Cafe Angelino

Recommends

federmane

Joined 7 years ago

Consistently good food and friendly service.. We've been eating here for the last 12 years and the food has never failed to satisfy. Juan is hte friendliest waiter in town, and the owner, Gail always has a friendly smile and greeting. You just can't go wrong with anything on the menu!

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digitalhenna

Joined 4 years ago

Take it from an Italian, this place hits the spot.. This is a far cry from the Olive Garden, and thank goodness for that.

The place is tiny, but charming. I've visited twice... the first time on Saturday night for dinner. There was no problem getting a table at about 7:30pm, although by the time we left it was pretty crowded which would be typical of European dinner schedules. If you take your dinner at the later, "European" hours, you may wish to call ahead for a reservation, especially if you're in a group situation. I really wouldn't recommend bringing a group any larger than 6-8 people.

My boyfriend and I shared the rollatini di melanzane (thinly sliced eggplant rolled around a mixture of ricotta, pine nuts, nut meg, etc. and baked in red sauce) appetizer. It was delicious and a perfect first dish.

For our main course we had a pasta dish of penne with various seafood including mussels, and a customized pizza with artichoke, mushrooms, prosciutto, and olives. I was amazed how well the pizza crust/mozzarella and light sauce matched my fond memories of pizza in Italy.

All around the meal was ~$60, although we did pass on wine. Portions are more than sufficient. The price is right. While I did notice several families dining around us, the noise level was fine and I had no trouble carrying on a conversation with my table mates.

Doesn't Recommend

pumpkinmama

Joined 5 years ago

adios to this place. Food is usually pretty good, as is the service UNLESS you have the misfortune of customer service from the owner!

Recommends

1carbon

Joined 5 years ago

Great pasta, one of my favorites. I can't say a lot about some of the other entrees as I always come here for their amazing pasta, but I'd just assume they are also superb. This is the go-to place for me for great pasta in LA when I have any doubts on where to eat. I can't recommend it enough. The only issues the place has is that it is quite small, so if it's crowded one might have to wait a while to be seated.

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tracy88

Joined 6 years ago

Great food, Moderate Atmosphere. My boyfriend and I were looking for a place for dinner so we decided to go down 3rd Street. After looking at several menus at Orso, Locanda Veneto, etc., we decided to go to Cafe Angelini. The food looked and smelled really good. The host was rough around the edges, but was friendly and you just had to take it for what it was. The cold bread and tasteless olive oil given at the beginning of the meal was not a good indicator of the delicious food to come. By 8:30PM on Thursday evening, they were completely out of their clams, mussels, and fish. The pizza is extremely thin and tasty and has a crispy crust. The pasta was delicious also. We also had the shrimp and avocado salad which was very good. We had tiramisu and coffee (that was a bit burnt) for dessert. All in all, the food was very good and reasonably priced. We had 2 salads, 2 entrees, dessert and one coffee and the bill came out to $66. I would definitely suggest this restaurant if you are looking for a casual warm good-tasting meal. The restaurant is extremely small, so beware of waiting.

Doesn't Recommend

epicurist

Joined 7 years ago

NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU!. If you?re looking for a nice Italian restaurant with good food, reasonably priced and great service THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU! My friend and I were looking for a place to eat dinner when we stumbled upon this ABOMINABLE place trying to call themselves an Italian restaurant.

I ordered the lasagna with a side of sausage and my friend ordered the N.Y. steak. Our meals arrived 40 minutes later and they looked atrocious! My lasagna turned out to be a lasagna soup. The sauce was more like water with a splash of tomato juice and the lasagna noodles were floating around like soggy socks. I bravely ate a piece and it tasted worse than Chef Boyardee! My friend ordered his steak medium to medium rare but it came out rare and still bright red. I asked the waitress to replace my order with something edible so she took away the so called lasagna. In the meantime while waiting for my second entree which arrived 30 minutes later I was forced to share my friend?s meal and eat the side of small sausage.

When the bill arrived and I noticed that the sausage was included for $5. I was shocked and outraged so I requested the waitress to remove the charge. She came back shortly and told us that since we ate it we pay for it. I asked to speak to the manager and he was surprisingly very rude and surly. Instead of graciously removing the charges for their error and my inconvenience he still insisted that I pay for the outrageous amount for the sausage, mind you the bill was over $60 total. Needless to say I will never set foot in that stink hole ever again whose idea of customer service is apparently based upon the philosophy of Benito Mussolini.

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sooroo

Joined 6 years ago

Great food, but horrible service. The food at this neighborhood restaurant is fantastic. I love the food, but every time I go there to eat, I am astonished at the incredibly horrendous service. The owner routinely is standing around, talking on the telephone, and ignoring customers. I've actually seen him roll his eyes at a customer when they asked for the check (since the wait staff had not brought it in 30 minutes!). One time, it took 45 minutes from the time we sat down to the time someone brought us some water. Obviously, they need to work on their customer service. Fortunately, their food is great. Otherwise, it would have been closed years ago. Perhaps the owner might make some changes in his ridiculous behavior. If so, this place might be one of the best in L.A. Try takeout--you get the same fabulous food without the attitude.

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sharkysuz

Joined 7 years ago

Decent food, Bad atmosphere. This place is within walking distance of my boyfriend's new apartment, so we had to try it. Somewhere on this site it says to make reservations, but you definitely do not need to do that. We started with a bottle of wine. The list was quite short, but probably an ok length for the size of the place. I enjoyed my meal. I got a halibut steak with putenesca sauce. The fish was cooked well, but the tomatoes in the sauce were not the freshest. My boyfriend got the chicken with mushrooms on the menu. He liked the mushroom sauce, but thought the chicken itself lacked flavor. The bill came with homemade cookies. What I liked least about the restaurant was the atmosphere, as in there was none. It felt more like a pizza joint than an italian restaurant. Perhaps if you sit outside its better. We'll probably be back, but only because the prices are reasonable and its walking distance for us.

Recommends

glansky

Joined 7 years ago

Great REAL Italian restaurant.. The food is perfect and the prices are really low for the quality you get. Can be a little crowded at nights. Make sure u tried the special beef ask the waiter... It's just delicious !!

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bobves

Joined 7 years ago

Excellent Wellpriced Italian Restaurant. I have been coming to this restaurant for years and despite the numerous good restaurants in the area, this is my favorite. All of the dishes seem to be good. I particularly love the bruschetta which I almost always get as an appetizer. The risotto, fussili putenesca, and penne salsiccia (chicken sausage) are my favorites. The service is great and they will adjust to your needs (i.e. speed things along if you need them too, or let you relax if not). The prices are great 8$ - 13$ for such good fare. It does get loud during the evening rush which is my only complaint. It feels and is run like a family owned restaurant. Great place for lunch.