8 1/2 Taverna

Unfortunately they closed shortly after their 1 year anniversary :(I am sad.

My wallet still hurts from paying near $ 15 for a plate of takeout spaghetti. That’s what happens I guess when you order takeout by Unilocal dialing without a menu.
The spaghetti with bolognese was very good. I was impressed with the number of taps on hand — hey I just realized why Taverna is in the name — duh.
Biggest surprise was seeing and getting to say a few starstruck words to So You Think You Can Dance stars Tyce, Ken, and Kady in a near empty restaurant. Love that show and them!

Ate here a couple months ago with my wife and 2 small kids. The staff was very accomodating with a hi chair and straws for my kids’ drinks. The beers are EXCELLENT! The pizza was great and the food overall was very good. We’ve been meaning to go back but I think one time we decided we didn’t want to be shit-​faced off the Belgian beers again but now I’m ready to rumble– I’ll be there again this weekend!

Cute place down the block & around the corner from Aroma… lots of restaurants have been here, but I hope 8 ½ sticks around. We only had beer (a great selection) & fries, but it was the perfect environment for a light night drink & snacks (cute, dark-​ish and modern yet cozy).
Everyone else around us had delicious looking food…
Will def be back to try dinner ;-)

Being a local, I was very excited for the gastropub/​tavern to open! (Dare I say: A nice alternative to Laurel Tavern?) Unfortunately, every visit I make to the newish establishment around the corner, I’m left feeling annoyed and let down with the inconsistent service…
The venue feels hip/​cool/​casual and I’m a big fan of any place with outdoor patio seating – as long as it’s no smoking. The beer selection is crazy vast and the wine list is pretty decent and the bites are nice enough.
But damned-​is-​me when it comes to: Ordering food and paying here. Multiple visits=same problems.
Case in point this last visit yesterday (⁰⁴⁄₁₅)…
~No issue: Ordering/​receiving drinks, my inquiry about making a black & tan was easily fulfilled. (Fabrizio was nice about that.)
~Issue: Trying to order food after drinks, I physically walked up to the bar – we were sitting outside – to order food.
~No issues: Receiving said food, being checked on: Everything okay? Another beer? More water?
~Issue: Check dropped, but then nothing. Credit card literally poking out the top of the vinyl check presenter in it’s designated slot – standing upright on the edge of the table – didn’t seem to grab anyone’s attention. (And at this point we’re not the only table outside any longer and multiple staff walked by it. Multiple times.) Again, I physically walked into the place and over to the bar to be close out my tab.
Moral of the story, this is not a quick get-​in-​get-​out kinda place. (That would be the 7 – 11 across the street.) If you’re not rushing to something else, the chillax pace might even be appreciated…
Look, don’t get me wrong: I would love to LOVE this place… And I wish it could love me back… Like my own little Cheers… I’ll walk in, everyone will turn and roar, «Vaaaaaaaalllll!»
I’ll keep trying… Letcha know how it goes… TBD.

I really really wanted this restaurant to be good! The beer menu is fantastic and so is all of the food, but the disorganized horrible service just ruined everything for me!
I made reservations on
for 8pm. We were a little early and were seated promptly. The tables are pretty small and they have 3 menus they give each person (wine, beer, food) so it was kind of hard to juggle everything. Ended up knocking the silverware on the floor. Since the beer menu is so giant we had to take a min, so in the mean time I ordered the sliders. They came out in about 3 mins and were luke warm. Which makes me think that someone ordered them and then didn’t want them and sent em back. Whatever, we ate them and they were actually pretty good. The bun was like a mini seasamie seed one, but it was weak and fell apart. The pesto aoli was amazing tho, good meat texture too.
So we finally ordered some beers. I got a white beer they had on draft. It was okay, got flat really fast. My boyfriend got a ale that was on draft as well. It was better then mine. At this point we also ordered the pizza (speck e something… has beshamel, prosciutto, mozzarella, and NUTS on it, which they do not list in the ingredients, sounds like a allergic reaction issue to me) and some salads too (the rugola and Parmesan). When the salads arrived at the table I noticed mine did not have cheese. On a TWO ingredient salad, how they missed one of them just blows my mind. I flagged a waiter and received no apologies at all, he just grabbed the plate fixed it and brought it back.
Next a different waiter comes by and drops off a pizza that is NOT the one that we ordered and walks away. I flagged another waiter down and they took it away with NO apologies no reaction just took it away. Then another waiter comes about 5 mins later with ANOTHER WRONG pizza. This was just so confusing since when I ordered it I pointed at the menu. I repeated PROSCIUTTO… and then about 15 mins went by and we got our correct pizza, again with no apologies or anything. It was good. Needed more sauce. They don’t bake it with the meat on it so the pizza is hot and the meat is cold… found that odd. Nice flavor. I’d definitely get it again take out maybe. The crust is fluffy and tasty as well.
I also heard the couple behind us return the shrimp risotto because it «just didn’t taste right.» Sounds like this place needs some help in manors and food orders!
I bet it is much more organized when it is less crowded, but that is no excuse. A restaurant needs to be prepared for a packed house and an empty.

