Il Fornaio Restaurant Review
Pine Inn
Ocean Ave. (Monte Verde St.) 
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Carmel by the Sea, CA 93921
831-622-5100 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
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Cuisine
Open
Breakfast Mon.-Fri., Lunch & Dinner daily, Brunch Sat.-Sun.Features
- View
- Kid-friendly
- Private room(s)
- Full bar
- Reservations suggested
- Outdoor dining
- Casual
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| Sure, there is no better place in town to chew on a morning pastry or lovely panmarino than in this airy rotunda. Yes, the atmosphere is inviting, though most Il Fornaios are. Dining here is a different matter. The food dulls rather than inspires the palate. The costa smeralda, a plate of grilled scallops, sweet shrimp, calamari and parsley sauce somehow goes wrong and rubbery, and the turtei con aragosta, ravioli stuffed with Maine lobster, treads water in far too much lobster-cream sauce. Stick with the wood-fired rotisserie specials like the pollo Toscano rubbed with rosemary and fresh vegetables or the grilled rack of lamb. From season to season, the menu reads much the same---static without many changes except on the dessert menu. Still, the place is packed. Who can’t resist the appeal of free focaccia and other doughy treats at happy hour---or any hour? |
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