18 fabulous restaurants to try in the Italian Lakes, from Como to Garda

With a typical Mediterranean climate, the restaurants in the Italian Lakes take great pride in utilising local produce grown in the area. Make your way around from Lake Como to Lake Garda, trying delectable mountain cheeses, cured meats and wild game along the way. You'll also want to savour the hearty polenta and risotto dishes made with rice grown in the nearby Po Valley, and sample the different variations of lake fish that form the basis of most dishes.

Lake Orta

Villa Crespi

Celebrity Chef and restaurateur Antonino Cannavacciuolo has earned Villa Crespi two Michelin stars for his superlative ability to combine ingredients from his native Campania with produce from his adoptive Piedmont. The result is a cuisine that brings out lively and delicate Mediterranean tastes alongside savoury and hearty northern flavours. Enjoy a pre-prandial drink in the verdant garden with lake views, and then tuck into red mullet, potatoes, turnip tops and smoked provola cheese as you soak in the intricate décor of this Moorish palace, complete with minaret, marble columns and stucco motifs.

Contact: 00 39 0322 911 902; villacrespi.it
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential

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L’Ustaria Ca’ Dal Rat

Offering a quiet lakefront location, this excellent osteria serves superb Italian dishes that follow the seasons. During the colder months of the year, you’ll find handmade chestnut gnocchetti served with crunchy pig’s cheek, while in summer expect light and refreshing dishes such as raw ombrina fish and red prawn tartare. Interiors are simple and unpretentious, with wine bottles lining shelves and natural stone floors that keep things cool on hot summer days. Snag a table on the waterfront terrace and tuck into simple, well-presented fare as you take in the lake views from this peaceful, secluded spot.

Contact: 0322 066 538; lustaria.it
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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Osteria San Martino

Generous portions of cucina casalinga (home cooking) are served in a cosy trattoria-style dining room featuring bare stonewalls and exposed wood ceiling beams. The cuisine is traditional Italian with Piedmontese influences, so expect hearty dishes of game, bagna càuda (hot garlic and anchovy dip), polenta and rabbit accompanied by rich, bold reds. The homemade pasta dishes are superb, with fresh organic ingredients from the restaurant’s herb and vegetable garden and a strictly seasonal menu: in autumn, indulge in wholesome minestrone soup and pappardelle with porcini mushrooms, while during spring and summer, enjoy the nettle tortelloni and potato-crusted sea bass.

Contact: 00 39 0323 197 5177
Opening times: Wed-Fri, 7-11pm; Sat 12-2pm and 7pm-midnight; Sun 12-2pm and 7pm-12am
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended

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Lake Maggiore

Ristorante Grotto Sant’Anna

In a dramatic location overlooking the Orrido di Sant’Anna gorge, this traditional restaurant serves elegant dishes in an attractive rural setting. Take a seat at choice of granite tables under the leafy pergola and tuck into traditional Italian fare with a twist to the sound of water rushing through the ravine below. Don’t miss the restaurant’s famous tarte tatin of caramelised onion with Parmigiano mousse, which uses caramelised onions instead of apples, lending the dish a sweet and intense aroma with a delicate taste, nicely complemented by a 20-month aged Parmesan cheese mousse that adds a rich and savoury flavour.

Contact: 00 39 0323 70682
Opening times: Daily, 12-1.30pm and 7-9.30pm
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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Ristorante Verbano

Only accessible by boat, this restaurant has a peaceful setting on Isola dei Pescatori, a small island with cobbled streets and colourful rows of houses located in the Golfo Borromeo. It’s incredibly romantic, with seating on a quiet terrace dripping with wisteria (Hemingway was a fan, and Toscanini a regular, composing works on the lakefront terrace). The atmosphere is unpretentious with a focus on locally-sourced ingredients –cheeses and meats from nearby Val d’Ossola, and lake fish dishes such as creamy risotto with perch fillets, which combines carnaroli rice from the Po Valley with one of the lake’s most popular freshwater fish.

Contact: 00 39 0323 30408; hotelverbano.it
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

La Rampolina

With an east-facing vantage point, this delightful restaurant high up above Stresa offers dreamy views of the lake islands. It has the soul of an Italian trattoria albeit with a stylish touch, with rustic interiors packed with vintage shop signs, black and white photos, demijohn pendant lights, and glasses made from wine bottles. The restaurant honours Piemontese cuisine and wines (there are over 400 types), although you’ll also find plenty of Italian staples, including traditional homemade lasagne, served here only on Sundays. The focus is on local, seasonal produce such as mushrooms, chestnuts, lake fish, and cheeses and cold cuts sourced from Alpine farms.

