BELLA VISTA I am…read morehappy to say that during my two week vacation in Italy to visit family and friends, most of the restaurants my son selected were up scale and enjoyable. One however called Bella Vista located in the lakeside town of Peschiera Del Garda failed the test of 5 Star restaurants. They failed to realize that good service will bring customers back for return visits. Once seated we placed our order and relaxed and waited for our server to bring our special salads. Unfortunately after a lengthy wait there was no salad or server. Instead our main course steaks were brought by yet another server who placed the plates in front of us and also disappeared before we could inquire about the two missing salads. My son went in search the two missing servers to no avail. As we finished our steaks, a third server hurriedly set one salad on the table with the expectation that we would split this salad between the two of us. At the cost of 13.50 Euros for each salad, I guess the establishment figured if we split the one salad but were charged for two, that would be a tidy profit on their special salad. My son again went in search of management who came to our table and justified the mistake by stating they had several cooks in the kitchen and one of them forgot to make the second salad. The condescending attitude of staff and management seems to indicate that proximity to the lake and atmosphere are more important than customer service. If you search reviews on Google you will find five star reviews but management seems to ignore the number of 1, 2, and 3 star reviews that seem to go unread as the complaints and criticisms made by customers go unresolved. We returned the following evening with reservations at a restaurant right across the street a slight which understood the importance of great customer service. A great location failed to provide a great dining experience. Beware that the pricy food does not live up to its expectations.

On the lake front, nice ambiance and location, service is very good and wide enough selection on…read morethe menu to please most, food is ok but nothing to really talk about , quite acceptable for a tourist track and reasonable prices

Great service, best quality, nice athmosphere! We had cozze…read moreas a starter: delicious sauce! Afterwards 2 types of pizza: really great! Coffee and grappa were also wonderful! Was a great evening!

Very nice food and service. Friendly staff, nice view and cosy environment. We ordered pizza, pasta…read morecarbonara and italian antipasto - all great!

I've been going to this restaurant for almost 40 years and it's amazing. Best sea food, pasta and…read morePizza of my life :). It's location at the old harbor is beautiful and in addition to the yummy food they have a well selected wine list with local and Italien wines as well as liquors. Great, fast and friendly service. I'm in love with this place.

We heard this was the oldest restaurant in the area and a great spot. After our visit here, we…read morewere really disappointed. The service was not great. They were really nice, but ignored our table. Patrons that came after we ordered were served before us. I really think they forgot the rest of our order after the antipasti came out at lightning speed. I never salt my food at a restaurant. Every dish frantically needed salt and pepper. The antipasti: pulpo (octopus) was not great. They had some sauce under it that was way too much and just was not great. For our entrees we ordered under pistachio tortellini and the seafood pasta. The tortellini was great after we salted and peppered it. The seafood pasta was lacking much seafood, it was average at best. There seems to be a lot of restaurants here, recommend trying something else...

I visited Al Gondoliere for the first time over 5-years ago before I even know what Yelp was. I…read moreremember absolutely loving the restaurant and was sure to make a reservation when I found myself at Lake Garda again last week. I'm so excited to be able to log this 5-star review so many years after my first visit as Al Gondoliere is every bit as good as I remember! On this most recent visit, we shared the prosciutto and fig antipasti. While the prosciutto was great, the pairing with the fig fell a little short. (We should have gotten the melon.) This was the only blip in an otherwise perfect meal though, so no real complaints here! After the antipasti, we moved on to pasta. I had the ravioli with smoked cheese and pistachio sauce. My husband had the spaghetti bolognese. And my sister had the gnocchi with ricotta and tomato sauce. Every one was unique and delish. Don't ask me to pick a favorite because I can't. After all that (our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomaches that evening) we then had the sea bass and roasted potatoes. Both amazing. Capped it all off with homemade tiramisu and cinnamon semifredo with wine sauce. One word for ya about all of that. Y. U. M. During the meal, we enjoyed a bottle of the Garda Merlot. I do wish they had carafes of house wine that we've become so accustomed to while living in Italy (mostly because they're a fraction of the cost of bottles) but our €23 bottle was also worth every euro. The restaurant caps off the meal with small glasses of chocolate grappa. I hate grappa but I love this chocolate grappa. Looking forward to many more weekends in the charming town of Malcesine and many more meals at Al Gondolie

Best ravioli of the trip! With a hearty beef and fries gras ragu…read more Fantastic tomato and burrata salad. Spaghetti with seafood ! Wonderful patio setting in Old Town Sirmione. Try this one.

