IL Forno

Mesa, United States

3.2

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 480-807-0888
Website:
www.italianrestaurantsmesaaz.com
Address:
6606 E McKellips Rd Ste 104, Mesa, AZ, 85215
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Mesa) 04:46 Thursday, 22 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Look no further, the best Italian restaurants serve fresh Italian food and pizza, from authentic italian recipes. Il Forno bar & restaurant. We hope you review us as a best place to eat local food.

Our Mesa Arizona restaurant specializes in authentic Italian food and fresh, wood fired pizza. We have a full menu including steak, seafood, pasta, calzones, pizza, as well as a bar. Our bar serves wonderful wine, beer, and cocktails ranging from Martini’s to Margaritas.

Our wood fired pizza oven truly brings out the flavors and freshness of our pizza ingredients and is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

We are open for lunch and dinner at our restaurant and have a nice, cozy patio area so you can enjoy the Arizona sunsets while enjoying your Italian dish, straight from Italy to your plate.

History

Established in 2012.

Il Forno Italian Restaurant is family owned and operated. The owners are from Italy, and previously owned another popular Mesa Italian Restaurant for years, but sold the business and went back home to Italy for some time. When they returned, they hoped to re-​open Il Forno under the name of the previous restaurant, but were unable to obtain the rights to use the name, so, Il Forno was born.

The owners of IL Forno are currently remodeling a Phoenix location that will be under a different name, serving lunch to the downtown Phoenix business crowd.

You can truly feel, smell, and hear real Italy when you visit the restaurant in Mesa, Arizona.

Meet the Manager

John I.

Manager

John has been operating Italian restaurants for quite some time and has been a friend of the family for many years. His expertise in both cooking Italian food and assisting the restaurant in carrying on the traditional italian feel is unmatched.

Related places

You might also consider:
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Pizza Hut
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Desert Peaks Pizza & Grille
5943 E McKellips Rd C102
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Pacino’s Italian
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mi
Caffe Boa Bistro
2837 N Power Rd Ste 102
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mi
Venezia’s New York Style Pizzeria
5057 E Mckellips Rd
2
mi
Alessia’s Ristorante Italiano
5251 E Brown Rd

Nearby

Browse nearby places:
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Massage Envy - Mesa
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20 reviews of IL Forno

