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Zano's Family Italian & Pizza
Categories: Restaurants Italian Restaurants Pizza Italian, Pizza [Edit]
11401 Donner Pass RdTruckee, CA 96161
(530) 587-7411
- Hours:
Mon-Wed 4 pm - 9 pm
Thu, Sun 11:30 am - 9 pm
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
77 reviews for Zano's Family Italian & Pizza
Review Highlights
"The salad bar is filled with fresh and delicious stuff."
(in 3 reviews)
"...for great pizza and pasta dishes and a friendly, bustling..."
(in 4 reviews)
"the prices for their dishes are very reasonable."
(in 3 reviews)
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77 reviews in English
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Review from Birdy B.
Truckee, CA
11/3/2011
Best food/value/atmosphere combo in Truckee in my opinion. Get the calamari steaks and Caesar salad for starters. I'm a connoisseur of both and this place does them well. Also has a great selection of beer, including gluten-free beer for those of us in need...
Flat panel TVs with good viewing from bar section. Family atmosphere, yet cool place to hang on a date. -
Review from Jack K.
Modesto, CA
10/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Where to start..
The good:
The "The God father pizza" is pretty darn good. Deep dish, lots of flavor and defiantly not corporate.
The bad:
The service (server) was one of the worst I have had in a long time. Everything (bread, soda, place settings) had to be asked for serveral times. When we sat down and ordered the GF pizza she advised it takes longer and we said no problem but can we please have some bread while we waited. 3 requests later we get some. Just to find out we don't have place settings to eat it with. Then there was everything else that had to be requested.
Then to top it off we get our pizza and are left with empty drink cups to eat a very savory dinner.
Bottom line.. Good food.. Terrible service! -
Review from Mark F.
Sacramento, CA
9/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
I liked it!
Zano's is a family owned and operated restaurant with a wonderful Italian menu and killer pizzas! I lived in Truckee for a year and always steered clear of Zano's because it the parking lot was always so full. Well, there was a good reason, the food!
So I could go on and on and on about this place but I'm not, I'm just going to recommend it and get back to eating my left over pizza!
Enjoy! @SacramentoMarko -
Review from Graydon M.
Los Gatos, CA
1/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Visited here on our first night in Truckee. This is one of those places that is simply just like all the other "family style" italian joints you have probably visited. The food was basic and good but not fantastic. The service was friendly. This place was swamped with kids and families. It was loud.
There isn't anything particularly bad about this place but I also wasn't going to make it a special point of coming back here. -
Review from Andy L.
Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
2/2/2012
I was with a large party and the night went great. Zano's is the best value in town. We tried looking into other places and none of the other establishments offered what Zano's offered. I really enjoyed the pizza and the appetizers not only tasted great but came out in time for all of us to eat and keep the little ones satisfied. I give this place 5 stars simply on value but everything else reflects 5 stars as well.
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Review from Barbara G.
Valley Springs, CA
1/11/2012
The pizza was awesome. Stopped here on our way to Reno. We split a pizza half Aunt Bessie and half family tradition. Deliciousness!!! Fast service.
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Review from Marcus W.
San Francisco, CA
9/5/2011
I ordered the Tuscan Orecciette. The pasta was al dente and the rock shrimp was tender, not rubbery. A bit more proscuitto and white bean would have been nice. Good flavor. On the downside, the dish was a bit on the cold side.
My friends enjoyed their dishes (Chicken Picatta, Spaghetti Bolognese). Again, solid but not spectacular.
Service was great, friendly and prompt. -
Review from Ryan Y.
Sunnyvale, CA
10/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Best part of the meal was the free Cesar salad we got with a coupon from the back of a Safeway reciept. Spaghetti was cheap noodles and bland.....pizza order was wrong and had to wait 20 minutes for a replacement. Service was good, not great, hence the 2 stars.
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Review from Christine S.
Truckee, CA
6/7/2011
Zano's has good pizza...i experienced pizza a little different living on the east coast for a while so i'm really picky. But they always have great coupon deals around town...look for those because you can usually get a free cheese pizza with your purchase of a large pizza...
I noticed the other day that they have a really good happy hour menu too! and they also have a good beer selection! the calzones are HUGE if you get one...and really good! and the service is always SUPER SUPER friendly! -
Review from Kelly T.