Great location. Good vibe from the place. Menu is well put together and the pizzas are really a hit due to the awesome crust. Terrific wine list and great beer selection. Staff is helpful and cool to hang around.
Trying to make this a regular spot — but kinda hard when work is slow. We’ll be back though!

WOW!
Myself and a party of 8 besides myself went there for new years eve for dinner and drinks. We were ready to have a long wait for a table let alone food. Once we got there the staff was great and sat us within 3 minutes (they were packed and still sat us with no reservation). We were still prepared to wait for someone to help us, yet within moments we had drink orders in and the CHEF even came to greet us.
This was a great start but once the beers (all of which were so different than most beer you can get anywhere and were AWESOME) came, we were ready to wait for food order… however our order was taken promptly.
When the food came, all 9 of us were blown away. The majority of us had eaten at this location when it was other restaraunts, but this place was above and beyond anything we expected. The food was unique, great portions, and tasted SO GOOD! (and easy on the wallet… lol)
Go to 8 ½… such good food. We went ready to deal with holiday craziness and were treated like we were the only ones there. It was a great way to bring in the new year, and I can say is it’s ALL of our new favorite place to go!!! And we are all FOOOOODIES!
great job!
Tasting Menu recommended!!!

We went here based on reviews from Unilocal.Were starving and looked forward to the pizza. Drinks were nice but then it took forever to get our order taken. Then it took forever to get our food. Then our appetizer just never showed up. The pizza was good but the Burrata salad was bland and really just a hunk of cheese on some spinach.
The waitress apologized. I think something was taken off our check, maybe a round of drinks. But, doesn’t make up for just sitting their waiting for the food.
Won’t return.

This Gastro-​pub brings it!
There were five of us and we started with the Mini-​Angus burgers and seared Ahi. The burgers were awesome, the Ahi was just ok. We ordered four pizzas: The Rustic, Porkona, Patatona, and Hottie. You have to try the Porkona pizza featuring braised pork that sort of tasted like gyro to me– which is a good thing! The Hottie was terrific because it had this extra-​spicy pepperoni flavor due to the chili-​oil mixed into the pizza sauce.
For dessert we had their mini-​canolis and we split a slice of their Italian-​style, homemade cheesecake. The canolis were non-​traditional to me in that they had an extra thin shell– almost like filo dough. Sitting on the plate, they looked like bullet casings.:) Great flavor with a good ricotta mix. The cheesecake is a must try– they use ricotta in the recipe and it has a thick, NY cheesecake texture and a great chocolate crust.
8 ½ Taverna features a nice beer and wine list as well. I had a Hennepin Belgian Ale which complemented the pizza nicely. Ask for the beer or wine menu separately. Also note that their beer and wine menu does not match their online version. (At least tonight.)
The restaurant has a neat layout, although its small. The seating area is shaped like a kidney which surrounds their kitchen. They have outdoor seating as well. In the bar area, they feature several long tables for people who want to perch and eat but don’t want to sit in the dining area. The dining area has limited seating, but great service! The food came out fast and we had constant attention.
They are open at 11:30am on Sundays for NFL as well. We are definitely going back.

