Caffe Riva in South Lakeland

Gorgeous food, would definitely recommend. We walked in at about 6pm but it got very busy afterwards so book if you’re planning on going any later

We visited here on the 29th December with my family and dog . The menu was varied and the food was gorgeous, We had a pizza and a chicken sandwich with focaccia bread , they were amazing . Great that you can take your dog as well . They have lager on draught as well and not a silly price . Well done cafe riva

menu choice of food and drink was very good. Pizzas and ingredients we had were very nice. Very polite and tentative service

Really nice little place. Great service and they cater really well for Gluten Free. Pizza was delicious. Fully recommend

Pizza's were tasty, they had run out of garlic bread and waiter was pleasant when serving us but service was slow. Radio Nashville wasn't the best, atmosphere space!

I had a great experience with my family the food was amazing and the staff was great expecially the kid he took care of me and my family all night

Whilst away for a couple of days we dropped into Riva for some pizzas and they were amazing. We had an Asahi beer and finished with a coffee and Tiramisu. The lady who served us was friendly and helpful and when visiting again we will definitely be going back for more pizza .

Fantastic meal! The focaccia garlic bread was outstanding and the rest of the food was really good too. The Cocktail of the Week was a winner as was the tiramisu. The staff were attentive and so friendly - we will be back.

Normally I love it here but the ragu was a bit hard and a bit too much sauce to pasta on this visit. Garlic bread was amazing though if not a bit salty. Dog friendly outside which is good but service was a bit slow Nice friendly staff though

Food was really good . However when we ordered waiter said due to staff issues all starters and mains would come together . Felt slightly rushed and that was only criticism

I made the mistake of not reading the reviews of this place before visiting. Service was poor and whilst my pizza was OK my wife's homemade lasagne was burnt black underneath. An apparent (according to someone who purported to be a waiter) comment from the chef was that they all turn out like that! I would definitely NOT recommend this place to eat.

excellent food, great staff, perfect location. And you can pay with bitcoin, that's what the manager (big and bearded) says, he's not that scary, great guy

Lovely food and service! We had a lovely waiter called Robert who made us feel very welcome! Highly recommend

Best pizza I think I’ve ever had in the UK. No idea what they put in the sauce but it was a taste experience. Highly recommend for pizza lovers

Robert and the rest of the staff made us feel very welcome and the tris pizza is the nicest pizza in the Lake District bar none

Was checking the reviews and saw what JayyVA was saying, i was there last night and this gentleman and his lady were giving the waiter abuse, maybe they had one too many, what a disgraceful thing they did, and now even adding bad reviews, shame...

My wife and I went into this restaurant after a long and exhausting day hoping to replenish our energy with some Italian carbs but this place had other plans for us. The appetiser we ordered arrived after long 25 minutes, the bread was so dry...

The best pizza in the area!! I order a special pizza(not because I didn’t like the menu) but I wanted to make my own,no problem for the staff,pizza came exactly how I wanted,DELICIOUS Very clean,friendly and helpful staff,thank you!!! I will come back

I went for a dinner. I was surprised by how good the food was. The staff was very friendly, everything went very quickly. Congratulations to the guy at the bar (I don't know his name, he has a beard) he made the best aperol spritz....

We drop in for lunch and we weren't disappointed. The pizzas are outstanding and the ragu pasta really tasty. The staff were really friendly the only thing to let them down was I ordered a second drink which never turned up. They removed the cost...

Just been for a family meal, staff were friendly enough, food was not good at all, honestly can't remember having a worse meal, whole place felt grubby, toilets were blocked, only thing going for this place would be the staff. Definitely won't be going back

Decided to go for a meal out for our final day of our holiday in the Lake District and made the perfect choice of restaurant for it. The staff were absolutely perfect in every way and the food sublime. I would definitely recommend eating here...

Just returned home after what can only be described as a fabulous evening at Cafe Riva, excellent customer service - great food. Was a delightful, friendly and enjoyable venue that I would recommend to everyone Jez

Food was average. Had to wait almost 10 minutes once my starter had arrived for cutlery, as they didn’t have any washed. Table was dirty and slow service.

As a local, this is a place I have always wanted to try. Finally I got round to attending this evening with some family. We stood at the entrance for about 5 minutes before I actually had to ask someone If we could be seated,...