Walnut Creek, CA
1/27/2011
While in Tahoe for the weekend, we came across this small pizza joint. Looked cozy and old school. So we gave it a shot.
When we walked in, there was a guy standing at the host stand, and refused to acknowlegde or even look at us. Finally, the hostess came over and said hi, and just stood there and looked at us...She took us to our table and threw the menus down and walked away! Didn't say a single word! We almost left, right then and there! But our waitress was super nice and attentive. The pizza was SO good! We ordered the Lena. Highly reccomend! And, with two glasses of wine, appitizer, and small pizza (with leftovers) was $35! What a steal!
All in all, we would have given them more stars, but front of the house is super important! And they was RUDE!! -
Review from Patrick L.
Cupertino, CA
4/16/2011
Huge portion alert!
The food here is reasonably good, even comparing to SF standard. You get really good value for your money as the portion is huge. -
Review from Johanna D.
Santa Cruz, CA
1/6/2011
Zano's has cheap food with a hint of Airplane Cuisine, but their portions are large and filling. I had an enormous salad that was tasty and worth the price, loaded with garbanzo beans, beets, hearts of palm, olives, and tomatoes, and the mushroom-and-chicken-stuffed ravioli were tasty too. The vegetables were all poorly cooked, however, the steak was bland and tasteless, and the veal was enough to make my friend really pissed off for the rest of the night. Also the service was rather slow.
Summary: hey, if you're starving, give it a go. They have some good dishes, and it will definitely fill you up. Their menu is a real minefield though, you gotta watch out for the bombs. Don't try anything you might label "gourmet" at a place that's never heard the word before. -
Review from E F.
Novato, CA
10/6/2011
Great after-ski spot with kids or without. Excellent pizza and the BEST calamari steak ever. Nice people and a game room for the kiddies (bring quarters).
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Review from Danielle W.
Rocklin, CA
9/9/2011
It's clear they keep their promise to keep prices low and provide great quality food and wine. The staff and owners are extremely fun and friendly. They have an amazing menu with so much good stuff I can't name the all. The outdoor patio is very inviting!
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Review from Tara F.
California City, CA
9/20/2011
Wonderful service and wonderful food. The menu is not huge but large enough to have really great option and small enough for them to perfect the taste. I was even impressed with the taste of the blue cheese salad dressing. They know what they are doing and do it well.
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Review from Bill G.
7/4/2011
Four stars for the food, 1-2 stars for the service. First, the wait staff ignored us for 5 minutes, then a waitress plopped some water glasses down on our table and stalked off before we could even tell her we were ready to order. We could see the sour expression on her face as she helped other tables; it sure seemed like she hated her job. After 5 more minutes of being ignored another waiter came around to help us. This guy was friendly but not very efficient. He wasn't on top of things like getting drinks quickly or offering refills. If the management here could get their table service in order it'd be a really nice restaurant.
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Review from Whitney R.
8/9/2010
Wow, what an experience. Went here with my in laws and our girls, my mother-in-law and I were swayed by the lure of gluten free pizza as advertised both on their website and in their circular flier. We walked in EARLY, maybe around 5:15. Waited multiple minutes for the hostess who noted that she was having to bus tables herself, that they had no one to do it, and that we would just have to wait. So we waited, and then after we were sat, waited a really long time more just for the waitress to show up. When she did, she explained that the other huge table in her section were in a hurry. Uh, ok?
She took the food and drink orders all at once. My mother-in-law and I ordered the gluten free pizza (I ordered the "Aunt Bessie's", she ordered the "Ma's" (no olives). Hubby and the little one ordered a medium "Aunt Dina's". Father-in-law ordered chicken alfredo and the elder daughter ordered the manicotti. We ordered several glasses of wine; I took a risk and ordered a local Truckee blend. Drinks showed up in relatively short order, but I took one look at my wine glass. It was, in a word, filthy. I sent it back, I think the wiped the rim. It came back better, but ... not exactly clean.
Food showed up, the pizza was descent, the food that was ordered was consumed with gusto. My pizza was kind of ... eh ... My mother-in-law's was better (though I think that it had to do with the presence of tomato sauce.)
