La Pergola Trattoria — Restaurant in Big Bear Lake

Arrogant staff! We read the reviews but decided to give it a try anyways. The lady at the front was actually super nice and our waitress, Michelle was nice. We ordered and everything appeared to be doing well. We got our drinks relatively quickly. After 30 minutes we got our first appetizers. My wife ordered a Lemoncello Spritz (not Santa Margarita Spritz with Lemoncello), and the drink came but had barely any lemoncello. My wife took long before deciding she was not enjoying the drink. (this was our mistake, she should have immediately mentioned this to the waitress) WHen she was half way the drink, she told me she could barely taste the limoncello. So I encourage her to mention this to our waitress nonetheless. So we asked Michelle if she could fix it (by adding more Lemoncello) and she went to the bar and came back and bluntly said "that was the recipe", and they had cameras to prove they had poured their recipe in the cocktail, and if she wanted more she would have to pay for another shot of Lemoncello. (THey use Villa Massa Lemon Liquor, which a bottle costs 27 USD, so a splash of it to fix our instasifaction would have been minimal cost). Also, the fact that that is their recipe, and they have cameras to prove they did it correctly is entirely irrelevant. I have had 2 restaurants, and a spirits business myself, when a costumer asks for a drink fix, you dont hesitate. We thought it was completely out of line, specially for a restaurant that is priced as if you were in a super expensive restaurant in New York. So we took the hit, and waited, and waited and waited for the rest of our food. Our three children were hungry, tired and desperate to get our food. So my wife, after the experience with square by the book minded waitress Michelle, stood up and went to ask to the Manager Cora about our food as we had waited for more than one hour for 2 pizzas and one pasta. Instead of descalating as a savy manager should do, she rudely told her that there were times for food to be made and that when the food was ready they would serve it. This of course, made my wife feel bad. She came back later to the table (Cora), a bit more calmed, (still with a weird face) and said the food was almost ready, this is a restaurant that sells a lasagna for 35 dollars! Michelle later came back again to check if the food was alright. I now know it was Cora the one that decided it would not make sense to splash a bit of Lemoncello to fix my wife's drink too. ALthough we understand this is their busiest time of the year, you would expect they prepare accordingly with additional staff to make sure you dont have to wait that long for your food. Again, please keep in mind they charge super high prices so expect super high service, right? Another unusual fact, is that they charge a 3% fee for using your debit or credit card to pay. I guess I would be ok in Costco, where margings are so tight that not doing so would really affect their profitability, but not in an expensive restaurant. Anyways, You would expect much better service and empathy from Cora, the General Manager! Not coming back ever, nor do we recommend the management. Pizza was very good, the pasta was pretty average but the experience in general was not good because of how Cora handled the...

I wouldn’t recommend this place to anybody. Food is average, coffee is pretty okay, but horrible service.

We were a big group +15 and I understand they were lack of servers in the morning. Being slow, omitting menu, giving wrong drinks can happen. Even waiting for my food for 1.5h while my friends finishing their meal can be okay at some circumstances. Drinking a wrong coffee can be fine. We are all human and You can make a mistake but don’t be horrible.

The server spilled the bread on my friend’s knees and the server’s reaction was surprisingly “are you injured?”

Shouldn’t you say “I’m sorry” or “are you okay?” What’s wrong with her? No one would get injured with the bread. She kind of meant that nothing serious happened by saying so. Yes, it would have been nothing if she apologized but never did.

They forgot my food and I had to wait until my friends finished their meal. I told the server that I am still waiting for my menu and she said it is coming right away. It was a total lie. I waited another 20 mins and did not get. I told them if you missed my menu, I wanted it cancelled. They told me it is coming soon. I had to wait for another 10 mins and some of my group already left. They admitted later that the cook missed my food from the list. When they finally served my menu, I told them it’s a way too late. The server asked me if I wanted to-go. She of course knew what I meant. Anyway they removed it from the bill but never said sorry.

There are so many other mistakes but none of them seemed to care. I declined to pay 18% of service fee because it never worths. The arrogant lady said their service was good and I had to pay. What a joke. It is not even mandatory. (Anyway I paid the ridiculous service fee at the end because did not want to argue anymore.) Please don’t ruin your vacation and enjoy Big bear lake somewhere else. Just...

At first, I was a bit leery of dining here because of bad reviews on yelp but decided to give it a shot. Very pleased I did! Beautiful interior & exterior! I chose to sit outside because it was a beautiful day and the patio is stunning. Serene waterfall against the back wall was a really nice touch as well as the flowing drapes and nice marble table tops with very comfortable cushion seats. Nice quality paper napkins as well.

My server was Donald and he was very, very attentive and knowledgeable. A nice affable gentleman.

I started with a nice glass of red unshackled prisoner wine and it was just lovely. Nice and dry with some lovely tannins. I then had the steamed artichoke and it was the best I have ever had. The gremolata they pour over it was loaded in lovely fresh herbs and garlic , and the side serving sauce of lemon mayonnaise was out of this world. I had to take a little container of it home. And then I went on to the chicken piccata, but did not want the pasta as a bed so I chose the seasoned vegetables and they were lovely. I love garlic and everything had just a right amount of it! Chicken was tender. Even the little side insalata misto was perfection. Just the right amount of light zesty vinaigrette with some Kalamata olives and a lot of shaved Parmesan.

Prices are not inexpensive, but you get some really flavorful tasty unctuous dishes with decent portions and a lovely atmosphere and fabulous service. So sometimes you get where you pay for. My only complaint is the 3% charge for using a credit card. I considered leaving my server 17% because of that but decided against it because he was wonderful. But come on!...