10/29/09

Chopped Salad (nuff said)

by kara nortman

I only get the chopped salad at La Scala, which is the main reason for the 3 stars (hard to comment on the rest, this rating could go up). Plus, La Scala does not make it easy if you have kids and loved their chopped salad.

It is an LA institution, so worth the visit. The crowd ages a bit at night

• Pros: Not to be redundant but the chopped salad
• Cons: No highchairs

05/19/09

Great Chop Salads, Amazing Steaks

by RudeDinerPolice

I have been eating here for years The food is consistently good. I am addicted to the chop salads, and their steaks are better than some of the steak houses in the area. There is a new manager that really seems to care and the servers seem to be happier than in times past. The clientele in this area can be demanding, so some consideration should be given to perceived lapses in hospitality. The bar tenders are realy friendly and fast for a quick bite at lunch without waiting for a table. I am there several days a week and see many of the same guests there every day for lunch and again for dinner. That says something about the service and the quality of the food!

• Pros: Great Star Gazing Here! The service is improving!
• Cons: Popularity makes it difficult to get in during busy times

05/11/09

Horrible Service & Food

by LAEater81

Dear LA Diners,

If there was ever to be a RESTAURANT POLICE and this organization had the power to revoke a restaurants ability to serve atrocious food with a side of disrespectful and patronizing service, then this organization should immediately shut down the doors of La Scala in Beverly Hills located at 434 N Canon Dr. In my 35 years of living and dining in Southern California I have never been so insulted and disgusted by a restaurant experience as I was last Friday night at La Scala. I will let you be the judge of whether I am overacting or not…

My wife and I decided to take our friend from out of town to somewhere we hadn't been to in years, ironically we quickly were to recall the reason for our past dismissal of La Scala. We sat down, only to be barely acknowledged by an arrogant waiter who clearly indicated through his demeanor that he rather be anywhere other than our table to take our order. His behavior was quickly commented on by my friend, who already had the preconceived notion that Los Angeles is the proud home of bad hospitality. I decided to ignore his comment and attempt to not let the waiter ruin my experience.

I proceeded to order the Capellini Primavera, and as I always have, requested it to be a little spicy. 20 minutes later I did indeed get a Capellini Primavera, laced with a lethal amount of chili flakes. After a small coughing and choking tantrum that I couldn't help but throw, I asked my wife and my friend to taste it as well. After 2 additional votes that the dish was INEDIBLE, I called the waiter over. After I placed my complaint to the waiter, he proceeded to stare at me like I was a moron, after which he explained that he couldn't return any dish without his manager’s approval. SIDE NOTE** At no point did he empathize with the fact that I almost choked.** So we called over the manager, Ken, the ever so pompous, self-righteous, son of a gun who never apologized for my dish but proceed to speak to me as if I were a child. Asking me if I had ever dined there before? As if the answer YES would rationalize the ridiculousness of my experience thus far. Then he told me that they have a no return policy. At which point my friend had enough of his monologue and began to speak in my defense (as if I needed to even defend the fact that my food was uneatable and absurdly over spiced) at which point KEN turned around and told him to basically shut up as this wasn't any of his business. My dish was not taken back to the kitchen, I was charged for the plate of garbage, and I was never even given a simple apology.

So my dear LA EATERS, the point of my tangent isn’t to bash LA SCALA although I inevitable have taken care of two birds with one stone, but to reach out and help better guide you as to where you should spend your hard earned dollars in this recession. If you wish to be patronized and treated like prisoner of war, then please by all means go to La Scala. If you are truly keene on the notion of good Italian food in Beverly Hills, I suggested you try the other 3 Italian restaurants on Canon and spare yourself a truly aggravating and insulting experience

Best,

One very upset LA Eater.

• Cons: Worst service and italian food in town.

08/02/08

La Scala - over the hill

by funwithfood

Once a startlet, La Scala has not aged well. The food is mediocre compared to the newer and more fun Italian restaurants in the area. The staff, surly and snotty, is only eager when it comes to clearing and presenting the check. Kind of a melancholy group working a dark dingy room. The waiters leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. The chopped salad is over rated, and the pasta sauces too salty. Bad attitude abounds. There's much better food all along Canon.