I’ve wanted to dine at 8 ½ Taverna ever since it opened. The Studio City /​Tujunga area is usually a pretty good spot to find solid eateries, so I thought this place could possibly be a good addition to the area. I was right!
8 ½ has several different sections to their menu; small plates, pizzas, salads, piadas, and daily specials that include pastas. I ordered off the daily special menu; linguine with lemon cream sauce. It was great! I was wary to order this because I thought the lemon flavor would be too overpowering. But to my surprise it wasn’t! The sauce was heavy, but there wasn’t a lot of it so it was fine. The lemon was used VERY sparingly which was great. With eat bite I got just a slight hint of lemon to enhance the flavor of the sauce and pasta instead of distracting from it.
The service was great. It seemed like every time I took a sip of my water it was refilled immediately. Also, our server was very nice and helped with all of the questions we had about the menu.
The restaurant itself is actually pretty small, 10 or so tables I’m guessing with additional seating outside and a large bar area. The place gets pretty loud, but not unlike the rest of the restaurants in the area, so just be prepared. I’ll definitely come back again!

They have gated parking in the back. Nice!
Now, on to food — I had their margarita pizza and it was pretty good. I heard their soup is good too. For the adventurous, they have alligator andoulle sausage, and frog legs. For the masses, they also carry things like burgers, lasagna and linguini.
The menu ranges from casual an inexpensive to a little formal and not so cheap. So in a way, it has something for every taste and for every wallet.
Service is ok. They are a busy place so don’t expect the waiter to come around every 5 minutes.
I would have to come back and sample more menu items to give it 4 or 5 star but I liked the place.

I want to start by saying that I work in a Restaurant… so I get it.
HOWEVER… this was so so so disappointing.
We sit down for dinner around 8pm on a slow SUNDAY night…
The server began by describing the incorrect wine to us. It then took him 10mins to realize he had done so before he came back and asked us what we «really» wanted.
It then took another 10mins to get the wine.
I ordered. My guest asked a menu question and the server began describing the wrong dish… we corrected him and he had nothing to say about the dish my guest ordered.
The food comes out in a reasonable amount of time and I notice my guest isn’t eating. She said her dinner was super fishy. And i tried it. It honestly terrible.
So I flag down the waiter and my guest decides to skip dinner and just have desert… thinking that it’ll be faster, less stress on the kitchen, and we’d still eat at the same time. It took 15mins to get a desert MENU… we were the only table on the patio mind you… there were 4 other tables in the entire restaurant.
Then after she orders… which we made sure happened right away… it took, no exaggeration 25mins for a Chocolate disaster. I know this thing just needed to be put in the microwave… it looked like it was left in there 3x longer than it should have been.
So so so disappointing.

What started out as a fun happy hour around six on a thursday turned into confusion and waiting, waiting, waiting, more confusion, and waiting.
The Scene: Italian influenced, I guess? The worst ikea «bar stools» I’ve ever tried to sit in. The Lounge (?) open concept idea was to have two long tables with stools on either side for munching and drinking. I don’t think they realized that 3 or 4 people might grow to 6 or 7 for after work. The reality is that the cheap drafting chairs kill any semblance of comfort. This was a cost saving measure that will keep us away in the future. The layout is ok and has some flow to it, but the bar, kitchen, and entrance are all in the same intersection. There was lots of bumping between staff.
The Food: An elementary school chalkboard filled with amazing food specials. I appreciate the effort, but an obvious mistake. Truffle and mushroom pizza, amazing. Zucchini blossoms, deep fried with a red sauce, great except the red sauce. The tagliatelle with ragu was wonderful. The salads are just some greens with something in the middle, and BORING. They have burgers too, who doesn’t have burgers now?
The Drink: Beer on tap seemed to be from 3 or 4 different micros, but not much in the way of variety. The bottled selection seemed boutique, but nothing I was willing to invest in. Wine, good selection, not great or adventurous. Forget getting a glass of water refilled, they take the empty glass away and never bring it back. I’m still getting aggravated at the «tulip» glass of beer. NOTICE TO ALL DRAFT BEER BARS, SERVE A PROPER PINT.
The Staff: Stressed, confused, overwhelmed, and not stationed properly. It started out ok, but turned into a comedy of idiocy. The waiters tried, we saw every single one taking orders from our table. Halfway through they started a separate tab for no reason. So, 12+ staff total: 3 waiters, one busser, two hosts, the owners/​managers, the bartenders, the cooks, and kitchen staff. When it filled up with customers, TOTAL CHAOS. Also, there is a feeling that there are «must hires” — friends of the owners that need jobs because no one else would hire them. They need more waitstaff and less smiling idiots in pressed shirts. Sorry, I hate the glimmering inept.
Parking: Forget it. The staff filled up the parking lot. Street parking is almost impossible at the 6 – 9 hour because of neighborhood restrictions. Everyone had to move their cars at least once.
The Last Straw: Seven people. Six main course orders. Four of us had our food in record time. Two had to wait for an HOUR after we were served for a HAMBURGER and a SALAD. They promised to take the burger and salad off the menu, but did not until we all angrily complained. It was a bad taste on a decent meal.
Epilogue: I’m sure none of our group, friends of our group, will ever set foot in this place again. It’s unfortunate because of the possibilities with good food ideas like that. If it survives, I’ll check it out again in a year or three.

