Cafe Lago

Disappointed with the food. We were in the mood for lasagne and headed here for their famous non-​meat version. I am not sure why people call it light — it was a two-​inch thick stack of very thin noodles, super rich ricotta and super rich béchamel with some marinara. Very rich and didn’t satisfy our lasagne craving. I wish they had something to offset the creaminess like meat or spinach. Oh well. Not my jam.
We also shared the linguine with clams and did not care for it at all. The noodles had a very strange consistency, almost like fresh soba noodles, and the sauce was just a garlic bomb. Ate about ¼ of it — mostly the clams.
We did love the antipasti platter which contained a generous amount of goodies but not enough bread to put it on (they brought more yummy bread when requested). Caponata and tapenade were my favs.
Service was fine but nothing to rave about. The hostess is kind of standoffish which is really weird.
Not in any hurry to go back.

Ok so this will be a little biased because my cousin was head bartender here for a few years.
I had an awesome opportunity to go to dinner with her here. The food was phenomenal and our service was outstanding. Our waiters provided thoughtful recommendations to try different items on the menu. The restaurant itself some how pulls off the cool, yet cozy vibe. I haven’t been back since I went with my cousin, but it is on the list of places to check out again.

Great little Italian restaurant located right on Montlake, between the U-​District and Capitol Hill. Parking can be a little difficult — there’s not too much street parking on Montlake, and the adjacent street is this steep ass hill so very interesting trying to park/​get out of my parking spot without accidentally hitting another car.
My friend and I went for a quick dinner before heading off to a meeting and the place wasn’t too busy at all, probably because we came ‘early’.
I ordered the risotto, and it was deliciously — perfectly made and the perfect portion size. Our server was great and was always attentive with us. No problems at all. We will be back to try some of the other dishes!

I like this restaurant but not super pleased with the last dinner there. Out of the lasagna (that they know everybody loves) by 7:30 on a Friday? What time am I expected to come for dinner to get a piece? 5? 6? That’s probably never happening, so why bother coming back. The server forgot the goat cheese on the beet salad and didn’t check back in time, so we ate it without and it was lackluster. The pasta was pretty good, but not what we came for. Please have your full menu available and be able to accommodate your customers at such an early hour on a Friday. Your fabled lasagna — I’m not playing your artificial shortage game again; it’s not cute and it’s not making me want the lasagna more, it’s making me want to never come back.

Was there last night. Everything we had to eat was fantastic and authentic. We had basically a 5 course ealing so it was a special occasion… The people were friendly and very attentive to us which made the experience even better. Loved that they paid such closer attention to my sons allergies and even my own sensitivity to certain ingredients. I would highly recommend and will be coming back with friends.

Delish. Had the Caesar salad and the homemade meatballs and noodles. I am going back for more the next night!

Went on a Monday night, right as they opened. The service was minimal but very good which is how I prefer it, honestly. We started with the pomodori, which was delicious. I would go back just for that. The goat cheese worked very well for me with the roasted tomato and bread! My ravioli came out barely over lukewarm. By the time I had gotten halfway through, they were cold. I let my server know and asked if they wouldn’t mind reheating them. Instead they brought me a whole new hot dish! We also got the Ramona pizza which was delicious. I loved the crust! The food and the service was good and I was happy that they addressed my concern in such a prompt and good manner.
My only concern was the oil that came with the bread. It was completely tasteless and didn’t look too appealing either. I would love for them to change their dipping oil or at least add some balsamic to it!

I love this restaurant and have been dining here for over twenty years. I sometimes let it fall off the radar since there are so many delicious restaurants in Seattle, but when I return to Café Lago I remember why it is one of my favorites. The staff is lovely, and I’ve never had a rude or obnoxious server. The pizza and pasta dishes are exceptionally good; the mains courses are equally tasty and well-​prepared. I just have to dine here more often.

Let me start by saying this place really deserves a five star rating, however our waitress was SO RUDE that I am giving a four star. The entire service team with the exception of our server was bright, cheery, and happy to help while our waitress acted like she was doing us a favor by taking our order, her service ruined the experience.
We walked in after making a reservation for seven people four days prior and our reservation was not on the books. The hostess assured us that she could fit us in, and put some tables together for us. Our waitress was rude right off the bat when we asked questions on the food, or even asked for water. If you’re having a bad day, stay home.
The food was magical, seriously. The lasagna deserves its praise and the Monday gnocchi with vodka sauce was only $ 10 and was very tender and delicious. I got the linguine clams, worth the price. The toast was fire toasted and the clams were fresh and the pasta homemade. Yum!
The Panna cotta dessert is super creamy and has great pear slices on it.

A lovely neighborhood spot and well earned reputation. Perfectly cooked pizzas, great service and a community minded and gracious owner. I love the antipasto plate and fresh pasta specials. A bit pricy, but they host a Monday night pizza special.

I came here with my family for dinner, looking for some good Italian food and that’s what we got. I ordered the margarita pizza and absolutely enjoyed it. The crust was thin and the mozzarella was fresh. It tasted like a restaurant in Italy. I loved it.

