La Cucina - Reno

Wonderful place for Italian and not too expensive. Fresh pastas are superb, but be sure to save room for their homemade ice cream. If you get 3 scoops for $6 you can sample 3 different varieties- or have plent to share.Food: 5/5

Exceptional food. Dad's Veal Parmigiano was the best he's ever had. The Coconut Wedding Cake with lemon cello filling knocked our socks off! Great service. The only thing is that it's crowded with tables and really loud in there. Maybe curtains and rugs could help with the noise? We'll be back a lot.Kid-friendliness: Great Italian food that you can bring little ones and the noise drowns them out.

Overall, I 'm pretty disappointed. The service was some of the worst we have had in Reno. Told our seat was over there, which we made our way to. Anything we ordered was almost literally dropped at the table. Apps were good calamari, and the provolone. Entrees were sub par, 4 different entrees and none of them lived up to expectations. Cannoli for dessert was good. Better options for Italian can be found.

Absolutely wonderful. We were wanting a nice date night but not over the top price wise and this was perfect. Our server was great…and the food was absolutely amazing.Food: 5/5

We had reservations for 6:15 but arrived a few minutes early. The hostess said “Your table hasn’t been cleaned yet” and invited us to have a seat. I looked around, noticing several empty tables, all clean. A couple minutes later she returned and led us to one of the already cleaned tables. Shortly a server delivered a plate with a loaf of bread with a little ramekin of oil and balsamic vinegar. From that point on, the service was attentive but not annoying. Kudos to the staff. I pulled off a piece of the bread and then noticed there was no butter on the table. I dunked it in the oil and vinegar and took a bite. It was “blah” no flavor other than the oil and vinegar, and it was gummy. I ordered the Pasta Primavera. The portion was good, heavy on the “Primavera,” and the variety of veggies in it was also quite good. With the exception of the sun dried tomatoes, which had woody “stems” and un chewable cores, all the vegetables were well prepared and very tasty. The pasta, while a little overcooked, had good flavor. My friend ordered the Caesar Salad with Salmon, which looked great. The salmon appeared considerably overcooked to my taste, but he said it was as he expected, and was very good He and his wife have eaten here many times, and he said it was the best thing on the menu. He particularly complimented the dressing. The only fault I saw was the portion appeared a little skimpy for an entree portion, and I didn’t see a crouton anywhere. The strawberry sorbet to at dessert was excellent, and the single scoop was very generous. I’d definitely go back, but I’d probably go for the Caesar and order the Salmon nothing more than Medium Rare. I know no restaurant can be all things to all people, but I was very surprised at what wasn’t on the menu. No gnocchis, only two ravioli options, no cannellonis, no tortellini, and so on. There are an adequate choice of chicken dishes, but you’ll have to read the descriptions to figure out what they are (many of the “specialities” are cleverly named after local celebrities).