Contact: 00 39 0323 923 415; larampolina.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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Lake Como

Feel

The focus at this contemporary restaurant is on traditional lake cuisine that makes the most of local ingredients. Mountain cheeses and wild game are sourced from small local producers, while fish comes directly from the lake. On the menu you’ll find Chef Beretta’s unique take on carbonara, made with hand-made pasta, zincarlin (a local cheese) and the lake’s much-loved missoltini, freshwater fish used here instead of pancetta, imbuing the dish with a salty rich flavour unlike any other. This is farm-to-table cuisine with a refined twist, served in a sophisticated setting in the heart of Como’s historical centre.

Contact: 00 39 334 726 4545; feelcomo.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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I Tigli in Theoria

Selecting top-quality seasonal produce and exalting tastes and flavours both lie at the heart of Michelin-starred Chef Franco Caffara’s Mediterranean cooking. The focus is on fish dishes, with a tasting menu dedicated entirely to raw fish and seafood dishes that aims to bring out the purity of fine raw ingredients. Tuck into cod and squid lasagne prepared with spinach, squid ink and Italian caviar in a beautifully restored 15th-century palazzo with exposed beams, wooden floors and coffered ceilings. The restaurant doubles as an art gallery, with walls embellished with dozens of portraits, still lifes and landscapes.

Contact: 00 39 031 305 272; theoriagallery.it
Prices: £££
Reservations: Recommended
Best Table: Watch the chefs hard at work as you enjoy a meal at the Chef’s Table. If you’re after privacy, opt for one of the four stube, cosy wood-panelled dining areas with an Alpine feel.

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La Fagurida

High up above the town of Tremezzo on the lake’s western shore, this family-run restaurant oozes rustic charm. Copper pots and pans hang from wooden ceilings, an open-air fireplace crackles away in winter, while knick-knacks, from old irons to cow bells, are squeezed onto shelves. Expect traditional hearty dishes prepared with local ingredients, such as roast rabbit with rosemary and polenta during the colder months, and lake fish with butter and sage in summer – all at basement prices. There are a couple of snug terraces offering gorgeous lake views, and a wine cellar where customers can enjoy an aperitivo before lunch or dinner.

Contact: 00 39 0344 40 676; lafagurida.it
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended
Best table: For a romantic meal, ask for a table on the tiny terrace, which offers panoramic lake views.

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Villa Làrio

Thanks to the spectacular location on a hillside 160ft above the lake, Villa Lario is popular for the superb cuisine and outstanding lake vistas. Stylish and exclusive, the villa’s restaurant serves dishes from regions throughout Italy in the elegant dining area with an open-plan kitchen allowing diners to witness some culinary theatre. But the terrace is the real draw, with its grassy lawn seemingly extending over the lake and providing magnificent vistas. Sip a glass of bubbly and then tuck into seared tuna with sesame seeds as you take in the lake views.

Contact: 00 39 031 537 5064; villalario.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Recommended

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Lake Iseo

Al Rocol

If you’re after hearty portions of home cooking then look no further. The chefs follow authentic regional recipes of nonna Castellini, bringing out the best of local ingredients. Try the delicious casonsèi, stuffed pasta rigourously handmade with fresh produce and filled with meat sourced from small local producers or with bagòss, a strong hard cheese with an intense flavour that is a speciality of the Brescian pre-Alps. The trattoria-style setting is friendly and laidback, featuring wooden beams and red-checked tablecloths. Al Rocol makes its own wines too, grown on a nearby estate in the heart of Franciacorta’s hilly vineyards.

Contact: 00 39 030 685 2542; alrocol.com
Price: £
Reservations: Recommended

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Due Colombe

Chef Stefano Cerveni has won rafts of plaudits – not least a Michelin star – for his innovative take on traditional lake dishes. Making the most of local seasonal ingredients, Stefano’s cuisine is elegant and healthy, served in an elegant rustic dining area with stonewalls and wooden beamed ceilings in a beautifully restored 18th century farmhouse. The organic chicken salad is prepared with dried sardines from the lake island of Monte Isola, sprinkled with chicken popcorn and salsa verde, while the extensive wine list has a superb selection of Franciacorta wines from celebrated vineyards in the area.