Café Lago has a cute décor and it’s near our house. It really made me want to love it. The food was all very good, although the special pasta dish was tiny. Not enough food for a small child and $ 20… The other portion sizes were fine. I loved the fettuccine with meatballs.
However the service was very lacking. So, so, so much waiting. Like in had to flag a random down for wine and got it once I’d finished eating slow. We joked that if we all didn’t really like each other, it could have been a very awkwardly long dinner.
One exception: there was a young bus boy just running around filling waters, changing tables over, gathering our plates. He was so efficient! We wished he could have been our waiter.

Café Lago is simply, irresistibly the best Italian neighborhood restaurant in Seattle. Known for being the first restaurant in here to serve wood-​fired pizza Café Lago is more than that. Recently remodeled, I stopped by and was delighted by the new bar, the updated interior and yet the place has the same warm atmosphere as before. Did I mentioned pizza? The smoked sausage is one of my favorites, but the other day I tried the ‘white pizza’ that has tender zucchini, smoky mozzarella, pancetta and herbs. Yummm! Having spent a year in Rome myself, this pizza at Lago is the REAL DEAL. But wait…
tried some ravioli the other night and it was just perfect. The tomato sauce had a few tiny whole tomatoes perfectly cooked, which added a nice touch to the overall presentation and texture. I’ve had some great Ravioli before, but this one beats the hell out of the competition. The antipasti also reminded me of the best I had in Rome. In fact it seemed to be exactly the same! You just can’t find it like that anywhere else in Seattle, unless you pick up all the ingredients at DeLaurenti and have someone from Lago assemble it for you. The wine selection is a perfect complement. Luxurious reds and whites on the menu await you. The friendly and smart staff are very attentive and knowledgable. The restaurant seems to operate like a family, which is great. I noticed several people stop by for a glass of wine and apps. I plan to do that sometime too. However, the food is so good it’s just hard not to want a table.
Either way Café Lago is that great and somewhat hidden little gem of a restaurant. Clearly there is talent in the kitchen, a friendly and smart staff and a warm atmosphere for special dinners, hanging out at the bar or even that really REALLY good take-​out pizza. Highly recommend!

A cozy intimate restaurant that has been in the Montlake neighborhood forever, and probably the place that first introduced me to thin crust pizza cooked in a super hot wood-​fired hearth, back in the 90s when I was but a naïve little nerf ball in a big city for the first time.
The menu here is fairly diverse with various antipasti, pastas and pizzas, and a pretty great selection of wines, beers and cocktails. The pizzas are very good, especially the margherita and the caprino. If you’re getting either, you may have to look carefully at the antipasti because the ingredients on these two pizzas seem to be fairly common in the antipasti too, so beware overdoing it.
A note on customer service at its finest: I was here once with friends and I ordered a pizza. At some point during the tossing of the dough or the pie’s short stay inside the oven, a little oval-​shaped hole developed in the crust, close to the middle of the pie and about the size of a thumbprint. The server brought it out with sincere apologies… I didn’t care, I was hungry as a horse and it didn’t affect the quality of the pie at all.
About 10 minutes later, the server returned with a brand new pie in a to-​go box, explaining to me that the cook (whom I believe is also the owner) felt really bad about the first one and gave me this second pie, unsolicited, on the house. I looked over at the kitchen and she made direct eye contact with me and apologized non-​verbally; I answered, also non-​verbally, that she was so nice and her pizzas are delicious. That’s pretty impressive for a restaurant owner to run things like that.

Been here 6 times, including ⁶⁄₂₆. The food is great and the service superb. Had the Giardiniere pizza and Gnocchi… amazing…and the insalata… incredible too (I don’t know why their ground pepper and greens taste so good). Anyway, totally recommend and its not been very busy on Friday nights, so that’s a good night to grab a table for this neighborhood (forgotten) gem (also there’a fair amount of free parking).

Pretty good food, but the price is high compared to other good Italian restaurants in the area. There really aren’t any other options in Montlake so I guess they can do it. Overall food was very good, friendly staff, just the pricing seems high for not high end dining.

Super cute and Delicious neighborhood Italian spot! Generous portions and yummy dishes!

We decided to go to Café Lago a friend’s birthday dinner. We got there a few minutes before our 8pm reservation for 8. After waiting for the hostess to return she told us they had over booked and we would have to wait until they had enough tables to put our reservation together. We waited 30 min to be seated, for a reservation that was made a week in advance.
Slow service bringing the bread, taking orders, and bringing drinks. When our food was finally brought out it wasn’t all served at the same time. Our table was never checking in on to see if the food was ok and they had the hardest time splitting our check.
Overall the food was delicious but the service left much to be desired, especially when paying $ 20+ for pasta.

