La Terza Restaurant

Visited LaTerza once, very good food and the service was remarkable. Everything we ordered was quite good. The tables are spread out making your experience seem quite personal. Nice décor, no wait for our reservation.

Pfff… please.
1 star — Thanks for the Free Champagne when our table wasn’t ready
½ star — Clean
½ star — Affordable
— 3 stars for feeling like you are on the set of the Pizza Hut commercial where they come out and tell you that they’ve secretly replaced your ragu with Pizza Hut special sauce…
Seriously felt like Ashton Kutcher was heading out at any moment.
Food is very very average… the lights are up waaaay to high and there is absolutely no décor upstairs unless you count wall to wall pumpkin/​ochre blend paint as décor… I do not.
People were nice, but you can find waaaay better Italian… but then again, why go out for Italian when you can make it at the crib with ease?

2.5 stars
i like their bread — and its close to my favorite shops
everything else i ate was forgettable

Horrible Service! A Couple Good Dishes.
I don’t know if it the place was too busy and not enough help, but our waiter provided horrible service. When he got around to taking our order, he was rushing us. He would bring a couple plates here and there and then take a couple plates here and there. One of our main entrees must have been forgotten since we did not get it until most others at our table were done.
The Fiorentine Steak is delicious. The quail appetizer and the charcuterie were also done very well. The pork chop was delicious at first bite but went downhill from there — maybe too much fat and not enough flavor toward the center.
The seared tuna had to be returned. It did not smell close to fresh and lacked any sort of flavor.
I like Angelini a ton, but I will not be coming back to this restaurant.

I’m giving this place 3 stars not because it lacks the quality of a 4 star restaurant, but I just like being honest, and to get 4 stars takes a bit more than poshy niceness.
PROS: the owner (or was it the owner’s wife?) was and is wonderful. The food really depends on if you are going for asthetics or taste. As many know, going to somewhat upscale restarurants isn’t going to guarentee the most spectacular tasting food, since most people go to such places for the atomsphere anyway. The food was pretty experimental and tastey, but I would not say fabulous. The atmosphere is very dim and nice. The hostess was wonderful and greeted me and my guests very properly even though we were underdressed (shame on us).
CONS: It is a bit pricey for the portions (I really mean this). Parking is not readily available, unless you are planning to vallet at the hotel, or park on the streets.
TIPS: Seating can get crazy, so RSVP ahead. Please dress up.

TRUFFLES!
Yummy Black Summer Truffles served on every dish. As we walked in to La Terza (A restaurant I must have driven by a million times but never noticed) you could tell that there is something very similar with its sister restaurant Angelini Osteria, the staff seemed to be the same. We were seated immediately and almost as soon as we sat down, we received a complementary glass of champagne to start off our truffle tasting. The first dish came almost immediately, Scrambled eggs and black truffles. The eggs were served on a small piece of toast with a hollandaise and a generous helping of truffle shaved over the top. So good. I wish we served more than a bite of this dish.
Next up was a dish that I had my reservations about, Tuna tartar, assorted citrus, black truffles and Sicilian pistachio. But I had nothing to worry about because everything went well together. The only thing may be that the citrus drowned out the flavor of the truffles. After this dish came the Pan roasted whole quail, soft polenta and black truffles. Nice little helping of the little bird served on top of the polenta with the truffle shavings on top.
My favorite dish was up next, Open ravioli, porcini mushrooms, black truffles and cream of parmigiano. AMAZING. My top favorite dishes lately have included mushrooms, odd since throughout my childhood I would avoid the fungi… probably because of the common button mushrooms that I still detest. But this combo of porcini, truffles and cream puts it up there with some of my favorite dishes of all time.
Another great dish was next, Veal shank agnolotti and black truffles. Veal stuffed pasta with a nice helping of truffles shaved on top. I loved how the flavors from the veal almost explode in your mouth as you bite into them. Second to last for the night was a Beef filet served with a quail egg on top with black truffles and port reduction. Good dish and perfectly cooked, but we were pretty stuffed at this point.
But not stuffed enough to love the dessert. Vanilla gelato with black truffles.
A spectacular meal. I will probably return to check out the restaurant’s normal menu. Maybe I’ll have a birthday party there since the waiter’s more than once sang ‘happy birthday’ to table. I thought that was kinda odd, something more belonging to olive garden than a restaurant like this…

