🍴 Where to Eat and Drink on Lake Garda - Top Tips from the People Who Live There

You’re in Italy. You want pizza, pasta, and gelato. You want to sip coffee in the morning, Aperol in the afternoon, and maybe a cheeky limoncello before bed. Luckily, Lake Garda does all of this exceptionally well.

Even the touristy lakefront restaurants turn out better-than-average food at decent prices, which makes it hard to go wrong. The real challenge? Deciding where to eat and drink when every narrow street and piazza is packed with options.

After months of exploring, here are my favourite finds — from hidden gin bars to sunset Aperols on the water.

🍷 A Taste of Lake Garda’s Wine Heritage

• Zeni Wine Museum (Bardolino) – A great intro to the wine culture around the lake. You can wander through the museum, then head straight to a tasting of Bardolino reds and crisp local whites.

• Villa Calicantus (Lazise) – Small, biodynamic, and family-run. The vineyard sits just above the lake and produces soulful wines that taste of the land they come from. If you’re used to big-name bottles, this will change the way you think about Italian wine.

👉 If you love exploring Italy through its wines, don’t stop at Lake Garda. Piedmont is home to some of the best wines in Italy. Check out out ten day itinerary that combines vineyards, hiking trails and history, all in one trip.

🍸 Favourite Gin Bar: Bar Luci, Castelletto

Castelletto is one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it towns between Garda and Malcesine. But tucked into a courtyard is one of the best gin bars I’ve ever found (and I’ve lived in London!).

Bar Luci’s menu is a rotating mix of rare bottles, small-batch gins, and creative tonics. The owner genuinely loves helping you choose, and usually pulls something unexpected from the shelf to try. Come early, stay late, and book a taxi home.

🍷 Favourite Wine Bar: Can e Gatto, Garda Town

Can e Gatto is tiny, chaotic, and utterly charming. You’ll drink Amarone leaning on wine barrels, dodge cured meats hanging from the ceiling, and probably end up listening to a spontaneous piano session from local musicians.

It’s messy, it’s loud, it’s Italian nightlife at its best that spills out onto the streets into the early hours.

🍕 Favourite Traditional Italian: Caprice 1971, Bardolino

If you’re already carb-overloaded but still craving pizza, Caprice 1971 is the place. The pizzas are excellent, the wine list is strong, and the open kitchen buzzes with energy. No reservations, so expect to queue in summer — but it’s worth it.

🥂 Favourite Aperitivo Spot: Bar Café Centrale, Arco

Aperitivo is one of Italy’s greatest inventions. Order a spritz between 4–7pm and suddenly you’re showered with free bruschetta, olives, meats, and pastries.

At Bar Café Centrale, you’ll sit under the shadow of Arco’s church, right next to the park. It’s easy to lose hours here as the sundial on the church reminds you just how long you’ve been “just having one more.”

🥗 Favourite Veggie Option: Il Cortiletto, Limone

Italy is incredible for food unless you’re vegetarian, in which case the menu often reads: fries, salad, repeat.

Il Cortiletto breaks the cycle. Expect big, colourful salads, homemade lemonade with fresh berries, and a cool, modern courtyard space that feels more “urban garden” than rustic trattoria. Even my meat-eating friends ordered the salads here.

🌅 Favourite Sunset Spot: La Motta, Garda Town

La Motta’s new terrace stretches right over the water, giving you front-row seats to the sun dipping behind the mountains.

The crowd is younger, the soundtrack is house music, and the Aperol keeps flowing. It gets busy (sometimes one in, one out) but that energy is part of the charm. Arrive early, grab a lounger, and settle in.

🚗 Beyond Lake Garda…

Lake Garda delivers on food, wine, and long evenings under the stars. But if you’re planning a longer Italian trip, don’t just stop here. Head into the Val di Susa — a quieter corner of northern Italy where you can ski the Via Lattea in winter, hike and bike in summer, and stuff your face with amazing local produce.

👉 For the best insider tips on where to eat and drink in Val di Susa & Sauze d'Oulx, check out the Monsguide Resort Guides.

👉 And if you’re looking for a base near Sauze d'Oulx & the Gran Bosco National Park, book your stay at The Hideaway Apartments — our modern fully-equipped, highly rated, self-catering mountain apartments in a peaceful Italian village, designed for adventurous travellers who want to experience Italy beyond the obvious.

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