Angeli Caffe

04/23/09

Still good after all these years

by federmane at Citysearch

Hadn't been for several years and was really happy to learn the the food was as wonderful as ever! Service was efficient, the quality of the food was excellent, and the bottom line is that Angeli is hard to beat for taste!

• Pros: Yum, yum, yum (and I love the bread)
• Cons: not always easy to get a seat (make a reservation)

03/27/09

Great food, nice service

by candykirby at Citysearch

Just went to Angeli on a Friday night and had a fabulous experience. Delicious, piping hot bread and good pizza. Helpful, friendly servers. Definitely recommend.

• Pros: Tasty Pizza
• Cons: Small place; can get crowded

09/21/08

cheap, great eats

by pinays at Citysearch

if you want to go to a friendly down home italian place, then this is the place for you. the space is a bit small but it just makes for a good casual dinner. try to grab a table by the windows to see the world pass you by as you eat some good grub. first off, we got some fresh-off-the-oven piping hot bread, which was perfectly soft inside and crunchy crust outside. we also ordered calamari, which was nicely breaded although it did not stand out. i ordered the penne with wild arugula and chicken special. the penne was al dente, the chicken meaty and the whole dish just feels like i am eating it by an italian countryside while watching all the cars whizz by on melrose blvd. i had a taste of my friend's sphagetti with baby tomatoes and zucchini. it was a simple, yet tasty dish. nothing fancy but just using good ingredients with the flavors brought out. alas, we had no room for dessert as i scarfed down the bread, calamari and the penne. the bill came to about $20 ish plus tax and tip without alcohol. a good deal for real good food.

04/26/08

Great food, great for families, always a pleasant night

by duke99 at Citysearch

We often go to Angeli on a Friday night with our two kids, after a long week for everyone, and we always have a great time. The waiters always greet us like old friends, and we immediately can relax. The bread, as people have mentioned, is warm and delicious. But the appetizers and main courses are wonderful. The restaurant is about simple food, using fresh ingredients, simply prepared. It works well for the meat lovers, as well as the vegetarians in our family. We have never experienced the kind of service that some reviewers speak of, and we have dined there dozens of times. Angeli is our "go to" restaurant when we want a good meal that will satisfy everyone in the family. It is also great that they take the KCRW fringe benefits card.

• Pros: Service, food, atmosphere
• Cons: parking can be difficult, but valet is available

01/18/08

Carb Lover's Dream!

by martinikitty13 at Citysearch

Angeli Cafe is a lovely little Italian restaurant with simple, fresh, homey Italian food, friendly, cozy service, affordable prices ? all in a rather modern, yet somehow warm space. Space is a bit tight so I would recommend this for smaller groups since you will literally be sitting elbow to elbow! Parking can also be difficult (street parking on Melrose near La Brea isn?t always easy), but they do have valet ($5.50).

My friend was a bit late so I enjoyed a glass of cava ? very refreshing with a hint of fruit, dry finish. They also left a nice, warm loaf of ?pizza bread? ? a mound of bready delight which I dipped in their very good virgin olive oil. I finally had to cut myself off because I didn?t want to be full before my meal even began! I then focused on watching the other diners, a large portion of which appeared to be regulars. That is always promising when you find that a restaurant has a loyal following.

When my friend arrived, we struggled with the menu which had too many tempting choices. (The menu is available on their website, but they also have several specials off-menu.) The waitress was very helpful and answered our multitude of questions. This is what we ended up having:

- potato croquettes (little fried puffed croquettes of mashed potatoes, salame and smoked mozzarella). Very tasty.

- Mushroom risotto. Risotto was perfectly cooked, mushrooms were tender, sweet and flavorful and the parmesan was nutty and smoky. Yum!

- The special ? lobster and shrimp in spicy red sauce over a bed of linquine. Very nice kick in the spicy sauce, sweet tender lobster and shrimp. Mmmmm.

I was pretty full afterwards so we shared an affogato (vanilla gelato in a shot of espresso) ? always a nice simple finish to a meal. I would definitely return ? there were just too many other dishes I wanted to try, like the gnocchi, roast chicken, lasagna ?. Carbs are just too good to give up!

• Pros: Delicious, affordable food and friendly service
• Cons: parking

10/26/07

spazzatura or rifiuti either way it means garbage

by thedecider at Citysearch

Hey all,

I just finished a small portion of my food which was delivered to my home and if I owned a dog I would never have considered giving it the left-overs... Wow, what a let down! I was curious about this restaurant for years and now I know what I was missing. Absolutely nothing.