I decided to try this place since I loved their sister restaurant Angelini Café, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the food was just as amazing. It has now become a destination for special occasions in my family.
This place is very stylish in décor, the staff is very friendly and extremely attentive and I love the fact that most of the staff members are indeed italian natives, speak the language fluently and are just as proud of the food as the chef is, which they should be because it is very, VERY good.
Being born and raised in Italy, my standards for italian food include a high level for authenticity, so keep that in mind as you read.
They start with a different amuse bouche every time and they’re always cute and delicious.
The pastas are made in house and they have an unusual variety, not the place to go if you just want average spaghetti and meatballs. If you love unusual pasta ingredients and texture, this is the place for you. The first time there my sister had the veal shank agnolotti which are the yummiest I have ever had. We get one it every time now to share because is that good. If you have never tried this type of stuffed pasta which is shaped like a little pillow, try it and you will have established your standard as it should be for this.
All the other pastas are also great so no need to be shy.
The seconds are HUGE, the T Bone steak could definitely be split between more than 2 people.
It isn’t cheap but if you want good, interesting and flavorful italian food, it is way worth it. I have tried a LOT of italian places in my never ending search of the best italian food outside of Italy, and this place has my vote.
Mr. Angelini and chef GianPiero… mille grazie!

Went here last night for a birthday celebration. Good service. No cake cutting fee when they brought out the cake that I brought. Nice simple yet stylish atmosphere, airy and clean. The food was good. I wouldn’t say it was the most super delicious that I have ever had, but it was definitely really good. The beet salad was made of the thinnest sliced beets that I have ever seen so far… Beautiful. I had the porcini mushroom, parmiagiano and black truffle lasagna. It was very mushroom tasting, which I love… because I love MUSHROOMS! yum. It was definitly not a traditional lasagna stacked layer, it was a crêpe skin on the bottom covered with mushrooms in a sauce with black truffle topping. The gnocchi was pretty good, its hard to find good gnocchi. Lentil soup was good… a bit too much texture and only one nicely grilled shrimp. Caprese salad was delicious. The Taglioni was good also, sour but suprisingly not very sour, sour in a good way. The serve you grilled bread. GRILLED bread… I dont think I have ever seen this before, its literally grilled with black grill markings and its salty. mm was quite tasty.
Nice patio atmosphere. Ah, I am now going to say the phrase… the taste was not worth the price. The lasagna for $ 28 was more an $ 18 lasagna. There were quite a few shavings of truffle but still.
Valet parking for $ 7 on entrance side for the Orlando.
Nice place, for groups, after work, romantic… so so.

I started going to La Terza when they first opened quite a few years ago, and slowly stopped because I moved too far east to come on a regular basis and don’t really consider La Terza a destination restaurant.
I went last night with my DH for the Chef’s Collaborative 5×5 dinner. The prix fixe tasting menu was headed by Chef Alain Giraud of Anisette. His dish was my favorite, the broiled scallops in some kind of lovely silky emulsion. Actually, in my mind all the dishes were fantastic. My issue was with the service.
This was a pricey meal, and I feel that the service we got was very below par. We were offered an extremely crowded seat on the patio, which would have left us precious little elbow room to eat, much less an avenue for escape to the ladies’ room. So we opted to wait for an inside table, and they put us upstairs in the very back corner where we could barely see any other diners. Meh. Fortunately we were later joined by some loquacious food bloggers… that made the seating choice a little better.
The waiter, while cordial, was pretty darn absentee. His saving grace was that he suggested an amazing bottle of Italian wine that was only $ 45. And he was nice enough, but our meal came in fits and starts that almost spoiled the meal. Three times we waited 20+ minutes between courses. Um, guys. It’s a Monday night. We were seated at 8:30 and did not finish til almost midnight. I know it was a lot of courses, but Joel Rubochon it was not. AND, our first course came before we could even consult with the waiter on the wine parings versus a wine list. WTH?
Fortunately for the event, the food was all delicious. But I was really disappointed in the timing of the service. Annoying. And the service, from what I understand, is the responsibility of the hosting restaurant.

