IL Pianista — Restaurant in Los Naranjos

I was visiting Boquete for the holidays and we decided to celebrate a close friends birthday who lives in the area. Dinner and service was great. The issue occurred as we were leaving. My friends wanted to take pictures in front of the nice Christmas tree which was out front. While my friends were posing, one of them accidentally knocked over one of the Christmas tree ornaments. Moments later, we decided to leave instead of resuming the picture. But as we were leaving, we were interrupted by a woman’s voice yelling and screaming inappropriate language and expletives at us about ruining the christmas tree. We don’t know who the individual was since we only heard the voice and did not see a face. I will not repeat what she said because it’s appalling and disgusting. I know we made a mistake by dropping the ornament, but her attitude was unnecessary and totally inappropriate. This is a popular Italian pizzeria that receives a high number of tourists from around the world. Every employee and everybody affiliated with this pizzeria should always exhibit professional conduct and excellent satisfactory behavior when dealing with tourists/customers. This incident could have happened to any tourist but IL pianista should be thankful that it happened to us and not anyone else. My family is from Chiriqui and we visit Boquete often, but if this would have happened to someone visiting from the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom etc. it would have probably left a terrible first impression and that tourist probably would NOT come back. IL pianista, when accidents happened, please be more careful how you use words and keep the language your staff uses appropriate and...

We arrives late into Boquete. It was raining and cold and were looking for a restaurant near our hotel on the outskirts of town. IL Pianista was found on Google maps and had decent reviews. We checked into our hotel and headed up the hill a short ways. The property is charming and clean, right next to a beautiful rushing stream and waterfall. The food was surprisingly fresh and generous portions. We split their specialty salad which was loaded with sun dried tomatoes, pickled artichoke hearts, olives and a lovely mozzarella. My wife ordered the pasta bolognese and I the chef’s special fettuccine with shrimp. Neither of us could finish the delicious plates because they were so generous. We also enjoyed the house Italian Red which was lovely. The wait staff were excellent and attentive and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Highly recommend this place for salads, pastas, pizza, and the calzones looked...

Fantastic Setting, Great Atmosphere, Friendly Service, Good Food

Il Pianista is one of those Italian restaurants that's "just so." From the stone-built construction next to a charming waterfall, via the traditional Italian decor, to the wood-fired pizza oven, a meal here is a dining experience.

Service is friendly and attentive - without being intrusive - but be prepared to dust off your Spanish, since anything but broken English is not on the menu with waiting staff.

You're in a Latin country. Deal with it. ;-)

Food is traditional Italian, with pizzas, pastas, various seafoods, and assorted other "usual suspects" dishes on the menu. Quality is very good and presentation is nice.

Prices are a little on the high side, but given the food, location, and overall experience, they're well within reason.

Pro Tip: Try the Almejas al Ajillo...