BOBO

Made reservations for two on Friday night and had no idea where this place was but figured it out. There’s a small parking lot ($ 10) just down the way. Walked down the boardwalk to find this place and it’s right behind another restaurant. It’s a very small restaurant and wasn’t crowded at all. We wanted to sit near the fireplace but they kept saying it was reserved for 4 people only.
Bread came out with olive oil. We asked for balsamic vinaigrette but our waiter said the chef doesn’t like balsamic vinaigrette so does not want to have it in his restaurant. (blank stare)
We shared the Tuscan Kale salad which was great.
When I think of Italian food I think of familiar pastas but this place was very different. Didn’t even want to order any pasta so I ordered the fish of the day which was a sea bass. It was just okay. My husband ordered the lamb chops and they told us they only had one left. Mind you, we were here pretty early for dinner. He thought the lamb was just meh. Very small portions.
Service was attentive though but by the time we left those other tables that were «reserved» for 4 were still empty.

A mystical night, amazing food. Amazing service (our waiter Alex was a riot!!!). The juicy details:
Lamp Carpaccio– light, airy, a kiss on the palate
Warm Ricotta– almost a hint of airiness, charred (how they do that), simple almost a whipped cream in delight
Squid pasta with lobster– YES YES YES!!! Creamy, yet earthy, umami taste all around
Beef Bolognese– had to dunk my bread into this (and I don’t even eat meat, shh. don’t tell anyone)
Branzino– WTF!!!
Steak– WTF!!!
Dessert on the house was cream puffs with chocolate ice cream
Service was impeccable, smooth, friendly not over bearing
Do I recommend NO, I want the place to myself.
Shout out to Alex our waiter and Bobo the chef!!!

We came here for dinner for a DineLA at the first time.
We could pick three menus up and all of them were great!
I like it here!
I’m sure you can have the wonderful meal, warm service and lovely time at BOBO!

Let me start off by giving you a little background. My husband and I have a 2 year old and don’t get out too often. We are definitely foodies and would spend good money on a great place. This is not one of those places.
I wanted to surprise my husband on Friday night and take him to a great new place in our area. Started off the dinner by ordering a bottle of bubbly. Before we order, the waitress points out that they are smaller portions and everyone should order a pasta and an entrée… So we do as she says. We get a couple «snacks» for the table, the beets and the ricotta with mushrooms. Nothing spectacular, a bit bland. Our pasta comes and much to our surprise they are regular portions, not small. And these are by no means cheap. I have to not eat half so I can be sure to have room for my «entrée». As we finish our bottle, the maitre ‘d takes our glasses as we still have a decent sip left. When I explain what has happened, he brings back 2 half filled glasses without apologizing and pretty much slams them down on the table. From then on it only got worse. The entrée took forever and no one ever came to say anything. When they finally came, the waitress told us the chef says sorry and he will send out desserts. My steak was pretty rare but no one ever came by to ask. Again, we waited a while, and finally the waitress brought some desserts. By far he highlight. But no one ever came back after and we were left finally asking the busser for our check, which he brought. Never again did we see our waitress or maitre ‘d.
To sum up, food was decent at best, service was TERRIBLE. I actually felt like they were pissed at me! How anyone thinks they are going to make it in the restaurant business with that kind of service is beyond me. I have worked in the service industry and all it would have taken was someone to ask how everything was and apologize. Never going back.

The wonderful meal and great service we experienced at Bobo tonight moved me to post my first restaurant review on Unilocal.Bobo is a very creative chef. He makes his own pasta daily and combines interesting ingredients into delicious dishes. The salad courses of tuna (for me) and grilled ricotta (for my wife) were delicious. For pasta, my wife had garganelli pasta w/​leeks, porcini & pumpkin; and I had tagliolini (made w/​black squid ink & lobster ragu), both of which were wonderful. The 3d courses of branzino and steak were also creatively prepared and delicious.
The presentations were beautiful and the service was excellent – the waiters were friendly and attentive. We met Bobo – he was so gracious and we had a lovely conversation with him.
This definitely was a 5-​star experience and we had to tell everyone about it.