2.5 to be exact. We came here for a romantic Valentine’s day, and the ambiance was just that. It was decorated with red roses, and the décor was really trendy and romantic. Perfect right?
Right, until the food came out. There was nothing magical about the food. And if a restaurant is going to get more than 3 stars it better have the food figured out. First off, the bread served at the table came with a practically flavorless corn relish to put on it. Then we ordered a pasta and fish dish. Both equally flavorless. I guess if you like bland fancy food, La Terza is for you.
I would give it another chance just for drinks, as they had a great wine list. But boy would I pass on that waste of stomach space food.

Nice place, but it didn’t blow my head off!
I started with the burrato cheeze with beets. Burrato was great, lovely creamy and fresh. Beets were nothing special.
For my main, I had ricotta ravioli. It was very nice, but again nothing to write home about. The very helpful and attentive waiter, recommended a fantastic ‘off menu’ bottle of Borolo, which was very good, however.
The main thing that put me off this place, was the décor. I sat on the left hand side and I felt as if I was eating in a cardboard box. Also, at 9PM, there were not many people eating there and it was fairly quiet.
I feel the décor needs updating as its kind of contemporary-​but from 10 years ago, which gives it a ‘tired’ feel. Also, personally, I prefer a place to either, have a real buzz, or a cosy feel and this place was in between.

It definitely isn’t Angelini but it’ll do… Just think of it as a half brother/​sister…
R & I went this past Friday for Vday (we like to celebrate it a day later than the rest). Surprisingly, it was quite empty that night. R & I started w/​the cannellini soup and the risotto. I actually didn’t enjoy my soup because it had way too many beans in the soup. I would have been too full to enjoy anything else if I attempted to finish the soup. R, however, ordered the risotto and it was spectacular. I can use the word «spectacular» because I have never really enjoyed risotto at a restaurant. It either comes out too filmy, too creamy, or too overcooked. Here, it was perfectly cooked and I envied R as he kept on diving into his food.
Next, I ordered the tagliatelle al ragu and R ordered the branzino (sea bass). Due to my soup, I only ate ¼th of my dish so I took the rest home. I definitely enjoyed it more the next day. R, on the otherhand, tore into his dish. We ended our dining experience w/​two expressos and a tiramisu. Here, they did the expressos exactly how we liked them (short.very short). Overall, our tab came out to $ 150 and there was no guilt nor remorse for our dinner.
NOTE: Try not to sit next to the windows. Sporadically during our dinner, I smelled a stench from outside that was so foul. That stench still remains to be a mystery…

²⁄₂₉ Update: I took my friend’s mom there, and I ordered the risotto mushroom and sausage entrée – AWESOME!
Previous review:
Oh man… La Terza should be La Primo.
Since it was the last day of LA Dine Week, I wanted to try one of the participating restaurants for lunch, but my boss who always prefer comfort over venture, opted for La Terza, and I am really thankful that he brought me to La Terza as it’s definitely one of the top Italian restaurants.
I started off with the bietoline al cartoccio (red beet salad with burrata and baby arugula), and then I went all out and ate the nidi di rondine «maddalena fellini» (gratin rolled pasta with ragu, ham, mozzarella and bechamel). I probably added five pounds from that meal, but damn, it was worth it! The pasta was delicately rolled up with ham in between, sitting on the most heavenly, rich bechamel sauce (white cream). If you’re going to clog your heart, might as well clog it up with good food. I also sampled my boss’ aspargus soup and spinich mushroom ravioli. The next time I come here, I have to be sure to leave room for dessert. I am so full that I won’t need to eat dinner tonight.

