10/29/09

Third class restaurant at first class price

by ElieB

the waitress was uninterested and the service was definitely not "Mediterranean style" , the portions were SMALL and the prices were large. No flexibility or desire to accommodate customer request. The bread did not fit the place or the prices (more like a Danny's bread) . A simple salad @ $17 and main course too small of a portion to feed a normal person.

Overall rating, Mediocre (at best)

• Pros: the food wasTasty
• Cons: Lousy service, bad management, expensive

07/29/09

Couldn't Get Out of There Fast Enough

by Alissabc

I thought I would give Terroni one more try. I went this evening and I won't be going back. It's loud on it's own because of the acoustics of the building, but they also blast this really frenetic, annoying music. Our waiter was inattentive and somewhat rude. He disappeared at some point. We had to ask the hostess for the bill. The food was cold and over-priced. This place is not going to last.

• Pros: In my neighborhood
• Cons: loud, frenetic atmosphere, so-so food

06/14/09

SUCKED - Don't bother

by ML90036

There was attitude from the moment we walked in. It was loud and the tables were smashed together, killing any possibility of a romantic evening. The bar was limited, and drinks were overpriced. Food was unimaginative and poorly executed (they screwed up pizza) -- especially for these prices. Bad service, bad food, bad drinks bad ambiance, and big bill. I will * N E V E R * go back.

• Cons: Bad on every level

06/12/09

Careful, Terroni thinks it's better than you

by nicada

The atmosphere was great, the wine was overpriced ($18/glass...is this the Four Seasons?), but it was great, and the menu looked extensive. But DON'T be fooled. This is a restaurant that thinks it's better than its customers. My husband & I have never felt so belittled by a restaurant's absurd policies!!

The bread is dry, can we please have some butter, or balsamic vinegar? NO, we believe you should only eat bread with olive oil. The calamari looks good, can we please have some dipping sauce? NO. What about a side of marinara, we know you have that in the kitchen. NO, we don't want you to eat our calamari with our marinara. Hmmm. The pizza comes out, it's too dry and flavorless. Some Parmesan cheese? We just saw you bring some to our neighbor for their pasta. Absolutely NO, we don't want you to eat parmesan with our pizza. Excuse me??????

It was so rude, so belittling. To have the ingredients, to bring them to the table next to you, but to outright REFUSE to bring them to you? It's inexcusable. No paying customer should be made to feel like we're not good enough to sit in your seat. Like your opinion of how to eat pizza is better than mine. You can eat your pizza how you'd like, but with all due respect Chef, you're making food for ME to eat! It's not your meal when I'm paying for it. It's mine.

The manager went on to argue with my husband, who is Italian, and who has lived in Italy, that this is the European way. What is, rudeness? Well this is Los Angeles, and your restaurant is across the street from the Grove, for God's sake. And here in California, restaurants earn loyal customers with courtesy and delicious food. Not insults and dry pizza.

Btw, this is the first restaurant I have ever written a review about, ever...

• Pros: Nice atmosphere
• Cons: Absurd & belittling policies

05/27/09

becoming my favorite lunch spot

by HerbDow

Just always an enjoyable meal for me and my clients. Most of them have returned on their own. I would recommend to anyone. I especially enjoy the big table in front

• Pros: great wine list and service
• Cons: hard to find street parking

05/14/09

You must be kidding: Condescension gets an A+ here!

by MarkWithAK

This is the kind of restaurant doomed to fail--I give it 2 years at most--since they are totally customer-unfriendly. No substiutions. NO PARMESAN CHEESE TO ADD ON TOP OF YOUR PIZZA. No balsamic vinegar to dunk your (veritably uninteresting) bread in. The wait staff have all been primped anf primed on how to tell you "No" to any special request. Get off your high horse already!

• Pros: Good pizza
• Cons: Just try asking for it to be cut, or substitution made!

04/23/09

Just not worth it

by federmane

We were looking forward to his as it was my son's 15th birthday and a year ago at this time we had a great experience. This time was very different. The waiter was very nice, but slow and preoccupied, and the food was all wrong. The squash blossoms were overdone, fried in what tasted like old oil and hot on the outside and cold on the inside. The grilled calamari salad missed the mark with overly grilled (and therefore way too chewy) calamari. Finally, when I cut my knee on a really sharp, unfinished piece of the table, no attempt was made to "make it right." All in all, there are way too many really good Italian restaurants in LA (like Cafe Angelino and Angeli) to bother with Terroni.

• Pros: Good atmosphere, close to home
• Cons: Mediocre, over-priced food

04/01/09

pass on this one

by joeycuzz

in a time when businesses are literally doing anything to survive, i was shocked at the arrogance of terroni. they have decided that everything is so perfect as is, that you can not make any changes to the menu items AT ALL. 'no marinara with the calamari, no you can't add pancetta to that pasta dish,' etc. etc. i thought about leaving but i was hungry so i tried my server's alternate suggestion of a dish that had a cheese and meat sauce. it reminded me of hamburger helper and my wife agreed with my assessment. terroni has some potential but it will fail unless the owners suppress their rather large egos and realize that people will stop going there if they can't get what they want. better restaurants in l.a. are more than happy to accommodate customer's reasonable requests and they will always earn my future business. terroni will not.

03/18/09

not worth it

by cshin65

eh- boring and super pretentious. the food is bland and i really don't understand why people keep going back to this place. for what???

• Pros: cute decor
• Cons: no parking, bland food, boring

03/09/09

Overpriced, terrible service, mediocre food, why eat here when there are other AWESOME restaurants?

by GreatFoodOnly

I love great food. I'm Italian. It takes a lot to impress me, but I don't get upset and write negative reviews very often. In this case, I am making an exception. I live in the area and have walked by this place 100 times and was excited to eat there. I had some family in town, so I thought that this would be the perfect place to eat and relax. I was dead wrong and very embarrassed when all was said and done.

Strikes list:

1. You have to pay for bread at the table. $5 for bread? C'mon guys...

2. Calamari was cold.

3. We had to pour our own room temperature water. No ice? Really?

4. Our waitress disappeared a dozen times. No clue...

5. We had to to BUS our own table! After every course we were so tired of staring at dirty plates that we had to stack our own and move them to the corner of the table.

6. Cold food, very cold. Maybe due to the disappearing act by our waitress?

7. Ridiculously overpriced. Seriously. This is NOT Beverly Hills, but expect to pay Beverly Hills prices.

8. $35 corkage fee if you want to bring your own wine.

9. Did I mention the service was an absolute joke?

10. You have to have a party of 6 or more to get attention from the waitstaff. Or so it seemed.

Base hits:

1. Tasty food. Definitely NOT worth $30/plate, but tasty nonetheless.

2. Location.

I have had meals that have far exceeded the, four person, bill that this place gave us. I have absolutely no problem paying for quality. This is NOT worth the money.

You really let me down Terroni.

• Pros: Location. Food is tasty, though overpriced
• Cons: Service, price, cold food, service, ambiance, service.