Il Fornaio — Restaurant in Del Mar

Ordered the special dish of the day (lamb) asked for it to be cooked medium as well as the Salmon Alla Griglia. Lamb came in RARE, and the vegetable that came in with the salmon was extremely sour and not edible. Informed the waiter of the above, he was apologetic and stated he would talk to the manager and see what he can do. Manager does not come in, waiter comes in with the check for the appetizer removing the entrees and basically telling us that hes sorry and there's else nothing he can do (it almost felt like hes had to deal with this before with other customers).

On the way out, I asked to speak to the manager to give my feedback informing him that this was our anniversary where we come here every year but the manager was extremely rude coming up with excuses in regards to every feedback, stating that the vegetable on the salmon dish is Kale "Thats supposed to be sour" according to him. (On the menu it was broccoli not Kale). Then when I informed him I was expecting him to come and maybe offer alternatives rather than the waiter just hand us the check, he stated he was "too busy with another event happening".

All of the above could have been ignored as Ive never written a bad review before but what truly set me to write this review was on my way out, the manager asked if I "had paid" the $22 check (in which I had already dine so before speaking to him through the pay by phone barcode on the check). Rude, inconsiderate, not being accountable for the dishes served, and unapologetic. With the manager not being able to properly listen to his customers and manage the restaurant properly, it does not surprise me how everything else was mishandled with poor dishes served and almost zero effort to accommodate the situation. Will never go back and would not recommend anyone...

This is a review for Enoteca Del Fornaio, which appears to be the door patio section of the restaurant.

I want to start by acknowledging that we're still coming out of a pandemic, and things are tough. A lot of places are short staffed and that can make it really stressful on a busy Friday night.

However, I was disappointed with even basic customer service tonight. Didn't greet us when we walked up, made brief eye contact and then who I assume is the manager kept talking to the host and blatantly ignored us for a solid few minutes and eventually asked "are you dining in?". No, we just like standing in front of host stands for no reason. Then proceeded to ask us to wait in a "line" (there was no line). In the host's defense, he did try to greet us but his manager didn't really let him. We're also pretty certain the manager was chewing him out for something which is pretty unprofessional to do in front of customers. The host himself was really polite and kind. The couple who was ahead of us also made a comment that they felt the manager was rude.

Server was super attentive when we first sat down, but it took almost 30-45 minutes from when we finished our food to be acknowledged again by our server and by that time we just wanted our check to leave. She also never stopped by to check in to see how our food was after we got it, but that could be from being short staffed and her coworkers checked in on us, which I did appreciate.

Food was really good though - ordered calamari, the pasta special of the day, pizza, and a glass of rosé.

Maybe we weren't dressed nice enough? Didn't look high-end...

The menu is limited and the food quite pricey however it's the best Italian restaurant in the area. The entrees are authentic and flavorful which makes the restaurant worth the visit. The bartender, Jesse, is well versed and the bar itself is well stocked however the wine list isn't exhaustive. Desserts such as Tiramisu are especially delicious and again there are limited choices here. You can watch the Del Mar sunset from here and the crowd is lively around the Plaza area. Also, plan on taking your time since the service isn't particularly fast. There is a daily happy hour (but not on the weekend or holidays) in the bar area offering 50% discounts specific drinks, appetizers and individual pizzas. The restaurant becomes especially busy during this time then empties out soon afterwards.

UPDATE: I have dropped the rating two stars recently due a decline in customer service unfortunately. Several times I have witnessed customers trying to order drinks only to become frustrated by the time it takes to complete their order. Also, they used to be very cordial and remember items such as your favorite desserts from previous visits. Also, during my last visit the waitress didn't get my appetizer order correct and then left me there for more than an hour without asking what I wanted for a main course. I tried flagging people down several time to no avail which was very disappointing. Ultimately, I had to leave without...