Il Bel Lago — Restaurant in Creve Coeur

Very nice evening at Il Bel Lago:

Specifics: They take reservations and, although I didn't need one this evening, I appreciate it anyway. Our party of four was seated immediately at 630pm. The restaurant is very attractive from the outside. It was too chilly this evening to sit outside, but the dining room is very pretty. The tables are nicely spaced, the noise level is just right, and the table settings are cloth and china. Most comfortable but still feels elegant. The owner is on premises and paying attention. Service was attentive without being intrusive. We didn't order appetizers, but they brought us a complimentary starter of toasted Italian bread with garlic and cheese to be eaten with some olive oil and red wine vinegar. It was yummy and a nice little starter. My husband and I shared a Caesar salad and they plated it separately for us, and the presentation was still beautiful. And it was a very good Caesar! (If we had each ordered one it would have been too much food!) My husband ordered the Tilapia and unfortunately, the chef wasn't serving it that night (I'm assuming the fish was unsatisfactory.) He was disappointed but ordered the stuffed chicken breast instead and ate pretty much every bite, so I'm thinking he wasn't TOO disappointed. I ordered the veal stuffed ravioli with prosciutto and peas and it was delicious! It's very rich but delicately flavored and perfectly cooked. And it's pretty. I ate every bite! Our friends ordered the same things we got, except one of them has tummy issues with garlic and asked that no garlic be used in her chicken. They were most accommodating. She enjoyed her dinner. It can get a little pricey. Although, my husband and I had two scotches each - call scotch - and a glass of wine with dinner with coffee afterward and a spumoni to share, and our total before taxes was $110. That's not shockingly expensive. But some of the entrees are in the $25 to 30+ range. There was live music in the bar and, while we could hear it, it was not at all intrusive in the dining room. We lingered over coffee and dessert talking and relaxed and no one was the least bit anxious to move us along (although if it had been very busy, we'd have probably felt the need to give up the table.) We were there for almost 3 hours over a leisurely dinner and having good conversation and enjoyed ourselves very much.

Bottom line: We'll go back. I recommend this place for a quietly elegant dining experience with really excellent Italian food. Could compete with anything...

Terrible experience from the moment my mother and I sat at the table! It took the waiter a min of 10-15 minutes before he came over to the table. Once he came to the table, he started to tell us about the specials but then asked about drinks and walked off for another 5-10 minutes. When waiter came back, he went over the specials, we ordered and he asked us to choose a soup or salad with our entrees. Refills on drinks were needed but waiter may have only came to check on us maybe twice and that's after we had to call him. Our salads were dry and needed more dressing but he took so long to come over that my mother didn't want her salad anymore. Meals came out, I wanted some extra pasta sauce but waiter took so long to come over my pasta was getting cold. Bill came, we paid the bill but haven't signed receipt or tipped yet. Also looking at the bill, the waiter charged us for full salads after he misrepresented salads as a part of the price of an entree. So we were not happy about that either. The waiter came to our table then 3 times within 10-15minutes to collect the receipt because the bill was already paid!!!! If that doesn't tell your customers you are ready for them to leave. We still didn't sign off the receipt and leave tip because I was still eating but the 3rd time the waiter came he didn't say anything and hurried off with the unsigned receipt. I just knew he would bring the receipt back after he saw it wasnt signed and no tip noted. My mother at this point made up her mind that we were not coming back. Let me also point out that we watched our waiter go to another table several times and checked on them but not us as if he was avoiding us. To make the matters even WORSE: THERE WAS A TIP ADDED TO BILL BY THE WAITER!!!! HE STOLE FROM US!!!! ($16.88 to be exact) We had to call the restaurant and have them credit the tip back on our card. The owner/manager did refund the tip. The restaurant informed us our waiter name was JOE and because of Joe, we...

I recently visited this new Italian restaurant, 1/12/25, and from the moment we walked in, it felt uncomfortable. As the only African-American couple in the room, the atmosphere shifted, and it felt like something out of a scary movie.

The bartender, Cat, eventually came to take our order. I asked her about the doneness of the salmon in a dish I was considering, and her response was shocking: “It’s not going to taste like chicken.” I couldn’t believe she assumed I was asking if salmon tastes like chicken. I felt insulted and frustrated by her comment.

She later tried to backtrack, claiming that’s what she thought I was asking when I first mentioned salmon. This wasn’t true at all. I explained that my husband and I eat salmon cooked at different temperatures—he prefers his less done, while I like mine well-done. That was my original question, and her remark about chicken was completely inappropriate and uncalled for.

To make matters worse, after dining there, both my husband and I became very ill. We experienced vomiting, stomach aches, and other symptoms throughout the night. The food was the only thing we had eaten prior to feeling sick.

Overall, this was a terrible experience, both in terms of the service and the food. As an African-American couple, we left feeling disrespected and deeply...