Locanda Veneta — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I could imagine myself at a small animated restaurant in Italy where locals gather and guffaw til late afternoon, and find such hearty and cheery meals. In reality, thanks for the reassuring and confident recommendation of our host, we settled on the following without too much difficulty:

The burrata was suffused with the pleasant diary aroma/sweetness, and the ultra-thin carpaccio nevertheless relayed the tenderness and flavor of beef perfectly. Also really liked the fresh arugula, which showed no trace of the usual bitterness. Our expectation for the entrees was certainly elevated after these appetizers - and we were not a bit disappointed!

More than its fantastic coloration, the ravioli brought you with the sea - the concentrated umami from lobster and squid hoisted waves in your mouth. What about the lamb shank - as my companion accurately remarked, you didn’t need the knife (which was quite sharp) in order to enjoy it - tender, juicy, and very masterfully seasoned.

As for the...

This restaurant has been here for a long time and it’s traditional Italian food or as close as I know it to be. Everything that we ordered was absolutely delicious and the service here was fantastic. Our server was very accommodating when we asked for a side of vegetables that was not on the menu, but they still made it perfectly for us and you can tell that it wasn’t a bunch of stuff thrown together, but that the chef actually out in effort to cook it properly. The complementary bread came with a pesto sauce, which is the first time that I’ve encountered that. But it was absolutely delicious, the sauce and the texture of the bread. They also brought out an off the menu cake for us when we had told them ahead of time that it was my birthday. I absolutely loved this restaurant and would definitely come back again. The ambience and decor is...

I had a Travelzoo to come here. Love that Travelzoo can introduce ppl to some great places. My friend and I had lunch here. It's a cute place and they have valet.

We had some bubbly to start. We order 3 starters. The soup of the day was Bell pepper soup which was really good! The grilled calamari was amazing & tender. The salad had grilled grapes which were nice. The 2 pasta dishes were good. Mine had lentils and hers was spicy. The sole dish was very good! Always my fave part is the sorbet which was refreshing. We had lemon, raspberry & mango.

The service was outstanding. Our server was attentive, funny, kind & treated us well.

Will definitely come back if I'm in the area.

Only issue I had was because it was humid there were flying little...