Della Terra

Came here for a birthday dinner with 9 people. Overall the dinner went well, but the food wasn’t as flavorful as I’d hoped for. Lots of choices on the menu which was good for us since we had a few vegetarians in the group.
APPETIZERS:
Bruschetta (4 stars): You can’t go wrong with burrata and prosciutto. Salty prosciutto was perfect with the burrata!
Calamari (3 stars): Chewy, but the breading was good.
MAIN DISH:
Liguanica (4 stars): Good tomato cream sauce and sausage. Pasta was well made.
Gnocchi (3.5 stars): Good sauce.
Lamb chops (3.5 stars): Asked to be cooked medium well, was cooked a little over that. Not bad but not the best. Maybe stick to medium or more raw!
Tartufo Pizza (3.5 stars): Too much truffle oil, that’s all you can really taste.
Ravioli Tartufi (3 stars): The only flavor you really get is truffle oil. I’m a bigger fan of actual truffles than truffle oil so I wouldn’t recommend their truffle oil dishes if you’re the same way.
DESSERT:
Bread Pudding (2 stars): Way too much caramel. The flavor of the caramel and Dulce de leche ice cream were both too rich that they didn’t compliment each other well. I love bread puddings but would not recommend this.
Chocolate Soufflé (3 stars): Tasted like a standard flourless chocolate cake.
Cheesecake (3.5 stars): Pretty big slice. Not as thick as regular cheesecake, nice and light. Best dessert out of the 3 I tried.
We ordered a crème brûlée also but they brought out panna cotta instead (I am not a panna cotta girl at all). We just told them to cancel it since it took a while to grab someone to tell them it was wrong anyway. We didn’t try the panna cotta so not sure how it was, but I did post a picture.
SERVICE (4 stars):
They take their time but everyone was really nice and kept up with our orders. We had a party of 9, and they did a good job of bringing all the food out together. And even though it was a bit slow at least it gave us time to enjoy the company.
They don’t give complimentary dessert for birthdays but they will put a candle in what you order. So we asked for dessert menus to choose what we wanted. But they brought out a cheesecake with a candle in it on their own… which was nice for the birthday boy… but kinda weird to just bring out a dessert without us choosing which one if it’s not complimentary! The cheesecake ended up being the best out of the desserts we ordered so it worked out, but it’s just the principle.
Anyways, this is an okay restaurant but not my favorite in LA. I love my desserts and their desserts definitely need to be better.
ATMOSPHERE:
Try to reserve the private room if you have a large party. We tried but it was taken. The inside of the regular area is nice too though.
PARKING:
Street parking. Meter, free after 8PM. Read that they had valet on some reviews but I didn’t see an option for that on a Saturday night. But street parking here wasn’t extremely hard to find like it is in other LA areas.

Really had high hopes for this place but didn’t live up to my expectations. :(
**Food:
–Bruschetta (4 stars): this was probably the best dish of the night! You can’t go wrong with burrata! Tomatoes were nicely seasoned, but wish they put a little more burrata. I’m a carzy burrata lover so there can never be too much burrata!
–Fresca Pizza (3 stars): this was just okay. Too much tomatoes made the entire crust super soggy. Water was dripping as I picked up a slice. This also tasted very similar to the bruschetta appetizer, and the appetizer was better.
–Ravioli Tartufi (2 stars): I love truffle, like crazy, but this dish just saddened me. First he said he was out of ravioli, but he can make me the same thing with paparadelle. I though oh sure, I love paparadelle. But no, it just was not good at all!
The highlight of the night was probably the dessert, they had a really good cheesecake. But I wish the main course was a lot better. The free bread in the beginning with olive oil was pretty good!
**Parking:
Street/​meters; have fun finding parking!
Overall, I don’t think I’m going to come back. There are a lot more amazing Italian places around LA.

This place is very intimate and cozy. I was a bit concerned about the quality of service due to other Unilocal reviews, but my experience was excellent. All of the servers/​manager were very attentive from the second we walked in. They made sure we got our drinks, recommended some items, made us feel welcome, and checked up on us constantly. Overall, very prompt and sweet.
I was on a dinner date with a good girlfriend who I only get the pleasure to see a couple times a year so we asked the manager if he could take a picture of us. He definitely went out of his way to make sure he took a few good ones, getting different angles and close ups, thanks sir!
The crab cake– delicious!!! One of the best I’ve had in a while. The crab tasted fresh and wasn’t masked with too much mayo (which I hate). Best of all was that pesto-​vinaigrette sauce it came with. So citrusy and delicious to compliment the crab! My girlfriend and I had to ask for a second one.
For the entrée, we got the lamb and lasagna. Both these entrees we okay to me, nothing too remarkable. Maybe by this time I was pretty full already… BUUUTT that butterscotch dessert was phenomenal! It came in a pretty big glass cup and I’m thinking, wow surely I will not finish that, it’s way too much… But nope, we cleaned that glass cup as if it was ran through rinse, wash, sanitize, and repeat!