The linguine with clam sauce was as dry as a mormon town in Utah or Amish country back in PA. The vegetable lasagna was slop containing 90% onions. They really should have delivered a whole onion to me and said we ran out of actual lasagna but this is basically the same dish.

Time to "get rid of" the portion I did consume... Ciao!

P. S. This is the first time I've ever written a review about anything. Oh boy... gotta run...

09/27/07

Extremely Disappointing - from a discerning foodie

by daisyd at Citysearch

I have long wanted to try Angeli Cafe having listened to Evan's radio show for years and being a member of Slow Food LA. I was very excited to try it last night on a special date - and then very surprised that the food was so average and the servers rather inattentive! Why? What is going on? Did I miss something? What are all these rave reviews from? The tagliata was served on a bed of old, faded and yellowing arugula. The beet and burrata salad was grossly under seasoned and crying out for some good salt. The special risotto was extremely bland, livened up only by its pesto garnish which we desparetely sucked down. The fritters were - ok - but could have used a sassy dipping sauce. I enjoyed the dessert - a rasperry tart in a linzer type crust - my companion thought it was oddly composed with the crust being extremely tough to break through - and it was accompanied by a strange chocolate caramel disc that seemed to belong on another dessert plate. I eat out constantly and work in the food industry. I think Evan is doing wonderful things for the Slow Food community but I would not eat here again and I cannot recommend it. Save your money and head to Culver City to Fraiche or Ford's Filling Station. Angeli Cafe - have you gotten complacent or was it just late on a Wednesday night? Best of luck here.

03/22/07

Awesome Alfredo

by erikaes at Citysearch

Probably my favorite restaurant! Alfredo is awesome. Pizzas divine. Wines are top notch. Giving it my highest rating

• Pros: Food is superb
• Cons: none

11/20/06

The bread is only the beginning...

by diana91583 at Citysearch

After hearing rave reviews about this place for months, a friend and I finally checked it out this past weekend. We arrived at 7:30 pm on a Saturday night without reservations, and even though the restaurant was full, we were seated immediately -- the host even apologized that he didn't have something in the main dining room! Piping hot bread came out seconds later, and my friend and I devoured it within minutes. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, the bread was the perfect beginning to our dining expereince. We shared a half-carafe of cabernet and the insalata forte to start - a delicious combination of baby greens, parmesan, garlic and a tangy parmesan vinagrette, and then we both ordered the lasagna for our main course (I got the vegetarian version). I am normally a little hesitant to order lasagna from a restaurant -- it can often come out heavy and overly cheesy, but this version was peeeerfect. Delicate layers of pasta made this usually hearty dish a light delight and the portion size was just right. I scraped my plate clean! I will definitely be coming back for more! The bread alone is reason enough to warrant many return visits!

• Pros: BREAD, Service, Relaxing atmosphere

06/23/06

best Italian on Melrose... easily.

by dorresh at Citysearch

Weve been eating at Angeli for 5 years. This is a neighborhood restaurant. The people who work there have been there for YEARS. Why? It's a family. From the wait staff to the owner to the customers, the family vibe is unique and HIGHLY appreciated. We were there for dinner one night and our favorite old italian guy had had a death in his family. We asked, "Why on earth are you working a day after such a loss?" He responded with, "this is my family too, I am happiest here". I thought it was a great way of describing the space between the staff and regulars.

The ambience is extremely tasteful. It's a modern casual vibe which can accommodate jeans and t-shirts OR ties and dresses without an ounce of awkwardness- a pinch of LA that many people miss while they are staring at the silicone and Italian driving glasses.

The food is second to none. This is the kind of place whose chef goes to the market (the REAL one) to choose the freshest foods to tie into their very reliable menu. Last night, the sides were fresh summer squash and the sweetest, cut from the cob corn youve ever had. Count on the entrees being consistent, and the rest to be exciting and new.

If you happen to be drinking, the wine list is perfect. They have Italian wines (major and private properties) from most regions. Wines are listed in a way that makes matching them to your dinner SO easy. The beers are all unique and well matched to the menu- from Anchor Steam to Chimay (sp?). Good stuff.

I'm not sure what else to say except that I should have written this a long time ago. Hopefully people will read this and understand that the waiters are FRIENDLY, not pompous- and the diners are HAPPY, not competitive. I take offense to a review of Angeli that misses the whole point. My friends and I are a crew of happy, successful foodies who know the best places in LA to eat. Angeli is certainly in the top 3.

• Pros: authentic, honest, high class and TOTALLY affordable
• Cons: b/c of the food, they get the occasional food snob. understandable.