How I heard of this place: My friends Zach & Cynthia boasted about the romantic, intimate setting at Café Lago, while raving about the fresh, house-​made pastas and delicious food.
Type of cuisine: Fresh Italian food, pasta handmade each morning and thin-​crust, lightly topped pizzas baked in the apple wood fire each evening. Antipasti, including salads, pizza, pasta and dessert, are tastily and pleasingly served each night.
Ambiance: A casual setting, tall ceilings with white-​painted walls, sparsely decorated, and windows lining the front and one side of the establishment, intimate seating for couples and tables set up for larger parties, Café Lago makes everyone feel at home, comfortable and satisfied. Black and white photographs lined the wall directly ahead of me, and cascading light fixtures dimly lit our table. Glassbaby votives in vibrant and engaging colors lit up each table and the counter top directly underneath the framed photographs. The large, stainless steel applianced kitchen, while busy and engaging was quiet and composed as more and more patrons entered the restaurant. Short walls separated the space in the large room, giving the sense of more intimacy and romantic feel to the diners, while the whispers of music gently echoed in the background.
What I ordered: Our party of eight was offered an endless supply of sliced rustic bread and fragrant olive oil for dipping. Our appetizers included the little salad ($ 4) off of the happy hour menu: large cut leaves of Romaine lettuce topped with four very crispy and golden croutons, and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper tossed in a light, lemony dressing; the happy hour biscotti and espresso ($ 4), and the happy margherita pizza ($ 8). Off of the antipasti menu: grilled eggplant ($ 6.95), marinated in olive oil, tomato, balsamic vinegar, garlic & parsley, served with a wedge of gorgonzola cheese; Pomodori al Forno ($ 8.95), San Marzano plum tomatoes slow-​roasted in the wood fire oven until caramelized & intensely flavored, served with Laura Chenel’s herbed goat cheese & crostini; a salad special ($ 7.95) consisted of sliced red beets, topped with arugula and a ball of hazelnut crusted, warm goat cheese. Main entrees: linguine with rapini ($ 19.95); two ravioli dishes ($ 19.95 each), one steak ($ 24.99), the oft-​recommended house specialty lasagna ($ 19.95), delicate pasta layered with ricotta, béchamel & tomato sauce, the gnocchi ($ 19.95), tender potato dumplings served in a tomato, vodka & cream sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese, an entrée-​sized pizza margherita ($ 17), marinara and garlic, topped with mozzarella & basil; and one little sandwich ($ 4) off of the happy hour menu, a meatball sandwich, served alongside a small mixed green salad. For dessert, we had three chocolate truffle cakes ($ 7.95 each), a light truffle cake, served with espresso-​crema inglese, two lemon tarts ($ 7.95 each), a thick, smooth lemon custard in a flaky almond crust, topped with honey whipped cream and one order of the panna cotta ($ 7.95), a creamy and silky custard infused with lavender atop an orange sauce.
What I loved: The appetizers, unanimously agreed, were purely marvelous! Everything sampled was better than the one before it, and the second bites of each attributed to that fact. The grilled eggplant, steakplant as we coined it was raved about throughout the entire meal! The light Caesar dressing, the warm goat cheese combination with the peppery arugula and soft beets, the freshness of the pizzas margheritas, the roasted tomatoes… everything surpassed any expectations we may have had. Of the entrees, I most enjoyed the pesto sauce drizzled through the marinara over the ravioli and the slight hint of bitterness in my broccoli rapini dish. The one roasted clove of garlic in my dish, and the crispy diced garlic atop the light olive oil sauce ended the meal with a punch. The caramelized onions over the buttery steak and the light, creamy, lasagna. There were no complaints from anyone. For dessert, while we enjoyed the sweet tartness of the lemon tart and the light, fresh flavor of the panna cotta, the favorite across the board was the chocolate truffle cake, with its dark chocolate, mousse-​like consistency and melt-​in-​your-​mouth texture.
Why I loved it: Everything was delicious! The appetizers, entrees and desserts, nothing was left to be desired. The dimly lit space was cozy, intimate and romantic. The service quick and the food as fresh as fresh can be.
Cost: Average to high ($ 17-​$ 24.95 for each dinner entrée)

Yay! We came here for my birthday and had a great time. It was pretty busy even for Tuesday night, but service was relatively good and we had orders taken promptly. The place really has the feel of a little Italian family restaurant, even though it’s relatively big and has some open spaces.
We got the Pomodori al Forno to start with and it was amazing. The tomatoes were really succulent and juicy, and while there was olive oil on the plate it didn’t feel greasy. The crostini had a great crunch to it. I didn’t really care for the goat cheese thing on the plate (I’d have preferred bocconcini) but the fiancé ate it all.
I definitely had to get the lasagne here, since, well, lasagne is my favorite food ever. This one had a great texture on the pasta sheets and the bechamel was creamy. I’d have liked a little more marinara sauce with it, but it was really tasty. I wish there was more! And because it was my birthday, they brought it out with a candle in it!!! Birthday lasagne!
We ordered the chocolate truffle cake for dessert but I ended up eating pretty much all of it since the fiancé is lactose intolerant and it turned out to be crazy full of dairy. It was good, but very rich and filling, and I was pretty stuffed by the end.
Service was good; the staff were friendly and accommodating (they brought out a SECOND candle on the dessert too!). All in all it was a great dining experience, and now that I’ve found out they do brunch pizzas I’ll definitely have to go again.