Very different and interesting menu!
I came in a while back when it was still the other owner. It took me a bit to realize it was different…
No meatballs on this menu. Nope. But there’s Venison Carpaccio! Yup.
And so I ate it. And as I’m eating my raw deer, I’m thinking to myself how horrified my vegan friends would be. But, it was soo good. It could have used a little crack pepper though. So, we asked for some… It enhanced the flavors.
Next, got the Tongue. –Beef Tongue Lingua — Braised and seared. Amazing flavors.
Lastly, we enjoyed the Bucatini. –Guaniale, crushed tomato, onions, and pecorino. Very good.
Wine– got a couple glasses of red something or another. Very nice…
The bread is something to write about. And that oil! We actually asked for more and we never do that. Fabulous.
Atmosphere– LOVED the lighting. Very relaxing. Fireplace adds to the warmth. Pretty teak tables. Welcoming, comfortable, classy, warm, clean, well decorated, perfect music with perfect volume.
Service– superb
Price– I *thought* it was reasonable until I saw the portions. Very small portions. But, well crafted, excellent quality, and creative.
*We shared everything, as usual, and so they split our plates for us. So, my pictures are of SPLIT ORDERS. We do this so we can try more food.
This is not a restaurant to come «tank up» on a giant bowl of traditional pasta dishes. The cuisine is more *special.* I would be more apt to come regularly (and would have given that final star) if only the portions were slightly larger. I’m speaking mainly about the pasta dishes. Just too darn dinky of a serving for me for the price or otherwise. Just two big olé’ spoon-​fulls more would be great.
*Check-​in to get 10% off the bill!
I recommend Bobo for foodies who enjoy creative dishes, want to drop some cash, and for celebrating a special occasion.

Came here last night for dinner for a dineLA experience with the boyfriend.
Was expecting a lot more that we received…
Service: Walked in and what seemed to be the manager seemed confused when I told him I had a reservation for two at 8:00, and the hostess that seated us also seemed very unfriendly and just didn’t care at all to even put a smile on. I liked how we were seated right away, but then again, there were plenty of empty tables, as it was a Monday night. With that said, we expected a good pace of our three courses. Each dish took so incredibly long to come out so we expected everything to be perfect. So so wrong were we. Each dish took at 20 – 30 minutes, and I think our second course, our main pastas took the longest to come out. By that time, I wasn’t even hungry as it was already past 9. But the servers were extremely kind and seemed to be working hard, it just felt maybe the kitchen was understaffed? But on a Monday with empty tables? Maybe it was just an off day. I don’t know.
Food: I had the lamb carpaccio and my boyfriend had the ricotta mushrooms for starters/​first course. I thought the celery and shaved truffles complemented the carpaccio very well, added richness and a nice refreshing crunch to each bite. But personally, I liked my boyfriend’s dish far more. The mushrooms were SO good.
Since the starters weren’t dissapointing at all, we expected our second course to be the best – PASTA! I was so excited for it, but we waited and waited and… waited for it to come out. There were so many empty tables but I felt like my table and another table that seemed to be here for dineLA waited so long for their food. We ordered the squid ink taglialini w/​lobster and the long-​pepper papardelle – which I personally loved how the beef was slow cooked and had so much richness and flavor in the bolognese. The squid ink was good, flavors were simple, but the lobster was WAY overcooked. I avoided the lobster completely as I could not even chew through it. But both pastas, techinically were cooked perfectly al dente – my fav.
By the last course, we kinda just wanted to get out of there. We had the branzino with almond pesto and the duck breast. My fish looked and tasted overcooked, but wasn’t terrible flavor, I think at this point I had just lost my appetite. But my boyfriend’s duck was good except for some pieces that were just straight up fat, and I could not chew through it so I spat it out. The zuchinni complemented the dish very well though.
Ambience: Overall ambience is a great place for a date night. Music and the acoustics of the space aren’t super loud and echo-​y like some places, so you don’t have to shout over your dinner table to converse with your date. Mood lighting on point and pretty intimate space with semi-​open kitchen.
Would I come back? Most likely not, but I guess was worth a shot for dineLA. If anything I would like to try their regular menu – as long as a three course meal doesn’t take two whole hours.