Bottom line is that they were complacent. They had what appeared to be a huge local contingent, and they were resting on their laurels. Service was not good, it was hard to find the woman even for refills, and based on their interactions with other guests who clearly got helped faster, we were out of our element. The kick in the shorts at the end was that I took a look at the receipt and we were charged $2.00 extra per gluten free pizza. Really? A gluten free surcharge? As the 12 year old would say, wha wha WHAT??? Nice that they have it, not so nice that they charge extra and don't even say so in their menu.
I would only recommend take out - they have enough options for a happy family at home, but stay away, whatever you do. And be forewarned about surcharges. -
Review from Julie B.
San Francisco, CA
9/8/2011
The service was good, but the food was very average. Had the chicken and angel hair pasta with pesto. The pieces of squash were undercooked while the chunks of eggplant were an unappetizing brown mush. The pesto was passable but not very bright tasting. It just didn't wow me at all. The portions are big. My kids liked the spaghetti and meat sauce, though. The decor is cheap looking and outdated. Wouldn't come back.
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Review from Christa M.
Fremont, CA
10/8/2010
When I ate here with my family this summer on our vacation I absolutely LOVED it! The service was great even for a group of like 12 people the one waitress we had was on the ball! She always made sure we had plenty of refills, she answered all our questions about the food, and she was quick on putting in orders and making sure our appetizers came out fast.
I had such an awesome experience in Truckee that weekend as it is that I plan on making more trips out there! And when I do, I will be going to Zano's again & again & again! -
Review from Leslie B.
San Ramon, CA
7/8/2011
On our way back from Reno, we decided to stop at this place...I'm glad we did because the pizza was very good. We had a 16" with pepperoni, italian sausage, mushrooms, and olives. The pizza was very good and the price was very reasonable. We got a think crust pizza but we saw that you could do a thick crust. The service was a bit so so...but we were able to overlook it because we felt the pizza with the price equaled a good value. We'll go back to this place the next time we are in North Lake Tahoe!
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Review from Naz A.
Elk Grove, CA
9/1/2010
Zano's is great! My husband and I went to a wedding at Donner Lake this past weekend and unfortunately due to bad weather, our friends outdoor reception got moved into Zano's fairly last minute.
The owners and staff were soooo incredibly friendly and accommodating in meeting the needs of the bride and groom and all their guests! Not to mention that the gourmet pizza, pastas and salad were DELISH!! This is NO round table pizza folks.
We talked to the owner at the bar as he was running around filling pitchers and he was more than nice. I also pulled the other owner, his wife, aside later and thanked her for everything she did. I remember as I headed out for the night, i asked a server for some water togo. She filled a plastic togo cup with water, stuck a lid on it and a straw. She was really busy but went out of her way for me and that showed their hospitality. ;)
My friends Molly and Andy mean the world to me and knowing that Zano's helped them make their wedding reception a great success really makes me feel warm and fuzzy feelings for Zano's! We will definitely be back!!! Even if we're coming all the way from Sacramento ;) they are worth it!!! -
Review from Dan B.
Looks like some complaining about Zano's from previous reviewers, mostly on the pizza, but this place was perfect for us after a long drive to Tahoe to stay with friends.
Kid's menu - check
Variety of Italian food other than pizza - check
Friendly service - check
Nice, upscale vibe - check
Game room - ...huh? ...uh, check!
On a Saturday night, with no reservations, our party of 6 was escorted to a side room off the main hall; It felt like our own private dining room. We ordered quickly and let the kids run off to play video games and air hockey while the adults chatted over cocktails. Hard to beat that with a stick.
As for food - My chicken picatta was delicious but portion size was too small. Luckily I was also able to try a slice of my daughter's cheese pizza. It was good, but not outrageously so. My friend J, however, enjoyed his lasagna so much he was unusually quiet. And he is not known for being quiet. The kids dug into their meals with zest on their return from the gaming room.
And to top it off, Zano's has a decent enough beer list to make deciding tough. The brown ale I chose was tasty tasty; I would have had another had I not been the designated driver. Luckily I planned ahead and had more cold beer at the house. -
Review from Azzi K.
