IL FORNELLO, Richmond Hill — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

We were on the hunt for a pateo in the Richmond Hill area, but I had no interest in typical pub food, so we soon found ourselves at Il Fornello.

Il Fornello is an Italian restaurant that sells pasta, pizza, salads, etc. The restaurant is situated in its own building, which is fairly large. Though the decor doesn't scream dress code, when we went for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, many of the other groups there were dressed rather well. I'm not sure if it was just coincidental and they just happened to have left a wedding, but don't say I didn't warn you.

I went into the meal with minimal expectations and planning, so on the advice of my Italian companion, I opted for the pizza fichi. She's a vegetarian, so when she said she would eat this pizza if she HAD to eat meat, I was intrigued. When the pie landed on our table I was presented with a thin crust pie dressed with marscarpone, prosciutto, sliced figs, large shavings of grana padado, honey, and a healthy amount of arugula. I was a little worried by the amount of arugula, considering how chefs often don't respect how powerful it could be, but thank God my fears did not come to pass. Once I settled in for my first bite, the genius of this soul soothing flavour combination rudely interrupted our lively conversation. The dollops of creamy marscapone beautifully mesh with the perfect amount of honey distributed on the pie. The other half of your pallet is simultaneously stiumulated by that unique arugula flavour and the tang of the grana padano cheese. And don't get me started on these damn figs... Those cute, little, sweet bundles just add to the whole bunch, along with the prosciutto. And if that wasn't enough, you'll get to enjoy a stellar crust too. I don't really hold this against the pizza, but you MUST eat this fresh, because the quality of the meal drops from 5 stars to next-day-leftovers in maybe 15 minutes.

I have no idea what the rest of the food tastes like, so please do not take this rating as indicative of everything else they serve at Il Fornello, but as far as my experience with this pie goes, it passed my socks knocked off test. Killer pie,...

NOT Recommended at all!!! Rude services and mediocre food. This is my personal experiences, others may have better experiences then mine. The hostess was extremely rude. I’ve been to all kind of higher end restaurants. Never seen a hostess stare at you like you owe them money. She didn’t speak a single word , no smile , basically impolite and at first I wasn’t even sure if she work there. (Long hair , short, heavy set). When I ask for a table, she brought us to the smallest table in the centre of the restaurant when there are a lot of empty bigger space seats around. (And those seats are used by mainly two diners just like us). I hope it’s not because of the race minority issue we’re getting. It’s just unbearable and unacceptable. I can’t believe the restaurant hired such incompetent employee.

The actual waiter was just okay... he seem extremely busy and somewhat not as friendly as the other waiter and waitresses in the restaurant. The food. Fried Calamari was tasty. Salmon on the other hand was absolutely terrible, for the cost of 32$, it taste pretty much like home made , very dull, nothing stand out. The potatoes and carrots don’t have much taste either. If you are to charge a higher end price tag. The main course definitely didn’t meet the high end expectations. Maybe I should ordered an Italian dish but that’s no excuse for mediocre salmon.

I’ve also ordered another desert just to go (it’s cheese cake and it taste okay, nothing special, loblaw made the same quality for less). because I figured I want something sweet to cheer myself up but didn’t wanna stay in the restaurant. I came to this place base on the google review and apparently I’m assuming my personal experience was just very different. I want to rate two stars but was just really frustrated and angry for such lousy experience I’m getting. To be fair the fried calamari was good but that’s all. Other restaurant offer same calamari with great main course and much polite welcoming services. I wouldn’t come back and definitely not...

We visited with my family yesterday for my birthday. I want to start off by thanking our server Guy and the team in the kitchen for the great service and food.

Service - Guy was friendly and hard working, always speaking to everyone in my family with grace and kindness, even though he was busy. He was terrific.

Food: Everyone enjoyed their food. I think my parents struggled a little with the pizza they were served, they found the crust to be hard but I didn't try it so I can't comment.

The reasons for my less than a 5 star review -

Food - was good but we felt the prices were quite high for some of the items. We asked for a side of pasta and a side of mashed potatoes/veggies, both were charged quite high since they were sides and not full portions. We should have just ordered full portions at that point. We let it be since it was a family dinner.

Service - I called and left a message to make a booking but no one returned my call. I called back again and the person apologized but it was still a little annoying that no one had bothered to return my original call. I let them know that I had a birthday cake and they said there would be a $20 cake fee. Fair enough, I get that we're taking away from potential dessert orders. When I arrived with the cake, a tall, silver-haired gentleman who worked there said, "You brought a cake? Did you tell the team when you booked?" Of course I did. Did you need to pounce on me with that tone as soon as we walked in? It wasn't the friendliest start. He changed his tone and said, "We'll have that in the walk-in for you for later"....but why start off that way? The dining room was also packed for maximum sales. I remember back when this location had more space between the tables, I do miss that.

Overall, like I said, I thank Guy and the kitchen staff for their effort. I think some of the other service elements need a little...