This place sucks. It really just sucks. I can’t even get into the laundry list of things we hated about this place but suffice it to say there were 7 of us last night and every single one of us hated it.
Ok, actually, here is my laundry list of complaints –
1. WORST SERVICE EVER. I sat for 10 minutes before anyone took my beer order and then waited another 15 for it to arrive. My water was never refilled. I was never asked if I wanted another beer until after our dinner plates had been cleared. By the time the waitress came to tell me the beer I wanted had been tapped we had already requested the check from some other guy. Everything took 10 times longer than it should.
2. All of the food was cold. No one had a single hot item on their plate. My fries were rock hard and cold. And not even tasty.
3. OVERPRICED. My friends caculated their raviloi cost $ 3.50 per ravioli. 4 ravioli’s for $ 14. What a joke.
I would not step foot in the place again even if the food was free.

Bounced a coffee date from Aroma here since it was around the corner. First time I came here, It reminds me of Laurel Tavern without the crazy amount of people. Also had WAY BETTER service the Laurel Tavern.
Too bad it’s just beer and wine, but honestly sometimes that’s all you need. The gentleman caller and I each had a Chimay Blue and unfortunately I ate an early pre-​training no carb meal 5 hours before and then did an intense capoeira session that got me hammered but luckily I still had my wits intact to engage the guy I was with.
Definitely will be back next time to try the food! Nice staff, good area. Parking sucks, but that’s given if you know Tujunga well.

Have you ever had a really good Meritage? For those unfamiliar with the term, a Meritage is a bold red wine, resulting in the mixture of any two or more Bordeaux grape varieties, with no more than 74% of one variety used. (The actual definition is much more in-​depth, but this is the Reader’s Digest version) In short, its a red wine blend, and an amazing one at that. Just as wines can be blended, so can food and culture, and that has happened at 8 ½ Taverna.
This Italian bar has everything any wine connoisseur would appreciate, yet also satisfies the European sports enthusiast at the same time. Ample seating throughout, a curved bar, terrace dining, and café heightened tables combine an ambiance that is casual yet sophisticated. Here’s what I had:
Sexto Meritage 2007 — A dangerously good wine from Spain, I resisted the temptation to order more. Their pours here are quite generous. This was $ 12.00 a glass, and worth every drop. I felt sexy while drinking this lascivious libation.
Potato Chips — As a small appetizer, our waiter brought us a bowl of these homemade chips made from baby potatoes. They ranged from dime to quarter in size, and were salted perfectly.
8 ½ Burger — Pesto lovers will adore this Angus! A cooked to order burger served on a ciabatta bun, with roasted tomatoes and dark greenery. The star of this dish was the pesto aoili, which made for an ideal combination with the Angus beef (and the wine).
French Fries — Freshly made on the premises, these shoestring fries accompanied the burger, and were scrumptious.
The service from everyone here was absolutely excellent. Although a small parking lot is provided, I found plenty of parking north of Moorpark in a residential area (south of Moorpark is permit only-​watch for signs) I also really liked the bathrooms, as they were spotless, and the porcelain fixtures were black. I cannot wait to come back here for Happy Hour, and have more of my sexy Meritage.

big disappointment.
normal slow service mishap that new restaurants usually experience.
the food just wasnt very good. ordered the burger with a «hint» of foie gras. no foie gras taste at all. buddy got this burger also and agreed. besides giving me completely burned buns, the ingredients to the burger just didnt work. one of the more unenjoyable burgers i have ever had.
bun was burned so badly that i had to send it back, then they gave me a new bun… also burned. I was over it by then.
tried the seafood pasta special and the scallop appetizer — both average at best.
best thing we had was the Hottie pizza. it was spicy but good.
i won’t be back here. its just average to below average italian food.
OH. they gave us these superrrrr tiny potato chips to start. pointless. no taste. not crispy. hilarious though. i took a picture because it was so funny. i’ll try to upload.

