Grotto Ristorante

I would not recommend eating at Grotto at the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles. The pepperoni pizza was disappointing to say the least. At $23 dollars and a $2.25 to-go fee that was charged to my card without telling me, you are looking at over $27 for a small thin crust pizza that doesn't even fill the box. The taste and texture is good, but the serving size and price is absurd.

We visited this restaurant on Sept 27 and were told that the establishment would be closing for good that weekend and that the staff would all loose their jobs. As of today the website lists it as still being open. What a horrible way to get more tips from people who fell for the story

Absolutely would not recommend coming here with any decent number in your group. Came in with a soon to be Bride and Groom and they did not get their food for over 2 hours!! Because of their seating arrangement, we were all split up at different tables and a few of the tables sat down after them and ate before them. When I went and talked to the host/manager he said “they were not expecting a big party so it backed up the kitchen”……it backed up your kitchen 2 hours where people that got here after them got their food before them and they still had to wait another hour??? That makes absolutely no sense!!! Extremely disappointed in the timeliness and response I received trying to take care of the bride and groom! Especially with the amount of money being spent here!!! Will not be coming back!!

Food 7/10 Clean 6/10 Friendly 7/10 Ok restaurant with average price tag. Pasta not one of the best but, good if you hungry. Mozarella in Padella (warm caprese) very great apetizer.

Way over priced for cheap food thats burnt.. You can at least try to make it look good. 30 dollars for this junk they brought to my table.

I love this restaurant!! I would visit locations closer to me, but they don't all have the same menus. So, I have to drive 2-hours to enjoy the chicken parmigiana in Lake Charles. It's worth it though. The tomato basil soup is awesome too!!

The service was friendly and very attentive to our needs. Often times my soda was refilled before I needed to ask. Delicious tasting Italian food. The antipasta selection was very tasty. I wish the calamari had a slightly lighter batter. The noodles were al dante and the presentation was beautiful. Definitely will be back. I'd recommend this Italian restaurant. It is a little more on the pricey side $15-$25 plates.

The food is really fantastic. Always make a reservation because they have less than 15 tables so it’s a mini-restaurant that books quick. As long as you book the day before or day of before you go your fine. The rating of three is due to the “portion size” not quality. Quality is a 9. Portions are less than small. For a 19.95 chicken Marsala I expect at lest enough food to claim the “dinner role”. This was not. Love Golden Nugget just not the cost cutting savings on portion. Tilman if you plan to cut portions to save which is a “business smart” decision then cut your price to reflect it.

My wife and I really enjoyed dining here on a recent trip to the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles, but we have never eaten at the one in Houston, which is ironic since we are native Houstonians. We had the meatballs as an appetizer and then shared the chicken piccata and a bottle of wine. The meatballs were excellent and so was the chicken piccata even though I don't even like capers. The breadstick served us appetizers were super yummy as well. Our server was a young lady, and she was extremely helpful and patient and attentive to our needs. As far as the ambience goes, you don't really feel like you're inside of a casino at all and it is a really nice intimate dining area. I would love to go back sometime and we'll plan to visit the one in Houston.

My advice is to skip this one. We have thoroughly enjoyed our dining experiences at the other restaurants in Golden Nugget (Saltgrass, Vic & Anthony's, Chart House, and Landry's), but this one was thoroughly disappointing. We had a reservation for dinner several weeks in advance, but when we arrived were told our only seating option was a high table (as opposed to one of the empty dining tables) unless we wanted to be put on the waiting list. Service was a tad slow but not terrible...until we waited an hour between finishing our salads and receiving the entrees. At this point the dishes, which were supposed to be chicken piccata, contained shriveled chicken nuggets and mounds of stale pasta.

The food was phenomenal, and the service was warm and attentive, making us feel truly welcomed and cared for.

I rarely give low stars, but this was so disappointing. Just a shell of what it used to be with the original locations in Houston. Staff was friendly, and I would give that more stars, lower for food. As for the rest, the menu it is very limited. They got rid of the delicious bread basket and they bring you one piece of bread for each person, and it had little taste to it. It also felt/tasted very stale. It might just be that type of bread but was not a fan. No dip, olive oil, butter or anything with it. The food was very lackluster. The chicken dish literally looked like crumpled pieces of paper were fried, they were so thin. My partner ended up taking a few bites and was done. And he eats just about anything. My pasta lacked flavor, flavors just meddled together and I wasn't expecting the chili flakes which took over the dish. I had to ask for parm to top the dish, hoping to give some extra flavor. Bad food can be bad food, but when charged this much, it needs a huge overhaul.

