Il Fornaio

At Il Fornaio, our mission is to provide our guests with the most authentic Italian experience outside of Italy.

7 / 10
224
ratings
Address

520 Cowper St (at University) Palo Alto , CA 94301 United States

Credit Cards Yes (incl. Discover & Visa)
Wi-Fi Free
Outdoor Seating Yes
Menus Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert, Happy Hour
Drinks Wine, Cocktails

Comments / 49


Keywords:

Italian food breakfast food happy hour good service desserts outdoor seating French toast spinach salad poached eggs brunch food coffee dinner good for groups bacon bar lunch wood oven fresh peppers lemon butternut squash
Kursad Albayraktaroglu

I just can't resist coming here every time I am in Silicon Valley. Great atmosphere, excellent food and the occasional chance to see your favorite tech CEOs eating pasta

Frank Rimalovski

Good Italian, but by great. Excellent atmosphere, an the power breakfast spot in downtown PA. Try the crespelle at breakfast . (3 of 4 petals via Fondu) Read more

Mike D

The food was good but if you park your car on the street near the place - don’t leave anything valuable in it - was a victim of a smash and grab - got my laptop and my iPad ????

Catherine Cohen

Best happy hour in Palo Alto. Pizzas are a great at $6. Brunch is also fabulous. Get the French toast

Gabriela Zago

You can almost have a full meal with just the incredible olive bread that come before the main dish.

Devans00 .

Look for the little Italian cookies in glass jars near the bar . Dolce.

Xina Lo

Cappellacci di Zucca, ravioli filled with butternut squash and walnuts -- splendid! Highly recommended!

Anthony Agrios

Pasta and wine were delicious, but the service was terrible. I sat at the bar and to ask for everything: to order, for a fork, napkin, bead, water, and to pay. Did not feel taken care of at all.

Andrew Chen

The cafe is a good place to work . Couple plugs, WiFi , good coffee .

Thomas Miller

Great service! Really felt at home. Made it a great night with the family.

Amy Baggott

Great location for a business luncheon and rent the patio out for an outstanding dinner party - they have two private event spaces ! Read more

Nicky K.

It's just not that good. Coming from nyc I can be a snob with italian food in California. It's never as good.

Julia Y

Otherwise, normally awesome service and food. One of our favorite Italian places downtown.

TTbinTT Taher

Great atmosphere

Gerard Hoffmann

Great Pizza - wood oven !

Karla

Share a pizza at the bar seats . It's a lot of fun to watch the cooks prepare meals.

Daniel Shi

Good place to go for happy hour . 4-6:30PM. $5 for food and drinks. $3 beers .

Charles Hudson

If you want to take advantage of the happy hour , show up early. It gets packed. $5 pizza and $5 wine will do that.

Robin Sam

Excellent bar . Excellent food.

Bo Stern

Try the Shrimp Risotto - Outstanding with parmesan , fresh pepper and a twist of lemon

v f

The Leonardo (strawberry Bellini ) is deelish! The spinach salad is really good and for dessert try the Zabaglione!! Mmmmm!!!

Anna Ravenscroft

Watch out for dueling specials. We went for the campania special and even called first to check. Turns out they only had the brunch special at 2 pm.

Renee Teefive

They have delicious pizza .

Jon

Great Italian in town !

Charles Hudson

They have a crazy newish happy hour . Five dollar wine , five dollar pizza . Can't beat it.

Ilya Gorenburg

We've been waiting for pancakes for 45 minutes. Think before you order them in case you're in a hurry

Ghadah ✨

Closing dinner ❤️

Sarah Joe

Classic Palo Alto Italian restaurant

Ray Kasbarian

Superb breakfast vegetables and poached egg

Karla

French toast at breakfast is fantastic.

Renee Budak

Delicious pizzas

Island Bruin

Expensive for lunch , unless you just cashed in on your IPO.

Renee Budak

Great pizza

Jordan Silverthorne

Stay away from the lobster bisque . It's not a bisque at all, and it has shrimp . The minestrone is quite good though.

Eddy C

Food and service were horrendous

Daniel Shi

Lots of VCs come here for breakfast .

Adam Rifkin

Thanks for the tip to introduce myself to strangers Brett. They were amused.

Axel Schultze

Say hi to Alexey - the master behind the bar . He is awesome.

Jeffrey Swanson

Best place to meet the power players!

Kevin Marks

Come for breakfast - delicious fresh-baked toast + smoked bacon

Julia Y

Ooh, avoid bald waiter if you have kids. Seemed pissed off at serving us even though it was early and kids were well behaved. Otherwise,

Steven Fan

The patio is a great setting for a nice lunch .

Emmy Southworth

Good gnocchi

Foodspotting

Try the Tiramisu

Philippe Tregon

Great food, service and setting

Kirill Mazur

The service is under average - the server just not trying to remember what people have ordered. The waiting time is too long. Some parts of the food not the same as described in the menu. Bad choice

Ekaterina Obukhova

Stupid to eat Italian food here, go to tamarin in a conner from here.

Jesus Vico

Muy buena carne y ensalada ????????

Julius Tarng

Pizza ! Pasta eh

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