Li'l Rizzo's Italian Restaurant

  A simple trip through the pasta aisle at any grocery store will show you that there are lots and lots of different types of pasta in a variety of shapes and sizes. This is also evident if you browse the long list of pasta dishes on the menu at our Italian restaurant at the Lake of the Ozarks !  Have you ever wondered if there was a reason for so many different types of pasta? Well, there actually is and today Li'l Rizzo's has that answer for you, along with a closer look at our many pasta dishes. There are quite a few but we're open 7 days a week, year-round, so you've got plenty of time to try them all!  Why So Many Different Pasta Shapes? One might assume some creative chefs started coming up with all kinds of different sizes and shapes of pasta simply so that their dishes looked unique. Actually, there is a culinary reason that has to do with a meal's taste rather than the fact that it just looks pretty. The shape of a piece of pasta affects the way that it ...

Here at Li'l Rizzo's Italian restaurant , a lot of attention is given to our menu items involving pizza and pasta at the Lake of the Ozarks . What you may not realize is that the appetizer section of our menu deserves a good look too (as well as a few tastes!)  This is especially true during Happy Hour when our entire appetizer menu is available for half-price! (More about that below, so keep reading until the end!)  Li'l Rizzo's Amazing Appetizers According to the dictionary, an appetizer is " a small portion of a food or drink served before or at the beginning of a meal to stimulate the desire to eat; any small portion that stimulates a desire for more or that indicates more is to come ."     Well, here at  Li'l Rizzo's  our appetizers can fit that description if you're sharing a plate with the table before your main meal. Of course, if you're tackling a plate of appetizers at our  Lake of the Ozarks Italian restaurant  on your own, you'l...

When it's nearly noon and your stomach starts rumbling, you want something that not only tastes great but also fills you up enough that you're not snacking again an hour later. Our Lake of the Ozarks Italian restaurant & bar has a long list of lunch specials available daily from 11 am-3 pm, plus we always add amazing daily specials to that extensive list of choices too.  The dining room at Li'l Rizzo's opens each day at 11:00 am. If you don't have a long enough lunch break to enjoy a relaxing meal here with us or have a hungry group back at the office or the house that you need to feed too, order Li'l Rizzo's to-go online instead. Either way, here are the tasty choices we'll have waiting for you.  Salad AND... We offer 5 different combination lunches that include both a small-sized portion of Li'l Rizzo's "World Famous" House Salad plus another one of our popular menu items. Your choices include:  Soup and Salad Your choice of mi...

It's a new month, a brand new year, and we've got some new cravings at Li'l Rizzo's Italian Restaurant ! The weather is cold outside but it's always cozy and warm inside our Lake of the Ozarks Italian restaurant . Once you dig into some of the delicious dishes from our menu, you'll be all warmed up from the inside out, full, and happily satisfied! Here are a few menu items we're loving right now to inspire your own cravings.  Hot Soup January is National Soup Month. That was good thinking on someone's part because it's the perfect time of year to enjoy a piping hot bowl of soup. Here at Li'l Rizzo's, we offer two different types of soup daily.  Our Soup of the Day changes between an irresistible rotation of savory soups, so be sure to ask your server what we've got on the stove on the day you join us. Our Minestrone Soup is a staple on the menu, so it's always hot, fresh, and ready for you to enjoy. We make this tomato-based soup fr...

With 2020 ending and a brand new year nearly here, many of you are probably creating a list of New Year's resolutions for 2021. Li'l Rizzo's Italian Restaurant has a few items you can add to that list which shouldn't be too hard to keep. These are promises to yourself that will add more fun and excitement (and deliciousness) to your life and our Lake of the Ozarks Italian restaurant can help to make these happen.  Try Something New A new year is a perfect time to begin introducing new experiences into your life. Variety is the spice of life, after all. The menu at Li'l Rizzo's has all the classic Italian dishes you'd expect but that's only a small portion of the many delicious dishes we have to offer.   Beyond traditional spaghetti, lasagna, and tortellini, you might want to branch out with a dish that pulls together unique flavors your taste buds may not be used to. For example, Our Cajun Shrimp Pasta from the regular menu is definitely worth a try. W...

  As everyone gets ready to celebrate Christmas here in the lake area, our Lake of the Ozarks Italian restaurant thought it might be fun to take a look at how people in Italy are preparing to celebrate a " Buon Natale " over there. There are a lot of similarities to holiday celebrations around the world but each country also has its own unique traditions. One thing that Li'l Rizzo's Italian restaurant and the people of Italy can definitely agree on is that Christmas dinner is always better when pasta is served! (We bet you agree too!) Here is a closer look at the traditions of Italy and their Christmas season.   They Make It Last The Christmas season in Italy officially begins on December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. Many holiday celebrations take place from that day all the way through January 6, aka the 12th Day of Christmas (like the popular song), also known as Epiphany.  Ceppo Displays The tradition of displaying a Ceppo in one's home is b...

We absolutely love creating the best pasta & pizza at the Lake of the Ozarks 7 days a week, all year long. The one thing that we love even more than that is hearing that our diners loved their experience at Li'l Rizzo's Italian Restaurant !  Today we've decided to share some of that love with all of you. Read on to find out what some recent guests thought about their time at each of our 2 Li'l Rizzo's locations. (And if you feel like "sharing the love" by giving away Li'l Rizzo's gift cards this season, learn all about our special holiday gift card promotion at the end of today's blog!)  LI'L RIZZO'S in LAKE OZARK " Very Good : We ordered “curb-side” lasagna & pizza, both very good! Pizza is thin crust, our preference! They brought food out to our car. " ~ Liveshealthy, TripAdvisor review " The best Italian food I've had in the Lake of the Ozarks " ~ Shane Howard, Google review " We got a couple t...