Vitello’s Jazz and Supper Club

well, it had been many, many years since i’d been to vitello’s. a friend of mine suggested we meet there for lunch recently.
the space itself is quite lovely; minimalist but beautiful just the same. the pianist even on a saturday morning, was a sophisticated, hip touch. and i appreciated that he played some selections that i even recognized! i’m not particularly versed in jazz; having said that, i enjoyed hearing the renditions of songs that i knew.
the food was really very good; and i wish i had trusted my instinct to go with the spaghetti and meatballs. but, wanting to try their chicken piccata, as it is one of my favorite dishes, was a mistake for me. and not because there was anything wrong with the dish; other than the shallots that were all over the plate.
let me explain… i really like onion flavor; so, when i cook with onions, i always chop them big enough that i can remove them and/​or, purée them so that i don’t have onion in my mouth, per se. and when dining out, i always ask for onions to be left out. but, the description of the dish did not include that there were shallots.
the waitress who took care of us, was just wonderful from start to finish. and when it came to this shallot situation… she kindly took the plate back to the kitchen. and the kitchen removed the shallots and at least the dish was able to be salvaged. and it was a good piccata; but next time, i’ll remember to ask about the «onion» factor.
apart from that one little hiccup… it was a lovely meal. and again, just beautiful, clean and sophisticated atmosphere here at vitello’s.
one suggestion however… it happened to be a very cold, cloudy, rainy saturday morning. and that happens to be weather that i absolutely adore! but, BUT the restaurant so cold inside, that literally i wished we were seated outside under the heaters.
so please, please… if the weather outside is chilly, please for the comfort of your patrons, get the climate control indoors handled better. even i who enjoys brisk temps… found the indoor temps at vitello’s on that day, to be ridiculous.
***also, be advised – parking in this area can be a hassle. so either you valet, or throw the dice with the very limited parking meters.

I have flown past this place so many times, it’s not even funny! I used to live in the trees near there for years and never stopped by. I went because the band «Strange Days» was playing. They were so good! If you get a chance to see them, they are a «Doors» cover band, do make the effort. Yes this Crow can have taste in music, especially retro music. But back to the restaurant. Vitello’s has an upstairs in the back where they have bands play. And the food was great! I had a salad & it was delicious. Drinks were good, the sound was good & not too loud for dinner either. Sorry my review is a year late though. Check it out!

UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP … I used to visit here for smooth tunes and jazz in an intimate environment — however they are changing ownership to the become the E Spot Lounge. I have not as yet returned since they reopened on January — and their online home pages don’t have any updated images of the club — however studying the seating map for the revised club — it looks the same for seating? I bet it has refreshed décor and such as that aspect was mentioned … but as previously mentioned it is not pictured online yet. So — prices look similar or sometimes a bit higher having glanced at their online calendar and price map. It varies from $ 20 to 35 up to 60 in a booth. Plus there is sometimes a $ 210 seat to sit at Shelia E’s table! Sigh? I will have to drop in again when I see an act where I have interest or I have an evening with unscheduled availability and interest. Otherwise look for the E spot on Unilocal for future reviews and info.

Came for brunch and bottomless mimosas. The food was fine, but if you are going to offer bottomless mimosas don’t act like we are stealing from you when we are ready for refills. Servers make obvious attempts to avoid you and are just not that friendly. It’s not like we are sitting here chugging champagne flutes and causing a scene. No plans on coming back don’t be fooled by the nice location and ambiance.

I have been eating at Vitellos for more than 20 years. I would not go back unless it was a special occasion planned by someone else. The food is mediocre at best. I don’t feel like I got much value for my dollar. I went with a group of women and we ordered one pizza to share for the table it came with all of the edges burnt. It was much better under the previous ownership. It’s nothing special anymore.

Loved this restaurant. The vibe is super chill and the food comes in great portions and delicious flavor. I got the Canadian Scramble– scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, potatoes and toast! It was so good. They also have a performance/​concert room which I look forward to comig back to check out.

