Villago Pizzeria - Ballston Lake

I was disappointed with this experience. I ordered the halibut, which was very bland. The margarita was bland too. I wanted the great sangria they used to have. Not anymore. Our server was pleasant, but inexperienced. She didn't ask if we wanted a salad or soup, she didn't ask if I wanted salt on the rim of my margarita. She obviously hasn't been trained well. In all, the view is as beautiful as ever, but the food was disappointing.

Beautiful fall day for lunch overlooking small, quiet Ballston Lake which is just across the road. It is pleasant to eat on the nice patio when weather permits. A party of 10 including two children, we were seated promptly without a reservation on a Sunday when restaurant opened at 11:30 am. We ordered three of our favorite pizzas so we would have leftovers--Clams Casino, Carne Amante, and Calabrese (Arugula, Figs, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola and splash of balsamic reduction. My favorite is the Clams Casino; the clams were plentiful and the bacon crisp on this exceptional and delicious pizza. The crusts on the pizza are baked perfectly. Food ordered: Pappardelle in Bolognese Sauce rated A+ by my husband. Lasagne was also rated highly and enjoyed to last bite. Chicken Parm was good. Villago makes excellent Sauces including Marinara. The children liked the meatballs and ravioli which they shared. Baskets of bread were served with dipping oil and butter. Our server was friendly, attentive, and efficient. On previous visits, we have enjoyed mixed drinks but not today. I really like the Mediterranean Mule they serve; it is made with a fig infused vodka from Italy. Exceptional!

We were thinking it would be a beautiful day to enjoy dinner overlooking water. Thus came the suggestion to return to Villago. Almost three months had passed since our first visit, we heard that the outdoor deck had been completed and there hadn't been any rain lately so the parking lot would not be muddy. At about 5 pm on a Sunday, the bar was mostly full, only one high top was available inside, but it wasn't even close to a view of the lake outside. We had noticed an empty table with an umbrella on the patio so we asked if we could be seated there. We were, and it offered a lovely view of the lake. Starting with pints of Goose Island Honkers Ale and Davidson Brothers IPA $5 each), we both agreed that the IPA had more flavor than the English style bitter. Two items of interest on the daily specials menu made it onto our order Squash Flowers stuffed with ricotta $12) as an appetizer, and Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Ravioli $17). I decided to order the 16 oz. Lasagna $14.99). There were three of the squash flowers filled, lightly coated with a batter, deep fried, and served with a marinara sauce for dipping. They were good, not greasy, and lots of ricotta oozed out when they were cut into. The ravioli were served in a red pepper pesto sauce with asparagus. Overall, it was a nice dish, but it seemed like it was missing something to give it some zip. A similar comment could be made about the huge, towering block of lasagna that was served to me. It seemed to lack some kind of exciting flavor. The pasta was extra thick, and maybe necessarily so to withstand the weight of the other ingredients. The mixture of ground beef and sausage had only the faintest flavor of Italian meatballs or Italian sausage. In a very rare action from both of us, we added a pinch of salt to both of our dishes and noticed an improvement. Half of my lasagna came home with me and the next day benefited from the addition of some oregano and Tuscan spice. Our service from Heather was very good, and the busboy kept everyone's water glasses filled and dirty dishes cleared. Considering the number of customers, the kitchen did an acceptable job of getting the orders out in a timely fashion. Had we not nursed our second pints of beer, we probably could have been gone in 90 minutes.

A family member invited us to Villago for dinner with a couple of friends. Villago has 30 yelp reviews and a 2 star average. My expectations were pretty low, but I kept an open mind. The bread that was brought to the table was stale. We started with the clams appetizer. They were chewy, and bland. They were accompanied with a cup of a yellow melted oil, that I have to assume was margarine. Whatever it was, it definitely was not butter. And it had a very odd taste to it. For my entree I ordered the bolognese. The pasta was mushy, and overcooked, the bolognese sauce was bland and flavorless, and it was thick and heavy, with a slight burnt taste to it. I tasted my daughter 's spaghetti with butter. Her spaghetti was overcooked, and there was no butter. It was served with the same odd tasting margarine as the clams. She hardly touched it. My wife said her Penne Tuscano was ok . Another at our table ordered fettuccini fra diavolo. She loved it. I tasted it, and other than hot pepper, thought it didn 't have much flavor, and it was oily. Two others who accompanied us liked their dishes. In spite of the fact that others at our table liked their dishes, in total I tasted 4 different dishes and not one was any good. We were there at prime dinner time on a Saturday, and the restaurant wasn 't terribly busy. It was more than half empty. Our service was ok, it wasn 't great, but it wasn 't terrible either. I should also mention that our table, (the entire table) was sticky. It made putting your elbows or arms on the table less than appetizing. I also did not like that the busgirl took my fork and knife off my bread plate and put it on the carpet-like runner on the table. I can only imagine the crud that fabric runner will pick up. The word about Villago being mediocre is getting out, and Villago definitely deserves it 's 2 star rating.

Setting is nice. Good outdoor area. Wait staff is friendly but food takes forever to come out, even when not busy. Pizza is tasty and appetizers are very good. Below average subs and grinders.