Piccolo Ristorante Italiano

Doesn't Recommend

AGJH

Joined 4 years ago

Be Very Careful !. Having eaten at this restaurant previously and enjoyed the food, I was delighted to find that one could finally make

reservations, something the restaurant has refused to do in the past. Despite making a reservation, (her birthday treat), my wife and I were left standing outside the restaurant for 45 minutes. We were not alone. One poor elderly couple were left standing without being offered chairs for the same amount of time, in what is not considered a safe neighborhood at night. We were told "just 2 more minutes" about every 15 minutes or so. In the end, we gave up, who knows how long we would have been made to wait. My complaint was met with rudeness and lies by the management. The food may still be good here, but if you're planning a special occasion, forget it !

Interesting to note that larger parties without reservations were given preference. Greed may be their downfall.

Recommends

forzaitalia

Joined 4 years ago

Best Italian food in LA (and elsewhere for that matter). A friend once brought me here and on first impressions i wasn't sure about this little hole in the wall Italian joint surrounded by hoards of Venice homeless. But i was instantly won over by the owners (who are also the waiters) and by the stupendous food choices. I have lived in New York and LA and find this restaurant to be the best food i have experienced in either city. I live about 40 minutes away from Venice but it has been worth the drive every time. I highly recommend Piccolo.

Recommends

kiwiitaliana

Joined 4 years ago

Best Italian in Los Angeles. Piccolo is the best Italian in LA-and I lived in Italy for years, so I'm very picky.

Come here for great food and amazing service. The wine reversal dinner hosted once a month is something to be experienced! Don't come here if you like Olive Garden style americanized Italian food.

The chef, owner, and sommelier are all Italian and take great pride in creating original menus with the freshest seasonal ingredients.

There are several large parking lots nearby and parking on Pacific after 8pm.

They do take reservations now and the website is Piccolovenice

Doesn't Recommend

dansthename

Joined 8 years ago

Horrible People -Food So SO. I think they Piccolo believe's that they are so Cool and Hip that they forget they are their to SERVE customers !

I was really excited to go after so much has been written about this local eatery-

BUT what a JOKE-

I will never return-Sorry Piccolo-you guys act as tho we AS customers should be grateful for dining with you !

Change your frigging attitude-

LA already has enough prima donna's-

Don't go to this place unless you like people to charge you for abuse-

Doesn't Recommend

LindsayRichardson

Joined 4 years ago

Rude Owners & Terrible Service!. TERRIBLE SERVICE & PRETENTIOUS! I had heard great things about Piccolo when I moved to Venice. My parents came to town for my birthday so it seemed like a perfect place we could walk to for a special dinner. They were rude from the minute we walked in the door. I was told that we could sit inside or outside when I made the reservations and we got there he said you can sit outside or wait 45 min to sit inside. When I pointed out I was told differently, he said well that was 2 days ago, so sit outside or wait.

My parents brought a special bottle of wine from home for us to drink which apparently upset them even more. They were slow to open it, would not provide us with red wine glasses when we asked, and told us it was offensive to the restaurant to bring or own wine. Since we apparently offended them the service was terrible, the food came out, out of order and slow and we were just treated rudely the entire meal. Even if the food is great it is not worth being talked down to and recieiving horrible service. Even though I live less than 2 blocks away I will never be going back and I would never reccomend it to anyone!

Recommends

JonathanRG

Joined 4 years ago

Awesome Italian. I had been trying to find a great place to take my girlfriend to a place that was not pretentious, but loaded with charm and incredible food. Piccolo was perfect. The small size of the restaurant gave it a quaint atmosphere it felt like i had stepped into a restaurant from the streets of italy. The Ravioli was some of the best ravioli that i have ever had, clearly all of the pastas are handmade. The service was great and overall made for a romantic evening.

Recommends

Jessica90049

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent New Italian Cuisine. It's rare that you find an Italian restaurant in L.A. that holds itself to the high standards that Il Piccolo does. I mean, most of the high end Italian restaurants in the city don't even have Italians cooking the food! The two chefs who work here are masters at their craft. I have eaten here about five or six times in the last 8 months and I have yet to have a disappointing meal. The handmade pastas are my favorite. I usually get the tasting menu; I like to watch these chefs get creative.

This is a small, intimate restaurant that depends on every diner ordering a full meal. This isn't the place to come for a little salad and a glass of wine. I think maybe some of the people who report having negative experiences probably showed up with the expectation of having a cheap meal and their waiter was less than pleased. If you are going to come to Il Piccolo plan on ordering a bottle of wine, a salad and an entre and maybe a dessert. You will have a wonderful time - and it's worth every penny.

Recommends

IACYOO

Joined 5 years ago

Quality not Quantity. Pietro, the sommelier was amazing and the staff was awesome in accommodating a last minute reservation request for a large party!

The Garganelli dish ( Lobster & Squid Ink pasta was heavenly), along with the Seared scallops and various pasta dishes was pleasant.

The wine suggestions from the sommelier was impeccable and note that the wines are handpicked and meticulously selected.

This venue is all about quality and not quantity and you get what you pay for... If you're looking for quantity then go to bucca or chain establishment.

Recommends

AliceDi

Joined 5 years ago

Classy, yet homey. Best Italian Ever!. Fantastic restaurant with a warm and friendly appeal. I can't imagine other reviewers' experience as the owner and wait people treated us like royalty although we were sharing our plates. The food was magnificent. We loved the salad with avocado and pine nuts and the cheese tortolini with white mushrooms. Small portions, yes, but so loaded with flavor each bite deserved the savor! My companion is on a low salt diet and didn't notice any oversalting. We enjoyed a dessert of chocolate cake with balsamic sauce and amaretto semifreddo which were both excellent. We were both quite full when we left. We arrived around 6 on Sat. night and there was no wait. Other tables filled up soon and the atmosphere was friendly and easy going. A couple of tables had young kids and I thought the families were treated respectfully. Definitely will return!!

Doesn't Recommend

bonidea

Joined 5 years ago

Trader Joe's does it better. Save a few hundred dollars, buy the stuffed pasta at Trader Joe's and prepare it at home. Paying $16 for a plate of overly chilled beets that could have been canned, another $20 for a miniscule plate of tortellini that claimed to be stuffed with burrata and was so salty that we thought we were cows on a salt lick is ridiculous. Out of our recent meal there of four dishes, two were returned to the kitchen. The salad we did eat was pathetic - some shredded endive and six grapes cut in half with tasteless frozen blue cheese (it said roquefort on the menu - not!). The tortellini was returned as inedible. We commented that it was overly salty and tough, and suggested that the kitchen was not tasting the food. The response to our complaint was that the regular chef was there. Period. When the offending plate was removed from the table the owner stacked other plates on top of it to insure that he was not going to inform the kitchen of the faux pas. We have eaten in many fine restaurants in this country and all over Europe - including Italy. No self respecting Italian would be associated with anything coming out of this kitchen. As a diner, it was insulting to eat there. This had been at least our twelfth visit to Piccolo, and our last. It was terrific when it first opened. What happened to this gem? Gordon Ramsey couldn't even save this place.