Sam B.
Yelp
Il Fornaio is an upscale casual Italian restaurant in the heart of Beverly Hills. This location has been here for many years and is great for families with well-behaved children, dates, business lunches, and hanging out with friends.
My favorite meal to eat here is an order of their minestrone soup and the Insalata Regina. The Insalata Regina is a vegan salad that comes with wild arugula, couscous, avocado, red onions, capers, raisins, and a lemon oil dressing. The combo of the soup and this salad is a healthy and filling meal. Highly suggest.
I recently came here to try their new Happy Hour menu. They created a new Happy Hour seating section behind the bar where a bakery used to be. They serve both food and drinks. We got the pastacini, cavolfiori, and Margarita pizza. For the drink we tried the Milano Mule. Prices were reasonable.
Everything was delicious. The cavolfiori was a nice lite dish of roasted cauliflower, garlic, and rosemary olive oil. The cauliflower was cooked to perfection.
The pastacini was also a delightful surprisingly light appetizer of fried macaroni bites in marinara. So satisfying.
The margarita pizza was also delightful. Everything tasted so fresh from the tomato sauce to the basil on top. It comes with eight slices. We both had two and took the rest home. Good the next day as well.
The Milano mule drink had vodka, elderflower liquor, ginger beer and lime. I did not taste the drink but my dining companion said it was very good and refreshing.
Our waiter was so charming and helpful. It was such a nice experience dining with him.
Il Fornaio does have a rewards program which is nice. I like restaurants with reward programs. However, the waiter told me that we couldn't redeem our reward for a free dessert during Happy Hour.
Our sweet waiter did try for us and asked the manager to make an exception but when he came back he told us they said "no" which was a bummer since the fine print only said "dine-in only" and did not mention happy hour being excluded.
Also of note is that post-Covid Il Fornaio now charges for their bread basket which used to be complimentary. They do have really good bread here though but I can't help remembering that it used to be free.
They also charge a 3% surcharge on the bill even for happy hour which adds to the cost of the meal. I'm not a fan of surcharges although I know this is not the only restaurant that has this. However, I'd rather the employee benefit fee be reflected in the prices of the food than a surcharge added on at the end.
A positive I wanted to mention is that they have a wonderful space in the back that makes a great spot for a private party. Highly suggest if you are looking for a restaurant venue to host an event.
Overall, this place is a classic staple in the neighborhood and a good choice for a more laid back, casual but still nice Italian meal without the pomp and circumstance.
Metered parking on the street and parking lot nearby.