LaScala’s

Been going here twice a week for a year now — food is yummy yummy yummy, got to try the spicy tuna

We went to Lascalas last night for s friend’s birthday dinner. We had reservations at 9:00 and showed up a few mins late — but thankfully they weren’t super busy and were able to seat us right away.
I had the Pappardelle and sausage pasta, which was delicious — and my two friends ordered ravioli and chicken Marsala; they both loved their dishes. Service was prompt and friendly, and they even gave us a slice of their lemon cake and 3 Limoncello shots for free. Very thoughtful. All in all, it was great and I will be returning.

Wonderful Friday city dining! Bar was busy but friendly bartenders (made sure we were aware of happy hr specials) had reservations and was seated on time. Calamari app was fabulous and plenty to share for 4. The bread and dipping butter/​oil was also very tasty. No complaints only praise on all four dinners (chkn/​pasta, grilled porkchop, seafood/​pasta, lasagna) and the tiramisu had for dessert (enough for two) was delish.
Top it off with an excellent bottle of wine and validating parking for garage next door made for an extremely fantastic night.

Lascalas is a great restaurant in a prime location in philly. It was a classy scene that was both family friendly and great for a group of friends. We got seated in a booth next to the window, which was really nice for people watching and enjoying the hustle of the city.
Our waiter was extremely friendly and never rushed us. He came immediately with fresh baked steaming bread and a delicious garlic infused butter oil that was amazing! Probably my favorite part of the night.
We started with the caprese toast and arugula salad. The caprese tasted fresh, the salad however was slightly disappointing. It tasted bitter and bland at the same time and the dressing just did not highlight the dish.
For dinner, we split the gnocchi and eggplant ricotta pizza. Both were amazing! The gnocchi was cooked well and the pizza had the perfect combination of flavors.
We ended with homemade tiramisu which was DEVINE!!! We probably finished it in two minutes. So addicting and so gooooood — you have to order this if nothing else!
Overall, the location, size, menu options, and friendly environment made this restaurant a great night out. ⁴⁄₅

Went there for lunch after visiting the area sights. Really good pizza and Italian chopped salad. My favorite was the balsamic glaze, garlic, herb & oil dip for the fresh bread. OMG, I could eat that all day long !

Not bad. My food was hot, tasty, and was priced okay. 4 stars because it’s just not anything special. No reason to not return.

Outstanding salad, hand made pizza and a lot of high quality food for the price.
Fresh bread was soft and tasty.
Waiter was nice.
Great place for family site down dinner. Very nice elegant interior.

Excellent food atmosphere and service. Everything was fresh and hot when we were served ;and the dessert tray is absolutely amazing!
We walked here from our hotel (Hotel Monaco) and are so glad we did! Bön Appetito!

Great menu and a wonderful staff.
Wonderful lunch time experience.
Don’t get into the city often but when I do
I will be back.

Went here for Valentine’s Day. The ambiance is perfect for the occasion and the food is delicious. All pastas are fresh made — recommend the rigatoni in vodka sauce and ravioli.
At first, the service was entirely disappointing. It seemed that we were forgotten, and after waiting 45 minutes for our food, I got up to ask the hostess. She explained that the kitchen was having timing issues and apologized.
When our food came, it was completely made up for. Our entire meal was on-​the-​house, because of the wait. This included calamari, the pastas, and a beautifully made limoncello cake. The cake, which was made with raspberry sauce, tasted exactly like my childhood favorite, which they had stopped making in my area. I was amazed at the similarity.
Though slow, our waiter was kind. He allowed us to switch to a seat of our choosing, and was very polite. He, and the busboy, offered to take photos and were very happy. Because our meal was on-​the-​house, the waiter acted as if the failed service was personally his fault and made up for it in strides. The speed was in no way his fault, and he really added to our experience by taking the time to explain the desserts in detail and answer any questions we had.

Stopped in here for restaurant week… the reviews on Unilocal are definitely mixed, but after seeing such strong and positive reviews on another site, we decided to give it a try. We all opted to order from the restaurant week menu and we weren’t disappointed at all. For appetizers, we ordered the mussels in the white wine sauce, the baked tomato caprese, and the baked eggplant parm (more like an eggplant rolotini). All of the above were DELICIOUS. The bread for the table was also delicious and we all definitely filled up on the bread and our apps before the entrees even came to the table. For the entrees, we tried the parmesan encrusted baked tilapia, the grilled salmon, the veal parmesan, and the gnocchi. I would say all of these options except for the salmon were AMAZING. I instantly regretted eating so much bread before our entrees came. For dessert we tried the chocolate fudge cake and the tiramisu… the chocolate cake was the clear winner in that debate.
Outside of the food, the service was a little slow for my liking and the bar was overly crowded. While it allowed for some really interesting people watching, there were people shoved into this bar that were just too close to our table… the waitstaff had trouble getting passed them and we were all praying that they weren’t gassy. I’d come here again!

