Tesoro Trattoria

12/31/08

Good Ambiance, Excellent Service & Delicious Food!

by nakali

Excellent Bar, good wine menu, tasty appetizers & very good seafood pasta dish. Their service was the Best!

01/02/07

BEYOND, BELOW BAD SERVICE

by caroldorn

How do you get a '94' rating out of 12 reviews, FOUR of which were bad....??!!

You be the judge: I reserved, at noon, 12/31, for 12/31. Told them we wanted a table for sure, so when do they open. Told 4:00, so we took a table at four, for three.

Their instruction on the phone, told me the wrong name of the parking area, cost us :25. to find the parking.

4:25 arrival, place not-quite-set-up. With no other reservation till 5:00, they said, they'd decided not to open till then, we don't mind waiting till then to eat, do we??

I glanced at the stocked bar, "Just open the bar...??" Oh, no! "Our ice tray at the bar isn't even filled!!!" our 'host' trumped me with.

SEAT US ??!! - implying concern for our comfort??!! They wedged us 3 into the 2 chairs in the waiting area, even confiscating the chair one of us had dragged over, to sit on!! We should just stand there, and try to be inconspicupous, since we clearly were in the way.

Seated at 5, (they did bring us one round, gratis): 3 course is 49.-, 4 course is with dessert and 59.-. Begging off on deciding on if dessert, waitress asked us THREE times which of the all 2 desserts they had, we wanted

The hors d'oeuvres arrive - cold. The first course out of the kitchen for the night, arrives cold. The scallops were good, the bisque tasted of something un-bisque-like - melted plastic??.

The filet mignon arrived m-rare as ordered, but tasting of cinders, beyond smokey. I'd asked for the parmesan polenta to replace the potatoe. The waitress made it clear :probably not possible. I did get it, but she never mentioned it.

Arriving at home, my phone message says the "Miscommunication" between chef & desk meant 5, 4:30 earliest. Their later comment that they'd "decided' to wait till 5 because of the light early booking, made that a lie. We live in Long Beach, 50 mins from them - they'd called at 18 mins before 4:00, and I guess changed their mind on the 4:30 seating, even after that.

• Pros: decent food - badly served
• Cons: Have no conception of hospitality, awful service

10/31/06

Friendly service and charming outside seating

by ldedalus

While staying next door at the Omni, my wife I stopped in last Friday night looking for a dinner salad and glass of wine. We were prepared to sit at the bar, but sat outside by the fountain as the restaurant (and downtown) was deserted. The scampi and ceasar salads we had were both good and the service friendly and attentive. It was a charming spot in the sunken plaza below MOCA and the street. While having an extensive wine list they offer few choices of quality by the glass which was disappointing. Otherwise, it was a good find that we plan on visiting again when we are in town to try some of the interesting choices we saw being ordered from the menu.

• Pros: Friendly and Accomodating Service
• Cons: Few wine choices by the glass

04/28/06

Very good

by raycox

My wife and I visited Tesoro on Saturday prior to a performance at the Disney Concert Hall. Must say the food was very good, and our server was outstanding. The only negative comment I would have is the noise level in the back area.

• Pros: beautiful water fall, romantic, great service
• Cons: noisy, hard to find

04/25/06

yuck!

by girliku

totally disgusting food! my husband and i took our families before a weekend concert at the disney concert hall. all the positive reviews are a total hoax. the food was terrible -- oversalted and overcooked. the worst part was the price. save your money and go anywhere else.

• Pros: location
• Cons: food food food!

04/17/06

My Favorite Things...

by jonpasadena

Great food, great service and of course, Waterfalls! I was first introduced to Tesoro during a business luncheon a couple of months ago. We were a group of about 20 and I was so impressed by the quality of the food and the caliber of service. So, when I finally got around to taking my girlfriend to see the new Disney Hall, I thought of Tesoro. The surroundings are even more charming... ok, let's say romantic, at night and the food was exceptional. They must make their own bread because it was unbelievable! Without even asking, the server took care of our parking validation and shuttle passes to the Hall. Funny, the next day we talked more about our experience at the restaurant than the concert.

04/14/06

Yummy

by emilytodd

I dine here usually at lunch with co-workers. The food is always great and service is pretty good. On super busy days you must be a bit patient. Overall i give it two thums up.

• Pros: great food, beautiful patio, romantic
• Cons: a bit noisy

04/04/06

OK Food, Really Bad Service

by bishonen29

Tesoro's setting is really pretty---a few steps away from MOCA below street level with a gorgeous water fountain outside and a warmly lit dining room. We were given a non-greeting by a sour-faced hostess who ignored us for five minutes as she worked on her phone reservations. A nic waiter finally came out and sat us. I had the Siciliano, pasta with ahi tuna which was decently flavored but shockingly oversalted almost to the point of being inedible. We got our food fast but that was the last we saw of our server---no checking in, no refills on our drinks unti we flagged him down. We had to yell out that we wanted coffee---our every request was grudgingly fulfilled like the server just wanted to get us off his back. I expect better at these prices. I won't be going back.

• Pros: Pretty setting, Close to Music Ctr
• Cons: Service, Mediocre Food

03/15/06

THE BEST IN LA

by mjhakim

I must say dinning at Tesero, Monday night was the best dinning experince I have had in the last ten years. You need to travel to Italy to find any thing better. The food is to die for. Wine list wonderful and the service in simply perfect. I will tell all my friends about it.

12/09/05

Poor quality food

by dfavini

I cook a lot myself ever since i grew up in Europe. As i was going to the Disney Concert Hall, i thought i would give Tesoro a try.

For appetizers, my salad arrived. The plate itself was freezing cold, the tomatoes on it almost frozen too. The other person i was with had an "italian" antipasto plate. The cold cuts were of very poor quality. Almost frozen tomatoes on one side of the plate, and warm tomatoes on the other!

The main dishes ("Firenze" and "Saltimbocca") were aweful. Not fresh tasting, poor combination of ingredients, tough meat and a sauce that had the typical flavor of stock coming out of a can. Besides that, "Saltimbocca" is prepared with sage which this dish didn't have. I wouldn't mind about that if the food would at least taste good. Don't waste your money here.

• Pros: Nice Atmosphere, Prompt Seating, Good Wine List
• Cons: Terrible food quality