La Tavola Trattoria

This place was ok. The pasta tasted fresh. I had the mushroom Ragu which would’ve benefited from an optional protein like duck. The dish had potential but didn’t do it for me. My boyfriend had the spaghetti with veal meatballs which was really good The Italian salami plate was ok. The tiramisu was the star of the night. It was so decadent and creamy with coffee ice chips, espresso powder dusting the plate, and some type of cookie or wafer too. I’d give this place another try just because the tiramisu was so good

Rare combination of great service, food and ambiance. The vegetable lasagna is among the best I have ever eaten. The restaurant is rather small but very quaint and comfortable, with indoor and some outdoor seating. Patrons can see the cooking/​prep area of the kitchen from the indoor dining area through glass panels. This is a nice touch, and the employees preparing the food appeared to be culinary professionals. The high-​end and properly-​installed ventilation system over the cooking area however ensures that patrons don’t leave the restaurant smelling like food. If the restaurant is crowded and you have no more than two people in your party, try dining at the bar. Full menu is served and the service at the small bar is very attentive.

It goes without saying, Fifth Group brings the best restaurants to the city. That being said, La Tavola, is one of the best Italian restaurants in Atlanta. You might be thinking, «Italian brunch?, I don’t think so.» However, do yourself a favor and check it out. From delicious homemade sausages, charcuterie, frittatas, and pastas, you can’t go wrong. It’s the perfect brunch paired with tasty bloody Mary’s and mimosas. David Hobbs was managing and made sure we were taken care of, Randall, our server, made excellent recommendations from food to drinks. Thanks, Chef Justin for your excellent and perfect touches on your menu. Paired with a beautiful patio setting in the quaint Virginia-​Highlands, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect dining experience.

The food, the atmosphere, the wine … all excellent. I would recommend this restaurant for those who like something different. They had quite an eclectic menu and everyone found something different and delicious.

My boyfriend and I have been wanting to try this place and this weekend we finally did!
Somehow we got lucky… walked in on Friday night at 8pm and were seated immediately. Apparently this never happens so make a reservation!
The restaurant itself is small, warm and inviting. All of the tables were buzzing and the aromas from the kitchen were wafting out into the dining room! We had Jill as our server and she was wonderful! Told us what we needed to know from the menu and had a great personality.
They bring out fresh bread-​which we enjoyed.
We started off with some wine and order the cheese tasting. The wine was fine but the cheese tasting was a disappointment. It was $ 13 for 4 small slices of cheese and some strawberries. This dish needed more accompaniments or something-​just seemed like it wasn’t well thought-​out.
Onto the entrees! I got the mushroom ragu and my boyfriend got the spaghetti. We both loved our meals but the ragu was really the star-​wow! If you are a mushroom fan I would definitely suggest going here just for that.
To finish we got the tiramisu which was A++. It came with some flavored crushed ice which was unnecessary so we just pushed that aside and devoured the tiramisu.
Overall– wonderful experience! Great service, nice atmosphere and yummy food. I wish their anitpasti had a better selection but maybe we just caught them on an off night. Would recommend to anyone, especially for a date environment.

Calamari pasta!!! Enough said. Get it.

Came here for my husband’s birthday. Most of what we ordered was from their Mezzogiorno menu, which was a special seasonal menu. Our server mentioned they do such special menus 4x a year. I won’t go into too much detail on the food because you likely won’t see the same items but if there is something that is particularly popular, they may add it to the regular menu. We had a cod appetizer that was ahhhhmazing. The sauce was so good that we asked for more bread to soak up every last drop — I hope this one makes a comeback! Off the regular menu, we ordered the chestnut casarecce which included rabbit ragu. While good, the pasta itself was underwhelming and did not soak up the flavor of the sauce much. Ordered another pasta and entrée from their Mezzogirono menu.
We wanted dessert but were too full, however our server still brought out something for us given the special occasion.

the only good thing was the bread. We had the snapper which was not completely cooked and left my hands smelling fishy. The service was ok.