This place was wonderful. We arrived without a reservation (I highly recommend making a…read morereservation) and they were able to find us a table. We liked everything we ordered here! The best thing, in my opinion, is the pasta with tomato, garlic, and burrata. I scarfed down the entire thing. My mother and my aunt enjoyed their dishes as well - I tried both and they were super yummy. Service was impeccable and the welcome drink / small desserts on the house really added to the experience. We considered coming here two nights in a row, and I wish we had. Top notch.

This restaurant is in beautiful Bologna and is a little on the casual side, but the food is great…read moreand priced very reasonable

Amazing service! Amazing ambiance! Amazing food! Ristorante da Umberto is a gem in Lake Garda's…read morecrown. We enjoyed a typical Italian meal (i.e. 2+ hours) during a long weekend in Brenzone sul Garda, one of many picturesque towns on the lake, just a few minutes up the road from Umberto's. We started with the Gran Frito Misto. Even though it was listed in the menu as a secondi, our waiter humored us and let us have it as an antipasti. The assortment of fried seafood and veggies was delish! I loved the calamari and shrimp. Even the sardines weren't bad! After that, we moved on to antipasti and secondi. My sister and I ordered the lasagne because it's a minimum 2 person dish. My hubby ordered the steak because... well... men like red meat? Y'all. I need to wax poetic about this lasagna for a minute. It was super creamy, bubbly and hot. Layers and layers of fresh noodles with a savory meat ragu sauce on top and prosciutto cotto and mushrooms sprinkled throughout. All served in a GIANT cauldron, easily enough for four people even though it was billed as a two person dish. The steak was good, too. And, we also enjoyed the sautéed potatoes. But seriously. Get. The. Lasagna. If you are still reading at this point (why aren't you on your way to Lake Garda for the lasagna?!), I suppose my last anecdote is that the house red wine was delicious.

Our food tour stopped in here where we enjoyed some delicious primi platti (first course) meals…read more The interior is a beautiful restaurant with lots of light and exposed stone walls. It was quiet when we arrived at noon and then filled up quite a lot by the time we departed. Clearly, a restaurant for the locals. First course, a big pile of a pasta called "bigolini" which I've not seen before. It is like thick spaghetti with a rough surface. That is needed because the sauce on it was quite thick and another interesting taste - nettles. Definitely different. Second course, risotto made with a red wine reduction. Very flavorful and rich and the pasta was perfectly al dente. We'll definitely need to return to here for dinner! [Review 16980 overall - 185 in Italy - 496 of 2022.]

This spot was highly recommended by our AirBnb host. It's a little farther out from the touristy…read morecenter near the arena in Verona which was evident in the fact we seemed to be the only English speaking diners in the place. The restaurant is very cute (free WiFi) and homey feeling with an exposed brick interior and interesting decoration choices throughout the space. If you're so inclined there's also and outdoor patio area. Maybe we just ordered poor menu items but the food was underwhelming and not particularly standout. For our anti pasta course we went with the cured meat trio with polenta. The meats weren't particularly good and combined with the bland polenta it just wasn't a good combo. For our primi pasta course we had the bigoli in a horse (yes horse) bolognese sauce. Of our three dishes this was the best. For our main meat course with did horse cheeks braised in an Amarone wine sauce with polenta. I didn't like the polenta any better on our second dish and the cheek just didn't do it for me. I ended up leaving the bulk of the dish uneaten. All in all-maybe I just ordered poorly but I if I ever make it back to Verona this spot will be a pass for me.

This is probably my favorite restaurant in all of Italy. The best prosciutto, the best risotto,…read morethe best beef cheeks and oxtail, and the best Amorone. Everything is just perfect. Service is great. Clientele is local. Food is special. I can't recommend enough.

Not cheap but delicious. Try the beef cheek braised in Amerone with oxtail. You won't regret it.read more