Oliva Trattoria — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I wish I could give 2 separate ratings for my experience at Oliva on Monday, May 14, 2018. The atmosphere is cozy and the food is always delicious.

However, Carlo, the manager, was less than pleasant. I am part of a group of 8 friends who get together for our birthdays. We have come to Oliva on numerous occasions for the atmosphere, the food and the great service. BUT...tonight started out on the wrong foot when, after we were seated, I went to the bar and asked for change for $20. I asked for 2 x$5 and 1 x$10.

Carlo was behind the bar and asked me 3 times, very rudely, why I needed change. He said there was no valet parking on Monday. I replied that I was aware of that, to which he barked, "Then why do you need change?". I was shocked at his rudeness, but answered that I needed change to pay my portion of the bill, because we split the bill. He apparently "approved" of my answer and gave me change for my $20.

The evening progressed, we had fun and the food was very good.

For the birthday girl, we had cupcakes. There were 7 of us tonight, so we had 7 cupcakes. The restaurant put them on a plate and put a candle in each one.

After the entire dinner was over, we were handed the bill. To our surprise, there was a $7.00 cake cutting charge. When one of the ladies went to the bar and asked Carlo about this fee, he stated, in a rather loud voice and a very, very nasty tone that this is what the restaurant charged for cake cutting. Well, she reminded him that we had cupcakes, not a cake, and asked again why was there a fee for cupcakes? He answered that this is the new policy of the restaurant and that's the way it is, turned his back and walked away. There is nothing anywhere in the restaurant nor on the menu that says there is a cake cutting fee.

Carlo's tone was so nasty and rude. He has absolutely no people skills or any idea about customer service.

As we were leaving, he was behind the bar again. We walked right past him, within 6 inches. He was just standing there looking out over the restaurant. He did not say have a nice evening or thank you for coming... he said nothing. After I walked past him and his stone cold silence, I looked back to see if he would speak to my friend, he did not.

We are a group who frequent restaurants in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, We have never come across a manager who is so rude with absolutely no people skills as we did Monday night at Oliva and Carlo the manager.

Come to Oliva for the food. Stay away from Carlo the manager, unless you want poor customer service. We, most likely, will not return to Oliva for our birthday dinners, which is too bad because we used to really like it here. But once you have been mistreated by the manager, why in the world would you want...

Yesterday my husband and I had a business luncheon at OLIVA. We were a party of eleven. I had gone in the week before and spoken with LUIGI, the manager, who suggested I return the day before the event to confirm the number of people in our party and to pre order the food. I returned the day before but LUIGI was "on a break" and I was tended to by our favorite waiter, DON. The following day my husband and I arrived at 2:45PM for our 3PM reservation expecting to be greeted by LUIGI but instead were greeted by DON. He is a WAITER who, apparently, wears the manager's hat when LUIGI is unavailable. Our 90 minute meeting went well. After paying the check I asked DON if LUIGI was "still on a break." He said, "No, LUIGI is very busy in the office doing paperwork." Too busy to have come out for 5 minutes at 3PM to greet us and thank us for selecting OLIVA for this business luncheon?? Too busy to come out at 3:30PM to make sure that all is well? Too busy to come out at 4:15PM to ask how the food was, to inspire 10 other people to want to return to OLIVA, to ask how we all came to know of this great place?? Too busy to.............do what he is supposed to do as MANAGER?? His basic concern the day I arranged this event with him (January 22) was, "Is the person who is paying going to be in the party??" After he heard, "Yes," it is obvious that he passed the buck on any further interactions with us on to DON, the WAITER/MANAGER. DON made an attempt to get LUIGI out of the office as we were leaving in an attempt for LUIGI to redeem himself in our eyes. There was no point to that as LUIGI had already made a lasting impression on us. We will not let LUIGI'S laid back manner of "managing" discourage us from returning because we know the food is great and DON is there to pick up LUIGI'S...

Moral bankruptcy. Oliva Trattoria grossly overbooked reservations on Valentine's Day, then denied seating multiple people with reservations, and ruined the evening for many couples.

My husband and I made the terrible decision of making a reservation here for 8:15 pm on Valentine's Day. We were celebrating our ten year anniversary. An hour after we were supposed to be seated, after 9 PM, the restaurant still had not seated us. During the hour that we were waiting for our imaginary table, we were crammed next to multiple other couples waiting for their own imaginary tables. It was a complete zoo in there. There was no hostess standing by the entrance to greet people or check them in, and in fact they were deliberately avoiding doing so because they realized what a fiasco it was and did not know how to respond to dozens of confused guests. We saw multiple couples give up and leave after realizing they may never actually get seated. There was a complete lack of remorse on behalf of anyone at the restaurant. Zero apologies and zero explanations. Ultimately, my husband and I gave up on being seated and left. We were lucky enough to secure a late night reservation at Panzanella, which is also in Sherman Oaks. We loved the food and experience there (it's a reputable establishment, unlike the circus Oliva is running), but we didn't eat until 10 PM, and we were incredibly agitated. I can't believe Oliva would treat so many people this way on what was supposed to be a special day. Frankly, it's despicable. So whether it's a holiday or not, I wouldn't go anywhere near this restaurant ever again in my...