A warning to my beloved fellow Unilocalers…
If you allow your eyes to be overwhelmed and distracted by the (current) reigning stars of the Hollywood Italian scene, (Mozza and La Buca) and subsequently make the mistake of ignoring La Terza, you do yourself a grave disservice.
I am by no means detracting from the obvious merits of OM and OLB, all I’m saying is that you have options, friends. The discussion does not end at two… no no… it goes on to three… (and maybe even four… but let’s stick to the point)
Beautiful appetizers like Bacala e patate… little dumplings of salt cod and potato, neither fishy nor salty, resting on a thin stripe of olive pesto. Magnificent. Lovely salads such as the beet, burrata and arugula… bright peppery greens with lovely burrata creaminess and sweet, earthy beets. Oh my.
Wonderful pastas are available, such as the oft-​mentioned agnolotti stuffed with braised veal shank in a parmaggiano reggiano sauce that I would run red lights to consume.
I’ve never had a problem getting a table on short notice. They have terrific wines by the glass and a well rounded list with great selections both from Italy and other regions.
I will allow that the space doesn’t thrill me like Campanille, and the service can be spotty at times, though never less than gracious. Hence the 4-​stars. But 4 stars, she’s a not so bad, eh?
Don’t sleep, kids. La Terza is the real thing.

This is my first lone-​star review, and that’s not a happy thing because it means dismay at various points. First off, we were looking for a place to have a celebratory dinner that was also veg-​friendly, surprisingly a difficult thing to find, but they have a vegetarian tasting menu in addition to a range of pastas and animals, so I guess that’s what the lone star is for.
Here’s the deal on dinner:
Our server completely ignored us until we were sitting there for a full 10 minutes and had already plowed through the bread basket. When she came up, she asked if there was anything else she could get us, (disorientation from too many tables?) as if all of the plates had been cleared and we had just finished dinner. It was an odd start, and unfortunately, it was all downhill from there as she tried to brush off the comment, saying she meant to ask if there was anything else we’d like aside from water. How about dinner? Okay, not to be snarky, but it was social awkwardness turned combative.
1^st course: barley salad was attractive enough on the plate but gummy.
2^nd course: bean soup, which was gelatinous and also had barley, so overkill on the barley dimension, plus a good portion of the beans were crunchy — I’ve honestly had better Campbell’s soup.
3^rd course: pumpkin raviolis. The sage component of the dish was one piece of wilted sage sinking down into the sauce of one ravioli, not to mention the whitest plate I ever saw — aesthetically unappealing.
4^th course: grilled veggies with one square of tofu. Granted, the tofu was well-​cooked, but the veggies were wildly varying degress of warm to cool as if they piled some old ones on the plate and then tossed on a few new ones.
5^th course: sorbet that was so sour I literally could not eat it.
The server, I think sensing our horror and potential for honesty, pretty much abandoned us, so we had to ask the sour-​faced, unsmiling bread guy to take over the service.
La Terza was on Jonathan Gold’s list of 99 essential restaurants, and I deify the man, but perhaps it’s time for a revisit and deletion of this undoubtedly once good, but now dud, restaurant.

Open menu. Close eyes. Point. Eat. Yeah, it’s about that easy. Now, I have never experienced dinner here, but all my lunch times have been mmmmtasticabulous. If you don’t already know, this is the sister restaurant of Angelini Osteria which is ammmazing and the step-​sister of that one place on La Cienega I used to have dinner all the time but it’s closed. Crap! What was that place? La Palazzo? La Plazzo? Anyone? Help? Bueller?
Okay, try the ravioli, ossobusco, fresh sauces, caprese, fish specials and brilliant wine list. Damn, I’m hungry.
Anyone wanna’ have lunch? Now!?!

