent... flavor, but consistency was all over the place; just broke apart. And hey, chef: it's not 1982, there is absolutely no need tothrow a pound of chopped parsley on the dish. It just gets stuck in the teeth, and really doesn't do anything for flavor, infact, it draws away the good flavors of the sauce. Minestrone: I didn't know it was possible to make a completely, 100%flavorless minestrone, especially with all the ingredients required to make that soup. I grew up pretty much eating this soupevery day in Italy and Croatia, and even with the poor way we made it, it was leagues beyond this $9.25 version. It's literallycolored, chunky water. It might be the worst minestrone I've ever had, and that includes powdered minestrone I've had in MRE'sand camping packs. Bread: It sure looks like great bread! Totally flavorless. Try a little salt next time. Goes a LOOOOOONGway. I tried dipping it in the minestrone, but dipping flavorless into flavorless still equals flavorless. I was hoping forsome magic potion concoction, but sadly, no magic occurred. Work on the sauce, the soups, and the bread. Pasta was just fine. Read more

Had a wonderful Sunday dinner. I got the tortelloni di zucca while others at the table all got the paccheri alla vodka. We got a... bottle of wine, some got cocktails, and then a few of us ended with some dessert. Portions were a little on the small side forthe price, however it was all delicious. Our waiter was awesome, which added to the experience Read more

2022 Mother’s Day Champagne Brunch was supposed to be fancy affair at Il Fornaio, San Jose ($67.50pp); however, the Brunch... menu offered most standard breakfast items, omelette cooks as ordered, prime ribs, pork cutlets, smoked salmon, salmon, chicken,shrimps cocktails, cakes, cookies etc. We had reservation at 1:15pm so plenty of great tables along the window were available;however, a female hostess decided to offer us a table in a dark corner behind the cash register. When asked for abetter/window table, she curtly replied, “I hope you realize this is a brunch and this is closer to the buffet areas..”Seeing that we are serious about getting a best view window, she reluctantly walked us to a nice bright table. Luckily thewaiter offered us an excellent service to make up for the hostess’ rudeness. I would give this place a 5 star would I havenot been rudely treated upon entrance. Read more

They have the friendliest staff! The food was excellent as well! Had the beef carpaccio, lasagna, and a glass of red wine

For an Italian restaurant that supposedly makes their own pasta in-house, I did not expect that they would overcook the pasta on... every dish. The best dishes were the appetizers. The sauces for the pastas were good but not particularly impressive. Servicewas friendly and food came out in a timely manner. Prices are not worth the quality. Read more