La Fontana Authentic Italian Restaurant Bar & Pizzeria

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820 reviews

#73 of 748 Restaurants in Charleston$$ - $$$, Italian, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options

+1 843-556-1111+ Add website

Hours

Sun

12:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Tue

4:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Wed

4:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Thu

4:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Fri

4:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Sat

12:00 PM - 10:00 PM

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Ratings and reviews

4.5

820 reviews

#73 of 748 Restaurants in Charleston

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

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PRICE RANGE

$10.00 – $30.00

CUISINES

Italian

Special Diets

Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options

meals, features

Location and contact

1759 Savannah Hwy, Charleston, SC 29407-6281

+1 843-556-1111

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Can a gluten free person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

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Details

Manage this business?

PRICE RANGE

$10.00 – $30.00

CUISINES

Italian

Special Diets

Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Seating, Parking Available, Free off-street parking, Television, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Accepts American Express, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Accepts Discover, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service

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4.5

820 reviews

Excellent

534

Very good

137

Average

Poor

Terrible

filetdafunk

Blakely62 contributions

Food not over seasoned

Jan 2020 • none

This was our first visit to La Fontana. Wait staff was friendly and knowledgeable.We orderd the Artichoke appetizer,it was simple but tasty.Our main course were the Shrimp with pasta,which was very good and the Manicotti which was also very good.Neither of our main courses were loaded with garilc or other seasonings but just enough to make flavorful and not overpowering.We would recommend this place if you like old school Italian food! Cozy atmosphere,good service and moderate prices.

Written January 9, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dave

Springfield143 contributions

La Vita Piazza

Aug 2021 • none

When we lived in Italy, one of the enduring charms was the small ristoranti that generally lined the town piazza. The service was casual and deliberately paced, the food was fresh and unpretentious, and the staff were personable. La Fontana met all of those marks. If you're looking for a fussy-foodie experience, go to one of the tourist traps -- but if you're looking for a little slice of la bella vita, go to La Fontana and be prepared to be more in la cucina della mama than la ristorante di touristici. We had the veal picatta and veal marsala, and they were perfetto.

Written August 13, 2021

ChefsFranandSharon

Burgettstown7 contributions

Authentic Italian in West Ashley

Oct 2023 • couples

Having visited a few high end restaurants downtown as well as bbq places,etc., my wife and I had a yearning for good Italian. Since La Fontana was close to our hotel, we thought we would try it even though we read a few negative reviews. The restaurant was slow for a Saturday night and Fabiana, the owner, a native of Naples Italy, greeted us immediately upon entering. We were early and wanted to have a drink at the bar first. Our vodka and sodas were two thirds full but tasty. We had a pleasant conversation with Fabiana before being seated. My wife and I are both retired chefs and are especially skeptical of Italian restaurants' tomato sauce. We asked for a taste which Fabiana was happy to provide. We agreed that the sauce was quite good. At our booth, she recommended the eggplant appetizer which we shared and it was delicious. I had Fettucine with meat sauce and my wife had the Gnocchi. We also shared a bottle of wine from Italy which Fabiana suggested and which was quite good. The portions were ample. My meat sauce was of a fairly smooth consistency and very tasty. My wife's Gnocchi was flavorful but the Gnocchi itself was rather mushy. For dessert, we shared a limoncello cake which was light and refreshing after this rich meal. All said, we had a very nice experience made quite personable by Fabiana's close attention and sincere attitude. I would recommend La Fontana to anyone desiring good Italian cuisine. Like many restaurants post Covid, staffing is an issue and, being out of the main dining scene downtown, sometimes business is spotty. To compensate, some owners need to try and get by with less help and do more themselves. This makes it very hard to give great service if an unexpected rush occurs and sometimes guests become impatient. My opinion is this may have happened with some of the people who reviewed negatively. I observed an owner who puts her heart in her effort to please. This is a very difficult business and not everyone will be pleased but what we experienced was flavorful, authentic Italian food. I would not want to compete in the intense competitive culinary atmosphere of Charleston with current inflationary costs, but it's obvious that Fabiana and her staff are giving it their all. Give them a try.

Written October 14, 2023

Southerngal410

Georgia62 contributions

Definitely wouldn't return....

