Luisa Risto — Restaurant in St. Albert

My wife and I were there shortly after this restaurant opened. What a delightful experience for both of us! The owners Ed and Cindy were wonderful, friendly, and knowledgeable hosts. The servers were very eager to please and truly were intent on ensuring our experience was memorable. Now onto the food - kind of important I suppose for a restaurant! We had the Caprese Salad and each bite seemed better than the previous - LOVED the honey balsamic . . . I used my finger on the emptied plate so as to not waste a single drizzle. You think Ceasar Salad is all the same? Not after you try theirs! In-house baking doesn't just make great fresh bread - it makes awesome croutons - - it's the small details like that which stand out. The Bruschetta was a wonderous fresh combination with the perfect blend of flavour - spice - and oh so luxurious garlic. Had to use my fingers to scoop the last little bits again! The Calamari was so tender I thought it was sole - light breading and the aioli mayo was exactly the right mix and perfect with the squid. We honestly could have stopped there - - but "go big or go home" as they say - we stayed. Shared the Al Tartufo thin crust pizza OMG - I want more! Short Rib Ragu - flavourful - fall-apart tender . . Total love on a plate! Some of the house-made veal meatballs - next trip I can see myself just getting an entire platter SO good! I would take the spaghetti sauce (with locally sourced beef & pork) simmered tomatoes - and have a whole meat-a-palooza party! OK we now felt that we had already had WAY too much to eat - and the fabulous bottle of Giusti Merlot was empty - BUT hard to say no to the Torte di Formaggio - 3 little cheesecakes perfect for sharing - - - Ed did offer a wheelbarrow to get us to our car afterall. Delicious creamy and truly perfect for two. One cup of cappuccino and we were on our way back to Edmonton - full satisfied and happy we decided to visit Luisa Ristorante...

Update July 2, 2022. Nice to see this place survived and continues to dish up great Italian food in a friendly environment. Service is still great and prices are very reasonable. Have been back for lunch and supper and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.

Support the great, local owned, stand alone restaurants, we dont have near enough of them.

Update Feb 12, 2020

Been back a few times for lunch and once today for supper. Food continues to be excellent, very reasonable prices for a mid to high end restaurant in St, Albert. They also have a good wine list at fair pricing. Finally, an extensive gluten free selection of dishes. Service is always friendly, helpful and excellent overall. Well worth giving it a try.

Well worth giving it a try.

Jan 2019 This restaurant is under new management and the difference is truly huge. Service is friendly and accommodating, food is excellent and pricing is reasonable for the quantity and quality. Had lunch there today, $15 for Spaghetti and three large veal meatballs. Pasta was cooked perfectly, sauce was full bodied and tasty and the meat balls were great for adding some protein to the carbs. A definite winner. The new owner even brought me a complimentary desert and it too was very good.

Good wine selection at reasonable prices, some craft beers but no domestic stuff for those of us that prefer Molson Canadian to craft beer. I believe they are planning to add a few mainline options to their selection.

I will definitely be going back to try some of their...

What an experience, I am still dreaming about the meal from last night! I hadn't been to Luisa's in awhile, had been before and found it so-so....one of our friends made reservations there for another's birthdays. It is recently under new ownership, still a family run operation, both husband and wife out serving customers and they both have fantastic people skills....the restaurant had a cozy but lively feel to it, unlike anything I've experienced in St. Albert in as long as I can recall! They even had a birthday card from them waiting at the table for our friend, how thoughtful is that?! The food is beyond amazing, we had the calamari and olives with house-made sausage to start....the people beside us explained they had been there 3 times since the new owners had taken over and recommended dishes to us. We had the cannelloni which was fantastic, they use a pulled short rib for the protein which is unique and amazing! One member of our party had the gnocchi, which is what I am trying next time I go. The tiramisu was a homestyle and not like the box type desserts you would find in a store....I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant and cannot wait to take my husband there to try their lasagne. So excited that we have...