I love the feel of this restaurant. It’s like eating outside, without having to actually eat outside, with the common folk. Oh, wait, I’m a common folk? Damn! Seriously, the food’s pretty un-​common. The caprese salad had delicious ripe tomatoes and just about the best mozzerella I’ve ever had. The Agnolotti Ripieni di Ossobuco — I can’t bring myself to order anything else, but oh how I’ve tried. I have tasted some of the other dishes and they are fab, too — like the branzino, and salmon if you are into fish.
Desserts — only tried the panna cotta — but creamy and oh so dreamy.

I might be unfairly influenced because of my affinity for Angelini Osteria, the sister restaurant. The meals I’ve had here were good but do not compare to what I consider the best Italian restaurants in LA. The standouts were the olives, special olive oil which you have to pay extra for and the salads. I go to Italian restaurants for the pasta and rate them based on the quality and taste of the dish. Its odd that the pasta at Angelini seems to be much better considering they are owned and operated by the same person. I realize the specialty here is their small dishes and wood oven braised/​roasted dishes. The service, staff, décor were excellent and I can understand why others gave La Terza 5 stars. Maybe I’ll give it another try but would be hard pressed to give up a meal at Madeo or Angelini Osteria.

I wish I had had the same experience here that Stephy S. had… and perhaps, in all fairness since they’ve now been open for a bit, it’s changed.
Unfortunately a group of us went here just after it opened and had a pretty bad experience. Although… first a disclaimer on the good stuff: nice ambiance, pretty good food.
We had reservations for 4 and were kept waiting for almost an HOUR after the time we were to be seated… that was the first «unacceptable.» Well no, that was the second. lol The first one was the audacity of the hostess. We complained that we’d been sitting (in the rather small waiting/​bar area) for a really long time and she actually said to us, no joke «Well, we just opened and are VERY popular right now so you’ll just have to wait your turn.» UH HUH. POPULAR my ass. I mean, who was she to automatically say her restaurant was popular already when it had only been open A) a few days and B) it wasn’t to capacity?!
So anyway… we are finally seated… takes another 15 minutes to get water AND menus. NOT acceptable! lol The food is VERY pricey for what you get and the service was far below mediocre. Our waiter even spilled our wine on the floor beside us… ick.
I liked this place sooooo much better when it was Cava. Sniff sniff. I miss you Cava. Your money is better spent elsewhere people.
On the flip side… Stephy…I stayed at this hotel in 1997 when I interviewed in LA and it was still called the Beverly Plaza Hotel. Since then it’s undergone a renovation and operates under the new name, The Orlando. The rooms were nice then… rooftop pool is kick butt… and it’s close to shopping. SOOO… perhaps with the refurbishment it’s even nicer and worth a try.

This place makes me wanna be a visitor in LA just so I could stay at the hotel this fabulous little find is in and eat this the whole time I was there. Yes, it is that good. I was with Mz. Aunny D when we tried this place and she isn’t kidding when she talks about the beauty that is the Angolotti con ossobusco (homemade ravioli filled with veal, ricotta and marjoram) This dish is NO JOKE. Like heaven on a plate!
I ordered the Pappardelle con Ragu Antico (Pappardelle with aged beef ragout) and the pappardelle was amazing and fresh, but the sauce seemed like it needed a little more girth for my taste, but everything else looked so marvelous here and the tapas were great.
We also ordered the Fritto di Pesce appetizer (Fried shrimp, calamari, and zucchini flowers with tartar sauce) and the pesce was deelish but we felt the sauce could have used a little more umph for our taste.
So why 5 stars then? Because I think I ordered the wrong two things for my taste buds, but they were still very good. That and this place is so spectacular looking. It’s sleek modern and normally that style leaves me cold, but it really works here. Also the servers know their wines (HUGE POINTS) and don’t try to sucker you in to the highest priced one which in my book is a great sign about the character of a place.
Also…bring the big wallet ;)