Della Terra is one of my favorite restaurants in LA — amazing food and such a classy atmosphere! I feel at home every time I’m there and have always been treated incredibly well by the staff, who value the dining experience and loyal patrons. I’d recommend this place for family dinners, date nights, or special occasions.
Ps — the Luganica is out of this world!!!

Best resotto and the caprisi salad. The octopus salad was phenomenal. Service was impeccable. The resotto is so good here and every time I come here, I look at the menu and think about getting something else, but I always go back to the resotto. I haven’t had better anywhere ever except in Italy.

Update for Simhai.
Are you stupid? If you have «surveillance» available you would have seen that it was ME that knocked over your cheap glass of wine. Knocked it over. I didn’t throw it on anyone. It’s actually quite common for people to be upset when the idiot of an owner tells them to leave for «coursing their meal.» Even before that happened, your server WAS an asshole to us. He was fucking rude. How is that acceptable??? You’re okay with that? Oh wait, are you going to kick me off Unilocal for my language? Haha. You’re in the restaurant industry dude. Can’t handle a little bit of rashness? Get the fuck out then. I leave negative reviews because I’m not an avid Unilocaler. I only Unilocal when it’s appropriate. As you can see from my FOUR reviews.
My boyfriend was not yelling in your restaurant about how he’s a fighter. You chased him out saying «get the fuck out of my restaurant» and THATS when he got angry and started arguing back. You literally were chasing him out, yelling, for all your patrons to see and hear. I was walking behind you two. Do you have «surveillance» for that? Or is it selective, just like your memory?
Hope that you are happy with yourself for being such an angry, miserable prick that you insist on driving away your customers.
And for the other Unilocalers reading, you can see Simhais retort below, saying how I’m twisting my words, as expected. Please refer to the screenshots of all of other patrons who wrote a review not about the food, not the servers, but about Simhai, the owner.
If you guys are looking for a tastier, friendlier experience, I recommend Osteria Mozza on Melrose. Not too far, they’re very nice, AND they’re Michelin rated.
Xoxo
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Wow. I have no words for what happened to me and my boyfriend tonight at this establishment. Usually we go into this restaurant and it’s completely empty. And we’ve gone on weekends, week nights. We basically go here because when everywhere else is jammed packed, we know this place will be a ghost town.
Anyways, we came here tonight for dinner. The food here is mediocre. My family is from Livorno, Italy and my boyfriend is from Napoli so we have a high standard of Italian food. This place is decent. Not great, but I’ve definitely had worse. The place was packed for some reason, which is fine. We sit at the bar. We order our food. Calamari, wine and two pasta entrées. We get our calamari. We wait an hour. Ask the guy who’s always here where our pasta is because the girl next to us already got her food even though she came in way after us. His answer and demeanor was pathetic. «kitchen is jammed. You ordered an appetizer, so that’s why your pasta is taking long,» and then he walks away. My boyfriend is annoyed, asks how long does it actually take to make pasta. The cowardly waiter had to have his big strong boss come to talk to us. The owner comes along and my boyfriend tells him that the waiter was kind of an asshole to us. He was! No apology, no nothing. So the owner says he’s gonna get our check. Taken aback, we look at each other really confused. The owner comes back with our check, and I ask about our food. He says he won’t take this kind of language in his «establishment.» LOL. And then he proceeds to chase us out and yelling and cursing at us in front of a full restaurant of people. My boyfriend and he were literally inches apart in the face yelling at each other! And then the owner tells my boyfriend to come at 10 PM when the restaurant closes to come fight him. LOL!!! What the hell? This guy is in the service industry AND he’s like old as hell.
I’ve looked at these reviews. All the bad ones are about this idiot of a man being a dick to customers. There’s obviously a pattern going on here. It’s kind of sad cuz I liked going here. Aaand cue his comment back on this review saying how «it’s better we never see each other again» and him belittling us for asking where our food was an hour after we ordered it. Bye Felicia. (His old self probably won’t even get this reference.)

I came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday. She booked the private room which is so cute and cozy, perfect for a celebration. The food was really good. I ordered the spinach frittata and shared a nutella crêpe. The cappuccino was perfectly done.
I need to thank the manager who was very patient and nice with our group.

Okay, so when my friends suggested Italian I was kind of like ‘meh, really, carbs for dinner?’ and then gave in when I was told about the burrata cheese.
The BURRATA CHEESE! Oh dear god if I had been not in public that whole thing would’ve gone straight into my mouth without the use of utensils.
And THE GNOCCHI.
And oh yeah the lamb brochette basically blew my mind. It was tender and spicy and came with a big pile of delicious french fries. Because carbs with meat is totally cool. :)
Our table ended up stealing bites of each other’s plates and it was probably one of the best Italian meals I’ve had in a long while. To be experienced for real.