Walked out Stood outside waiting to be seated. No one came. Sat ourselves.. had to go in and get our own menus.... Asked if I ordered at the bar... Staff who are all very young and couldn't really care less, said "nah just sit down...

Very delicious food and super friendly staff The menu offers various plates and most of it is customizable to your food preferences👌🏼

Very nice and cozy place Menu had many options and Food was delicious and authentic Service was excellent Highly recommend to everyone who visits Boness on Windermer

Seated then waited ages to take order. Ordered food and drinks after finally getting attention of staff. Food arrived but still no drinks despite 3 guys behind bar chatting away, had to remind waitress before she returned with drinks. My beef ragu was bland while...

My husband and I decided to eat here for lunch following a lovely boat trip for our honeymoon, ordered food and drinks quite quickly as we were very hungry! Drinks arrived quickly, then after an hour of waiting for the food, I went to the...

We ate here this afternoon. We asked if they had a table for 7, the lady said yes then came back and said it will have to be 2 tables as they couldn't move the tables ! This would have been a simple thing to...

Although the food is delicious the waiter was not welcoming .I visited the restaurant twice and faced same issues with same waiter At first, we requested a table outside, which was not allowed thus stayed in, however, he let another customer to sit outdoors not...

Excellent evening meal . The pizza was amazing the best we have had in a long time. Friendly helpful staff.

Had the 4 cheese pizza and really liked it. They have a nice little patio area to sit outside and enjoy some people watching while you eat.

We ate here yesterday. Starter came out quickly and was very good. However, we had a very long wait for our main. We were divided on our opinion of the food, I loved my pizza but he hated his pollo Milanese. We never got asked...

Went with my wife and 7 year old daughter. Barely a welcome when arrived. Took 20mins to take our order. More annoyingly a table of 4 came in after us and had order taken and drinks before our order was even taken! Food was ok...

I am a very happy go lucky type of person however this place was a total waste of time from start to finish. After being seated, we waited 20 minutes for someone to come and take our drinks order… by this point we thought we...

Seating area inside and outside. Waiter was attentive and willing to wait whilst the children hummed and haad. Good choice of pasta and pizza - not run of the mill either. Great olives! Toilets are up a narrow staircase which could be a problem for...

The staff were very accommodating in getting us a table for 7 people even though they were very busy. The food came out in good time and was tasty.

Very rare do a leave a poor review, I would rather just say nothing. But this place was shocking in ever way. I was looking for a hidden camera because everything went wrong from start to finish. We had to leave before eating our main...

We just happened to be passing and decided to stop for dinner. What a find! Food was excellent. Mushroom risotto to die for! Garlic Forciatta and mushroom bruschetta starters excellent. Lovely relaxed atmosphere. Will certainly be back.

All food and service was beautiful. I had the king prawn nduja tagliatelle which was incredible, packed with flavour and very well presented. My partner had a pizza and the quality of the base was very clear to see. Freshly made and great ingredients used....

Me and my girlfriend visited for lunch after a day of boat tours. We went in for a sandwich but after seeing the pizzas that the table next to us had we change our minds. Had two of their pizzas and they were amazing, and...

Two of us, with a tiny dog, arrived here on-spec one cold and windy day looking for lunch. Friendly staff served us excellent luxury hot chocolate (one with Baileys, one with Cointreau - both tasty) and delicious Italian-recipe paninis. First Class

We hadn’t planned to dine out but walked past here and noticed it was dog friendly so took a closer look, the menu had gluten free and dairy free options which was a huge surprise and sealed the deal! Wine was also on special and...

Very good Lasagne and pizza. Friendly service and attentive. Can’t wait to come back next time I am in town for a hiking weekend

We went on a Saturday night, and were quite disappointed with one of our meals. The staff was lovely, and my husband's pizza was tasty, but I had the risotto du jour, and it was a big disappointment. Risotto was swimming in oil, way too...

Came here for a meal on Saturday night. Ordered lasagne, gnocchi, and 2 garlic focaccias. They decided their way of presentation was to cover our entire meal in about half a bag of rocket !!?? Each garlic focaccia had about a fist size portion of...

Caffe Riva is a Friday regular haunt for us when we arrive late for a weekend in the lakes. Chilled, good food, good service, reliable, and reasonably priced. Great pizzas, with an authentic italian style and vibe.

