Panzanella Ristorante — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Tried this place for the first time with no expectations. The food absolutely blew me away. The entrance of the restaurant is a bit awkward and hard to find. The entrance was narrow, but the ambiance inside definitely gave a warm Italian feel. The tables are draped with classic pinot noir red table clothes, and the tables were set with two forks and a knive. I've arrived here close to 9 o clock and got sat immediately,however, our server, shannon, was not aware of my arrival.i assumed that the restaurant was closing soon,due to the rushed introduction of their "specials of the day". My order for the night goes as follows: first, I started with the fried calamari that came out lightly battered,which allowed the tenderness of the calamari to shine. Not too chewy, not overcooked. The calamari set a great stage for an amazing, unexpected culinary experience. My entrees included: margharita pizza and spinach & ricotta stuffed ravioli. The margharita pizza was light and savory. The pizza sauce lay on top of a thin crispy sheet of dough. Generously sprinkled with thinly sliced basil. This pizza made my body feel as if it were OJ Simpson: NOT GUILTY. Spinach & ricotta stuffed ravioli- the spinach was flavorful, and the ricotta was surprisingly fresh. Stuffed in a perfectly cooked ravioli shell. This dish was imbued with great classic Italian flavors. The red sauce (I think it was Marinara) but could just be a tomato sauce was light and carefully complimented the ravioli. Needless to say,I really enjoyed this meal and would have been more than happy to give it five stars if it weren't for our server. The back servers were kind, helpful,and an antithesis of our server. I would love to come back and try everything on the menu, as it is undeniable that the chefs here have some of the best paletes in the valley. Next time, I will try to come earlier to avoid any upset servers. Overall, it was a great experience and one of my new favorite Italian restaurants. Will update my review once I come back,but for today 4/5stars,way to...

I have patronized this restaurant in the past without incident. So so italian food in Sherman Oaks near our home. The kitchen is hit or miss depending on the night. My issue on my last visit is with the manager who is the worst person I have encountered in the food service industry. 20 minutes past our open table reservation, I asked him why he would take our reservation and not be able to seat us. His response with no apology, just a smug joker smile, "Your table will be ready soon when people leave and I will not tell people to leave as I would not do that to you" but he had no problem taking our reservation and letting us wait at this point 30 minutes past our scheduled reservation. His response did not answer my only question and when I asked again him again, he started to get defensive, angry and rude. This whole time the two hostesses who knew our wait time, had miserable scowls on their faces and cold demeanors while they walked by us for 20 minutes pretending we were not there. I'm guessing part of their low negative energy was because I can imagine what it must be to work for this joker, who treats his regular customer like this, how do you think he treats the workers? Other customers were also waiting. We left hangry and irate with the unpleasant exchange with the manager but our evening was salvaged with an even better meal and service at Giorgio Baldi restaurant that I immediately called and was lucky enough to be able to secure a table for the time it took to drive there. By the way Giorgio Baldi is my favorite, best Italian restaurant in the world alongside Bestia. I have tried excellent Italian restaurants in italy and NYC...

I would highly recommend this restaurant! Vibe was great, relaxed but nice. Service was great as well and the food... The food was perfect. I'm very picky and this place got it right from the bread/breadsticks and olive spread to the dessert, there were no missteps. The only starter we got was the caprese antipasti, but it was so satisfying we didn't need anything else. By far the absolute best mozzarella I have ever eaten. For dinner, I got the handmade pasta with broccoli and sausage, again delicious. The sauce was rich and garlicy but not overpowering and the handmade pasta is pasta perfection. My boyfriend got the lamb chops, cooked perfectly! They were moist and tasty with a white balsamic sauce that had the right amount of sweet and tang. It also came with slightly fried potato wedges, again, delicious! The right amount of crunch with a soft moist center. The dessert... Oh the dessert... I think we might have licked our plates when no one was looking... We got the brown butter blackberry tart and the warm chocolate lava cake with raspberry sauce. I don't think I can describe how delicious they were... Essentially, it was a party in my mouth.

All in all, a must...