Avoid the grilled ricotta on the dineLA menu. It has as much flavor as a hockey puck.
This restaurant has gone down hill since the name change from Piccolo Venice to Bobo, even though it is the same chef. Not sure why?
Service was terrible. I brought in a bottle of wine, and I had to ask for wine glasses. $ 20 corkage fee.

I love this place.
On my second trip my wife and I really enjoyed from beginning to end.
Fresh, tender and delicious scallops are perfect appetizer! And their handcrafted pasta (squid ink spaghetti with crab) was so delicious.
Everything was perfect. Foods and Services were amazing. I am looking forward to go back again.

LOVE LOVE this beautiful upscale Italian restaurant where you can enjoy nice music, romantic atmosphere, great services, and all fancy amazing dishes right next to Venice Beach!
My husband and I had been here before when it was «Piccolo» and now restaurant has reopened as «Bobo» named after the same chef of Piccolo. We’re very pleased with the same high quality foods and varieties of wine selections that we can choose.
First we had our red wine with the selected olives and cheese. For another appetizer, fresh soft Scallop, is amazingly tasty and both my husband and I fell in love with it!
Home made squid ink fresh pasta was seasoned with the fresh crab sauce and so delicious! We also had Lamb chop and pork sirloin, which were perfectly cooked and great! Personally I prefer lamb chop and must try it!
Assorted desserts are beautifully presented and all tasted fantastic!

Chef Bobo really puts a lot of time into crafting the menu and every time I eat here you can easily tell how high quality the food is. Coming from Italy, I am very picky with Italian food and have found Bobo to be one of the only places that serves authentic and delicious Italian food.
I highly recommend eating here, it’s my favorite Italian restaurant and I’m sure it will be yours too!

Always a great pleasure have a dinner @ Bobo,
Elegant food, good wine and warm service…
Grazie Mille!

The food is extremely intricate and delicious. I absolutely loved the food and the atmosphere here.
I’m already craving to go back for another meal.
The quail was excellent and the lobster carpaccio was amazing.
No doubt the best Italian food in town!

This is the same location where the highly esteemed Piccolo used to be, but if I’m not mistaken it’s the same chef. I was a huge fan of the Hostaria Piccolo locations and had never made it over to Piccolo, so once the others closed I knew it was my time to pounce.
First of all, the pasta is seriously impeccable. You can tell it’s all homemade and so fresh, and I think the only other restaurant in LA where the chef cares SO much about his food and presentation is Sam’s by the Beach in the Palisades.
My family has a few dietary restrictions and our server gave us all the time and attention and really worked with us to find the dishes that we could enjoy, and yet which our qualifications wouldn’t hurt the integrity of the chef (they really cared about this which might’ve been annoying somewhere else, but the food is SO good i know they really mean it).
I got the spaghetti bolognese begrudgingly (I wanted the kale and beef agnolotti but I don’t eat dairy, and that was in a butter sauce). Oh man was I ok with this order once I tried it. Totally delectable and a very upper class presentation of the dish. The two people I was with got the fish of the day (Branzino served with thinly sliced zuchini on top, gorgeous presenation and delicious), and the venison tagliatelle. Who else serves something like that?! Such inventive dishes, amazing attentive service, and a truly beautiful and intimate location. I can’t wait to come back!