After my 3^rd trip the to 8 ½, I thought it was time to write them up on Unilocal.I’m going for a 5 on this one! They get a 5 because they have the perfect mix of everything a traditional 5’er gets.
First, the place is a complete whole and by this I mean that they have ample indoor/​outdoor seating, a parking lot, a couple of restrooms, TVs, counter seating, table seating, beer & wine and much more to offer. Also, Enzo and his partner interact with the customers and try to get to know them personally.
They have a good selection of beer and wine. The food isn’t the traditional Italian family style but it’s hip and cool and in modest portions. The reason why I like this so very much is because the taste and quality is outstanding without the food coma that follows.
It looks like this is going to be my new summer hangout!

Discovered this place on a complete fluke while searching for bars/​resturants that would be catering to people who wanted to wine/​dine and watch the World Cup at the same time. I opted not to go to any british pubs, since I was rooting for the US, so was looking for a neutral place that would be light on the sports bar environment.
Noticed a few threads on Chow about 8 ½ Taverna. I had been to this location where it was once Zen Chi Grill and Nicks, thank goodness it is under new ownership and did a complete makeover of the place.
This is also a good alternative to get away from the jam packed Lauren Tavern on Taverna. I was pleased to read that both Executive Chef and Owners are born and raised in Italy, including a former Cordon Bleu alumni.
Step into this joint and find that it is set up in narrow, high communal tables and stools, even a few ottomans spread across the tavern.
I had a pretty good view of one the pizza chef who was making fresh pizza dough, which is always a neat treat to get a view of what goes on in the kitchen. What I noticed how they make their pizzas, seems fairly unique, they make the fresh dough and once it gets it’s round shape, they put it on the oven, once it gets lightly colored they take it out of the oven and then add the ingredients on the baked dough and put it back into the oven.
We had a basic margherita and one that had a bechamuel sauce, corn and potatoes on it, both were fantastic, rarely do I find pizzas to my liking where I can finish the edge of the crust, but with subtle flavors that blend so well, there was no need for extra cheese or pepper flakes on it.
We also tried one of their specials, which was a slow braised octopus in tomato sauce on a crostini, talk about a great dish, though it is difficult to share with only one crostini, the sauce is so flavorful, you could put that in a jar and sell it to the public, it was that good.
We also got an order of frites (fries for the culinary novices) which were on the house, could have been because it took a while to get them, but either way a very nice gesture. Lightly salted and fried perfeclty, simple but tasty.
They also gave us a cannoli on the house, it was a cute little dessert, the size of amuse bouche, lightly powedered and just enough cream in the middle. Also as were prepping to leave we got a small dish of what I guess would be an italian version of patatas bravas, I tasted an aioli flavor to it on the sauce, though I dont know the rest of the ingredients— either way it was a nice little treat and saw that they were giving out tasters to just about everyone in the restaurant.
The owner/​manager was basically the main one in the front of the house running the show, while the executive chef came out to see how we enjoyed our food and thanked us for coming.
Reasonable prices, nice atmosphere, very laid back environment, they seem to appreciate customers that linger, as there were gentlemen hanging around way past once the game was over, just shooting the sh*t with their pals. Seems like the best addition to that neighborhood and I wish them lots of success in this endeavor. I am hoping with this space, the 3^rd time is the charm.
Their website mentions that they will have a gelato bar, which wasnt part of their dessert options, but it’s still new and I hope when I come back, it will be there, hmmm, what kind of flavors might they have? Perhaps an olive oil gelato or crème fraîche gelato.
I wont compare this to Mozza, but quite a bit of similarties in the menu, half the price and really high quality food.
Buon Appetito.