Izabella Ristorante Italiano - South Lake Tahoe (CA)

5 /5 Teresa E: Best Lasagna we have ever had! Definitely big enough to share. House Red went perfectly with it! Calamari with the sweet chili like sauce was amazing. We had Ricky last nice and his service was impeccable. Very attentive and super friendly. We were in Tahoe in March 2024 and came here and was our first stop for dinner on our return trip in August of 2025. Grab a reservation and enjoy!

5 /5 Pietsch Walter “Wally”: Excellent Italian dinner with family on a weekend in South Lake Tahoe. What a great discovery! Conveniently on the boulevard, with a free parking lot at the rear and along the window front. Fully wheelchair accessible from parking / sidewalk with ramp. Called in for a reservation late afternoon, took a table at 7pm. We went there mid October, although during shoulder season the place was packed and many families were on a waitlist. Greeted by friendly, welcoming front desk and seated within minutes by helpful usher (booth table at the window). Server welcomed us, provided menu/drink list and explained the daily specials. Ice water, our drinks, and bread with olive oil were quickly served while we selected our dishes. We shared two appetizers, followed by mains and desserts. What a feast, cant remember when I had Italian comfort food that good. Tasty, delicious, hot plates and big portions. Yummy! At a great pace of being served, absolutely not being rushed. High five, highly recommended!!!

5 /5 Danse Danse: Fantastic dinner service! I definitely recommend setting a reservation during the holidays because they were super busy. They do a fantastic job getting people in and served timely. Service was excellent, our server was friendly and had great recommendations, and everything was delicious. There is an excellent wine menu and the atmosphere inside is calm after a day on the slopes.

3 /5 Sarah Lee: Decent option if you want cost friendly Italian food in a cozy establishment. Pros: 1. cozy vibes 2. cost effective for an Italian restaurant 3. Excellent eggplant appetizer with goat cheese, tomato, mozzarella. Could use more goat cheese and less marinara. 4. Adequate service 5. Complementary bread, not sure what type of bread this was as it was too doughy and dense to be focaccia. Cons: Food lacks certain essential elements of Italian cuisine. 1. Pasta is not al dente. Feels like it was pre-cooked so it became over cooked and doughy by the time it reached the table. 2. Risotto is not done like traditional, reach-perfection-during-transit risotto where its spread out flat on a plate. Too dry/sticky that it comes lumped up. 3. EVOO lacks olive fragrance. Solution? Dunk a spoonful of dried rosemary. 4. Tiramisu: the creme lacked mascarpone taste, felt more like cheap buttercream-heavy whipped cream mixture. No need for chocolate syrup with tiramisu! Nonnas will roll in their graves. Considering the cost, certain adjustments such as low quality EVOO & lacking mascaropne in tiramisu could be overlooked. Other areas where its more of an execution-related issue, though, could use some improvement. Overcooked pasta is an absolute no-no if youre advertising yourself as an Italian restaurant. Other disappointing moments include waiting 10+ minutes for water, dirty utensils, dirty plates not being taken away in a timely manner. The only reason why it tipped me over to 3/5 from 2/5 is simply due to being the most competitive in terms of cost among other Italian establishments in the area.

3 /5 Marie Cindy: My husband and I came here for an early dinner and thankfully they just opened so its not crowded yet and we were attended to right away for a table. The staff that took care of us was Rafael, we started first thing with an Espresso and a short Americano - unfortunately, when we got our coffee we thought it tasted like instant coffee and we expressed our feedback to Rafael. We didnt realize that they opted out of the coffee on our order in the end when we asked for the bill. We appreciate the kind gesture, though. Then, we ordered the following: 1 Bruschetta $9.95 Chicken Izabella $28.95 Lasagna Ala Bolognese $25.95 Brownie $10.00 Total: $81.40 + Tips We were served first with their complimentary warm bread along with balsamic oil. And we didnt wait that long to have both being served the Lasagna and Chicken Izabella. We can confirm that their portions are generous, great for sharing among each dish. The Lasagna tasted good and was definitely rich with ingredients and for the Chicken, I loved the just nice flavour of Rosemary, Artichokes, the kick of the spicy and sour taste of the Peppadew, and Polenta complemented the light flavour when combining it with the chicken meat. The meat was tender and juicy. And we ended our dinner with a Brownie and a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream, Rafael was right upon recommending that dessert - it was a perfect combination. While the brownie can be a bit on the sweet side, the vanilla ice cream’s light taste made it a great combo in your mouth. While we appreciate the great quality of staff attentiveness and efficiency in terms of waiting time, we thought that the ambiance could be a bit brighter - at least thats how we prefer. We enjoyed our first visit overall.