Los Angeles, CA
9/7/2010
Pretty good pizza for cali!
we got the bbq chicken added bacon (hello bacon on anything is freakin delicious!)
and half spinach, mozzarella & tomato YUM!
take it to go and head over to Donner Lake in the summer time! -
Review from Aaron C.
Redwood City, CA
7/11/2011
Great pizza and beer. Friendly staff. Prices are very affordable!
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Review from Gabriel G.
Burlingame, CA
1/8/2011 1 photo
We stopped at this place to have a late lunch on our way home from Reno. We had a lunch salad bar (7.50 AYCE) and shared a small pizza (8.00 cheese pizza + 1.00 each topping). The salad bar had a wide variety and nice dressings (the gorgonzola dressing was AMAZING). The pizza was a cheese pizza with mushrooms and artichoke hearts, the crust was thin and delicious and overall it was one of the best pizzas we've had.
We asked for a box for our pizza just to have room for dessert and it was worth it!
We had a tiramisu that was huge and so delicious!
If we ever come back to the area we'll definitely come again!! -
Review from Des D.
Corte Madera, CA
8/30/2010
Gets marks for - catering for kids and crowds (food and game room); comfortable setting; friendly staff; beers by the pitcher and full bar; reasonable selection of food items beyond the pizza. Even on a busy night the wait never seems too bad. Good spot to hit if driving up to ski.
Food is not gourmet but works for Truckee/Tahoe-Donner. -
Review from Natasha M.
San Francisco, CA
3/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
The 80 is closed and your stuck in Donner Pass, F#(% what to do?? Well I suggest working your way to Zano's and get some food while you wait to see if the road will open. The service is great and very chill, treats obvious newbies as old time family customers. The place itself is pretty cozy. The food was really damn good but then again that could also be starving from Tahoe. I would recommend the Chicken Risotto Soup is great and the meatballs were decent.
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Review from Lisa L.
Oakland, CA
2/16/2008
Apparently we missed the word "family" in the title. We also quickly discovered that if you are not a "family", you will get the dregs and be treated like a second-class citizen.
We rolled up, blood sugar levels at an all-time low - just two of us. The hostess really wanted to seat us at the bar, but all the tables were full. I could have sworn she was thinking about denying us entrance at all. She then sat us at a big table right in the path of the door, which on a very frequent basis let in blasts of icy-cold air. Vestibule, anyone? Might be worth looking into.
We asked to move once but were given only the choice of moving into the back which was "noisy, there are a lot of kids there". The tables we had our eyes on "had a reservation coming in" but remained empty throughout our meal. At this point it was clear that Ms. Thang did not like us, although given our limited interaction, I'm not sure what we could have said or did that brought on her behavior.
The food - well, the fried zucchini and artichokes were actually pretty good, but the pizza I had wasn't great. Elena's pizza was much better, with bbq chicken. All in all, an argument for not letting your blood sugar get so low that you are forced to sit it out in a restaurant where you're treated rudely and have to sit in the freezing cold. -
Review from Cyndi W.
Belmont, CA
1/4/2007
This restaurant was a total random find on a recent trip to the mountains, and boy was it a good one!
After eating our meal (garlic bread w/cheese, minestrone soup, and a pepperoni/pineapple pizza), everyone in our group declared that the food was good enough to justify a drive up I-80 for the meal alone. This restaurant would also make a great dinner stop after a day of skiing at any of the nearby ski areas, or on the way home from Reno or Tahoe. -
Review from Perry W.
Los Gatos, CA
4/26/2009
This is one of my favorite places when staying in Tahoe Donner. They have a pretty complete Italian menu ranging from pizza, to pasta dishes, to salads and sandwiches, to flat-iron steaks. On my most recent visit there for dinner I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. The sauce had a wonderful flavor and the the Italian sausage had the perfect spiciness. My friend ordered the Veal Parmigiana. I have not eaten veal, and don't plan to, but was told it was very good. The restaurant was almost full of dining patrons but the service was still attentive.
The bar is a nice hang out for a drink or catching a ballgame. I have had the pizza on past occasions and it's very good. On weekend evenings (during ski season) this place can get pretty crowded, so I normally try to get their before 6pm. -
Review from Christine S.
