La Scala Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Lafayette

We haven’t been to La scala since the pandemic. Tonight was our 45th wedding anniversary. We wanted to dine here more than any other place! We were so very impressed! We arrived at 5:00pm right when they opened. They were booked. They offered us a table, but had a reservation for that table at 6:20pm. We knew what we wanted so we knew this was not going to be a problem. The hostess sat us at our table. Alexis and the new waiter Alexis was training Wayne came right over. They introduced themselves to us. They asked us if we wanted to hear the specials. We couldn’t resist so we listened to the specials. We were torn between the seafood pasta and wild salmon. Alexis description of the wild salmon, most delicious orange reduction sauce on the ravioli, risotto, and farm fresh vegetables including asparagus (my favorite) left no doubt in my husband and my mind. We both chose the wild salmon. The wild salmon was cooked and seasoned perfectly, the ravioli with the orange reduction sauce was one of the most fabulous things we ever tasted, the risotto was seasoned and cooked perfectly, and the farm fresh vegetables were outstanding! We all were given a choice of soup or salad with our entree’. We all chose the salad. The salads was farm to table fresh with homemade dressings. Which went excellent with the warm bread and basil olive oil dipping sauce. Our daughter ordered the Bolognese Ravioli. The Bolognese sauce at La Scala is the best bolognese sauce any of us has ever tasted anywhere! All entree’s were offered freshly grated Parmesan cheese and grated black pepper which we all loved! Our drinks were never empty. I ordered a Tiramisu to go which was out of this world delicious! The service was exemplary! Alexis and Wayne were absolutely the best! Thank you to everyone at La Scala for making a very special day even...

My fiancé and I moved here a few months ago from Canada and La Scala was highly recommended to us by some colleagues, so we finally thought to give it a try. Unfortunately, it was quite bad… bad enough that we won’t be returning. While the service was fantastic, the food and drinks were not, and ultimately as such, I disagree that this an “authentic Italian” restaurant. I ordered a lavender fields cocktail and was expecting something light and floral, but what came was a drink that tasted solely of lavender simple syrup - it was so sweet that even after I managed to get a sip down and further dilute with water, it was still too sweet to even bother. It really tasted like nothing but artificial sugar. As for the food, we started with the caprese salad which is traditionally just supposed to be tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil, but a huge dinner-sized bowl came out with lettuce and olives too? Not necessarily complaining about it - it tasted fine, but it just simply was not a caprese salad. For the main, I had the shrimp and lobster ravioli. While it looked delicious, the cream sauce was so unbearably sweet that I couldn’t stomach it. Half the shrimp were shrivelled - it seems as though they were from frozen - and there were so many sun dried tomatoes in the sauce that it became hard to chew. I think my fiancé ordered a brasato pasta, which tasted fine in my opinion but was more of a Hungarian goulash than an Italian dish. I forget why he didnt like it but he didn’t finish his plate (and that’s a first - this man will eat just about anything). La Scala, I am so sorry for the bad review… but we really love food, and this was just disappointing. All in all, the service was amazing and we really wanted to like it, but since we’ve had other excellent food in Lafayette, La Scala just didn’t come close to...

La Scala is a quaint Italian restaurant that uses quality ingredients and a focused menu to maximize flavor. It's really only the details that need attention.

I'll start with the food, because it's great. No qualifications needed. I had gnocchi with Bolognese and even though it was a huge portion, I couldn't help but eat all of it. It's some of the best Bolognese I've ever had. Just fantastic.

My wife had the chicken parmigiana. It was big enough that the two of us could have shared it and felt full. The breading of the chicken was flavorful without taking over. The chicken was lean, but not dry, and had a subtle flavor of its own that balanced well with the breading and the sauce.

I also want to give a shout out to the bread served with oil. That's such an easy thing to neglect or take for granted, but the bread was freshly baked and the oil had a strong but not oppressive character. I could have made a meal of just that and I would be content.

The food is worth five stars, but there are a few small elements of the restaurant itself that detract from the experience. Our chairs had cushions that were totally shot. Uncomfortably so as we sank into them quite a bit. They had put some covers on the chairs which helped a little, but not much. Our table was uneven, rocking back and forth. I had to keep my foot on the table leg to prevent it from moving. A couple of the light fixtures had burned out bulbs. These are small things individually, but altogether, they make you wonder if there are any corners being cut elsewhere.

The food is terrific. And with a bit of attention to the dining room, this would be a must-visit restaurant in...