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  • Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek

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Reserve at Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek

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Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek
Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek

Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek Details

  • Dining Style: Casual Dining
  • Website: http://www.ilfornaio.com
  • Phone: (925) 296-0100
  • Hours of Operation: Lunch: Monday - Sunday: 11:30am - 4:00pm; Dinner: Sunday - Thursday: 4:00pm - 10:00pm, Friday & Saturday: 4:00pm - 11:00pm; Brunch: Saturday & Sunday: 10:00am - 2:00pm
  • Payment Options: AMEX, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
  • Cuisine: Italian
  • Executive Chef: Mario Radilla
  • Dress Code: Casual Dress
  • Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
  • Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cafe, Counter Seating, Fireplace, Full Bar, Happy Hour, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Private Room, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine
  • Catering: Delivery service available for orders over $100 in the Walnut Creek area.

Getting there

  • Cross Street: North Broadway
  • Public Transit: BART
  • Parking: Street Parking
  • Parking Details: Valet located in Broadway Pointe Plaza, entrance located on Duncan off North Main. Cost is $6.00 with validation.
A word from Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek
Il Fornaio means 'the baker' in Italian. This award-winning restaurant offers an authentic and unique Italian dining experience. Specialties include wood-fired rotisserie and grilled meats, poultry and game; housemade pastas; pizzas from an oak wood burning oven; fresh salads and housemade soups; a… wide variety of desserts; and fresh baked bread made daily from scratch. Winner of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2007.Continued
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Diner Reviews
  • "Re-connected with a old friend from high school and we had a lovely dinner and great service! Since it was Sunday night and less of a crowd, we got to pick our table towards the back to be alone and catch up on 48 years of life! The server was excellent, tended to our needs and seemed to sense our need for a place to be sit where we didn't have to whisper and could be as energetic as we like!. I have always loved Il Fornaio for the delicious breads & pasta, but I have never had anything I didn't like there. The bar is big and open and usually lots of activity and overall a great place to meet someone who hasn't been there before. It was a GREAT night!"
    Dined on 7/20/2014
  • "The staff is the best. I asked for the best waiter and they delivered."
    Dined on 7/18/2014
  • "As usual the food was outstanding, fresh and delicious! The chefs were great substituting with no issues a menu item for me. The wait staff is quick and friendly. Alway have had great service here."
    Dined on 7/18/2014
  • "Il Fornaio has always been my go to place for most events. The food is good, prices reasonable, and the acoustics allow for pleasant conversation. Excellent service! Great for group dinners. I had a birthday event there 2 years ago and we all had a great time. Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek is one of my favorite restaurants."
    Dined on 7/17/2014
  • "Really enjoyed our food; staff was attentive, thoughtful, helpful."
    Dined on 7/12/2014
  • "Our waiter was somewhat engaging. The food, only moderately so."
    Dined on 7/12/2014
  • "This was a great little find. Went here to celebrate a friend's birthday. Food was good, ambiance was beautiful and the prices were fair but the service was a little slow...I attribute that to the LARGE private dinner party of more than 30. Food was extended and the wait staff in my opinion was strained a bit due to that. However, I'd certainly return."
    Dined on 7/11/2014
  • "Our meal was a fish medley. The prawns and the white fish were good but the salmon and the scallops had a "fishy" taste and the squid was so over cooked it was like rubber. The entire dish was over powered by too much butter and the vegetables were very over cooked. Not a pleasant experience!"
    Dined on 7/11/2014
  • "Good casual restaurant. Food servings were very big- took some home"
    Dined on 7/10/2014
  • "My wife and I had a wonderful dinner at Il Fornaio on July 5th. I had a reserved a table for 2 outside and we arrived at 7:30 where we began with a beautiful glass of prosecco and one of their flatbread pizza starters (Rustichella). We eventually settled on having the salmon and grilled vegetable special along with a bottle of Talbott chardonnay. Our waitress was smiling, gregarious, and did an excellent job keeping us happy all evening long. It was a very relaxing evening of dining, drinking, and conversation. The food was cooked to perfection, was interesting enough to keep us interested, and when combined with the ambiance of outdoor dining on a summer night and a friendly waitress - I'm scoring it a home run!"
    Dined on 7/5/2014
  • "We just enjoy this restautrant for ourselves. We bring our guests there. All our all-time standby!"
