La Perla Restaurant And Country Inn — Restaurant in Town of Sand Lake

I don't know how to say this otherwise then just to say, wow. What a find.

We first found out about this restaurant. Believe it or not by winning a raffle at the local arts Center. We finally made reservations to come and we were not disappointed.

Everything was easy. Making the reservations, parking, getting set up at a table and ordering and receiving our food all went off without a hitch.

Every room has its own ambiance, and we can't wait to come back and be seated in all the little nooks and crannies.

For this trip we were seated in the main dining area, which is actually also the bar area. I will say we most likely won't want to be seated there again, it got a little loud at the end with people at the bar having conversations from one end of the bar to the other. That may not be the most common occurrence, but it sure wasn't how I wanted to end by meal.

Other than that, the ambiance and local flavor was fine and dandy, I really enjoyed our servers, and patrons were absolutely who I would want to see on a regular basis if this were my local dining haunt.

We live about 30 minutes away, and I will say that driving home was a little bit of a challenge. I think it would be easier if we came on a summer night before daylight savings times had been reset, because driving home in September was a little bit dark, the roads are very curvy, and everyone seems to have their high beams on and there was quite a lot of traffic on the way home. Lesson learned, we will try to come a little bit earlier in the future.

The food was fantastic! My wife had the eggplant parmesan, and she ate every single bite. There was a bowl of angel hair pasta that came on the side, which she didn't even touch and brought home along with this amazing loaf of Italian bread.

I had this fantastic salad with crab and sauteed shrimp. It was a large portion, and I enjoyed every bite and almost couldn't finish it.

As a side note, on the way home I got a call from the restaurant. I had left my jacket, and they did not waste a minute to let me know. We turned around and came back and they were waiting at the door for me. The people that work here really deliver high quality service and really make you feel at home.

We will definitely be back again. Five highly...

The main positive at La Perla is the atmosphere and the staff are friendly.

We’ve gone here every Christmas Eve for quite a few years and it has steadily been declining. This past year was definitely our last try and it’s a bummer because they do have the perfect atmosphere for a Christmas dinner.

The negatives - our primary issue was the long wait for our food. It took an hour and a half to get our food after we ordered, which is insane. I know it’s a holiday and they were very busy, but pretty much everyone had reservations long before so they knew it was going to be packed. We did like the waitstaff, when we saw them. We went long periods of over 20 minutes before we had anybody come in and see how things were. I don’t work there so I’m not sure why we didn’t see them often but they seemed to be running around the halls frantically, which is surprising since there isn’t a lot of tables in the restaurant. We did have kids with us and although we got there early, their parents had to leave right after eating since it was getting so late. The final part is the not so good food. They’ve never really been great, but we’ve noticed a decline here. A few things were forgotten and some orders were just cooked differently then requested. An app that we had wasn’t the right order and the waitstaff defended it, only to find out from the chef that they sent the wrong food.

Definitely not worth your time (you need a lot of it to eat...

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into La Perla, but I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere is warm and inviting with twinkling holiday lights and a rustic wood burning oven. And the staff is generous and accommodating. It felt like walking into a high end mountain lodge with an added sensory layer of the most amazing culinary aromas.

Chef Nando is truly an artisan melding tastes and ingredients from the Northern Italian regions of his mother’s family and those of his father’s Sicilian heritage. During my stay at the accompanying Inn, The Gregory House, I tried many delicacies from rolled eggplant (the best comfort food) to Pappardelle Alla Romana, a delicious combination of peas, cream, prosciutto and mushrooms. Hands down my favorite was the wood fired pizza, especially the one I chose with arugula, tomatoes and shaved parmesan. I give this masterpiece five finger kisses with an added "Che buono!" Keep in mind the pizza dough and bread are made fresh.

I can go on about the perfection of the bread, so I will. Imagine the golden-brown crust, crisp and crackling, slightly rustic with natural flour-dusted patterns, the warm scent of toasted wheat and a faint, nutty sweetness, a balance of earthy simplicity and rich complexity (ask Nando about the “process”). It’s the kind of bread that elevates any meal, an experience of tradition, craftsmanship, and love. I highly recommend breaking bread...