No registration required
Place rating: 1
Mesa, AZ
Went there for first time, will be the last! I had lobster ravioli, 5 pieces came with no side, my wife had chicken parm, compared to many other places we dine at, again small portions, but heavy on the bill! Service was average, left hungry!
Place rating: 5
Upper West Side, Manhattan, NY
Best thin crust pizza we have ever had & we are from NYC!
This place is underrated! I’m a pizza connoisseur, particularly around thin crust pizzas. The pizza came out and was cooked evenly: perfection! I’ve been to John’s on Bleecker, Frank Pepes, Grimaldi’s, Patsy’s & il Bacio etc. This place surpassed them all. The owner makes his own mozzarella by hand and puts it on every single pie and it really makes a difference. The sauce was delicious and tasty.
The Lemoncello Cake was amongst the finest I’ve had. And equivalent to a Michelin rated restaurant.
Place rating: 5
Mesa, AZ
Mmm Mmm Good pizza! The dough is so light, crunchy, and chewy. We ordered the house special pizza and I kid you not you can taste the quality of every ingredient used to make this delicious masterpiece!!!
My order took longer than what I was told, but who cares??? My patience paid off and the whole family loved the pizza just as much as I did. Also a little pricier than most but I personally think it’s well worth it
UPDATE: So i bought 2 16″ pizzas last night, warmed up the last 4 slices in the oven the next AM and THAT PIZZA IS SUPER DELICIOUS reheated in the oven. Waiting for them to open so we get another for brunch, NO B.S. it is that mmm mmm good
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
Great light crusted pizza just like from Brooklyn. They use homemade Mozarella. Unbelievable!
Place rating: 1
Mesa, AZ
We were a little early so waited until 11 anyway. We walked in and the hostess said oh I’m sorry I forgot to lock the door back. I said don’t you open at 11? She replied well I don’t have a cook here and I’m not sure when I will. Maybe probably an hour or so. So can’t review the food but service was a joke as you can read. We won’t give it another shot. Visited on Monday 5÷16÷2016.
Place rating: 5
Mesa, AZ
First time was a charm!
After a few years of driving by this place, we stopped in tonight to try it. Glad we did! Food was delicious, and we met the owner/​cook, who prepares everything fresh, and by himself. Service was a bit slow, but it was due to the care and personal attention of the owner.
Highlight was the chicken pesto pizza… best I’ve ever had. Shrimp scampi appetizer was also fantastic. Fresh baked bread was great, as was the Il Forno pizza. Wood-​fired crust makes the pies!
We’ll be back… soon. Can’t wait to try the homemade pastas. Also happy to support a small business.
Place rating: 5
Chandler, AZ
I have dined in twice and taken out once in the past month from this restaurant. Everything from the bread and olive oil to the lobster ravioli to the Caesar salad to the pizza and cannoli are high quality and delicious. All entrée items are made from scratch including the mozzarella!
Place rating: 1
Mesa, AZ
i wish there was a rating significantly less than 1 possible to give to this restaurant. we live close to this restaurant and have tried it before. went with the family for dinner to eat out and then go to a concert during the holiday weekend. ordered a full meal from the menu with drinks and appetizers. waited for 1 hour and 45 minutes, with no food served after repeated reminders and requests.
had to leave after my family and i waited for an hour and 45 minutes…
there must be something more going on at this restaurant than just sloppy organization. maybe they should post a sign outside which says, «you can come in and get a table, but you may not get the food you ordered.» i hope other customers are treated better in this restaurant.
Place rating: 5
Mesa, AZ
Best pizza in the East Valley. Cooked over wood and it shows in the flavor of the crust.
Place rating: 3
Phoenix, AZ
First time dining at IL Forno tonight. The complimentary bread was good. We had to ask for more because everyone at our table enjoyed it. We ordered (2) orders of Tomato Caprese for our table of (5) people and the portions were small and not proportionate– huge pieces of cheese and small slices of tomato. I ordered the $ 16 Chicken Parm which included a decent size piece of chicken and a helping of spaghetti and marinara. It was good but not great. My wife enjoyed the $ 19 Parpadelle with shrimp. She rated her meal at 3.5 stars. (2) people in our group ordered Fussilli off the «Homemade Pasta» section of the menu but both had to pick other pastas because they were out. Another person in our party ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese but someone came out about 5 minutes later and said they were out of Bolognese. This was at 7pm on a Saturday. Our server was friendly, and nothing was terrible, but given the circumstances we had tonight, I’d rate our trip a solid 3-​Star experience.
Place rating: 2
Chandler, AZ
I’ve been meaning to express my opinion about this restaurant and the Holiday took over. My husband and I along with another couple decided to finally try Il Forno before the Holidays. We will never return! Who owns this place? OR Who manages this place? because clearly the evening that we dined was being managed by the staff. Our server was awful. Why do the servers make the drinks? She had no clue about any liquor choice. We were seated next to a table that was a mess. The floor was covered in food, the table wasn’t cleared until we were leaving. (1 hour). In fact all the empty tables were left dirty and unattended. Not one on staff smiled. The food was good, but the service was the worst. Needs New Management!!!
Place rating: 3