    Dined on 7/4/2014
  • "Wonderful dining experience! Great food, great service! One of our favorite places to eat."
    Dined on 7/4/2014
  • "I met 5 friends from high school to celebrate our 40th class reunion. Yet that's not the reconnection I'm speaking of. I used to frequent Il Fornaio when it opened in Walnut Creek in 1998. For years I made a point to be there a few times a month. But sadly, it turned a bit in the wrong direction, at least for me. But last Friday night was a very enjoyable experience. All cocktails and dishes were just wonderful; not to mention the 2010 Stagg's Leap Petite Sirah. It was like old times. I'll be making another reservation quite soon."
    Dined on 6/27/2014
  • "Friends from far and near love to meet me at Il Fornaio for lunch or dinner when they come to Walnut Creek."
    Dined on 6/27/2014
  • "Met for a business lunch mid-week. Ambiance nice, able to speak without shouting, waitress was fun, food good, decent wine list. It was too windy to sit outside, but I've enjoyed that as well in the past. Can always depend on a good experience at Il Fornaio."
    Dined on 6/25/2014
  • "I have been here many times but this time it was awful. The food came out cold and the order was wrong. We asked for bread and the waiter said they don't have it at the time we were there. My mother looked at another table and they had bread. All of the other times I ate there I never had to ask for the bread. I probably won't be back for a while."
    Dined on 6/22/2014
  • "Usually dining at Il Fornaio is great, this night 2 out of our 4 meals disappointed. Lasagna served luke warm, second time with cold spots in the food and the pizza Calzone had a fully burned bottom....The other two meals tasted great and were outstanding in quality. The service has been great and the server really tried making up for the mistakes. Will try again....."
    Dined on 6/21/2014
  • "Dining al fresco can be fun. We sat in an area that is usually enclosed, with large doors that open on a pleasant night. With the temperature drop outdoors and the AC blowing, it was a bit awkward for comfort. Wait staff seems efficient but perhaps a bit indifferent. We don't expect fawning but a bit more personal service could help. The pasta with vodka sauce was good; the fish risotto was "too fishy". The risotto needed a bit more flavor layering. We finished the pasta with vodka but didn't finish the risotto. Still, I'll go again. I've liked the place but either Il Fornaio was "off" a bit or perhaps I was "off" a bit!"
    Dined on 6/19/2014
  • "met with a group of high school friends as sort of a mini-reunion. The staff was very attentive, but not intrusive. They let us go at our own pace, realizing that we were there as much for the group as the food. The fantastic meal was a real bonus"
    Dined on 6/19/2014
  • "Was looking forward to trying this restaurant for some time - very disappointing - food came out cold, had to be returned (that was a first for us), and 2 people at our table didn't even receive their dishes until the rest were already finished eating. Appetizers were bland (had minestrone soup, salad - needed SALT - was flat- and dinners were Ok. The pizza was good, however, but we really thought we were in for a nice dinner on Father's Day - do not think we will be returning."
    Dined on 6/15/2014
  • "Food was good but service was fair at best. I had made reservations on Open Table and indicated the special event was for Father's Day and a Birthday celebration. I also mentioned it the server when we arrived. Our dessert order was taken, the desserts delivered and no candle or Birthday dessert was delivered! We had to find the server and remind her again (the third time) it was a BD celebration. It would have been nice to have been greeted upon arrival by the host...since it does reflect on the reservation it is a BD celebration...Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day. The server should NOT have forgotten! There are many good restaurants in the area with excellent service that we can choose."
    Dined on 6/15/2014
  • "This is our date night, go-to place, at least once a month. We love their Passport program that bring Italian Regional Specialities alive with a new region each month--and they throw in a special gift for passport members! The food is always good and the service is friendly and efficient. Excellent wine list and one of the best happy hour values in town."
    Dined on 6/7/2014
  • "I'v been going to Il Fornaio for years and have never been disappointed. I particularly like their Monthly Regional Dinners which present the cuisine of a different region of Italy each month. The wait staff is excellent and a manager always stops by your table to check that you are happy."
    Dined on 6/7/2014
  • "Our go to place. Always good food and service and gifts!"
    Dined on 6/6/2014
  • "Have had better meals here in the past, had a vegetarian pasta dish that essentially tasted like spaghettios for $18!"
    Dined on 6/4/2014
  • "Earlier this year we dined at the Oceanside location. The food was 5-star. I ordered the same dish at the Walnut Creek location. It was not near as good. My wife also ordered the same dish she had in Oceanside. She was also dissapointed."
    Dined on 6/2/2014