A spice of class in a hippy-​like area.
In an area filled with organic stores Vitello’s is a breath of fresh air. Amazing open room dining so any table, inside or outside, can be an outside table.
Came here for lunch and they had a piano player. Great environment for a relaxing lunch. Food here is good and service as well.
Grilled Salmon– Great lunch option if you’re looking for filling and healthy. Nice portion of salmon and yummy. Sauteed veggies are good too as well as the cucumber salsa which reminds me of Isreali salad without the tomatoes.

Hands down the best Sea Bass I’ve had since we were in Syracusa; definitely best in Los Angeles. Artisan bread was incredible. Did not expect such a great dinner and experience but we had one

My husband and I celebrated our 44^th wedding anniversary on December 12, 2014. We had never been to Vitello’s before, but we were very impressed with the food, the service, and the ambience of the restaurant itself.
We started off with drinks, which were good. We then had bruschetta, which we were very impressed with. Our main meal was terrific and delicious. My husband had the spaghetti and meatballs and I had the eggplant parmesan. We shared a cannoli for dessert. We enjoyed our evening and felt we had a very lovely wedding anniversary dinner celebration.

Vitello’s is GU (Geographically Undesirable) for us so had never been there b4, but when I saw that Chris Standring was playing there I immediatelt got tic’s. Knowing Chris I assumed it was a great place so did not read any Unilocal reviews until just a few hours prior to showtime. Yipes! Read about 20 and came away with: inept mgmt. and bad food that is extremely overpriced and takes forever to get so eat before you go, but the music is great. But after getting there do not understand those reviews, unless things have changed dramatically. The downstairs host was rather bland, but the upstairs host/​show M.C. was extremely friendly and personable, the waitstaff was very friendly and effiicient, the people we sat next to were very outgoing and friendly, and the food was mostly excellent! It also came in a very good time frame with no real delay, and the prices were very good, especially for the quality and it being a club that has to pay a band. Started with the soup of the day and the artisan bread appetizer. The bread was hot with a crunchy crust and soft interior with mildly garlicy butter, and we could tell that the ingredients in the soup were fresh. The GF had the Margherita Pizzetta and I had their dinnner special, which was a superb risotto. So much so that the GF passeed on the pizzzetta, which was not bad, and focused on the risotto. And with dinner we had 2 glasses of their Argentinian Malbec, which was great! If you like Malbecs, as we do, go for it! Its one of the best we have had. The only real drawback was with dessert. The MC and our waiter both really talked up their dessert special, eggnog bread pudding, but after I ordered it he came back and said they had run out. Its nice that they try to keep the food fresh by not making too much of a special, but if you are going to hype it that much, make sure you have enough. The couple next to us were also disappointed and perturbed that they had run out of it. So I went with their signature dessert, a salted caramel coffee cake, which was rather bland and dry. The sound system was excellent (as was Chris, his band, and his vocalist, Kathrin Shorr), with no feedback or any other problems, and was at a perfect volume.

I made a reservation the table on the concert Poncho Sanches by Internet on Vitello’s website and received a confirmation by e-​mail. I made some calls before but unfortunately without any results. 3 days later (on the day of the concert) they called me and said that all the tickets were sold and I can seat with my friends in other hall not in a concert hall. No excuse, no explanations. So all my plans were ruined.
I think that it’s a bright example of unprofessional attitude.

Went to see a «tribute’ band on Tribute Tuesdays. LOTS of Fun and Fool’s Logic was much better than I expected. It’s a Supertramp tribute band and I am NOT a huge fan, but the band was having a good time on the stage which was totally felt by the appreciative crowd. Good sound, small venue. HOWEVER, the FOOD left a lot to be desired. We weren’t too hungry so we went for appys We got «mozzarella wedges» 10 bucks. There were TWO of them, about the size and texture of a Wheatabix. The «house made marinara» was not Made in the house unless you count opening the can and warming it up as making it. We got the olives, which were served warm and swimming in oil. Just yuck, and we did not eat them all. The server was sweet and attentive, the drinks were good, if pricy. Will I go back there. YES to see the band, but I will not be eating upstairs.