Location was perfect, service was superb (early before the rush), very reasonably priced wine list, good food.
You pay for the location for the food, but our food was very good and very large portions. Nothing spectacular or surprising but good what you expect Italian.

I went here with a large group and the experience was poor. For a table of 10+, the service was surprisingly bad (one would think the opposite). It took a long time to get drinks and dishes out to the table, and it felt like on numerous occasions the server had to retrieve items that were already asked for.
The food was equally as disappointing. I had this bad feeling that the food was going to be poor shortly after we were seated and there were already indications of dysfunction. I went with the Risotto, which I highly regret. Risotto is a high risk-​high reward dish as it’s not easy to make and needs a lot of attentions to detail (i.e. constantly stirring for 20+ minutes). Given all the warning signals of the first 10 – 15 minutes of the restaurant, it was foolish for me to order a complicated dish that needed a high attention to detail. A simple pasta with red sauce would have probably been safer. But, I ordered a risotto, and the restaurant made it poorly.
Certainly would not recommend this place, and is one is looking for a meal in Center City, there undoubtedly are better places than LaScala’s.

Went here Friday (⁸⁄₁₉) to celebrate a friend’s bday. Great location, easy to find and parking is available above the restaurant. No valet parking, which was a bit of a surprise. Great food and good service. The sirloin bruschetta was awesome. Baked meatballs were just okay. The lamb chops were perfectly cooked, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the eggplant risotto. All in all it was a good experience.

Great restaurant right on the cusp of the historic district in Philadelphia. Great atmosphere, nice specialty drinks, and delicious food.
Pro tip: a great bonus is that they will validate your parking at the garage next door!

I definitely enjoyed my food at LaScala’s. As my family and I were on our way to ride the ducks, we saw this cute corner restaurant and said we would check out the menu for dinner after the tour. Riding ducks on a 95 degree day sure does tire a girl out (especially a two year old!) so we just walked over without googling a menu or anything. The prices and menu looked decent so we walked on in. Seated right away at a beautiful table by the window.
The children’s menu was overpriced. $ 10 for a small spaghetti and one meatball dish. We ordered the caesar salad and fried calamari to share as appetizers and they were both delicious and plentiful. I decided on the fusilli with seafood and it was a HUGE portion. I was saddened because it was our last night in philly and our mini fridge couldn’t fit the to go container so I had to say goodbye. The seafood included mini bay scallops. crab meat and shrimp– it was a total party in my mouth. I would have preferred regular full size scallops (the taste is just better IMO). My boyfriend ordered the chicken parm dish and he enjoyed it. I also had a glass of house pinot grigio that hit the spot. Our waitress wasn’t too friendly, maybe she was mad we were her only table or something. A friendlier server would have earned this spot four stars.

Happy hour alert!
I think I found a new go-​to happy hour spot in this area. Move aside Sips, these specials happen every Monday through Friday from 4 – 7. And boy are they are special!
Their online menu totes the fact that the happy hour food specials are their regular portions at happy hour prices. Just when I was about to quit dining at happy hour because of lame portion sizes, I found a gem.
Looking for a quick bite and drink, my hubby and I split a pizza with meatballs and pepper. I had a glass of merlot and he had citrus flavored vodka with club. The pizza was tasty and could have almost been a meal. Add an appetizer or two to split and there’s a regular sized dinner. The pizza came to $ 7. Wowza!
The bartender was friendly and attentive, even with a full bar.
Yep, this is a great happy hour and I’ll be back.