Visited with my sister Sunday 13th March. Lovely greeting on arrival. Great table and excellent customer service. Shared a perfectly cooked pizza and enjoyed nice drinks at a reasonable price.

Friendly staff, delicious food and dog friendly too! Really enjoyed our meal we will definitely be back!

Busy Saturday evening in Bowness and they still managed to get a table for us. The lasagne and burgers were very good and a great selection of cocktails/mocktails!

We called in on a Saturday evening and was told there would be a 15 minute wait for a time which was absolutely fine as we sat at the bar for a drink while we waited. The staff were all very friendly and clearly very...

Stopped for a quick lunch with a wet dog. Made very welcome, lovely tasty food and quick service. Went for the meatball panini and bolognese, we only came in for lunch so did not get chance to try the starters or deserts which was a...

Chose Riva for our final holiday dinner. Very disappointing experience! No pizza due to issue in kitchen which was fine as we wanted pasta. Carbonara was nice but when the Tagliatelle Bolognese arrived I was utterly shocked ...the portion size was smaller than a starter...

Service was ok but didn’t feel very welcomed. Food was not cooked very well at all and was wet and cold and very tasteless. Wouldn’t come back here. The only good thing was they were very dog friendly.

We stumbled across this restaurant whilst on a weekend away before Christmas. We didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read any reviews but were pleasantly surprised to find a cosy restaurant, attentive staff and fantastic food. The garlic bread starter was absolutely lovely...

I just loved this place. Visited with my dog after a long, cold walk on the lake. It was very welcoming - great food and wine. The team (two lovely ladies) were so welcoming and made a fuss of my dog bringing him a bowl...

We ate at Caffe Riva recently and ordered a pizza and a risotto. Service was 'ok' but we certainly didn't feel welcomed. We were given 1 small sachet of ketchup and 1 of mayonnaise and that was it in terms of any additional seasoning/sauces. I...

Early dinner for 4 was very good. 3 friends had the fish special dish and said it was very good. My pizza was very tasty but would have preferred it cooked a little longer. Service and wine very good and a really nice atmosphere. Will...

Went to Cafee Riva with high expectations but as you can see from the photos the starter came burnt and my meal described as fried chicken breast with pasta had 6 tiny pieces of chicken in it, my wife had lasagna that was ok but...

Ordered a pizza which wasn’t cooked in the middle, and calamari which was soggy, sent the pizza back by or another just as bad, I have never had anything so awful to the extent we didn’t eat half of it and both had stomach ache

Seated with no booking and greeted by a really friendly team. Delicious food - one of the best lasagnes I've had! I had the special nutella and oreo cheesecake for pudding too which was amazing. Lovely food and lovely environment - thank you!

Eating out has become a frustration for me; I have several intolerances including gluten and just to make things a little more difficult I've recently decided to stop eating meat (just gone off it) So when eating out with the family I am used to...

Good service initially, but tailed off towards end necessitating my getting up to find a waiter to get the bill. Pizza passable. Pasta was appalling - no way this was prepared by an Italian chef. Overcooked pasta, undercooked pancetta, thin and watery.

Popped into Riva during our time in Windermere. We had the lunch paninis and a soft drink. Was a good lunch!

Bland food, the arrabiata had no salt, pepper at all. If felt like Dried herbs were just thrown on top a tin of plum tomatoes in a pan for two min and mixed with tagliatelle boiled without any salt or olive oil. A packaged pasta...

Can’t praise the staff enough - everything spotless. Nothing too much trouble. Super meal and will return. Busy most of the time which is good as they open from 12 noon whereas some restaurants open at 5 pm. Dog friendly.

I had the margarita pizza and my boyfriend had the four cheese pizza. They were gone in seconds as we were very hungry and the pizza was delicious! It tasted like we were in Italy. Highly recommend.

A party of 5 only one meal was edible the plates were cold Italian chicken burger was impossible to cut or chew round the edge the chicken on the pollo pizza was hard we couldn’t cut through our pizza didn’t get any pizza knives. Anyway...

We are Vegetarian and stopped here for lunch. The service is excellent and various options available for various diets. We had Panini, which was served hot and well prepared. It's kind of small restaurant but with good service and quality food. Would always recommend this...

