E Baldi — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

I NEVER write reviews, but this experience was so out of the ordinary, especially in what is supposed to be a high-end restaurant, that I wanted to warn prospective customers. Our dinner reservation was at 6:30 (we arrived on time), and we were not served our entrees until 9:15, almost THREE hours later. Perhaps it should have been a warning sign that our drinks order was not taken until 30 minutes in. Our dinner order was taken about an hour in, and arrived at about 1.5 hours in. We had a lovely waiter who felt terrible, but he was not able to help us, and we were offered NOTHING in the interim until about 2 hours in, when we were offered a free glass of wine. We were about to get up and leave when our entrees finally arrived, and one of the dishes was not what was ordered (we ate it anyway, as we did not have another 3 hours to spare). And the food was, at best, fine - certainly not worth the long wait. At the end of the day they did not charge us for the appetizers, but the right thing to do would have been not to charge us at all, especially as all the tables around us (including people who arrived after us), were being served before we were. Clearly something went wrong with the expediting in the kitchen, but the chef/owner was completely indifferent to the problem and in no rush to fix it, and not apologetic, which is really the thing I found most offensive. If we had at least gotten an apology, I would not be writing this, but it was so clear that the chef/owner simply did not care (we could see our waiter talking to him from our table). I have been fortunate to have eaten in some of the best restaurants in the world, and in many high-end restaurants in Los Angeles, and I have never had an experience remotely like this. Sure, once in a rare while things go wrong, but it's what the restaurant does to solve the problem that makes the difference, and this was...

A really delicious dinner, although not as good as the original location in northwest Santa Monica near the PCH. That location being Giorgio Baldi. This is the Beverly Hills and smaller location. Tonight was a very tasty dinner, although for the price I would recommend going to their original location in Santa Monica. Tonight I started with the Beef Carpaccio, which was very good, although not as good as the other location. For my entrée, I chose the Veal Tortellini in Veal Broth, and it was actually very good, albeit a small portion.

The Positives: the food quality and the taste are top-notch. They also have a lot of great options on the menu and our server, as well as rest of the staff we encountered, we’re all very polite. I also really like the atmosphere of this place, it’s classy and casual at the same time.

The Negatives: it is overly pricey, I am sure due to the cost of the rent being in this part of Beverly Hills. Each of the dishes could definitely be less expensive, also the portion sizes are not very large. The Beef Carpaccio @ Giorgio Baldi is one of the best I have ever had, but this version at e Baldi wasn’t nearly as delicious. The restaurant is also very small on the inside, so the tables are very close together. Conversations between tables easily overlap and moving around in the restaurant feels kind of like you’re inside an airplane. Also, there is a 10% service charge on top of all bills due to it being located in Beverly Hills, which is definitely a negative. Finally parking in this area is not the easiest. We were able to find metered parking a block away, but if that’s not possible your options will be valet parking for $12 or a paid lot close by.

Overall a nice dinner, but I would recommend going to their original...

One of the best Italian restaurants I’ve eaten at, in the heart of Beverly Hills. We started by sharing a plate of meatballs as an appetizer (as we saw them on every table), and it was worth it! The tomato sauce was delicious and fresh. The meatballs melted in my mouth. And the fresh bread (offered) was a perfect addition to clean the plate from the tomato sauce!

I had the Lobster Ravioli, which was very fine and delicate. The pasta tasted fresh, and the lobster with spicy tomato sauce was a lovely pairing. It was a little light on the portion (luckily, we got the bread and could ask for more). Overall, it is a delicious entrée. My friend had the penne with langoustine but wasn’t overly impressed. The penne was hard, and the langoustine didn’t seem seasoned. The sauce was very liquid, and there was too much of it. For about $45 for each of our pasta dishes, it felt a bit much.

I had the Mille Foglie for dessert, and my friend had the tiramisu. They were $18 each, which is a bit much for dessert, but they were both delicious.

The service was excellent. The servers were very attentive and welcoming. The location is small but beautiful. We decided to eat outside as the weather was nice enough. It’s nicely secluded/hidden from the main street, which adds privacy.

All in all, we paid $110 each for a two-course meal and a half (since we shared the appetizer). We had a bottle of sparkling water and no alcohol. It's a bit pricey but quite typical for LA and especially for Beverly Hills and so close to Rodeo Drive. I had a lovely experience and would definitely eat...