Service was great, food was great! We had the rabbit ragu, a seared red snapper dish, and tiramisu for dessert. Everything was flawless, will be back without a doubt! Drink choice of the evening was a Macallan 12 neat and the Strada Al Sasso Chianti Classico. Was busy but wouldn’t change a thing!

Fabulous Italian meal. Fantastic, friendly service. The veal saltimbocca and a special seafood sausage over pasta were both amazing. Request to sit on the back patio if it is a nice night.

Love!!! I have loved La Tavola for over 4 years and they have yet to disappoint. After a long time, I got to visit my lost love again and they are still as good as ever. We went for brunch and their mushroom pasta was every bit as savory, truffley, lovely as I remembered. The complimentary bread and olive oil are delightful and a great way to start the meal. My bf got the spaghetti with meatballs which sounds basic, but La Tavola manages to completely elevate this dish.

I consider myself to be quite lucky to land a reservation during prime time on a Saturday night for this neighborhood favorite. However, my experience left me wishing for more.
The warm and dimly lit interior was romantic and cozy creating a New York meets San Fran vibe. The ambience was great, lively and energetic.
I had read about the restaurant online and after seeing the Taglioni and Mushroom Ragu, I knew I had to try. Thanks for those great photos on Unilocal,kids! My only disappointment was that I ate it all too quick and that the dish was quite salty. I’ve read recent reviews of disappointed frequent customers with the new chef so that may have something to do with it. Still, I wasn’t too bothered by it but thought it worth mentioning.
The tuna appetizer we order was less than spectacular but enjoyable. Marinated in briny water for a lengthy amount of time according to our very «cool» server– and by cool I mean pompous and only became somewhat nice just before dessert in order to ensure his tip wasn’t skimpy. His recommendation for the chicken over the steak was also underwhelming.
The very creamy and fluffy tiramisu was the true highlight of my night and it lightened up our mood but Not enough for spending over $ 200 in a meal for 2 and having just a mediocre time… Not when the restaurant could have been enjoyed much more with a better server.
You adeserve 5 stars La Tavola, and not the three I’m giving you today.
I’m sure in the past you would have received them. It’s time to get back on track.

Love it! To start with hall of fame waiter alert: Will, you rock, give this man a big xmass bonus!
Sit inside or out on balcony, not super fancy, but done just right. Food from start to end was nice northern Italian style. Ink pasta to saltimbocca, well prepared. Wine list was excellent. Strong variety at reasonable prices.
I can see this being a regular, would be great to sample more of the menu.

I’ve been here several times, once for my birthday, it’s that good.
This is a small restaurant, so make sure you have a reservation. There is indoor and outdoor patio seating in the back. The patio is really pretty, with fans on the ceiling and fresh basil growing on the railing.
I love that this restaurant offers $ 10 pasta dishes on Monday evenings. They have a small pasta menu available on Mondays, there is about 3 – 4 dishes to choose from and they have been tasty every time we’ve tried them. I’ve also had their roasted beets, squid ink linguine and fingerling potatoes. I love the freshly made pasta!!! Everything here is delicious and I was never disappointed.
For my birthday, they gave me a free tiramisu cake that wasn’t even on their menu :-)

We drove up to this small, comfortable spot in Virginia Highlands on a anniversary dinner and it’s still something I think about.
I was able to snack on mixed un-​pitted olives, sample wines I’d not seen and have my wife and I be pampered by the owner and several staff members. I grabbed a simple dinner of their fish entrée and it was a full evening.
The atmosphere was a gentle, dark space which put the food preparation close to the dining so you could imagine eating all the food as it came up in the expo. Everyone was cozy into

Accommodating — Eclectic — Hip Atmosphere — Awesome Dishes
It was one of those ‘love at first sight’ happenings. We did not have a reservation on a beautiful Saturday evening yet the hostess allocated a small table for two on their balcony/​patio.
We had unique dietary needs and the manager himself came to the table clarifying all of our special needs so they would get it «just» right.
We ordered a Salumi Board which was awesome containing Italian specializes like prosciutto and speck. Besides a few vegetable side dishes (broccoli rabe, garlic, chilies and Sea Island red peas, rosemary), we ordered «Tagliolini Mushroom Ragu» and «Lasagnette».
All of the dishes were simply fabulous — even though we had made some changes that deviated from the main recipe — and had us scraping our plates with every possible utensil we had at our disposal!
The next time we’ll visit Atlanta we will certainly stop by La Tavola again and again!

