Cafe Lago — Restaurant in Seattle

This review is part of my personal hunt for fresh pasta / wood fired pizza. TL;DR, I would be back for the pizza, maybe pasta/gnocchi, but I'd not spend money on the bread or desserts.

Roasted Tomato on Toast App: Fantastic. This melted in your mouth and the balance of flavors was perfect. I would have ordered 3 of these and called it good. Haha

Fresh Bread App: No thanks. The bread was a good quality but served kind cold and the butter inside olive oil was a bit overkill with the fat and the salt seemed to go to the bottom of the bowl so it had a bland flavor. The bread was better without the butter/oil, but I wish it was warm and served with only butter with salt or only oil. We didn't really like this app, despite always getting fresh bread apps around town.

Mushroom Gnocchi: It was decent. I enjoyed the balanced flavors between the mushroom and cream sauce. The pesto was lacking and could have been more. The texture was overcooked gnocchi. I enjoyed it enough to eat but I wouldn't ever order it again when I've had better carbs to spend the calories and money on.

Wood fired Pizza: Wow! The flavor and texture of the dough / crust was phenomenal. Like nothing I've had around my wood fired pizza explorations. Very lovely flavor. It's extremely thin and wet, so be prepared to fold it if holding it. I appreciated the sausage pieces were small which helped distribute the flavors better. Cheese was only ok in flavor. The dough was the star.

Apple Thingy Dessert: Nah, no thanks. Served cold, but lacked flavor overall imo. I didn't finish it. I am a dessert person, but I'd rather order another roasted tomato app at the end than the...

Café Lago is consistently fantastic. It is a wonderful thing to be able to say about a favorite Italian restaurant. My family has been going to Café Lago to celebrate family occasions for 25+ years.

My family (13 of us) went last Saturday to celebrate various birthdays happening in the month of February. It was another happy memory.

Their menu hasn’t changed a lot over the years and I’m glad. I think it’s because they’re committed to perfecting what they do serve. I also feel they’re very committed to great service as well because a 13-top isn’t an easy thing to manage but our server during this last visit was great, much like all the other times. Some of my favorite things here: anything with tomatoes, they make tomatoes taste amazing whether it’s antipasti, pizza or pasta sauce. Their lasagna is legendary, very delicious. I enjoy their eggplant caponata. Their wood fired pizzas .

It has the vibe of a nice friendly neighborhood restaurant. The sort that makes you feel comfortable and welcome, zero pretentiousness.

If you’re in the city and contemplating where to go for a delicious Italian meal. I say, stop thinking about it,...

Given other reviews and all the hype, I had really high expectations for this dinner out at Cafe Lago. The ambience definitely came through and I enjoyed being in the space. The cocktails are fantastic, and very well crafted. It was the service and the food that did not meet expectations. I thought it was just good though, just not fantastic. We had the “house made sourdough” bread starter which did not taste house made but rather like processed bread. The lasagna was subtly flavored and good but almost too bland. My husband really enjoyed his fettuccine though. I don’t know if the slow, odd service put us off but the whole experience just didn’t leave us feeling like it was anything special or that we were treated as if the restaurant even cared if we were there. With so many wonderful options in Seattle, no restaurant can afford to leave people feeling the way we did when we left…even if they have all the hype that Cafe Lago does. I gave it four stars though in recognition that the food was good….but it is not special and the service is lacking for sure. May try it again but...