This was a nice spot to have an outdoor lunch.
We were staying at a hotel for the day, so liquid lunch was on the agenda. Luckily, LaScala’s has a $ 9 wine flight which lets you sample 3 wines. Having Yards beer on tap does not hurt either!
We spent about $ 35 total on 2 people. One of us had the chopped salad, which was a perfect and filling lunch portion. The other ordered tuna with french fries and aragula. This dish was also very good; the tuna was cooked exactly to order. The fries were the thin kind, more flavorful but perhaps a bit less potato and a bit more oil.
Overall, we very much enjoyed our lunch here,

Overall I wasn’t too impressed with LaScala. Our server appeared to be extremely disinterested in serving us… or even being there. He basically wandered over about 10 minutes after we were seated and asked us what we wanted. Didn’t even come over and ask if we wanted drinks or appetizers. We asked for some table bread and that took several more minutes.
Food wise, it wasn’t the best Italian I ever had but it was edible. I had a pasta and seafood dish that was huge, but was lacking in the seafood department. I would say that the portions were generous for the hearty eater.
Parking around here is hit or miss.

LaScala’s
615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19 106
(215) 928‑0900
Stopped in for dinner here on a Saturday night with an 800pm reservation. LaScala’s is nestled in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic district, just a short walk from the Liberty Bell, The Constitution Center, City Tavern and many other historic attractions. They pride themselves on offering authentic Italian-​American homestyle cooking. LaScala prides itself on reasonable prices and an open dining environment with large windows, lots of glass, and contemporary high-​back booths.
The incandescent lights offer a very homey feel and the open brick and large bar offer varied dining experiences for different audiences. The businessman can stop by after work for a beer and the game, a family could eat at one of the large tables and a couple may share an intimate moment in one of the high-​booths near the walls. We arrived promptly at 8 for our reservation and encountered a 10 minute or so wait as «the kitchen was backed up.»
We ended up being seated in a corner booth along the wall with large glass windows (great for people watching) and views of a large portion of the dining area – a perfect position for snapping pictures of the dining experience.
The restaurant features a private dining area for private events, a large bar with flat screen TVs, and various configurations of tables and booths for various sized parties.
While the restaurant was sadly disappointing in some respects, the bread was not one of them. Delicious fresh bread with a heavenly olive oil, butter and sweet balsamic vinaigrette dip that I could have licked dry. If you eat here, have seconds of the bread.
SIRLOIN BRUSCHETTA Grilled sirloin, gorgonzola, spinach, roasted peppers. Not bad. Could have been better, but an interesting take on bruschetta. Lovely sweet balsamic vinaigrette sauce, soft red peppers sirloin that was not overly dry. I would not return here specifically to have this dish again, but I wouldn’t mind seconds if this was the only dish I was having.
STUFFED MUSHROOMS Crabmeat, Hollandaise Sauce. Eh. The presentation was not bad. However, the delivery suffered. Again, not the worst dish of the evening, but nothing to return for, clamoring for seconds.
THE ARUGULA Radicchio, grilled red onions, sundried tomatoes, grilled eggplant, gorgonzola, toasted pine nuts, white balsamic vinaigrette. This was perhaps the most disappointing dish of the evening. Before ordering our meal, I asked our server if ordering a starter, salad, and main course was palatable. He said, «If you’re a big eater, sure.» I am a big eater, and a salad the size of an entire dinner plate was more than I was prepared for, so, realistically, if you come for dinner, prepare to have 1 side course (either starter or salad) and 1 main course. Ladies– you may only be ordering one thing all night if you get the salad. They are huge.
Anyway, the salad was mediocre at best. The grilled eggplant was rubbery, there was not enough dressing, and the entire thing had a tremendous lack of flavor. Quantity is not quality can not be stressed enough.
THE LASCALA CHOPPED SALAD Romaine, iceberg, provolone, fontina, Italian meats, pepperconcini, tomatoes, red onions, Italian vinaigrette. My dining companion /​fellow food critic got the signature salad with a similar result. The taste was sweet/​sour with sub-​pare quality meat and greens. Also, certainly was large enough to account for a meal in itself, so either the server needs to be more clear, or it needs to be made clear on the menu.
VEAL PICATTA Lemon butter sauce, capers, crimini mushrooms. Again, not bad, but not amazing. Now if you want amazing, go to La Famiglia. Blows this dish right out of the water. The veal itself was ok, and the seasonings were adequate to the task.
VEAL SALTIMBUCA Sage, prosciutto, marsala wine sauce, sautéed spinach. Not bad, but the Veal Picatta was decidedly better. Again, this dish is much better prepared at La Famiglia.
The dessert tray was good. We chose the fudge and mixed nut sundae.
Of Note:
La Scala’s offers free parking in an adjoining garage. Huge bonus here – most Center City restaurants will require either garage or valet parking which is upwards of $ 25+. This is definitely a welcome perk of dining here.