  • "Had the seafood risotto & that was delicious! Another had the seafood pasta special and the chicken stuffed raviolis were so yummy. I love the assortment of breads. "
    Dined on 6/1/2014
  • "Patio dining was pleasant. Food and service is ok. Like the ability to order smaller servings on certain items. "
    Dined on 5/31/2014
  • "Great place for seafood as well as pasta. Nightly specials are always some of the best entrees. Lovely covered patio area with large doors that open up to outside dining. At times very busy but we never feel rushed. A consistent pleaser. "
    Dined on 5/31/2014
  • "The patio area is perfect for outdoor dining. The building blocks the sun past 5pm so you are shaded but still warm. The food tasted great and the server encouraged us to take our time and enjoy ourselves. "
    Dined on 5/31/2014
  • "Food and service are consistently high quality. Il Fornaio never disappoints."
    Dined on 5/30/2014
  • "Big thanks to the manager and staff for the wonderful evening spent celebrating our 20th anniversary. The manager came to the table and supplied us with two glasses of champagne to get the evening started. Complimentary appetizers and desert rounded out the evening. We've eaten at Il Fornaio many times; often bringing family with us for dinner. We've always had wonderful meals and service. We love the setting during nice weather when all the windows are open. "
    Dined on 5/28/2014
  • "I had heard of the restaurant before but hadn't ever been. I had heard plenty of good things about it. Everything was right on. Il Fornaio has a calming ambience. The waiter we had was a really nice older gentleman who made sure we had everything we needed. The food was good and came out quickly. It was pretty quiet in the restaurant which made it easier to have conversation at the dinner table."
    Dined on 5/27/2014
  • "We've never been disappointed at an il Fornaio, and this one hit all the right notes. Good quality food and service in a nice setting. Our server was excellent, the salmon entree on the specials menu and the pepperoncino chicken were very good. Will go back again."
    Dined on 5/25/2014
  • "Took my wife for her birthday and I was expecting this place to be a little more quiet and romantic given the type of food, pricing on the menu and the location (WC). The ambience reminded me of The Cheesecake Factory. We ordered calamari for apps, very disappointing. The texture felt like rubber and they were flavorless. I ordered the lasagna and it was nothing spectacular. It was flat and looked like a weight frozen meal. My wife ordered the salmon, and it was dry and the veggies cold. You'd think they would have acknowledged her birthday, since I noted it on Open Table, but all I got was an expensive check. Don't waste your time coming here for a special occasion. The whole experience is average and not worth the price. "
    Dined on 5/25/2014
  • "Service if you can call it that, was the worst ever. I had to ask three time for a glass of wine and then the wrong one was served. Dirty dishes were not removed from the table. The waiter was missing for longs stretches. What was supposed to be a memorable experience for my wife's 70th birthday surprise dinner turned out to me a forgettable experience. I was going to complain to the manager but my wife said just don't come back."
    Dined on 5/24/2014
  • "My wife & I decided to try a dish that was new to us. We selected Pennoni alla Vodka. Two days later our taste buds are still thanking us! The Sangiovese was a perfect complement."
    Dined on 5/24/2014
  • "It my 6 year wedding anniversary. My husband and I love to go to Il Fornaio. This time our experience was terrible. We were seated outside and we were served with bread right away. Our server was overwhelmed with too many tables. It took her at least 15 min after we were seated to come over and greet us. Prior to her coming to our table she helped a table of 4 that was seated after us. She took our drink order and another 15 minutes passed before she came back to our table. She only came back because my husband signaled her to return. She said I'll go check on your drinks. My husband explained we haven't placed our food order yet. When our drinks came my midori sour was nasty. It was sent back. Overall customer service was terrible. "
    Dined on 5/24/2014
  • "We had seven hungry people dig into delicious Italian dishes and desserts. Yum! The service was very good and the food scrumptious. It was pretty noisy, though."
    Dined on 5/23/2014
  • "This was one of the worst lunch dining experiences we have ever had. The server did a good job, the place is beautiful, The beet salad was excellent and the entrée was atrocious. We both ordered the special fish of the day, expecting that it would indeed be "special". It was over-cooked, covered in a tasteless sauce, accompanied by cold spinach and greasy potatoes. We were surprised when we entered that there were so few diners. The reason became quite clear."
    Dined on 5/23/2014
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We offer 2 private dining spaces; our East Loggia, holding 80 seated or up to 120 for a stadning reception.We can create … smaller private dining areas for as small as 15 people using curtains. Our South Loggia can hold up 40 guests seated. Continued
Great for events up to: 120
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