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For 36 years, Il Fornaio has served Italian classics in downtown Palo Alto, garnering longtime employees and regulars. Servers say it’s where Steve Jobs chatted with Tim Cook and where Hall of Famers, tech executives and government leaders would go to dine.
But after service on Sunday, Jan. 18, the once buzzy Italian restaurant will permanently close.
“It’s the end of an era,” said Karen Roth, a server at Il Fornaio Palo Alto for nearly 30 years.
An official press release confirming the upcoming closure did not provide a reason for the decision, noting that the Palo Alto restaurant, as well as its 43-year-old Beverly Hills location, are closing as their leases conclude.
Il Fornaio is the restaurant tenant at the el PRADO Hotel, which said in an emailed statement that it is “actively sourcing long term renovated F&B concepts for the space.”
For Palo Alto resident Dan Snyder, Il Fornaio’s closure is sad but not surprising. Snyder has been a regular at the restaurant for 20 years, first frequenting the establishment after graduating from Stanford University. Now, he lives just 8 blocks from Il Fornaio and enjoys the social atmosphere and sense of community.
“(Il Fornaio) really hasn’t changed much, and I think that’s its blessing and its curse,” he said. “How much do you cater to what people are used to and what they want to be able to have every time, and how do you embrace change and improve?”
He thinks the pandemic probably took a toll on the old-school Italian restaurant, but noted that he knows of regulars who still go every day. What makes Il Fornaio really special, he said, is the staff, which includes many who have been there 30 or more years.
“You get to know these people. I’ve seen these people have kids and grandkids, and we’re friends on Facebook, and they bring in the kids and (say), ‘Oh, this is my grandkid,’” Snyder said.
Roth said working at Il Fornaio is like being part of a family.
“The bartenders have been there for almost 30 years. Servers have been there for a gajillion years. And servers, who used to be servers in the ‘90s, have gone on to be managers,” Roth said. “It’s like family.”
While it petered out over time, she recalled Il Fornaio having a buzzy, startup energy in its early days.
“There used to be a line out the door of people trying to get in for the 7 a.m. breakfast,” Roth said. “And people would order their breakfast and never eat it. They’d stay there for three hours talking about their startup deals, but never ate.”
Years ago, Il Fornaio had a new multicourse menu every month featuring a specific region of Italy, she said. But over time, it was removed for a more standard menu featuring antipasti, fresh handmade pasta, housemade thin-crust pizza and rotisserie and grilled items. Another notable change was that the restaurant switched from baking on-site to receiving baked goods from a centralized commissary kitchen, she added.
Il Fornaio Palo Alto was the go-to place for deals to be made: Steve Jobs dined with Tim Cook at table 11, and Jeff Bezos would have work dinners there back when Amazon only sold books, Roth said. She recalls the U.S. secretary of energy coming in with various security agents.
“Very interesting things that happen in the world start with dinners at Il Fornaio,” she said.
Luis Guzman, who has been a server at Il Fornaio for nearly 30 years, said he’s seen notable names such as Oliver Stone, Sharon Stone, Morgan Freeman, Joe Montana, Al Gore, Chelsea Clinton, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg dine over the years.
“Back then it was one of the hottest restaurants, one of the best places in Palo Alto,” Guzman said, noting that he thinks the pandemic played a role in its downfall.
Guzman said he has friends who have worked at the restaurant longer than he has. While he now works at Il Fornaio part time and has another job, for some of his friends, the closure of Il Fornaio means losing their only source of income. He said in a phone call Jan. 6 that staff had not yet been notified of any transfer options.
In an official statement, Il Fornaio said, “We are saddened that we will be saying goodbye to many of our wonderful employees, many of whom have been with us for decades, while some will be moving to our other locations in California.”
Il Fornaio continues to operate locations in Mountain View, Santa Clara and Burlingame.
Il Fornaio, 520 Cowper St., Palo Alto; 650-853-3888, Instagram: @ilfornaiopaloalto. Through Jan. 18, open Monday to Wednesday from 5-9 p.m. and Thursday to Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.
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