Il Fornaio — Restaurant in Paradise

I had a fantastic experience at Il Fornaio a few weeks ago when I was in town for a work conference, so I wanted to make sure that I came here to leave a review! My group and I had originally made a reservation for dinner, but upon arriving early, we discovered it was Happy Hour and instead decided to sit in the bar area to indulge in some appetizers and cocktails instead of a more formal sit down dinner.

We absolutely enjoyed every item we ordered! They were each executed beautifully and with care.

Tuscan Lemonade: I had three of these cocktails during the course of happy hour and for $9 per cocktail, it was such a smashing deal! The blackberry puree was absolutely delightful and refreshing.

Pastacini: These were fried macaroni bites with cheese and had a marinara sauce at the base of the dish. They were crispy and fried to perfection! The marinara was delicious and made the perfect bite all together.

Bruschetta Al Pomodoro: What I loved most about this dish was how fresh the heirloom tomatoes were. The baguette was toasted very well and complimented the freshness of the bruschetta topping perfectly.

Insalata Cesarina: I originally was on the fence about wanting to even order a salad this evening, but was quickly influenced by what was coming out of the kitchen. Their Caesar salad was beautiful and topped with the largest shavings of Grana Padano that I have seen. You could taste the saltiness from anchovies in the dressing that was house made and I appreciate it incredibly when a Caesar dressing is made in-house.

Tiramisu: At the end of the meal, our server delighted us with a complimentary tiramisu! It was an absolute surprise from him! Although I don't typically indulge in desserts often, this gesture was so nice and the tiramisu was so delicious. It was so light and balanced, while having the richness from the cocoa powder and espresso.

Our server was Bryan and he was fantastic and personable the entire time. He checked in a lot throughout the meal to make sure everything was good and that we were being taken care of. We really enjoyed this meal and I will make note that Il Fornaio is a great place to go for a genuinely great dining experience...

Made a reservation a couple of months in advance for my birthday on Dec 29th after having dined here before on previous trips to Vegas and had previously received their complimentary birthday tiramisu dessert as they advertise. We arrived at the restaurant and I was greeted with a happy birthday and we were seated promptly. I was looking forward to the dessert as Tiramisu is my favorite dessert and it was delicious on a previous visit. Instead I was offered the tiniest scoop of vanilla icecream (and I mean tiny). It really was pathetic and I could have gone to any CHAIN restaurant and received a better birthday treat. This put a downer on my birthday meal and even after expressing our disappointment the waitress seemed to take delight in telling us they no longer did the complimentary special birthday tiramisu dessert which they had advertised and that they stopped doing this a few months ago! Really?? Would it have bankrupted the restaurant to have a manager step in and make an exception to make someone happy on their birthday since we knew about the offer and had chosen this restaurant because of this? How convenient that they stopped doing this "a few months" before. Plus they charged us a ridiculous $14 for a glass of sangria which tasted like it had more fruit juice in it than alcohol and was just ok...yes $14 DOLLARS!!! Well it is Vegas I suppose but we left feeling unsatisfied after paying over 60 dollars for 2 small plates of pasta in vodka sauce (tasty dish but on the small side), an iced tea, and a glass of sangria WITHOUT appetizers or dessert. Used to look forward to coming to this place on our trips to Vegas but will not return because they made no effort to make my occasion special. If you are looking for a special occasion venue I would not suggest this place. There are plenty of other options in Vegas and we will look for a new favorite italian restaurant for our next trip. Yes, we could have paid for the tiramisu but it was the principle of the thing and they did not demonstrate good customer service on...

We had one night in Las Vegas and decided to go to Il Fornaio in the New York New York Hotel for dinner. They served us amazing food which was exactly what we wanted as we were dining with friends. The restaurant was spotless and nicely decorated on the inside. There is a sort of outdoor seating area but what you need to remember this is all contained within the New York New York Hotel. I would recommend dining inside as its a nicer ambiance in my opinion! The staff were extremely friendly, courteous and very attentive! Our server was extremely helpful as he explained any dishes we had queries about and described the specials in detail. I have to say the food really was amazing! We ordered bread for the table and they served it with olive oil and Balsamic! It was delicious! The bread was crusty and hard on the outside, but light on the inside which is just what you want! For the entree I ordered the "Norcina Con Pollo" Gnocchi and I thought it was incredible! The gnocchi was cooked perfectly and the flavour of the sauce was rich and creamy. For dessert, we ordered the chocolate bread pudding and it was lovely and light to finish with of top of our meal. See the images that I have attached, my partner order the "Paccheri Alla Vodka" and our friend ordered the "Casonzei Alla Zucca"! We all enjoyed our dishes! For me, the meal was one of the best italian dishes I've had so far in my visits to America so far. If you are in Las Vegas and you if enjoy Italian Food, I highly recommend that you make your way to the New York New York Hotel and get a table at Il Fornaio for food! You will not be...