Jul 2021 • couples

We visited for dinner this week. We arrived and were surprised by how small and "hole in the wall" it looked on the outside. But sometimes those are the best places! There are only 10-11 tables and I'd say that half were occupied and the other half had dirty dishes on them. We were later told that was intentional because they had been busy earlier and were wanting to hold off on seating people. 🤔 The manager was our waiter throughout the night which was strange because there were other people working and hanging out behind the bar. Service the entire night was *extremely* slow. We ordered the Spaghetti and Meatballs and it was decent; nothing horrible but nothing special either. Also ordered was the Chicken Marsala which was recommended and it was just okay. The sauce was extremely thin like water and had a very strong butter taste. I am a huge mushroom lover but was disappointed that these were obviously just straight out of a can. The bread that we were served was very overcooked and the dip was mainly oil with a few seasonings. This was definitely a meal that we ate just to eat and would definitely not return here.

Written July 16, 2021

Joey Frasier

1 contribution

I also would not eat here for free. 🤢🤮

Feb 2021 • couples

Went here for Valentines and waited 1hr before we got our salads. Place can’t get busy bc there is only a few tables. 2 hours later we got our food and all of it was awful. They never brought our dessert and when we asked to just put in a to go box 15 mins later still no dessert, she we just gave up and got out of there after $100.00 later. First time there and definitely will be our last time. The absolute worst service and food we have ever experienced.

Written February 15, 2021

CharlestonSnob

Hanahan166 contributions

I would not go back for FREE

Jan 2020 • none

I would not go back if the food was free. It was nasty plated sloppy tasted as bad as it looked. The waitress didn't even know what I had ordered when my plate had arrived, the food was unrecognizable. I would rather eat at Fazoli's fast food Italian and it would have be better. I’m a foodie and this place need to be on Restaurant NIGHTMAREs

Written January 9, 2020

jimmybrig

1 contribution

Not the best Italian restaurant in Charleston

Feb 2020 • none

We went to La Fontana last Saturday night Feb. 8th. My wife had the Lasagne and I had the Veal Parm. The sauce was really terrible. Bland and no taste. My veal was paper thin and way too much breading and also way overcooked. Definitely too over priced for the for the meals. The lasagne had too much meat in it and it had no taste to it. Sorry to discribe this restaurant like this, but it really was bad. And the cannoli's were not worth eight dollars each. Maybe four dollars, but not eight. Transaction # 136314

Written February 10, 2020

Lisa J

2 contributions

Ruined our Christmas Eve

Dec 2021 • none

We had reservations for a party of seven on Christmas Eve. We were seated immediately. We were brought water and menus. Someone came over and explained the specials and we ordered. No one came back to take any drink orders from us so we spent the entire dinner only with water. We ordered appetizers (3) which came out staggered, one at a time. Out of our party of seven, we received 5 dinners, two which were incorrect and went back to the kitchen. Three of us ate our meals and were completely finished with plates cleared before the additional meals came out, also staggered. If it wasn’t Christmas Eve we would have made a fuss. We weren’t even offered a single comped item out of a $300.00 meal bill. Poor service, poor customer service and although the food was very good apparently our business wasn’t important to them. Good riddance.

Written December 25, 2021

xmogulhopr

Summerville11 contributions

Overpriced for takeout

Oct 2020 • family

We were looking for some decent Italian food. Since Covid is still a concern we decided to order takeout from LaFontana, big mistake! The $19 chicken piccata was a half chicken breast served with a quarter artichoke and some dry pasta. There was absolutely no sauce in the container. The chicken Saltimboca was similar in quality. The antipasta was good but for $75 worth of takeout, there are much better options in Charleston!

Written October 4, 2020

HappyOBT

Manasquan19 contributions

NOT GOOD!

Feb 2022 • none

The booths have huge rips in the vinyl covering and no support. Service was almost nonexistent. I got Chicken Parmesan. The chicken must have been bought frozen and pre breaded. The chicken breast was not pounded at all, and the breading was way, way, too thick to the point it completely overpowered the chicken and mozzarella. My wife got the chicken special (chicken pieces, mushrooms & cherry tomatoes in a garlic and oil sauce) over linguine. She liked it but it was $32 - clearly not worth that. We each ordered a glass of wine off the wine list (both $9). They did not have either and said they have house wine. We each ordered it and we were surprised when we got the bill for $10 each - and it was a small pour.

Written February 19, 2022

Bridget

Eden Prairie1 contribution

Warning-Do Not go here.

