Della Terra Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Before today (May 3, 2021) I would have rated Della Terra 4.5 based upon my three previous visits. The food and service were great all three times, and I love the chimichurri type oil/herbs/garlic they serve free with the bread... but today they really dropped the ball.

I circled the block and finally found a parking meter available. It had a one hour limit but I figured that would be okay. It was 11:45 am and I thought, being lunch time, they would be able to get me in and out within an hour. I was wrong.

The hostess seated me outside quickly, and within a few minutes I had decided on a nice glass of wine ($16) and a house salad ($12) to start off with and was enjoying watching the people walk by on the sidewalk. I was trying to decide if I was hungry enough for the osso bucco ($40) or if I wanted the lobster ravioli ($32). I have had the ravioli before and it was excellent. Small enough portion for my hunger today, but I have been wanting to try the osso bucco so I was going to ask my server how big the serving was and if she liked it/how popular it is.

After about ten minutes I'm wondering if my server is avoiding me so I look in the window and see one of the employees just standing in by the hostess chatting with her, and occasionally pulling his phone out to show her something. He would occasionally go outside to ask the only other customer if he needed anything while completely ignoring me. I still hadn't even placed my drink order yet.

After 20 minutes I decided to go inside and ask if my server was avoiding me. I told an older gentleman that I had been there twenty minutes and still have not had the opportunity to order a drink. I let him know that the male server kept helping the other customer but wouldn't even make eye contact with me. He got somewhat rude and said, "He doesn't work here. Your server is (female name, Serena/Sabrina/something maybe the hostess was my server)." No apology for being ignored for 20 minutes, no offer to take my drink order, no professionalism at all.

After he said that I became annoyed and told him that there is a 1 hour time limit on the parking meters out front and if I have to wait 20 minutes before even getting a glass of wine then I doubt they can serve me a whole meal before I get a parking ticket. He just rolled his eyes and I told him I would go somewhere else for lunch.

I had planned on spending over $80 on a nice lunch (between the $40 entree, a couple glasses of $16 wine, and a $12 salad. I rarely splurge on such an elaborate lunch but I was feeling like treating myself today and was left disappointed. I did have a great meal in West Hollywood, but that is best left for another review.

I just wanted to warn you all that the service is hit-and-miss here. The first few visits were great but it has obviously gone downhill.

It was a 4.5 out of 5 but now it isn't even a 1 out of 5. I gave it a two star rating because of the memories of what...

Made a reservation for 8 at 5pm on a Wednesday. Very easy to get a reservation for a party that big and they didn’t even charge a per person rate if someone couldn’t show up, as other places do.

It’s nice and rustic inside with brick walls, classy as well and pretty open with a decent amount of tables. We could hear ourselves talk which was great. Music was good upbeat pop music and not too loud and not too soft.

Staff were really nice, they checked on us enough but also gave us plenty of time to chat. We arrived 4:30 and didn’t leave until 9. There is no other place that lets you stay that long. It was so chill.

Happy hour until 5 was good. $4 off drinks and 50% off pizzas. And then from 6-10 it was 50% off martinis. With the deal the pizzas were about $15 each which was a good price and what it really should be normally. The pizza is crispy with lots of cheese, the dough is buttery and the sauce is sweet. The margarita didn’t have that much flavor. My fav was the campana that had the burrata on it. I also like the one with eggplant and broccoli rabe.

The desserts were very good and affordable at $10 each. The marscapone cheesecake was super creamy and not too sweet. Also the fruit dessert was good, it was a lot of berries in a bowl that tasted sugar crystallized with lemon and whipped cream on the side. Very light but satisfying. That was probably my favorite dessert. we got the chocolate cake which takes 20 min to make. It was rich and very chocolatey, tasted like a cross between a soufflé and a lava cake.

I def recommend this place for groups of friends...

They had amazing Monday & Tuesday night dinner specials. Food is extremely tasty. Large portions, very generous in their servings. Stunning bread. Wonderful service and spectacular chef not to mention very elegant decor. They raised the price lately on their Monday/Tues night dinners which makes it much less of a deal and perhaps that's why the restuarant is much less busy on Mondays and Tuesdays. The neighborhood is changing and becoming much more upscale than it already is. A lot of restaurants are tempted to raise prices cause they can and cause customers in this area are willing to pay but also because their own rents are going up. But this unique restaurant succeeded because it was a local favorite that attracted their neighbors and charged on some days a very local price, especially on Monday/Tues when no one wants to cook at home - so for the price they charged it made sense to go there every week. I hope the owners don't lose sight of their achievement in getting their neighbors to visit and hopefully the owners appreciate what they have achieved. The area has endless restaurants in Melrose, the Grove, The farmers Market, 3rd st just to name a few and competition is fierce. If they'll attempt to compete with higher end restaurants - they might end up like them... Remember BLD restaurant on Beverly Blvd anyone? Too expensive and eventually permanently closed! To the owners of Della Terra - keep the prices down and the specials coming and you will thrive for...