North Italia Topanga — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Most of you will like this place.. especially mature audiences and those in their golden years.

The main reason for that is that the flavors are very flavorful. There's no subtlety here.

I couldn't quite give this place five stars. Here's some of the highlights though.

"Cass" served us, and she was great! 5 stars! I'd say she checked on us at least a dozen times over the course of about an hour and a half. And we were a decent sized group! Service in general, 4 stars. I think they're still finding their stride as a group. Something's were really slow to come out, and it looks like there wasn't even a single busboy that can do some of the things like bringing water to the table, extra plates, things like that.

Came in for dinner, and the atmosphere was what you'd expect from an Italian version of Huston's, if you remember that place down Canoga. Loud and noisy. The Acoustics in here are like a packed bar. So maybe more intimate tables for two would be appropriate. But if you're in a large group of six to eight people, good luck trying to hear each other.

The flavors of the food are intense. Everything has a lot of flavor, maybe too much flavor? Maybe a touch too much salt.

My personal favorite was the white Pizza we got. Very flavorful, very crunchy and thin. Very napolitana Style.

The porketta was great, especially the potatoes. There is some kind of spritz of lemon going on there that just really brings the potatoes to a whole other level. The sour lemon note on the potatoes counteracts the charred pork skin quite nicely. There might have been just a pinch too much salt on the crust of the pork though.

The short rib pasta with cream sauce is a piece of art. I like how it's presented, and you can see everything, then you can either mix it up, or eat each component like a Cobb salad.

The chicken parmigiana is great. Even covered in sauce, you can still get the crunchy texture of the fried chicken cutlet. It's good, and the sauce is intense. Very deep, Tangy Tomato flavor. But again, maybe just a pitch too much salt in the sauce.

Squid Ink Pasta: apparently this is one of their most requested dishes. I personally was lost in how to define it. The subtlety of the squid ink just wasn't there for me. It was overpowered by this super ultra Tangy sauce, and the heat of the pepper. I'm trying to understand why you would take something so delicate, and then cover it in a different sauce entirely. To each their own I suppose.

They're busy hours are like Thousand Oaks or Westlake village. It's packed between 6:00 and 8:30. Either come before or after. Personally, I can't eat too much tomato anything after the Sun goes down. Lol. I think I'd rather come here for lunch next time. Or the happy hour!

Restaurant Logistics / Protocol. The first thing when you walk in the door, there's no chairs to sit on, no couch or anything while you're waiting. So everyone is standing literally in a 10 ft by 10 foot square.

Here's where things get weird. It takes three people to put your name in at the front desk? One person checks to see what the table situation is, another one takes your name into an ipad, and then a third person actually seats you.

What mystified me is that we couldn't make a reservation for 6:30. But yet, when we walked in at 630, there was a 20 minute wait, half the restaurant was empty, and stayed empty for a half an hour. Go figure.

Their outside open patio will be nice in Spring and Fall. Summer is too hot. Winter too cold. Cover it.

Parking is horrendous! It's not their fault though. This parking lot is used by everyone in the mall.

Note to Management. Get rid of the round tables in the middle of the restaurant. You put five chairs at a round table. Who comes in with five people? It's either two or 4. Five people sitting at your round tables is tight. And even if you wanted to put those tables together for a larger party of 6 or 8, they're round, not Square. Hello?

Will I be back?? Maybe for happy hour, if it was just me and a buddy, or me with a date trying to...

I'm really happy a location finally popped up in this part of town. I was there last night at this specific location for my birthday with a party of 7 and wanted to provide some feedback to management. I did read the Google reviews prior to going so I would know what to expect from this location. First and foremost the food is incredibly salty. The meatball appetizer for example had too much salt not only in the meat and the sauce but the ricotta whip was so salty you couldn't even enjoy the natural flavors of the food. The salmon had way too much salt and could have been marinated with some lemon juice evoo and flavored with herbs instead giving it a lighter flavor. We asked for no salt on the salads and guess what they were still too salty. The arugula salad had 4 small pieces of avocado that was it. The kale roasted veggies salad didn't have any roasted veggies just kale and dates. Pasta anioli was delicious and well intended however it was unnecessary rich drenched in the white sauce and again the salt overpowered the food which really didn't need to be. Short ribs too salty and could have used more vegetables and less of the sauce on top that contributed to the sodium. The general theme of the night was salt. As a matter of fact we had to get extra cups of water because our mouths felt so dry immediately after eating the dishes. Even the kids didn't want to eat the food and came home hungry because they kept complaining about needing water or juice. The margarita pizza was fine no fresh basil on top with a badly burnt crust all around I'm talking black. Deserts were too rich and very very sugary more than they should be. Drinks were served with no ice and were room temperature (iced tea and Arnold Palmer). I really think corporate should reassess the amount of sodium that goes into each dish. As I sit here typing this review on my phone I can't help but wonder why I can't sleep at 4 am it's because of the food I ate. My mouth feels parched and I can't sleep. Management please also consider some lighter healthier dishes. Some more veggie dishes with a Mediterranean flare. You don't need too much salt and sauce to add to a dish if it's properly marinated with flavors. I liked the salads but again there could be more salad options in the menu. You want to leave an Italian style restaurant feeling good about what you ate, this wasn't the case last night. You aren't the Olive Garden or Buca and shouldn't be as they're notorious for salty heavy foods. Please invest some time in your staff lack of coordination and communication with a slow confused kitchen staff. Some of the employees don't seem attentive however our waitress was. Lots of employees but lack of coordination and forgetting to bring things. I feel bad when I'm at a restaurant and have to ask them to bring basics because they forget but I guess with so many staff it can get confusing. It took for example 20 minutes for someone to bring us ice because our ice teas were too warm. As the restaurant was very crowded MLK Monday we sat right behind the kitchen glass, not only was the music really loud but warm air was blasting making the area we were sitting in too hot. Family friendly restaurant with potential but again menu needs to be tweaked. I also need to add that both my parents and I didn't feel too well once we got home. The food just didn't sit well with our stomachs. Perhaps it was the salt? I hope you will use my comments as feedback to better improve...

A fine establishment.

Before coming to North Italia Topanga I did my due diligence and read a fat stack of these reviews below. I noticed several 1 and 2 star reviews that had some fairly significant allegations. However, due to the attractive reviews, I decided to give it a chance.

I am thoroughly glad I decided to give it a chance. It was a wonderful experience with amazing food, but it is my duty to report a few minor issues.

My wife and I attended a dinner here last night right after a power outage in the Topanga mall. Due to this event, there was almost nobody at North Italia. We had the whole place to our selves, and the undivided attention of our charismatic and attentive server. The staff was all very friendly and our order was taken swiftly and good food delivered almost immediately.

The only weak points I would say were the cocktails, the price point on the food and a brief issue with our order. The prices on the food at the restaurant is all significantly more expensive than the menu pictured in their maps profile. Still, for its quality its not outrageous.

We ordered white truffle garlic bread which came almost immediately and was amazing. Its 20 bucks for a few small pieces of bread... but I gotta say its worth it.

Because of the power outage they also gave us both an order of eggplant parmesan on the house... which was the best eggplant Ive ever had.

The only real issue was when we both ordered "Lasigna Bianca". We were both so excited to try this item after how much our server talked it up. About 5 minutes later our server told us that item was no longer available for that day. Major bummer. Still, we ordered Chicken Parmesan and a Pasta dish (spazzato??) Which came out quickly. The pasta dish needed more sauce, which the server almost instantly supplied. The chicken parmesan was the best I've ever had.

We were also given a free Dessert to compensate for the order snafu. We got a "Brookie Sundae". It was amazing.

The "Marco Polo" cocktails we got were pretty watery and expensive... but its our fault for not complaining as its clear the staff is there to please. We probably would've gotten stronger cocktails if we had said something. They also supplied several samples of wine.

At the end of our dinner we had been unfairly charged for the canceled orders of Lasagna, but this was instantly fixed.

I can see how when this restaurant is busy it may feel crowded or loud, but in our circumstance it was nearly perfect.

I would absolutely recommend this place. Big portions of great food, just be prepared to bust out...