This is one of my favorite places in Burlingame for lunch and dinner. It has a warm, rustic feel with lots of wood and oversized windows, and the smell of housemade bread and pastas wafting throughout. It has a grown up attitude but is still relaxed enough to bring the kids. The San Francisco location is nice, too, but I find the Peninsula one has more charm and character.

I love their salads, breads, pastas, seafood and pizzas- pretty much everything. They are very accommodating, and have even made a cheeseless pizza for us when we ate there with someone who didn’t want the dairy. And it was delicious!

I used to schedule business lunches, dinners, private parties as part of my job, and many customers and sales reps I booked at Il Fornaio would come back and say positive things. The only drawback is that because it’s such a popular, lively spot so it can get a little noisy.