Sure this place is cramped, reminiscent of NYC spots. The food and service remain consistently on point. The meat and cheese board is never to be missed. It is laid out like a work of pork art. Each cured item is sliced paper thin and adored with a pickled vegetable to cut through the fattiness. Cheese is optional but why would you not opt for it? I mean, this board isn’t kosher to begin with.
I tried the roasted shrimp starter this time and it has that wonderful charred crustacean scent that takes me back to my Florida childhood. Topped with lemon, capers and garlic it is a flavor powerhouse and the shrimp is head on, split, skewered and cooked to perfection. I rudely but unashamedly licked my fingers. He doesn’t mind.
No entrée for me tonight. I opted for two sides of perfectly creamy polenta and roasted veal meatballs. I forgot to ask if they came with marinara but they do. It’s fine if you like red sauce. I don’t but I ate it anyway. That polenta is EVERYTHING.
Pasta bolognese is comforting and classic. It is tossed in tagliatelle and simply heavenly.
The flourless chocolate cake is in need of a renaming. This is a dense almost candy like structure with a side of a ganache type concoction. The crispy almond praline helps offset the creamy goo but it may need a rethink. Maybe more egg whites to lighten, whipped cream instead of ganache? It goes over the line even for us die hard chocoholics.
Balcony is always first choice for quiet but this time I sat inside the main dining room and it did not suck. I will be back for another visit. It’s still a win and if you can stay consistently good for this many years in Atlanta you are doing something right. Or everything right.

First off, Make reservations!!! This place tends to be packed so to avoid waiting around (because they don’t have a waiting area inside), make reservations!
We tried an assortment of different dishes… I’ll highlight the ones I thought were the best.
Olives — In general, I’m not a big olive fan but they do these really well. They come in three different colors and all of them have a different kick to them so it’s worth a try!
Mushroom Ragu Tagliolini — so ironically, my favorite dish that night was the truffles that came with some sort of pasta. The truffle flavor was just strong enough to complement the pasta, but still not overpowering to make you feel sick of it.
Seared Scallops — These didn’t taste all that amazing. But, they didn’t overcook the scallop which was good but beyond that, I couldn’t remember anything distinctive about it.
Tiramisu — Being an Italian restaurant, they had to make this well and they did. It gets a strong recommendation.
Cannoli — This was my favorite dessert. It was soft enough to use a spoon to get a spoonful yet soft enough to almost let it melt in your mouth. Delicious.
We got a couple of 4 ounces drinks off the dessert menu and they come in this slightly larger than shot glass cup. It tasted like rocket fuel but it was certainly a uniquer experience.
Overall, the service was great, they kept our drinks filled and our plates full.

I love this place — reminds me of eating with my Italian family and add a little polish — motto Bene! Scallops were deliciously executed — lighten up on the salt and we’re there!
Giuseppe

No wait at 11 am on a Sunday!
The ambiance inside was dim and intimate. There is patio seating at the back of the restaurant. It overlooks the valet
parking lot.
Everybody was very friendly but our waiter seemed reluctant to answer questions about food.
I got the rabbit sausage. Interesting texture and it was a bit salty. I enjoyed everything else that came with it though.
Instead of fried eggs, I asked for potatoes as a substitute. Oh boy, oh boy. I will have to order it as a side next time.
Soft and seasoned. I could not have asked for anything more. The kitchen was very accomodating to make this substitution for me. The dish comes with polento. The amount was just right where I did not still feel hungry or stuffed afterwards.
The bacon was crispy and had the right amount of saltiness. I also tried the creamy aromatic grits and approve of that as well.
Parking was relatively easy at that hour. It’s free to park on the streets on Sundays. However, look for the meters on
other days.