Last night myself my wife and son walked over to Della Terra for dinner. Although the restaurant was packed the waiter/​host Michael quickly found us seating. My son has special needs and is food tactile sensitive and Michael graciously let him try the gnocchi so that my son would see if he liked the texture, which he did. Overall, the food was excellent as was the service but the way they made sure my son enjoyed himself set Della Terra apart.

Yup… Still my fave local Italian spot! I mean consistent, phenomenal, and wonderful service. Was safe with same order as before minus a dish. Need to branch out next Time! Shared the prosciutto pizza with burrata– perfection! And carbonara which must be shared cuz so rich and large portion but out of this world! Again! Grazie… Simply the best!

Just got back from a delicious dinner at Della Terra. I found this place on Unilocal thanks to their great reviews, and I decided to give it a try since it’s close by and their menu looked really good.
All I can say is that I’m very impressed, and can’t wait to come back again soon. My family and I received excellent service from everyone that worked there. They’re incredibly attentive, and kind. Furthemore, my dad is an incredibly picky eater normally so getting his approval is a true compliment. He couldn’t stop raving about the food and service as well.
Every meal set down at the tables around us made our mouths water. Once our own plates arrived, we dug in to the authentic Italian dishes with great pleasure. I got the vegetable pasta, which was delicious and earthy thanks to the fresh roasted vegetables. We also ordered the lemon alfredo, which had a lovely citrus flavor that wasn’t overwhelming. I particularly enjoyed how the lemon was incorporated two ways: in the homemade pasta itself as well as the sauce. We got the funghi pizza to share too, which was very enjoyable but the olives made it a little too salty. To finish, we got the chocolate soufflé which came with vanilla ice cream. It. Was. Amazing. Seriously, every spoonful was a little piece of heaven. Also, they were very sweet and brought the dessert out with candles when they heard it was my birthday.
In short, I truly loved it here and look forward to making it our new regular dinner joint.

Had my girlfriend’s birthday party here and we couldn’t have chosen a more perfect restaurant Michael is the owner, he and his team gave us Royal treatment. Every dish we ordered was incredibly delicious
We will be regulars here

Cutest place! Will
Definitely come back. From
The second I walked in… The ambience… The service to the food. So goooooood!!! Love their bread, olive and sauce.

We recently had a christmas party here. The service was great. They were really nice and accommodating. I wasn’t sure if it was kid friendly because it looked a little more sophisticated than your kid friendly italian joint, but 1) they had high chairs 2) Our waiter was interacting with our kid, telling me about his, and when my son made a huge mess after throwing food around him in a 2 foot radius (which I usually try to pick up with a napkin before I leave) they had already quickly whisked him up in his high chair and he laughed, and they swept away any trace of food. I felt so bad… and apologized, but they were soo nice about it like it was no big deal.
The food was good too. Man, that bread dip, I had to ask for seconds. I also had the short rib pasta. It was DELICIOUS. I was so full after eating 2 things of dip with bread, but I ate the WHOLE pasta dish. It was a good portion of pasta.
Unlimited «bring your own wine» (with corkage fee of course).
I’ll come here again when I’m in the area.

The food is phenomenal but the service is just «ok». We went in for the 11−3pm brunch with bottomless mimosas but they were less inclined to care for our table as we celebrated my birthday and arrived right on time. They appeared to be more interested in saving their own money, than in providing us bottomless mimosas but they did present mimosas upon request. Rather than tending to the needs of our table they appeared to reference their own needs and ignore us.
Ps. the managers should never be eating in view of the guests or on the service floor.

Came in for the $ 15 3-​course dinner deal. I read thru Unilocal prior to my visit so my expectations were so-​so about food and low regarding service.
The food was 3.5 stars and the portions were grand. The $ 15 was well worth it.
The service was so-​so. We interacted with 3 workers and they weren’t friendly but they got the job done so that counts.
The server didn’t say what the appetizer was but it consisted of cucumber and cheese. It was decent, but a bit greasy.
The entrée was spaghetti and meatballs and a hefty portion. The sauce was good and the three large meatballs were excellent. I could only eat about ²⁄₃ of the noodles and one meatball till I was full.
The dessert was gelato and I did not enjoy it. The server left before telling us what it was so I called him back and asked. He said caramel and pistachio. The pistachio tasted like nothing but was very grainy and left my mouth feeling dry so I didn’t eat more than a couple of bites. (Which is unfortunate since they gave a nice three scoop serving.) The caramel was slightly better since it wasn’t grainy but it tasted artificial and we didn’t eat that either.
Overall, it was a nice experience. It got a little too loud towards the end and they left the door open so the cold breeze kept slapping my back so my experience worsened as it lengthened. I enjoyed my visit regardless. We only stayed about an hour so it was a very quick meal and hit the spot.

