Roberta's — Restaurant in Culver City

Went here for an early dinner with the girlfriend last night around 6:30 PM. We've gone to the orignal Roberta's in NYC so we've been really looking forward to the opening of one in LA.

The restaurant is located in the Platform across from the entrance to SoulCycle. I don't know what was in here before but I think they just held sample sales or something. You have to walk all the way around the side, across from a wine bar, to go to the entrance, you can't walk in through the bar where the sign is.

Walking in there was a bit of line, nothing compared to the ones in NY, but there was a bit as it seemed like the lady working the register was having some growing pains. We maybe had to wait 5 minutes to order; again, this didn't bother us at all. It's cool that when you're ordering, or waiting to order, you can see them making the pizza and using the peel to put them in the ovens.

We ordered the Linguine Cacio e Pepe, the Bee Sting, and was told that we order drinks at the table. She ran our card for the food and said it would be 'left open' so we could put our drinks on the bill. However, we signed a receipt for the food, which I thought was strange. The lady behind the register then said that one of the servers would seat us.

As we waited for a server, one of them approached us and just said we could sit wherever. There was a inside seating area, a long bar and then an outdoor area. The outdoor area looked nice but was fairly full so we opted to sit inside in the main dining room. Sitting down, the place is really nice though the girlfriend said it was too bright. The decor is pretty typical of restaurants opening in LA lately. Industrial with cool lights, interesting textures used inside and pops of colour. I particularly liked the lights as well as the stone/cinders behind the bar and on the ceiling.

Within a few minutes of sitting down, we were brought water and asked if we wanted anything to drink. After we put those orders in, it only took a few minutes for the drinks to come out.

A few minutes after that, the Linguine Cacio de Pepe came out. The serving size was tiny. For $16 we had expected more than what we got. Could be wrong, but I remember ordering the same dish at other Roberta's and having to share it with people because it was too much. Portion size aside, the pasta was way too peppery and the noodles were too al dente; tasted really undercooked in the center. About 10 minutes after the pasta came out, the pizza came out too.

The pizza is true to Roberta's; great crust, light on sauce, great on cheese. Only complaint about the pizza was, again, it was too peppery/spicy. It could have been left over from the pasta, but I don't remember it tasting that hot. Regardless, we both really enjoyed the pizza and once we were done, finished our drinks.

When we went to pay for the drinks, there was a bit of confusion. As I thought, we had paid for the food already at the counter and there was no open tab. So the server, cancelled the previous authorization, and put all the food/drinks on one bill. This took around 5 minutes to do, but we weren't bothered by the wait.

Overall, people will come here for the pizza and it won't disappoint. I think the other dishes need some work, e.g the portion size, flavouring, etc. for them to be perfect. Also, I know it's a new operation, and there will always be kinks, but if they can get the payment system ironed out as well as communication between the register and servers, the place will run more smoothly.

I will definitely come back when I need to get...

Roberta's, a Brooklyn pizza institution, while its a favorite, it seems to have lost some of its pre-pandemic magic. While some dishes still shine, the overall experience felt okay. The standout dishes were the appetizers and the creative pizzas, though the famous original failed to impress.

Service: Introduction/Welcome: - 7/10 Offerings/Menu: Interesting and diverse menu with pizzas and small plates. - 9/10 Etiquette/Professionalism: 7/10 Extra Mile: 0/10 Attentiveness/Efficiency: 7/10 Payment/Close: 9/10

Ambiance: Background Music: 7/10 - a little loud Guest Noise: 8/10 Lighting: 9/10 Location/View: 10/10 Overall Atmosphere: 8/10 Design/Decor: 9/10

Food:

Sally Cali Pizza: 8/10 Cucumber Salad: 7/10 - Refreshing. Comments: A simple, refreshing starter.

Kanpai Crudo: 8/10 Description: Oil, avocado purée, grapefruit

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio: 8/10 Description: Thick slices topped with parmesan and arugula. Well-seasoned with pepper and olive oil. Very fresh. It was well-executed.

Roberta's Famous Original Pizza: 5/10 "Good but not great" suggests disappointment, especially for their signature dish.

New Yutani Corporation Pizza: 7/10

Bucatini with Razor Clams: 4/10 Likely not house-made. Al dente. Not a lot of flavor. Comments: The lack of flavor is a major drawback. The suspicion that the pasta isn't house-made further detracts from the dish.

Overall, Roberta's seems to have slipped a tiny bit. While the appetizers and some of the pizzas were enjoyable, the original pizza was good and the disappointing bucatini suggest a need for more...

Pizza was good, everything else was awkward today. My daughter was excited to bring me here, but right away we could tell something was outta sort. We showed up at some point in the transition to dinner. We were warned the dinner menu wouldn't be available for about 20 minutes. Initially, we received brunch and drink menus. The brunch menu was not workable according to our initial host so she brought us a limited menu to peruse. Eventually, a gruff, heavily- bearded waiter(?) greeted us curtly and took our order. It was like we were inconveniencing the entire staff to order a pizza. During our wait, I observed the staff being briefed for dinner. I understand transition to night time service can be hectic, but still doesn't explain rude wait service. Lastly, we thought we might order a salad off the dinner menu. Unfortunately, it took several minutes to get one (not two, but ONE) dinner menu. Once we got the menu, my daughter looked at it first, and before I could see it, another wait staff came and asked for it back. At this point, I decided our experience here would end with pizza only. One more point: n one ever took a drink order or checked to see if our pizza was okay! (No one told us bye at the exit from the restaurant either--we felt like ghosts a little bit!) I eat all over the country--this was sub-standard for sure. My daughter had been here before, and agreed something was most certainly amiss. One star was earned by the pizza, service earned...