Second time around, the experience was sadly largely the same as the first time. This time the service was MUCH better! Our white sangrias were delicious and a great way to start our meal. The caprese salad was divine with the creamiest mozzarella and sweet beefsteak tomatoes. My chicken picatta was fantastic, but the pasta served with it was perfectly tasteless. The others ordered spaghetti bolognese (gave it a 5/10) and the ravioli (4/10.) we prob won't spend another of our hard earned $200 bucks here again.

Outstanding, original taste, excellent service and great atmosphere. We prefer home cook Italian food, but on occasion will go to the usual mom and Pop Italian food, or to Piada, Olive Garden, etc. but even though this is a chain are owned by Landry's, the food is exceptional!

What once was a pretty good restaurant is now a step below Pizza Hut. The menu only has 8 entrees on it not counting pizza. Why isn't there a decent SEAFOOD restaurant in a town 40 miles from the Gulf of Mexico?

The spaghetti we ordered was delicious and the meatballs were huge. The service was exceptional. I will definitely be back

Located in the Golden Nugget casino, it's a solid choice to grab a cocktail/wine and dine at the bar when seeking a diversion from gambling floor and/or don't want to leave the casino to eat. We ordered the soup, two of their pasta dishes of chicken parm, spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken Caesar. All were good Italian just not remarkable but good bar scene pleasant experience.

My friends and I ate here last night because it was the only place with open reservations. Now we know why Our waitress was overwhelmed, stressed out and unable to keep up with even the basic things. The cocktails we ordered had to be sent back because they were so horrible The menu is extremely limited but we managed to find some things we wanted to order. The pasta Alfredo dish was so salty I couldn't eat it. The grilled chicken flatbread was supposed to have chicken, roasted tomatoes, basil & goat cheese. The amount of those toppings was about one per slice To top it off, it's expensive. Our meal for four people was $150 and it was horrible Will not eat here again

Place was super clean, excellent service and great ambience. The staff went above and beyond to ensure a quality experience. Being a Nola native we are spoiled with excellence in service and food, I can say I felt home here.

Did a weekend trip at Golden Nugget for Father's Day, and this was the only place that was available last minute for a party of 7. Food here is a hit or miss depending on what you order. The menu is also very limited. I am under the impression that the appetizers are way better than the entrees. We were served complimentary bread and olive oil dip. To start, we ordered the tomato basil soup, the meatballs (these are HUMUNGOUS), the calamari, and the caprese salad (thick slices). All of which were delicious. My entree was the shrimp and crab capellini. This was very difficult to eat. It was sour, buttery, and fishy. My friend had ordered the redfish Siciliano. So I decided to taste it as well. The fish is pan fried with a noodle crust topped off with a shrimp sauce. The fish is a little bland and the pan fried noodle exterior was very off putting. I would not order any of those two entrees again. The only entree that was delicious was the meatzza. The sausages on the pizza had so much flavor I was shocked. TIP: Appetizers and pizza is the way to go.

Cioppino was out of this world!!! It tasted so fresh, all seafood inside was perfectly cooked. It just kept getting better and better as I ate it! It was so filling too. It had to be the best seafood stew I have ever had. I also highly recommend the meatball appetizers, it's the perfect portion to prepare you for your meal. It had so much flavor! I honestly want to go back to the Golden Nugget just to eat here again! The ambiance of the restaurant was also so peaceful, we had a party of 13 and they accommodated us amazingly. Our server Tina made the experience even better, she handled all of our requests and was on top of everything the entire time! I wish I could give this place more than 5 starts, I absolutely would!

