Caffe Al Ponte - DESENZANO DEL GARDA

We visited here last week on our first evening in Lake Garda. We sat by the marina, overlooking the water and ducks. We ordered the beef and mushroom main course which was delicious. For dessert, we ordered a yogurt sundae and a chocolate cake. Both of which were yummy. Service was good also. We had friendly waiters. Recommended restaurant.

The location is perfect, just right by the old port of Garda and at the foot of the bridge. The restaurant has a real chic upscale outdoor setting, nothing extremely fancy but you can tell it's not basic. Now let's get to the food: my Pizza Capricciosa arrived a little later than my companions but from what I gathered it's because the pizzaio was working alone (said the waiter , it wasn't an issue for me since we arrived for dinner (around 7:30pm . The pizza was delish btw, left out the mozzarella and the prosciutto. Here aren't a lot of vegan options (actually not at all, except, gasp, the salad. but that's understandable, we are at the lake, fresh fish must be their speciality. But I'm not choosy, this is italia, pizza is always a great option. Downed it with white wine too. Also not overpriced (around 4.50€? Most of them priced okay, and not overpriced just cos we are at a touristic location so that was great. Surely their other dishes (fish/pasta/Meat must be on the pricier side. Next time I'll probably go for their Paccheri Pasta without the cheese. The service is not bad, everyone spoke English amongst other languages they must speak there, their servers are from mixed races so everyone spoke english. The woman who was at the front assigning the tables though could be better, she must be sick of tourists asking random questions and so she was a little aloof, like she just wanna hurry everyone to their seats and not very open to answering questions about food. Overall: a great restaurant to have dinner at, relax and hang out with friends, or just chill with a glass of wine if you like to people-watch.

Pizza and dry white wine was great! The mussels were also very good but I was disappointed that it was served with toasted store bought pre-sliced white bread. The caprese salad was forgettable due to tasteless tomatoes, only minimal basil served with it and no olive oil or pepper on the salad. We still had a good time and the location is great.

If it wasn't for the location next to the water and the fact that it is a part of a hotel this place would be out of business in short order. Terrible customer service, no follow up after our order arrived; one person in our party was served with her burnt pizza about 10 minutes after everyone else was served. That pizza should have never left the kitchen. Multiple people left before there food arrived because the service was so slow. Avoid this place unless you'd like to still be hungry and thirsty after the check arrives.

We have a family restaurant and we would highly recommend. We had food here 4 times loved it. One pizza order was mixed up on our last day but the problem was fixed immediately.