Oct 2022 • couples

Don’t believe a word about these reviews they ALL must be lying. This was the worst dining experience we have ever had. From the moment we entered we knew it would be a problem. The hostess/waitress handed us menus and directed us to the booth up against the door to the dishwashing room. The restaurant has torn seats, a terrible wait staff, the waitress called several of us fat, told us she eats pasta all the time when on a diet and so should we. The on line menu overstates what they have. If you are gluten free, keto, or have special needs don’t go there!! They didn’t bring half of the order to the table- salads or appetizers were not served, the food was cold, the ordered items were altered from what was shown on the menu. When asked about why the food was different than what was on the menu, the waitress said it was not her fault. Clearly this restaurant needs to shut its doors before the department of health comes in and does it for them. If the kitchen is anything like the presentation and food quality it is only a matter of time before they have to shut the doors. They should have paid us for the pain and suffering.

Written October 15, 2022

joe s

1 contribution

DO NOT GO HERE. THIS PLACE SUCKS

Jul 2022 • couples

Our waiter was horrible! She barely looked at us, barely spoke to us didn’t ask if we wanted any drinks and graciously allowed us to have water. She threw our bread on the table, put our food on the other side of the table without letting us move our bread plates. She also brought us our check before asking if we wanted anything else, no! She was also talking and laughing with the customers at the other tables. My friend is transgender so maybe she didn’t like that? Even for the other tables she was not a good waiter. For the setting, there was nice music and super plushy booths. The menu was laminated paper held together with screws. It was also very poorly done in word, make sure to look for the 11pt calibri beers on the back lol. The place was basically empty at 6:30. The food was not good, we ordered and shared the lasagna because we caught the vibe early and thought they couldn’t screw up lasagna. The beef was like it was from a dominos pizza. It was also very grainy. The sauce was okay, a little spicy but I don’t mind that. The pasta had the texture of soggy saltines. We didn’t finish it, because the whole thing is beef, no ricotta and barely any cheese. Our waiter did put a lot of parmesan on top, a good mountain. The parmesan was okay, but the amount made me feel like I was eating at my grandmothers house, lol. Luckily she makes better food. Also we paid like $25 for that lasagna, my wallet is killing me. Don’t waste your money here, and seriously just don’t even consider going people.

Written October 27, 2022

Culture684381

11 contributions

Superb food, but you'll pay for it.

Jun 2022 • none

Having worked in an authentic Italian restaurant myself, I'll give Fontana full marks for quality. My 'Linguine con cozze' [mussels] was superb, and I'm very fussy about shellfish. Portions are appropriately ample, but not excessive like so many places. My 11 yo daughter had lasagna, which was very good, but lacking 'child portions' there was far too much of it, and it was full entrée price. The wine list was not extensive, but certainly adequate, and you can get some pretty good ones by the glass.

Written June 23, 2022

BerlinG-ParisF

Orlando5145 contributions

Very Authentic Italian Restaurant

Nov 2021 • none

We were staying at the Hampton Inn nearby and made reservations here. I later cancelled the reservation and chose Ruby Tuesday's. After 30 minutes there with little service, we left and drove here. There was a large party at the area nearest the bar, but there were a few tables so we got one. My other half started with a glass of Impero white wine for $9. I just drank water. I chose the Veal Marsala. Other half had the Lasagna al Forno. Everything was delicious, and we cleaned our plates. We also enjoyed the free bread with the olive oil to dip. Service was very good even with the full, Sunday night crowd. If back in Charleston, this would be my choice for authentic Italian food. It was only my 2nd time ever to Charleston, and I kept thinking of the DeMasi family that I visited 40 years ago on my 1st visit. Hi to Diane if you know her. I wondered if they ate here! I bet they did. Grazie!

Written November 29, 2021

Judith S

Augusta65 contributions

Not the Evening We Hoped For

Nov 2021 • family

Poor service. Refused to take our drink order until appetizers were served and meals ordered. Specials ordered arrived cool - mushroom ravioli and lobster ravioli. Mushroom dish would have been tasty if heated. Lobster ravioli without taste or character. Some of the other dishes in our party of 9 were hot and/or tasty. Attitude of server seemed to be that her job was a bother. Not the pleasant family evening we had envisioned.

Written November 15, 2021

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LA FONTANA AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RESTAURANT BAR & PIZZERIA, Charleston - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor