Osteria La Buca - Sherman Oaks — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Let me just say—what a night. This was a spontaneous, last-minute dinner reservation, and it turned into one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in a while. LA is full of places that look the part, but Osteria La Buca? It is the part.

From the moment we arrived, the vibes were vibing. Warm lighting, lively energy, people actually enjoying their meals and conversations—no pretense, just good energy. They offer valet (as expected for the area), and even the valet attendant set the tone—super friendly and welcoming.

Now, I’ll admit—we rolled in almost 25 minutes late (oops), fully expecting to wait. But to our surprise, we were seated immediately. That kind of grace from a packed restaurant? Rare.

Enter Athena—our waitress, our guide, our culinary hype woman. Athena is in a league of her own. From the jump, she gave us a mini insider’s tour of the restaurant: they grow their own produce (!!), source their ingredients from their own farm, and make everything fresh daily—including the pastas and pizza dough. Even their gluten-free pasta is made fresh, y’all. This is not your average trattoria.

We started with the ‘67 Ranchero (a classic house cocktail—do not sleep on this) and a glass of Grüner Veltliner, which was Athena’s rec. She knew what she was doing because it paired beautifully with everything we ate.

Now for the starters. Do NOT skip the whipped ricotta with caramelized agave—dreamy. Add in the pork meatballs (honestly, finger-licking level good) and the chicory Caesar salad, and we were fully in flavor heaven before the mains even hit the table.

For entrées, we went classic with the carbonara—one of the best I’ve had, period. Silky, rich, the poached egg on top was perfection. Also tried the mushroom pizza, which admittedly had an unusual look when it arrived—but hear me loud and clear: DO NOT JUDGE IT. That crust, that umami flavor? Bomb dot com.

At this point, we were fully stuffed, but Athena insisted we take home dessert. She suggested the house-made tiramisu (they rotate desserts daily), and not only was it incredible, but she comped it for us, just because. Who does that anymore?? Above and beyond.

The only con—and I mean this lightly—was being seated near the kitchen expo. The bell was a bit much at times, but honestly, it was easy to tune out once the food started flowing. Plus, it was a small trade-off for being seated so quickly.

Other details I loved: the place is cashless (yay for streamlined service), the entire staff was hustling with purpose and a smile, and the environment just makes you want to stay a while. It’s rare to find a spot that nails food, service, and vibe so effortlessly.

Bottom line: this is a MUST-DINE. Whether you’re local or visiting, Osteria La Buca deserves a top spot on your LA food list. Already planning our next dinner date here.

PS: I’m coming back for that rosemary bread....

It was our first and last time at this restaurant. We’ve been a party of 5 - no reservation, but we got seated fast. The waitress seemed stressed.

We ordered 2x Carbonara, 2 pizza & one special request lunch, since my husband did not find anything on the menu. He asked for the side steak and the Brussels sprouts (plain, no parmesan!). We asked the waitress if the steak and the Brussels sprouts can be put on one plate together and she said: “THAT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.” ??? Sorry but why and why answer like that.

When the food arrived my friend and I saw a whole egg inside the carbonara. As Europeans which grew up in Italy we’ve never seen that. The waitress answer was: “it’s carbonara. That’s how we do it.” Okay, but it’s not carbonara then. Also the noodles were completely undercooked. “Al dente” is something else.

Also my husbands food was a complete mess and it quickly escalated between the waitress with her mood anyways and my husband. Obviously the owner was sitting at the bar the whole time (without helping his stressed stuff at no time) and started a fight with my husband AND KICKED US OUT. I understand that he felt insecure because we didn’t like the food and the service was very bad. But that was an...

We booked this place on Resy a couple of days prior to arrival. We arrived, and all was well until we received our bread. The bread had hair on it. Looked green/blue (photo is attached to this review). We brought this to attention to our server to where she began inspecting the bread in front of us to make sure we're not lying. Very disrespectful. But fine, that's okay.

Service from there went downhill, and she became rude to us for no reason. 2nd strike, fine. The last straw was when we received the bill, and we saw a 5% charge for a "Health Fee" for the staff. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not charity to be paying for your employees. Thus, I left no tip since they decided to add a 5% surcharge on their own.

After we left, I received a call from the restaurant, leaving me a voicemail. This was a manager named Steven. The voicemail was basically asking for feedback since they had a "rocky" night. I'm sorry but my number was not meant to be given to you for you to contact me after I leave the restaurant. My number was used for reservation purposes only. The only thing I can think of for why I received a call was to figure out why we...