4 – 5 stars for the venue:
Intimate setting, seating about 100 people.
Great lighting
Normally good sound — except for the Rockapella show where there were LOTS of problems with microphones and buzzing from the amps and the sound guys didn’t seem to care.
Ticket prices are cheap but you also need to buy some drinks/​food. The menu is a subset of the main restaurant downstairs, but our waitress was able to help us find some really good vegan options. 4 stars for the food, 5 for the service.
As you can guess from it’s name, this place focuses on jazz performances. Jazz isn’t my thing. I’d go more often if they had more non-​jazz events.
Shows we’ve seen:
Low Strung: a group of 12 cellists from Yale playing their version of pop/​rock classics — 5 stars
Aubrey Logan: singer /​songwriter /​trombonist /​american idol contestant — 5 stars
«10 songs for 10 dollars, like you’ve never heard them before»: hilarious — 5 stars
Rockapella: a variety show by kids 8 to 18 — 4 stars for the performance, 1 star for the sound guys, 2 stars for the teacher using the first 15 minutes to self-​promote

There is always a great jazz band playing! I totally recommend that you visit!

Ambiance is great, smooth jazz, great sparkling drinks. Food is so so, service is just okay. Bar tending is talented — wish I could say the same about the cooking in the kitchen. Had steak and eggs for brunch, def not filet mignon as stated in the menu. Sunny side up eggs were too loose — def need a better cook. May be the bartender can cook too lol. 3 stars strictly for the ambiance and great music.

I went to see my friend perform with the Nutty at the Vitello’s. The performance was totally fun. I would give 4 stars for the performance and the entertainment (8pm-​close to 11pm)! To give rating for my evening experience, I have to bring the stars down to 2, sadly. 2 stars for the Nutty’s performance. 0 stars for the restaurant.
During the performance, I ordered Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf. Wow, this was a TOTALLY weird dish. The only «normal» tasting thing on my plate was sauteed broccoli… :0 Flavor was just way too unique and I just really didn’t enjoy it. Smell was pretty interesting, too. I think I paid like $ 18 for the meatloaf. Oh, what a waste of money it was for such bad food. Nothing else on the menu really sounded appetizing… I have no idea if it was just that one particular dish that was so bad but I do hope that food department gets better over at the Vitello’s…
Oh, btw, there’s only valet parking available for the restaurant but I found that there’s plenty of surrounding residential parking available if you’d rather not pay to park.

Ok, here’s the deal– as a professional musician AND a food connoisseur who lives just a few blocks from this joint:
MUSIC– great!
FOOD– mediocre (at best) to shameful for a restaurant that charges such high prices.
NOTE: they charge a cover AND 2 drink or 1 entrée minimum for live music venue. The base price per person to be in the room is over $ 30. This is not an uncommon concept for high end jazz venues, however, I would expect the food to be as high class as the music. Not so in this case.
My first experience was with the bruschetta– completely stale bread, lifeless tomatoes. For such a simple dish, all you need is quality and fresh ingredients.
Then recently went to see some friends perform who were AWESOME, but of course I had to order drinks and/​or food. This time, I really had low expectations for food, and once again Vitello’s met those expectations. My wife and I ordered the short ribs, with some glimmer of hope based on the waitress’ recommendation over the chicken piccata. When you think short ribs, you imagine juicy tenderness melting in your mouth… of course, you won’t get that here… I asked my wife her opinion after a few bites. She said «it’s not bad…(pause) but it’s not good». We both laughed in agreement.
Honestly, I would prefer going there for the music with Burger King as a dinner option (and I don’t eat fast food). But no, really, I mean, I have actually had more satisfying fast food meals in my life for ¹⁄₅ the price of an entrée at Vitello’s. It’s like someone doesn’t care, or doesn’t know what they’re doing, pretending to cook fine dining and charging high prices in hopes that you will magically believe you are fine dining. ?
I really want to like this place because they have class act music and it’s walking distance for me. If they could only get a really great chef in there, and lower the prices a bit, it could be a great dining and music experience. Oh how I wish upon a star.