This is the second time I have been here and will be my last. It's just not good food. The first time I went I just got the chicken Alfredo. Pretty basic Italian dish. Well when I took my first bite, the sauce tasted spoiled. It was like the cream had spoiled. I usually don't send food back but I told the waiter that the sauce tasted off. He sent manager over and I told him my problem. So then the cook comes out and argues with me. He says my tastebuds are off and there is nothing wrong with the sauce. I said ok whatever you say! So I just ate the salad and got the heck out of there. This was a few years ago before covid. So now I'm back out going to restaurants so I decide to give them one more chance. I was seated immediately because I was only one in the restaurant at 5:30. Should have been a clue for me. I ordered the Chicken Piccata. Usually it doesn't have tomatoes but I like them so I was ok with it. The chicken was breaded with a thick breading that was very doughy tasting. Usually chicken in piccata is just lightly rolled in flour because the sauce is a thin sauce. Sauce was just meh. Having that extra flour from chicken just made it gooey. It came with asparagus that was hard as a rock. Angel hair pasta was fine. The only dessert they offered was cheesecake. Maybe this place is getting ready to close. Waitress was very nice.

We decided to try this place out, and we ordered the rigatoni Della sansoni and shrimp & crab capellini. We got bread and olive oil as appetizer (every table gets this). The bread and oil was perfect. The outside of the bread was crunchy and the inside was super soft. Exactly how bread should be like. The olive oil dipping sauce is the best olive oil I've ever had. I think they use light olive oil instead of regular oil because the color was lighter (and I cook with light olive oil, so I think I can tell the difference). There was red peppers mixed in the olive oil and it gave just a little bit of a kick to it and the mixture made the dipping sauce so so so good. I can eat this nonstop. However, you will get full off of this quick because the slices of bread is really big. They also include like bread cracker sticks with this and it was good too! If I only rated this app, then it would be a five star alone. Rigatoni: this dish was alright. The homemade meatball was good and it wasnt dry at all. It had the right moisture in it. The meat sauce was just a regular tomato sauce. So this dish wasn't anything special. Shrimp and Crab Capellini: this dish looks pretty when it came out. I wish there were just a little bit more crab meat in it. The first bite taste really really good but after that, I realized that the dish was a bit to "lemon-y" for me and I wish they added less of it. I can understand if they try to add it to the shrimp but I think they over did it with lemon for the entire dish. It is still pretty good though, but I just got tired of the taste.

Do not eat here! Food was terrible, not worth the money! The service was amazing but the food ain't it!

I have been to Grotto a few times now and I'd give it three stars. The good: when they have the bottle of wine + a pizza for $30 special its worth it! Pizza is really good and they have a decent selection of wines. The bread and olive oil is made well. Room for improvement: I ordered the shrimp and crab capellini. I was really looking forward to this dish and was let down. There is an overwhelming lemon flavor to the dish that ended up being the only flavor I could taste. There is also an underwhelming amount of crab meat. Even if there was more, it would have probably tasted like lemon anyway. The antipasti: pretty typical but only order if you want olives upon olives. Onto the service- The hostesses need some training. We reserved a table for 7pm and we received a call shortly after 6pm saying they would only have a cocktail table or patio table. We chose the cocktail table. About 6:40 we receive another phone call from a different person saying they may not have a table for us exactly at 7pm. We arrive at 7, they have a lot of tables open, and then mention that we had requested a cocktail table. We explained that someone called and said those were our two options. Long story short, they need to work on their communication. The waitress was very sweet and really put in the effort to provide a good experience.

We stopped in for a Saturday night dinner shortly before 9. Ambiance and decor could be better, as in they don't seem to quite match the prices for the mains on the menu (linens would be a simple upgrade). We skipped a starter but both had the Grotto Salad. Both of our salads were very sad - they looked like they had been made 2 days ago and stuck in a refrigerator somewhere. I expected more for $8.95, at least something that looked a little bit fresher and consisted of something more than lettuce, a single olive, and a couple of tomato cubes. To call it an Italian salad was a stretch, it was really just lettuce. Fortunately Grotto redeemed itself on our mains. Portion size was huge and they both came out steaming hot. Both the Chicken Paglia e Fieno and Rigatoni della Sansoni were extremely flavorful. Overall, a good but not great experience. L'Auberge and the Nugget have a pretty captive audience here so probably no huge incentive to overachieve.

I sat on the patio because the weather was nice on a Saturday evening. Great place to eat. Food was phenomenal. Service was slacking. Will visit again tho...I believe in second chances.

So like everything in the casino you expect the restaurant to up their prices but it's actually pretty consistent with what they offer in Houston. The dishes are really filling. Even the salad is huge! The service was good. Waitress would come check on us often. There is seating out by the pool or inside. Food was decent. Can't go wrong with the spaghetti bolognese!

We spent the weekend at GN for our anniversary. We decided to stop in on Friday 8/12 for dinner. We were seated immediately. My boyfriend had the Lasagna and I had the ravioli both were delicious! Food-5/5 Cleanliness-5/5 Service-5/5 Prices- reasonable During our dinner a bride walked in with her bridal party. We got them a round of shots which started their night off right. Our server Ashlyn was so sweet,she gave us outstanding service. We loved her so much that we went back 8/13 for dinner again!

Absolutely THE place for dinner!! Service is over and beyond, the food is wonderful. We had such an enjoyable experience having dinner here Sunday night. We ate at the bar, Tyler was our bartender, server, and friend to see next time we visit. Very personable guy and took great care of us. Can't thank you enough Tyler!! GM, Andrew, we got to meet as well and just such a great guy!! Met the chef too and gave high praise for our delicious food. Tylor recommended his favorite snapper dish, my husband loved it! I had the salmon and it was cooked perfectly and delicious!! Thanks all for taking great care of us!!!

Loved this place! Bread and food was absolutely delicious and the atmosphere and service is great. Only downside was we had made a reservation for 7:30 and when we came down from our room it was not ready until 7:45ish. We had requested a table by the window and didn't get it. Other than that, food was great!

We decided last minute to head to the Nugget for a weekend get away... got to hotel after 8 had no reservations... tried The Grotto and got seated and waited on right away. The waitress was awesome... drinks were delish and we got the meatballs for appetizer and they are huge and yummy folks! Main meals were the Meetza Pizza and chicken Marsala .... both were made perfect! Great ambiance... great food and the manager stopped by and topped the evening off! If you like Italian food the The Grotto is the place to get it.

This place has such great food, but the service and waitstaff are questionable. As I was asking for the menu, the waitstaff looked me up and down and told me this was an Italian restaurant and didn't serve burgers. The bartender threw a to-go box of a couple bread pieces when I asked for bread. If you're looking to have your night ruined by staff who have a bad attitude, welcome to grotto

Initially, I was disappointed with how the hostess at the stand was handling things. I asked her how long the wait for a table of 3 was. Her response, "Uhh...um...It's going to be..umm..." she then turned to her coworker and said "Um...can you seat that family and I'm going to grab Louis." She then left to grab the manager and the family in front of ours was seated. She came back with the manager and told us the wait would be an hour because they had 2 reservations although there were plenty of tables open... Whatever, hot mess. We went and sat at the bar. Our bartender was very attentive and very nice. Drinks were made to perfection and bread and menus were given immediately. There are 3 TVs at the bar so we were entertained while waiting for our food. DELICIOUS. Oh my goodness this food was perfection. This would have been 5 stars if not for the hostess stand. But I definitely recommend this place.

Was pretty impressed. I've seen grotto around Houston. Waiter was cool, new manager from New Jersey was nice. I ordered Salmon Brioso and it was a good size and got me full. Salmon cooked right My friend ordered Cioppino a dish I only eat in San Fran (I'm fancy like that) & it was pretty good as well. I recommend both dishes. Oh almost forgot... I ordered a Tito's Vodka on the rocks and the bartender hooked it up. Biggest pour I had. Everywhere else I had it around the casino was teeny tiny. Posted some pics

This review is based on customer service primarily. So if you spend the night at he hotel and wake up wishing Italian food, go somewhere else.... Food is okay, service is good, customer service should improve, on Sunday, they serve breakfast until 11:30 and at 11AM they will not acomódate anything form the lunch menu, not even a Caesar salad, the chef message per out waitress was that it will be ready by 11:30...

I have to knock a star for the initial customer service. The hostess stand is an incredibly hot mess. The hostess can't speak English well and has NO IDEA what she is doing. A few managers were standing around assisting in NO WAY. And the whole process was a nightmare. I wanted pasta though, so we still decided to eat here regardless of this awful first impression. Lucky for them, the food was DELICIOUS. And our server was fantastic. All was saved. The boyfriend and I had the Monty pizza and the spaghetti, but traded the noodles for linguine as I was craving a different style of pasta. The sauce was great and way better than I was expecting. The pizza, so good we order one the next night also. SO DELICIOUS. Italian restaurants are typically hit or miss in my opinion and, aside from how things started, this was an absolute out of the park hit!

4/2/2015 review Came here for lunch , sat outside table by poolside . Weather was gorgeous , service was excellent .my husband ordered Ravioli ala vodka , it was delicious . See my pic . We will definitely go back again .

Everything was delicious. The bread is the best part! I shared some pasta with my friend because it was so much food and we went were so full we got the itis, went upstairs to our room and died at about 10pm. We didn't even get up to go gamble or have fun later that evening we were so full. I recommend eating here for lunch and not dinner or you will get the itis too!

Both The Chart House & Cadillac Bar were closed while staying at Golden Nugget, so the choices were limited & we picked Grotto. Not much of a fan of the Grotto's in Houston, but this one has several menu items that are not offered in Houston. We were pleasantly surprised with the meal overall, & only wish the food was equally as good in Houston. Even the pizzas being served looked FAR superior to what we have seen & eaten at the Grotto's in Houston. The bread, which is baked in the Casino's kitchen, was a definite winner. Bring that to the Houston locations! Only downside were the absolutely "miserable" scallops in the mixed seafood pasta, though all the other seafood items were A-OK. The crab & shrimp pasta was outstanding, as were all other dishes. Also solid & pleasant service. Will return on future Golden Nugget visits.

The pizza and spaghetti bolognese is so delicious!! Great service! And yummy adult beverages.

We sat at the bar and ordered the shrimp scampi, bruschetta and drinks. The bruschetta was a -0 on a scale of 1-10. Seriously offensive, gross and disgusting. How can you mess it up? They did. The shrimp scampi was some fried, coated mess of brown, garlic sauce. I think there was 2-3 shrimps and some bread on the plate. The bread was doused as well in a heavy, brown, garlic sauce. I assume it was thrown on the plate to try to disguise the fact that they are serving you 3 shrimp for the price. The garlic sauce stayed with me the whole night. The olive oil that came with the bread was mobile one. Olive oil is not clear like Wesson oil. Serve real olive oil! My gosh, it's healthier as well. Do what's right! This is truly the ihop of Italian food. Seriously I would give it zero stars if I could. We did not bother ordering dinner after this disappointing and low, low quality food. As usual, we tipped well, smiled and moved on.

We have been going to Grotto on Westheimer (Houston) for years, so we had pretty high expectations for this place, and we were not disappointed. We ordered the Antipasti plate, which was excellent, as well as a vegetable risotto (not on the menu). The chef came out of the kitchen to discuss what we had in mind for the dish and then knocked it out of the park! We did miss the Antipasti bar, which is the shining star of the Westheimer restaurant, but all in all, our food was excellent and our service was very good too. Highly recommend.

Service was great and the staff was super friendly and attentive. Unfortunately we were pretty disappointed with the lack of options on the menu and the bland food. I had a chicken pasta dish. My portion size was great but there was absolutely no seasoning to my food. My husband had a shrimp and pasta dish that was way over priced for the portion size. It was $25 for a meal that looked like it was a kids meal. I've had way better Italian food before at other places. I can't say that we will ever eat at a Grotto restaurant again.

My memories of the Grotto stem from that great restaurant in Houston. This is not that eating establishment. We had reservations on 20 November and were seated promptly and ordered their bruschetta which was OK. This ends the good part. My wife ordered the vial parmigiana and I ordered the Pollo tres Pomodiro. Both were delivered to our table after an extended wait for which our waiter apologized twice. The venal was overcooked lacked marinara sauce and had scorch Mark's on the underside. The breading on my chicken was burned and bitter in Several spots. The chicken was tasty but tough.,1The parmesan noodles side dish was so cold that butter would not melt. Witnessed a waiter drop a set of flatware wrapped in a napkin onto the floor, pick it up and put it back into the stack ready for distribution. Not Good. The cost of the two dinners with one cocktail and 15% tip was about $80. We expected a bit better food quality and service. Lots of restaurants in close proximity. We will not be back to the Grotto. Sorry we wasted our money

I was really looking forward to eating here, food was ok, our waiter was ok, she was nice And attentive, but food was not good, our kids pizza was brought out burned from the bottom, kept bringing me coke and I had tea. The margarita on the rocks was so bad had to send it back. Asked for fettuccine alfredo with shrimp and chicken , only brought shrimp out w it, the manager was called he apologized. But will definitely not be back.

This place cannot get their act straight. They are never consistent in the quality of food and service. One day everything was great but the next all seemed to go down hill.

We had a delicious dinner at the Grotto. Our waitress, Bailey, was delightful and made our experience fun. She offered us cheesecake for my birthday. We will enjoy going back to the Grotto when we visit Golden Nugget in the future.

Love this place. Food is very good. Ambiance on the patio is superb. If you love seafood do try the Redfish. It's wonderful. It was a great choice for Valentine's Day.

My first and last time here. Our server forgot my soup and I didn't get a chance to remind her, cause between taking an order and delivering an entree, we did not see her. If you are in a mood for pizza-get ready to wait for 30-35 min (even if it's a thin crust). I got Caesar with chicken and expected crispy lettuce leaves, fresh croutons and juicy chicken topped with some Parmesan, well, the only thing I enjoyed was actually Parmesan. Sad place with sad food.

I came here on 2 separate occasions, the first was opening weekend so it was pretty busy and the staff didn't quite have it all down just yet. Our group was seated immediately but ended up waiting over an hr to get our food. The meal was just slightly above average considering the price and I will say the one bright spot was the manager he acknowledged the problem and wanted to fix it. Excellent customer service by him gives this an extra star. My 2nd trip was a few weeks later and I must say a lot was improved, the waiter was polite and professional and the food recommendations were on point with what I wanted to eat. The manager also came by just to ask us how everything went. Will definitely eat here again when I'm at Golden Nugget.

My wife and I called approximately 4 hours ahead on Mothers's Day to get a. 7:00 PM reservation. We arrived 5 minutes early and were seated at our table before 7:00. This was our first time to visit the Grotto. Our waiter's name was Kade. I have been in the customer service industry for approximately 35 years so I'm sure that I am a little sensitive to customer service. This man was Exceptional! He was polite, informative, and seemed to be there before we even knew we needed something. The food was excellent and Kade made my wife's Mother's Day special. Thank You Kade!

We always enjoy Grotto's intimate setting, service and food. Tom and Sarah were excellent in accommodating a party of 8 on a short notice. Tom went above and beyond to make sure our party was taken care of. Thank you for another great experience!

I took a friend for birthday meal and was horribly disappointed. I had Amartriaciana. It had very little prosciutto and absolutely no flavor. My friend had the spaghetti bolognese. It was drowning in way too much sauce which was greasy. The bread was even stale. Service was also terrible. When I complained, the manager deducted the appetizer but charged us for the entrees. The appetizer was the only edible item on our table. As we left, we were given a card for a free appetizer. We only took it when were we told we could use it at other restaurants.

Terrible service and subpar food! The hostess (Maria I think was her name) was the best thing about this place. She was super sweet and sat us down once our table was ready. Waiters kept passing and passing and no one even acknowledged us. It took about 20 minutes for a not-so-nice waitress to bring us water, my dad greeted her and she didn't even say anything. More and more waiters pass by and they even start serving other people who got there after us. Finally, the manager became our server for the night. We weren't even given a wine/drink menu, had to keep asking for water refills. I've eaten at the other restaurants during past visits at the Golden Nugget and figured we'd give this place a try for my sister's birthday. We didn't get to have a proper birthday dinner for her. Do not recommend.

Service was impeccable and food was delicious! We had the meatballs, calamari, chopped salad, vodka ravioli and shrimp paillard. Everything was excellent and cooked to perfection. Grotto never disappoints!

The food is actually amazing, I can't say anything bad about it. The waiter refreshed our bread and drinks often, and checked on us ample times. I wish the menu was a tiny bit longer; at only one page, if you didn't see something you liked, you were a bit at a loss. The bolognese was fantastic and I ate every last bit I could before getting totally stuffed. We opted not to order salads or appetizers because the prices are what you expect for a resort, but the food we did order came out hot, quickly, and was delicious.