IL LAGO Pizza & Pasta — Restaurant in California

I sincerely don't like leaving bad review, but this is curtesy to Stacey, the owner of this restaurant. We suppose to meet our friends and enjoy a dinner, but after about 20min of waiting for table, Stacey cheerfully announced that our table is ready. When we start approaching her she noticed our dog - service dog with a vest on with warning patches (service dog, do not touch, working dog) "Stacey: "We don't allow dogs here!" Us: "we can stay on the patio" Stacey: "No! No dogs are allowed even on the patio!" Me: "This is a service dog" Stacey: "Service dog for what?"...out loud in middle of outside patio, on front of staff and guests .... for privacy reasons I'll skip my answer. After my answer she agreed we can stay, but "you have to wait few more minutes, because dogs can't be around people who eat" About 30min later I went inside to ask how much longer we have to wait before seated. Stacey answered that the people ordered a desert so we will have to wait about 15 more minutes. Btw half of the patio was empty.... I informed Stacey that I understand many times people are introducing their emotional support animals as a service dog, but this is not the case and, by law, she have no right to treat us this way and she have absolutely no right to ask me why I need my service dog! Right into my face she was barking that "I know the law and I know my rights! I have every right to ask what type of service dog it is!" One of the regular restaurant guests stood up for me and start arguing with Stacey on my behalf, confirming that I'm right about the law and she is wrong. Stacey still kept telling her story. 4 hungry kids and over 1 + hour later we had been finally seated. Stacey took our drink order but messed up on it. Her regular guest came to our table, expressing an apology for this mistreatment and applauding me for not causing scene, controlling myself. Food was great and rest of the staff very friendly and nice. Stacey didn't showed herself again. Our host, informed Stacey, he will contact county about our experience. While you have every right to kick us out if our dog is misbehaving, you have no right to refuse entry to service dog even inside your facility, you have no right to refuse us service because of service dog and you have absolutely no right to ask me for what do I need service dog. My mental/ physical health is none of your business, lady. I'll pray that nobody close to your heart will ever go through what I did so they don't have to deal with the consequences, judging and excluding from...

One of the few decent recents open anywhere in the area. The location is really nice on the peninsula and the food is well above average, though to be fair I didn’t try many things. They ran a super busy curbside operation for all of the people who lived just past the secured fence inside the country club which. (Incidentally the club on the tip of the peninsula had a very wealthy TEOTWAWKI-vibe (Berkshire Hathaway) had some retreat there too. But I digress.) Anyway, their booming take-away business might have been the reason why it took so long to get our food, but they are working with what they have and I respect that. Running a rural restaurant during the Covid madness takes courage. That kitchen was cranking food out like mad so clearly they are doing something right!

I had the garlic clams fettuccine which I wouldn’t have been that impressed with except the waitress said “get the cheesy bread... I’ll give it to you for free”. Having no idea why this was so important I thought nothing of it until I got my dinner and there was a significant amount of liquid in the bottom of the bowl that looked like water. I probably would’ve thought it was as well and have been disappointed thinking I was getting so sort of garlic sauté, except once I dipped my bread in it I was more than pleased that it was actually a delicious broth. Mind totally changed- dish certifiably tasty! So, in short, get the cheesy bread. Oh. Did I mention the cheesy bread is epic?

Even if it was slow our waitress was funny as hell and seemed to zero in on my sense of humor which made my night. She had a gift. I just wish I could remember her name so I could give her a shout out.

In short, I think this was the second best restaurant open within 20 miles of here so if you stay nearby and aren’t doing your own cooking you’d be remiss to...

We are passing by Lake Almanor on an RV trip and this place was recommended by a kind local resident. I tried multiple times to make reservation using phone around 6pm but no one picked it up so we decided to drive 10 miles to try our luck. Upon arrival, the main hostess had the least courtesy and the most haste to find reasons not to seat us, including assuming that we tried to make reservation online ("I don't do online," she said). Fine. I didn't want to argue, we just wanted dinner so I asked to make a reservation then. We had on intentionally chosen them seeing they have a patio with outdoor entrance so we could sit there with our 9 month old pup. They had many tables available there but she refused to seat us now citing no pets allowed. Fair point. But the way our experience went, we left embittered and confused, with no avenue to call ahead, and with a hostess who was not 'listening' mostly 'talking'. This is unfortunately a pattern I am seeing post COVID - hosts too busy to remember why they are there in the first place: to care for their guests, not to flaunt their ego. The world needs a bit more kindness. Not so people like me can get unreasonably seated, but so we will understand each other without making assumptions. To the lady in question, I'd like to share Maya Angelou's famous quote that ends in "... I will never forget how you made me feel.". Blessing to you and your business - a little empathy will take you a long way if only you are willing...