• Cons: They don't like kids or large groups.

03/31/08

Excellent - never a disappointment

by rroBevHills

Great food, excellent service, friendly staff and management. Everything here is always a joy. We love the decor. It's always a perfect experience.

03/05/08

Best chopped salad ever.

by simplyjg

Oh My Goodness, their salads are sooooooooooooo gooooooooooood. I got hooked on them at one point but then realized that it's just not so healthy to eat only salads. JK...But seriously the chopped salad with turkey is just amazing. Go out and get one and you will see.

• Pros: excellent salad, bread.
• Cons: can't think of any.

10/25/07

I would not patronize this restaurant

by stuartmy

We had a reservation for six on 24 October 2007 for my birthday at 6.30 pm. My brother, who is almost immobile and is in a wheelchair, arrived early and asked to be seated until the others in the party arrived. The person in charge refused, even though by brother and companion had eaten at this same restaurant regularly for over ten years. The restaurant's written policy stated this in a frame in the entry. However, the restaurant which seats probably 100 or more was barely one-quarter full at the time and in addition our table for six had not even been set up for us and this was 6.25 pm. My brother was told that the table would not be set-up until the entire party had arrived at the restaurant to wait outside to be seated. On previous occasions when I had eaten at this restaurant with my brother I had been seated promptly when I had arrived early while waiting for him to arrive. Some inconsistency.

The "person in charge", who I confronted when I arrived, showed very poor judgement in not seating a handicapped person promptly irrespective of their written policy. It is not conducive to the ongoing success of this restaurant. Instead of eating at La Scala, we walked down to the next corner and arranged a table immediately for our party of six, outside on a beautiful balmy Southern California evening. We had an absolutely delightful meal with plenty of atmosphere. When we left, which was nearly 8.30 pm, that restaurant was still very very busy and nearly all the outside tables were occupied. As we walked back to our cars we noticed that the outside tables at La Scala were all empty and inside, the restaurant was barely one-third full.

Perhaps the manager or owner of La Scala should consider the very poor experience we had to see possibly why La Scala was not doing so well. If you do not want to be treated with the same type of disrespect that we experienced there are plenty of very fine busy restaurants on the same block of Canon Drive.

• Pros: Nothing
• Cons: Do not allow yourself to be disrespected when you go to this restaurant

12/02/06

mediocre food awful service / management

by jluvgold

After we arrived at this bh hotspot we sat ignored and thirsty for twenty minutes...I literally got up and asked for service and bread ten minutes later, I recieved both. The waiter was awful, we had to ask to hear the specials at which point he whispered them at one side of the table. We asked him for several things that never came untill we asked the bus boys, who were nice, professional and helpful. The food was disapointing and overpriced...the only good thing about the meal was the eggplant which was delightful. The problem seems to me (after being in the restaurant business for many years) as bad management. The servers don't seem to know much about the food, and they don't seem to care. The hostess was rude and basically threw the menus at us on the table....for a 400 dollar meal i expect to be treated a lot better than this....take me to ago, dominicks or aoc any day of the week...i will never go to la scala again.

• Pros: eggplant app
• Cons: everything else

11/15/06

Decent Italian in a nice neighborhood

by dmenkes

About 10 minutes after we ordered, James Woods pulled in and sat down next to us for lunch with his agent. We nodded at him and ne nodded back. This was my kind of place. My penne arrabiata was flavorful and the sauce was good. My iced tea was exceptional. Our waiter kind of forgot about us but hey, I'd forget me too if I was sitting next to a movie star! I can get similar quality Italian at a dozen other places, but I dig the atmosphere and star-watching here.

• Pros: star-watching
• Cons: so-so service

08/01/06

Good salad, but that's about it.

by elieadie

I went for lunch with some co-workers. It's basically a hole in the wall and parking is nightmare. You HAVE TO valet. It was kind of busy so we sat at the bar to avoid a wait. I had a chopped salad with turkey and it was better than it looked. The tea was great. The service was only OK at best...maybe that's just at the bar. It had to have taken us 20 minutes to get a check and get more bread. But, the salad is worth a try.

• Pros: Good Salad and Tea!
• Cons: Pricey, iffy service.