Contact: 00 39 030 982 8227; duecolombe.com
Reservations: Recommended

Trattoria Cacciatore

Run by a delightful couple, Lori and Leo, this trattoria tucked away up above the town of Sulzano serves traditional hearty fare in a simple, no frills setting. Family photos adorn walls, antique radios line shelves, while loyal patrons sit at rustic wooden tables made by Lori’s father, a local carpenter. On the menu you’ll find the likes of home-cured salami, goose ragù tagliolini (the restaurant’s speciality), wild boar stew with apples, and oven-baked lake fish. In summer, sit back at one of the shaded tables on the breezy terrace and enjoy some of the best lake views around.

Contact: 00 39 030 985 184; trattoriacacciatore.it
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended

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Lake Garda

Oseleta

Michelin-starred Chef Giuseppe d’Aquino skilfully combines cuisines from his native Campania and northern Italy, sourcing seasonal ingredients from around the country. Red prawns from Mazara del Vallo in Western Sicily, tomatoes grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, and beef that is exclusively Fassona, a much-prized breed from nearby Piedmont. The chef’s signature spaghetti with piennolo tomatoes, burrata cheese and lemon zest brings out southern Italy’s rich simple tastes. The restaurant is set in a charming 18th-century Venetian villa in the heart of the Villabella vineyards, where the estate produces top Veneto wines, including Chiaretto, Lugana, Valpolicella Ripasso and Amarone.

Contact: 00 39 045 723 5287; ristoranteoseleta.it
Prices: £££
Reservations: Recommended

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Osteria di Mezzo

Despite the central location on Salò’s main cobbled drag, this family-run osteria feels snug and secluded with low vaulted ceilings and brick arches creating instant intimacy. The cuisine showcases the lake’s local produce: sardines, pike and perch come directly from the lake, cheeses are selected from small local producers and meats are cured in-house. Try the restaurant’s unique take on spaghetti with Non il Solito Spaghetto (a dish which translates as 'Not the Same Old Spaghetti'), handmade bronze die spaghetti with 48-month aged parmesan cheese, smoked trout tartar and a black caviar topping.

Contact: 00 39 0365 290 966; osteriadimezzo.it
Price: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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La Locanda del Benaco

This buzzing restaurant serves excellent Mediterranean cuisine in a sophisticated contemporary setting on Salò’s waterfront. Owner and chef Gianni Briarava is behind the seasonal Mediterranean dishes. You’ll find both lake fish (pike with polenta served with a drizzle of local olive oil) and seafood dishes (grilled octopus served with potatoes and black olives) as well as hearty meat specialities from various Italian regions. Served with homegrown vegetables and potatoes, the tender bistecca alla fiorentina is cooked to perfection; intense and juicy, it melts in your mouth, and is best enjoyed with one of the excellent Garda wines on offer.

Contact: 00 39 0365 20308
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended

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Villa Feltrinelli

Daisies, begonias and roses are just a few of the fragrant blooms that two-Michelin-starred Chef Stefano Baiocco uses to add colour and flavour to his elegant healthy dishes. Fermented plants and pretty edible flowers turn his creations into small works of art that burst with personality and imagination. Feast on salmon trout salad with avocado, green apple, sliced cucumber, ponzu sauce and crunchy quinoa below frescoed ceilings in the Art Nouveau villa that was once Mussolini’s home, or sit back on the terrace or at one of the five romantic tables by the water.

Contact: 00 39 0365 798 000; villafeltrinelli.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential

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Locanda San Vigilio

The Locanda’s charming location on a promontory that juts out into the blue waters of the lake has drawn visitors since 1540. The cuisine at this 16th-century manor house is traditional Italian, with top-quality ingredients sourced from around the country. There are excellent meat options, from grilled tagliata to bistecca fiorentina, although the focus is on sea fish dishes with a sprinkling of lake fish options. Tuck into seared scallops with zucchini purée in the cosy dining room furnished with antiques, 18th-century paintings and family heirlooms, or dine in the romantic loggia and enjoy the lake views.

Contact: 00 39 045 725 6688; locanda-sanvigilio.it
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended