LOCANDA CAVALLINO - Varenna, Province of Lecco

Pat Z.

Good food here but better options in Varenna. Had the three sauce beef pasta and it was good. I enjoyed it. The Cesar chicken was also very good. A big piece of fried chicken. But the beef was disgusting. It was just roast beef on top of some terrible polenta. I’ve never hated a dish in Italy but I did hate this one.
There are better places in Varenna to eat for better food

Owen W.

Food is delicious here. They do secondi very well. Our first visit, we had the famous local Lake Como dish: the creamy risotto with lake fish. Our second visit, we had Tuna and breaded chicken (with Caesar’s dressing). They were both excellent. Good selection of wine too.

Service here is professional, but not warm, friendly, or welcoming compared to other local restaurants that we’ve experienced in mid lake (Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna, etc).

Would we dine here again in the future? I would say yes ONLY IF we can sit inside. Our most recent visit, we were seated outdoor and it was extremely unpleasant due to bugs, especially flies - see my pictures.

The restaurant needs to do more to address the flies issue (rather than simply throwing their hands up in the air and say “this is nature”). In Singapore, Dubai, and Thailand, upscale restaurants have found ways to deal with flies to make sure they don’t come to bother the customers. There’s no reason why Italians can’t learn from these other places.

matt F.

Food was excellent. Serving sizes a little small considering the price. Service was a little slow.
Fish antipasto was excellent.
The restaurant itself had a good atmosphere. Would recommend.

Ella K.

Amazing food and excellent service from all staff members. We enjoyed this restaurant so much that we went back a second time during our short stay in Varenna.

We are both gluten free and whilst they have few gf options they are delicious and filling ! We had spaghetti one night and risotto the other. They also have gf bread and bread sticks for the table !! 🙂

Grazie mille from Ella and Mitch ! 🇦🇺🙌🏼

Nicholas M.

Food: Small menu, but great food. Lots of original dishes in a touristy area where many restaurants serve similar dishes.

Service: We ate outside, which has beautiful views of Lake Como. At the time the restaurant wasn’t serving food outside, but they accommodated us and were very friendly.

Atmosphere: Town overall is great. The inside of the restaurant has a nice modern aesthetic, though we ate outside. While the patio has great views of Lake Como - it’s right near the ferry terminal and can get hectic. I thought about knocking off a star for atmosphere, but ultimately it’s still a great place to have a meal. And - if you don’t like the bustle, you can still have a great time inside.

A I.

Fantastic location to sit and soak in the Como atmosphere.
We went for a ‘snack’ after a couple of hours exploring Varenna. Lovely staff. Stunning views from the outdoor seating area in the glorious Italian sun. We had delicious focaccia and pasta ragu with some delicious Prosecco - couldn’t be more perfect.

For 2 people, the price was reasonable. Certainly comparable to Milan/London.

Cheyenne J.

Amazing food! I also had Tiramisu but I devoured it before I remembered to take a pic. Highly recommend if you are going to lake Como it’s right by the ferry in varenna and a nice way to end your day

Sam B.

We are outside and had a wonderful meal! Our server Erica was an all star and handled everything beautifully. From knowing what we’d want before we even asked to making sure she handled every request we had, she was top notch.

The outdoor seating was great with views of the water and pleasant weather. Flies had been mentioned in other reviews but were not an issue for us, not sure if it was timing or luck - we ate around 7:30.

And of course - the food was fantastic. We got a variety of dishes from Roast Beef over Polenta to several pasta dishes and a chicken Caesar dish - it was all wonderful.