I absolutely love this place for the service, ambiance and above all the pasta! Bobo, is the name of the restaurant and also the chef. He is an institution in Venice. He delivered a Michelin Star to Piccolo and launched this new venue to create divine pasta at pricing most people will appreciate.
For the service, Dacco really knows his wine and will gladly find the perfect pairing for your food. All the wait staff is very helpful and professional. They are very knowledgeable and the menu is always changing to keep things fun and interesting.
The place has a really hip vibe with the cherrywood tables, quaint fireplace and vintage art nouveau details on the windows on a cute side street just steps from the boardwalk. It is a bit hidden, so Venice. It is a smaller space so it can definitely get a bit noisy so if that is not your cup of tea, then head else where.
The food is amazing. I have eaten here a few times since the opening. Twice with friends, once with the hubby and then once for a big family dinner when my hubbies cousins came to town. For appetizers, the beet salad is beautifully displayed on the plate. It looks like a flower but my hands down favorites are the scallops and the beef carpaccio. YUM. For the pasta, my husband is normally not a fan of gnocchi but theirs is so light and fresh, he was converted. They had a pumpkin gnocchi that was to die for. I LOVE the pappardelle venison ragu and the carbonara is very good but I think it could afford more pepper and some chunks of pancetta.
For dinner, hellooo lamb shank. And dessert is where is gets interesting… The sous chef, Alla, has developed a reputation for her pastries and application of molecular gastronomy. They seemed to be always changing up the desserts here. Don’t expect anything ordinary. My favorite had a flan texture but was colder to the touch and tasted like amaretto cookies. Can’t recall the name. There was also a beautiful ginger marinated pineapple carpaccio dish with raspberry sauce. It was so interesting how the flavor of the pineapple changed dramatically when it was shaved so thin. Another favorite I must mention is this magical chocolate shell of chocolate with sea salt the melted instantly when a sauce was poured to reveal a blueberry semifreddo center. It was nothing short of heaven and the presentation was a big part of the experience. If you love dessert; save room.
As a Venice local, this is becoming one of my favorite spots!

I have eaten here now three times and the food has been excellent every time. I especially love the lamb carpaccio, the wagyu steak, as well as all the pastas; You can taste the freshness in all of their food.
They have a very comfortable atmosphere that is easy on the eyes, while giving an updated touch to what was previously Piccolo. A record player complete with hundreds of vinyl records stands welcoming in the corner should a guest choose to put on background ambiance. Every time the service has been extremely attentive, with my silverware and plates replaced after each dish.
Roberto, their manager, has extensive knowledge of their wine list which have me a wide range of options; I had both reds and whites while dining each time that paired well with my dishes.
Chef Bobo and his Sous, Alla, put some true passion into this food that left me wanting to try as much as I could on the menu before becoming too full. But do make sure you save room for dessert; Their Deathstar dessert with melted chocolate is a unique and creative dish that I could not get enough of. Is it wrong to order a 2^nd one?

What an amazing and memorable evening. What a way to celebrate a going away dinner than a fine dinning place like Bobo’s! As soon as I walked inside the staff was very inviting and attentive. The ambiance was perfect for a small friendly gathering or a romantic dinner.
Our waiter was very knowledgeable about which wine would be perfect for our taste buds. The meal itself was amazing from the perfectly cooked squid ink tagliolini (favorite!) to the duck breast. Superb!
The best though were the chef’s! I was pleasantly surprised when they took the time in turn to walk around the tables and personally made sure that everyone was happy with their meals!!! Wow! Now that is customer service with a personal touch!
I highly recommend eating here!

Had such a lovely time at Bobo for hubby’s birthday. The staff knew it was a special occasion and pulled out all the stops starting with glasses of chilly bubbly proscecco.
Every tasting from the ahi app to the pillowy gnocchi and the fresh made angel hair pasta was dreamy. And then this deceptively simple looking, finely shaved pineapple with cactus pear (?) sauce blew me away! This is not your typical Italian restaurant. Every dish was perfectly presented and freaking delish!!!
Just wish I had a chance to try the «Deathstar by Princess Alla» but now we have another excuse to go back!

I wanted to like this place, but everything about it was just MEH.
We had the scallops (meh, fine). The beet salad (nothing special and very under seasoned), and the lamb shank that was extremely dry.
The atmosphere is just OLD too. Nothing exciting.
Service was also just ok — took us forever to get our food.

I almost don’t want to write a review because I don’t want it to get too crowded when people find out how absolutely delicious this food is.
Verdicchio is my favorite, Was so happy to see it on the wine list and ordered two glasses each. My boyfriend and I ordered the caprese, carpaccio, tagliatelli, agnolotti and lingotto for dessert which were all equally amazing. I fought for the last bite of each dish and would have probably ordered more if it wasn’t closing time. Service was excellent, lovely décor, etc, etc. I have too many good things to say about this restaurant and not enough attention span to write a long review, but you would be making a big mistake if you came to the west side and did not eat here.