9 Best Italian Restaurants near Lake Charles

“Always amazing. Cozy and quaint.“

“We love going to Crust Pizza! Helps us to stick to our diet with the delicious cauliflower crust! Our absolute favorite place to eat as a family!“

“**** UPDATED REVIEW AT END***

I was unsure if I wanted to write this review or not. I'm writing it in the hope that it can be helpful to the restaurant.
We Have been there numerous times and even met the owner a couple of times. We usually like our experience.
Last night we sat at the bar, which we always do, and we ordered apps and dinner.
My husband ordered a different sauce on his pasta. The bartender even repeated the order back, but it was delivered with wrong sauce. The bartender offered to bring the right sauce to put on top of the wrong sauce. We didn't want to do this. Bartender offered to re-do the pasta, but my husband likes for us to eat together vs waiting for a new order while I already had my food.
Another issue was that as we sat there for a couple of hours, by our choice..not due to service, there was not one dish bused. The entire bar top had dirty dishes from several customers for our entire stay, including our appetizer dishes and empty beer bottles. We addressed this with the bartender and he told us that he could not get a bus boy to come to the bar.
Bartender was sincerely apologetic and took items off of our check to try and compensate for the issues.
On the way out of restaurant, my husband asked why a manager never came to talk with us...the Bartender then informed us that he was the manager. He had not mentioned this before.
We really do look for a higher level of service at this price point. My husband was so disappointed in the service and the excuses given, that he didn't leave a tip. This has happened only twice in 30 years of dining out.
I think the Bartender tried to do what he could to make us happy and we would like to return to this place.
Hopefully the owner sees this and finds it helpful.

****UPDATED REVIEW*****
I wanted to update my review. As you can see in first review, the owner asked us to contact him personally. We did call and agreed to accept his invitation to return to the restaurant.
We arrived and spoke to owner in person regarding the original review and how he wanted to be aware of issues so that he can make improvements.
We sat at the bar and had a great experience. The staff were attentive to everyone in the bar area, the bar stayed clean and our food order was perfect.
We like the homey feeling of this place and will return often!“

“Very friendly staff, Atmosphere very inviting, it feels more like gourmet dining than a pizza parlor.

Dietary restrictions: Cauliflower Crust for Gluten sensitivity

Parking: Parking is convenient, texting when order is ready is excellent & drive through pick is an awesome addition.“

“Went to Olive Garden to have a nice meal and instead had a roach run across the table while we were eating.. My coworkers and I brought it to their attention and they offered us another seat. Not very customer friendly and did not comp us for the meal. Will never visit this restaurant again!“

“The menu was limited. The calamari was fried perfectly but with no seasoning. My pasta dish was horrible. The shrimp were small for the dish to be $38. The dish had absolutely noooooo seasoning. The dish could be placed next to bland in the dictionary. Salt and pepper didn't help the dish! However, the best thing there was the lemon drops!!! I can drink them every time.“

“5 out of 5. Get the Detroit style“

“My memories of good times at Tony's Pizza go back to the early 70s and through the years when the dining room was expanded, the new shiny tables were added, and various menu additions like the medium sized Chicago-style pizza crust, the iconic po-boy bbq sauce being out-sourced along with appetizer and dessert items being added and the imported candies on the front counter. The Italian Sausage Po-Boy is memorable for its amazing flavor and ability of the lovely aroma of spices that you could savor at home the next morning when you awoke. The ground beef pizza with the jalapeno topping that were also ground was revolutionary and incredibly smart and it's remarkable that I haven't seen ground jalapenos replicated by a pizza restaurant in the fifty years since. I now live near Austin, TX and we have a number of pizza restaurants representing a variety of pizza types from Brooklyn, Neapolitan, Detroit, Connecticut, California, that are baked in a traditional pizza oven, wood-fired, coal-fired, etc. and many that are nationally ranked and reviewed and I love most all of them, but there's something iconic and exemplary about Tony's Pizza in Lake Charles with the toppings, sauce, and their pizza crust that I love today as I have the last fifty years. It's Lake Charles style!“

“Awesome place!!“