Mesa, AZ
It took a long time to get food. Friend ordered a salad for dinner and instead of bringing out both at the same time as we asked my friend got her soup and salad early and finished her soup and salad by the 30 minute mark. I was still waiting. I waited over 45 minutes total. Finally, I told them to skip my order. They comped the soup and salad but no manager came out to apologize. Still I am giving a three star since my experience may have been unusual and since the waitress seemed new.
Place rating: 3
Mesa, AZ
We went to this place for dinner. The prices are really high but we had a coupon from restaurant dot com for $ 15 off $ 30. The pizza was just like Grimaldi’s and the lasagna was good with just a little spicy taste to it. There looked to be maybe one Italian person working here although the staff was friendly and the service was good. I would not go back without the coupon though because of the prices.
Place rating: 5
Apache Junction, AZ
We had a coupon from
for il Forno and I’m glad we gave them a try. We arrived at 3pm on a Saturday and we were the only patrons, so the service was prompt, polite & professional.
We ordered a 12″ mushroom & onion pizza as an appetizer and it was honestly one of the best pies I have ever had. The wood fired hand tossed crust is light and wonderful, the sauce is perfection. This is where I will be eating pizza from now on.
I had the Chicken Parmigiana and it was excellent, my wife had the Linguini Frutti Di Mare which she enjoyed also. The meals included a basket of warm bread that was fresh and delicious. The portions were just right and we were able to eat everything.
The atmosphere was very nice and the prices appear to reflect the quality of the food. They have beer & wine, but I am not sure about liquor. I highly recommend il Forno and will be back.
Place rating: 1
Phoenix, AZ
We drove 25 miles from San Tan Valley to have lunch at this place after reading all the exciting reviews. When we got there at 2pm the «Open» sign was on and the first thing we noticed when we stepped inside, was that there wasn’t a single guest. A lady told us «Sorry, I don’t have a chef, he didn’t show up».
This does not seem to be unusual for this place, they should rather put a sign at their door «Lunch by appointment only» rather than «Open from 11am to 9 pm».
Wasting our time and gas. Big disappointment and very embarrassing for me since I was inviting someone.
Place rating: 3
Gilbert, AZ
GF and I went for a simple dinner last night. The place is quaint and cute and the gals who serve all wear black with red ties — very cute and nice. We had some drinks and just a simple salad and a large specialty pizza. I have a small issue with the wines — they have no bulk wine offerings nor half bottles. They pour glasses from 750 ml bottles, and do not have a nitrogen replacement system. So if you get a glass from a bottle opened yesterday, you may get a slightly yucky tasting glass of wine. This might not be big problem since their wines are not of the highest ratings, but still an issue to me. The pizza was pretty darn good. Thin crust and very crispy and nicely done. Good toppings and good cheese. A little pricey at $ 25 a pie, but OK, I guess.
Place rating: 2
Phoenix, AZ
My coworkers and I used to frequent this place all the time, but they have definitely gone downhill quickly (maybe new management?). The food is amazing and everything is homemade which makes all the difference! We attempted to stop in for lunch on Friday, June 5th around 11:30 am and found the door locked. A lady came out and explained the cook was running late and they wouldn’t open till 12:30 or so. Ok, I can get over that– stuff happens. But then we tried to go again on Thursday, June 11th and was surprised to find yet another locked door! I called the business as we couldn’t see anyone in the restaurant. A lady answered and explained the owner lives far away and had to check on his other restaurant so they’d be opening late again. In my opinion, they should just change their hours and quit making me waste my time! I will definitely not be trying again.
Place rating: 3
Phoenix, AZ
I’ve been here before, shortly after it opened, and went back again recently. Both times I’ve ordered the pizza, and I was slightly surprised to find the pizza was different than I remembered. It was really good — love the thin crust and wood-​fired taste, and their lunch price wasn’t bad (although beware, the Unilocal coupon that pops up upon checking in is from the previous owner, and no longer honored). Which leads us into why the pizza was probably different — the server informed me that the business is under new ownership (I don’t know how new, I didn’t ask, just sometime since I went last in mid-​2013) So if it’s been a while since you’ve been here, I suggest giving it another try. I hope they do well, it just seems like they don’t do much marketing — I wouldn’t know this place was there if I didn’t drive by it all the time.
Place rating: 1
Mesa, AZ
Terrible quality food. Prices are not competitive, neither is what’s included in a meal. $ 15 bucks will get you a simple, subpar, disappointing bowl of pasta served on a dirty table with some tasteless bread. Worst $ 37 spent in a long time.
Place rating: 5
Mesa, AZ
I’ll Forno is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to eat. The wood-​fired pizza is just perfect. I love the thin, crispy crust with just a hint of wood char. You can tell the ingredients are fresh and high quality.
The chef came out to greet us and it’s clear he has a passion for the food. I love finding a hidden place where the food is better than most other free-​standing restaurants. I’ve had the pizza, the pastas, and the lobster ravioli was awesome!