Came for lunch on Monday, got seated straight away which was lucky as it was raining and busy in Bowness. We ordered quickly and the staff where very friendly. There where two large groups in so we did wait a little while for our food...

Avoid like the plague. We waited over 50 mins for just two pizzas. The staffs attitude to the delay was appalling and made no attempt to apologise. In fact the waiter even asked me to look in the kitchen to see how bad/ short staffed...

Attempted to go here for pizza. Waited 50mins and asked why delay. Waitress very aggressive about not her problem. Left without main course. Have never had service this bad snywhere! Do not go here, simple as that.

No surprises in this Italian cafe/pizza restaurant. Well presented pizzas which tasted good. (I wasn't entirely certain how the pizza base had been made ?gluten free)

Close to the lakeside with inside and outside seating this small restaurant is very good value. Our pizze were as good as ones we've had in Italy. Service was good and the bill moderate. Recommended.

After visiting a couple of unhelpful places "scan the QR code for menu"! we found this lovely place. Lovely friendly staff and even better food. Excellent food. Highly recommend a visit.

Didn’t take too long to be seated, even with everywhere else being fully booked, we were approached by very friendly staff that took our drinks order and food order shortly after. The pizzas were absolutely amazing, best vegan pizza we have ever had and would highly recommend, the dough on its own tastes amazing. prices were very good too.

Visited here for something to eat, with my husband. Service was friendly and very efficient. Garlic bread and pizza were amazing! However, the pasta (carbonara) was not carbonara at all. No smoked pancetta, as advertised and it was dry. Just a tasteless pasta with some cheese thrown in. Additionally, it was hot in the middle and tepid everywhere else. Usually this is indicative of being microwaved. Would return for pizzas but not pasta.

We visited Riva while on holiday in Bowness on Windemere. Unlike many other restaurants in thr area they are able to avoid cramming people in and one is able to relax without being too close to the next table. The menu is very varied and there are lots of choices for all preferences. The portions are generous and the food itself is delicious. The added friendliness of the staff makes it a wonderful place to visit for a meal.

Me and my girlfriend wanted to have a nice lunch in Riva. We were waiting at the sign which says ‘Wait here to be seated’ for roughly 10 minutes. During this time there were 3 staff members in the outside area who saw us, looked at us and ignored us. Not even a simple “hello we’ll be with you in a minute”. They tried not to make eye contact and were very rude. We decided to leave and find a restaurant with staff who acknowledge your existence. Do not come here unless you wish to be treated as if you are invisible.

Visited here with the kids and the dog for lunch on a day trip to Bowness. The staff were very friendly and efficient and the food was fantastic. We say outside but could of say inside with the dog.

Excellent friendly service and the the food was fantastic, menu gives you the option for gluten free as my wife is a coeliac. Also it is labelled on the main menu which is gluten free and vegan, or gluten free options available, we will be returning when we visit the lakes again for sure.

I visited this restaurant this lunch time with my family. Whilst outside I asked both the waitresses if they were serving the gluten free menu. They both confirmed that the restaurant was. After ordering I was informed that they were not. I am Coeliac and must follow a strict gluten free diet. We were already sat with drinks. This meant that I could not eat with my family. If I had known this we would have went elsewhere. When we expressed this to the waitress she could not have cared less, laughed and said well they only have one chef. She did not even apologise. My family have ate here numerous times and like many previous reviews are stating this place has gone downhill. We entered the restaurant at opening time and there was vomit in the ladies toilet. In my opinion the toilets had not been cleaned from the night before.

Stumbled across this restaurant in the evening whilst looking for a last minute place to eat and it did not disappoint. Great atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious food. Would definitely recommend!

Caffe Riva was recommended by a local shop assistant but think we might have caught them on an off day. My partner ordered Pizza which looked great , he said it was o.I but didn't taste as good as it looked. I had lasagne which was burnt , sent it back , waited a while for a replacement which eventually arrived but wasn't as hot as it should have been, in fact it was cold in the middle.

100 % recommend. I had the mango sloth mocktail and the lasagna for main meal. Staff were very friendly and food was delicious. Layout of the restaurant was beautiful and would definitely go again. Dog friendly which is really good considering the amount of dog owners in the area. Calm environment. 10/10.