I saw this restaurant on the list for Dine LA and decided to give it a try based on the other Unilocal reviews I had read.
Ambiance: I really liked the décor here! There are two sections — an indoor with the wine bar and an outdoor (but partially indoor since it was covered) with a patio section. We sat in the outdoor section and they had a projector showing a film against the wall. A nice touch!
Parking: We luckily found street parking half a block down but I can see on weekends how it could potentially get crowded.
Service: We came on a Thursday night around 7 and it was not busy — maybe only 2 or 3 other tables. Perhaps it was because we ordered off of the DineLA menu, but they were quite slow and not very attentive. I made eye-​contact several times indicating that we would like our waiter to come over but they didn’t seem to really pay attention. Oh well.
Food: The food however was great!
Tuna Tartare: probably one of the better tuna tartare that I’ve had! So flavorful and delicious!
Ravioli Tartufi: I’m a huuuge fan of truffle and was so pleased to see there was quite a bit of truffle shaved over the ravioli. Very very good and not as heavy as I expected it to be
Butterscotch Budino: This was not as sweet as I thought it would be (which I’m pleased about) but the first bite I took was definitely too salty. I honestly was a little too full to eat too much of this (devoured the bread and olive oil/​vinegar before dinner… too hangry before I got to dinner haha) but I mixed the dessert a little and it tasted a lot better! I do think that the dessert was a little too heavy for my taste though.
I did try my boyfriend’s dessert, the panna cotta. I would HIGHLY recommend it. The best panna cotta I’ve ever had.
I would definitely come back here again for a regular meal!

$ 10 Monday pasta night: those are the magic words that brought me in.
First off, it’s not the entire pasta range that Della Terra has to offer-​only an edited selection-​but two of the three choices I was looking for were there, so I was good to go. My order of Aglio Olio was placed by the nice girl who was acting as hostess/​bartender/​waitress and olives/​bread were then brought to me tableside. The bread and pesto dipping sauce were amazing. I think I unwisely finished off this in its entirety before my pasta came. A plus was the bottled water and ice filled glass w/​a lemon on the top; I didn’t even have to ask for lemon which was nice, since it tends to be something always forgotten, even after I had asked. A smaller detail: at your place setting, there is a sprig of rosemary tucked into the napkin, nice touch.
Though the price is discounted for Monday, the portion sure is not. After having them douse my plate with cheese, I dug in to one of the better pasta dishes I have had in a while. Even though there was chicken on the side, I basically ignored that and dove in straight for the noodles. Garlic was aplenty, and the taste was on point. I couldn’t finish the meal and had it boxed to-​go. Cappuccino finished off the evening, and I knew I’d return in a week.
Second time around, there was completely different staff w/​the exception of one nice busboy. I don’t think they have an official host as someone else pointed out, but there’s usually someone around to greet you. Taking my seat at the bar, tonight was going to be a Limone dominated-​evening. Once again, bread was demolished, and I was looking forward to this dish. Someone down the way from me had a steaming plate of bolognese which looked and smelled extraordinary, and even though this is not offered on pasta night, is worthy of spending full-​price. But for now, it was me against the Limone, and once again, it beat me. I like knowing that I’ll have a decent lunch on Tuesday with the amount of leftovers. Service was okay, attentive when need be, but not intrusive.
This is not a huge restaurant, but they have plenty of tables outside, as well as an enclosed patio. It’s rather dark in there, which I like, and there is a private room which looks really cool (I would have checked it out but people were actually IN there at the time).
Della Terra may not be a ‘power pasta house’ (if there is such a thing) if compared to Rao’s or Dan Tana’s but that reason alone makes me like them even more. Great choice!
Parking: street on Spaulding off of Beverly. Note that you’re good until 8pm.

Came here for a date night after an afternoon at LACMA. The ambiance is definitely very rustic and has that romantic vibe. I was really excited to have a taste of Italy, transporting me back to my travels last summer.
Maybe it’s unfair to compare this restaurant with the REAL thing but the food was just okay, not WOW. We ordered a proscuitto appetizer, mozarella pizza, and pasta. It was just okay and the proscuitto didn’t taste very flavorful and kind of tasted like the one from the Ralph’s grocery store.

Just an update for the manager’s note: «I only wish you would’ve told us…»
Oh, I did tell them. And they looked at me like I had an arm growing out of my head. Also, the manager (owner?) himself was part of the terrible service during my visit.
#Don’tBeFooled