As the previous Yelper did, I think this place deserves 3.5+ but I'll err on rounding up as opposed to down.
We found Orologio while visiting Lugano for the day. Being so close to Italy, you can tell Lugano has a heavy Italian influence both in the culture, language and food. So it was no surprise that although in Switzerland, we still found good Italian food. The atmosphere has a bit of an upscale feel which just seemed to fit in well with the rest of how Lugano feels.
We didn't have reservations but we had no problem getting in. For starters, they brought us out some cold cut meats and bread to try to try. It was a nice touch and though one person in our party was vegan and couldn't eat the meat, the rest of us devoured it all and enjoyed the offering.
For my dish, I ordered the spaghetti alla gricia, which is essentially spaghetti, cheese and ham. It was delicious and I suggest you order it. The menu changes, I believe, daily so be sure you were given the right menu. At first we were given the wrong one which made for some confusion when the dishes ordered weren't available. Thankfully, it was remedied quickly.
The restaurant does tout having vegetarian and vegan options which wasn't really true when we go there. Though they have symbols for both options, nothing on their menu had these symbols on it...how odd. The waitress and chef were accommodating and made a special meal for my friend but I think in the future if you're going to say you have a separate menu for these dishes, at least include a couple of dishes in the main menu.
The price was fairly spot on to how expensive Switzerland is. About 22 chf for my meal and same for the others. read more