Quick lunch with my daughter. We both chose pizzas plus bruschetta and side of fries. Service was fab very prompt and friendly. Pizzas were cooked perfectly mine was prosciutto, dd had margherita both got demolished! Star of the show though was the bruschetta...lovely fresh tomatoes and red onion on chunky toasted garlicky ciabatta, great value for money

The pizzas are the best in town! The staff are exceptional and wine is pretty good too!! You won’t regret eating here!! Antonio looked after us…. Great for families or couples! Our boys loved it and loved challenging Antonio on why the England team are actually better than Italy!! If we could have given SIX stars, we would.

Early evening meal on a holiday week night. We stopped in and got a table straightaway. The staff were all very friendly and we had lovely fresh Italian food, focaccia and olives to start, pizza and pasta for main meals. Very nice tiramisu for dessert. Everyone was very happy with their food. Amtomio and the rest looked after us very nicely.

One meal was lovely - tagliatelle ragu good portion and was delcious. Lasagna was awful tiny portion, had been re heated so was hard around the edges and had a whole bag of rocket on it to hide it!!!Totally understand the staffing issues at the moment when I mentioned about my food they werent interested.

Nice place, lovely atmosphere and great food. Not a large selection on the menu but everything we had was cooked to perfection, loved the Fusilli con pollo and the caprese cake.

Took an age to get seated, then a second age to get served, then a third age to actually get our food. When it finally came the pizzas were undercooked and looked severely unappetising. Customer service was non existent, with staff avoiding eye contact and any form of rapport, this could be seen on the expressions of evey customer in this place.... not happy! They just keep on seating customers without being able to fufill the order's of already seated customers. There's loads of amazing places to eat in windermere, don't waist any time eating here.

They restaurant was so busy but this only added to the lovely atmosphere. The staff were lovely to us and our two children and all the food was really excellent. Thank you for a lovely meal - it’s so nice to eat out again after a long time!

We expected a bit of a wait due to it being busy in Windermere. That was no problem. First of all they sat us at a dirty wobbly table. We mentioned this to the waiter, no response. We ordered a pizza and a carbonara. The pizza was fine but the carbonara can only be described as a warm bowl of vomit. The pasta had turned to glue and the sauce was utterly disgusting. They really ought be ashamed of themselves sending food out like that. Shame on you sending food like that out to paying customers. Avoid because they clearly don’t care about the customer. No apology, nothing.

Staying in Windermere for one night we decided to get a take out from caffe Riva to enjoy at our lodge. After calling ahead we were advised the kitchen was busy but to collect in 40 minutes, after arriving on time we waited outside for our collection. The serving staff were busy and non attentive. After checking in a few times, still nothing! After 45 minutes outside, that’s a total wait time of 1 hr 25 minutes (despite being advised of a collection time) we decided to leave. Pretty much ruined our plans. Would have rather had upfront honesty, if your too busy, tell your customer, really sorry not taking orders or give an ACTUAL wait time. Total disappointment and this isn’t the first time. This is the second time we’ve been here and never actually managed to get any food. Good luck!

Visited with our family of 5. The restaurant was understandably busy given it was peak holiday season. The food was passable although the mussels were over cooked. Unfortunately we found the service to be unfriendly as well as mistakes being made with our drinks order and items missing from our food order.

Very good food and friendly service, thanks Bekcy for your prompt and professional service! I recommend this italian 💯 %restaurant! Grazie amici!

No problem getting seated. The food was excellent as always and Antonio and the rest of the staff were attentive and friendly.

Terrible service from start to end. Waited ages for a table. They then said we’d have to sit separately because they couldn’t accommodate a table of 6. We had small children so not an option, we said we’ll get takeaway instead. Miraculously they then found us a table. We ordered drinks. They had no ice or pear cider. We ordered the kids food at the same time as drinks as they were really hungry by this point. We then went to order. 3 of the 4 of the adults are vegan, but when we tried to order we were then told they had no vegan cheese left. This was the only vegan thing on the menu. She then suggested pasta and it’s vegetables. Not very appetising so we just left it. The kids ate and we ordered an Indian takeaway from our table to take home. We asked for the bill and had a 10% voucher, which they then told us they were no longer accepting. Rude staff, disinterested in the customer and poor stock levels. I will not return and would advise against.