Great Italian
Il Fornaio - Del Mar is my favorite Italian restaurant. I've tried most of the menu. The Festa Regionale gives a great variety. Great Food, Great Atmosphere and Great Service. I recommend this restaurant best overall.
Lame food and service
Very disappointed in last nights dining experience. Fusili Gorgonzola dish with prosciutto actually arrives with corkscrew pasta and tiny slices of good ol' american ham. When I asked the waitress why the dish arrived with the corkscrew pasta she patted me on the shoulder and said that it all tastes the same anyway. Maybe she's right the dish tasted like a fast food pasta dish. The manager then came over and explained that it really wasn't the fusili as described on the menu but that we should just go ahead and enjoy it anyway. Needless to say - we will not be dining at this un-authenic, crappy "italian" restaurant again.
Boring food
I was not at all impressed with the food, the ambiance or the service. The restaurant is situated in a nice location, and that is probably what keeps the tables full. I won't return...not because the food was particulary that bad, but because my money and calories are better spent at other places.
the view is great
the atmosphere was great the view of the sunset beautiful. the hostess was very pleasant and sat us right away. although it was a busy night and it took the waiter a bit to get to us.the food was ok, average. the service was mediocore, my husband had to continue to pour our wines and it was hard to get a hold of our waiter. the thing that ruined my dinner completly was that it was extreemly hot inside. both my husband and i were sweating as well as the couple next to us. my husband asked the waiter to let the manager know about the heat and the waiter said sorry and explained to us that the air conditioning had not been working for the last couple of days. i wasn't able to finish my meal because of the heat.
Never again !
It is It is hard to believe a large chain could allow one outpost to be so spectacularly terrible. After good experiences in OC, should you try this be prepared for snotty greeting, world class inept wait staff (we waited 15 minutes for 1st visit to table for drink order, only to be visited by some other waiter who told us ours was "busy" - ?) Due to the open kitchen, I watched as my salad sat on the bar top ready to go, picked up and breathed all over as it was inspected 4 times by 4 other waiters, til my guest's pasta was up also. It was revolting to have to pick at that bc to ask for a fresh one would have totally trashed an already awful experience. And the lunch bill for one ice tea, one wine, a pasta with tomato sauce and the nasty salad? Over $40.00. This was our second try, and though worse than the first, the first was not much better. We need a good classy Italian restaurant in the area...too bad, this isn't it! Needless to say, we won't go back.
Disappointing, a waste of time
My husband and I went to Il Fornaio, Coronado on June 15, 2004. It was our 1- year anniversary, and we wanted it to be special. It turned out to be a terrible experience!! We made reservations 2 weeks in advance, but when we arrived at the restaurant, we still had to wait 20 minutes for a table. The maitre 'd did not greet us and was actually acting snobby the whole time. When we were finally seated, we ordered our drinks and appetizers to an incompetent waitress who really should have written things down because she mixed our orders. In addition, the salad we ordered was stale and disgusting. We ordered entrees during the appetizers course, and received the entrees 1.5 HOURS later!! Apparently, the chef had supposedly forgotten to make our food, or something STUPID along those lines. The evening was supposed to be special, but it was ruined by terrible service and an incompetent staff. My husband and I left feeling outraged, This occurred about 2 months ago, and we're still angry. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT, unless you want to waste your time and your money. WE SHOULD HAVE EATEN AT PEOHE'S NEXT DOOR.