San Francisco, CA
2/14/2007
I've only tried their pizza and if you like soggy pizza this place is for you. I care for a crispy thin crust.
Food: 2STARS
Service: 3 STARS
Atmosphere: 3 STARS
Prices: $$ -
Review from Becca B.
Reno, NV
4/4/2011
Met up with family here on a Sunday right at noon. Super friendly hostess/waitress who seated us right away. Everyone in our party of 7 ordered something different, including pizzas, salad bar, sandwiches, and pasta and everyone enjoyed their food-everything was very fresh and well presented. Kids really enjoyed the arcade and the staff was super laid back with the back/forth action from the table to the arcade and back again throughout the meal. A very solid 5 stars for a casual yet tasty dining experience and we will be back, no doubt!
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Review from dan m.
San Francisco, CA
3/3/2007
I only had dessert here, which warrants minus 4 stars. Still, they get one star for being open and the second star for having a heated room.
With all the recipes out there, and the Internet... how could a dessert possibly be this bad? We had the caramel "gelato" and the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake.
Caramel Gelato - Tasted like regular ice cream mixed up with a hint of gelato and a pile of caramel sauce from the local super market. Nasty.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake - Was like wet chalk mixed up with burnt peanuts. The top was chocolate frosting (like out O da can). I would like to tell you how impossibly poopy this desert was but I could never do it justice. How many bowls must one smoke to create such a heinous pile of cow poop?
I can't imagine the food is any better than the dessert. Even if it is, I'll not risk it by coming back. Especially when Jalisco is just across the street!!!! -
Review from Stephanie H.
Antelope, CA
4/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Good food, but overpriced for what you get.
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Review from Kristina P.
Mountain View, CA
2/28/2010
Review is for "pizza with large group of tourist families with children". From the other reviews, it seems the general rumpus of kids is a not always welcome, and the prices are high by local standards.
We had 12 adults, 15 children in our group, so they cleverly seated us next to the arcade. The kids migrated back and forth from the table to the arcade constantly. The service wasn't all that great, but we got everybody fed for a decent price and the kids weren't driving us crazy.
I think it helps to go with the right expectations. We were looking for American style pizza - not gourmet, not wood-fire, no celebrity-chef dishes. We weren't looking for romantic atmosphere - just a clean table and room for our big group. We were perfectly happy with Zano's.
I consider it a high compliment that we went back a second time during our nine-day vacation, and not a single person in our party complained about it. -
Review from Richard C.
Palo Alto, CA
7/7/2008 1 Check-in Here
This fills a nitch in Truckee as being a nice place - yet not with http://dot.com prices. It gets packed, so arrive early or stand forever. Great game room for kids, our boy just loves it.
Main drawback? Huge bar and you just assume they have a liquor license but when you order a martini you quickly realize they don't. -
Review from Jeff M.
San Jose, CA
2/24/2011
Pizza is not that good. Asked if they did a Margarita didn't know what it was. Looks like they use packaged yeast- the crust had no character. Your basic grease bomb. Too bad because logo was VERY Promising on an authentic Italian thin crust with char and crunch.
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Review from Taryn L.
Truckee, CA
4/13/2011
Best pizza available in Truckee, as far as I'm concerned! I am usually a red sauce fan, but my favorite is the Gram's Pizza (Alfred sauce, chicken, spinach, mushrooms). I've eaten in the restaurant twice, and received prompt and friendly service. My boyfriend and I always do the take-out and have always had friendly service even just doing take-out. Make a reservation on weekends or holidays, Zano's is popular and can get very busy!
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Review from Josh V.
Truckee, CA
Updated - 3/1/2011
Brought home some fettucine alfredo and tiramuso dessert for Valentine's day - excellent food for a special night. Thank you Zano's!!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/13/2011
I have been living in Truckee for over 10 years now, and have usually enjoyed going to Zano's with… Read more »
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Review from Andrea M.
San Jose, CA
3/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
My fav dish, Tuscan Orecciette! Small pasta ears, rock shrimp, white beans, basil, lemon, capers... WOW! YUMMO!!!!! If you can, for dessert, order the hand made ice cream (spumoni) WONDERFUL AND YOU GET A LOT!!!!! YUMMO!!! Totally can't wait to eat there again!!!!