This is a very trendy hipster place. Great vibe, outside patio, back room, upstairs dining room. it’s fancy stuff.
There’s live jazz music in the evenings. I came here for lunch so I missed the romantic stuff. I ordered the Baked Salmon with Pesto. The meal comes with veggies as well. I highly recommend the Arugula Avocado Salad. DELICIOUS. fresh spinach and pinenuts make it good. Service was aiight. Maybe the servers weren’t ready for a big party, so maybe they could work on that aspect.
I’d love to come here in the evening for some sexy jazz music though.

I ate pizza, drank a beer, and had a piece of ice cream cake… all the while pole-​dancing. My table with friends was in the very corner booth, and my view — a pole. I had to shift left, then right, then right, then left. Yes, it was quite a workout, and I feel very toned in all the right places today.
SOUND/​VENUE —- Small, intimate — seats 80 – 100 people. Nice sounding room. I came to see Kathleen Wilhoite perform with band, What an amazing voice and songwriter! She’s quite funny, too! Kay Bess, a friend of mine for years (and close bud’s wife), was singing backup that night, and is amazing in her own right and when she leads with her band. Anyway… the sounds is great!!!
FOOD — — — — — – Eat before or during the music. Yay! Super-​thin pizza (slightly thicker than matzah), added pepperoni — super yum. The menu is small, but they also feature a handsome amount of daily specials of fish, meats, and pastas. It’s old-​world, traditional Italian.
SERVICE — — — — Attentive, and professional.
CONCLUSION —– I’ve been here once before, and overall, the food is good but not great. It’s located in the über-​cool quaint and charming area on Tujunga… so it’s neighborhoody, and makes a nice date place with the live featured acts upstairs, or if you prefer — the piano bar downstairs in the back.

I’m going to tell you the 5-​star aspects first… perfect sound, very intimate venue (not a bad view in the place) to hold live jazz performances by some kick-​ass artists. Tonight, we saw Alan Pasqua (piano), Darek Oles (bass) & Peter Erskine (drums/​percussion) perform. THEY WERE AWESOME. My husband and I got to see/​hear two solid hours of jazz music, and we were sitting very close to the stage with perfect views of all three performers. So why, do you ask, did I only give 3 stars? I’ll tell you. :)
When we initially viewed the online ad for tonight’s performance, it very clearly said that there was a show at 8:00, and another at 9:30. We specifically bought tickets for the 8:00 show. This morning, I was reading the Unilocal reviews to see what to expect, if there was food, how was it rated, what to expect. I read that the food is okay to good, but nothing spectacular, and some even said to eat ahead of time.
So, here’s what we decided based thereon… we’d eat NOTHING, and then, because the show was over by 9:00 (since the next show was to start @ 9:30), we’d eat dinner AFTER the show… but somewhere else. However, when we arrived early to pay for the show, they said, not yet because they would give us a bill for the food, as well. We said we weren’t going to eat any, and they told us we had to order $ 18 worth PER PERSON. I stood there stunned. No one, nowhere, not even on Unilocal,and certainly NOT on their website … said anything about having to eat… or drink… $ 18 worth PER PERSON. Some Unilocalers mentioned a «cover charge,» but I knew about that… that was the price of admission. Even one Unilocaler said «eat before you go.»
After we got over the shock, we then decided, okay, we’ll eat an appetizer, and maybe we’ll be hungry for a lighter meal AFTER. As it happens, we had decided upon Katsu-​Ya, so I just figured we wouldn’t eat as much at the jazz venue, yet our bill at Katsu-​Ya would just be cheaper. Welllllllllll, after dining on a caesar salad and appetizer «pizzetta» (as they called it), the waiter said that was good enough. He wouldn’t hold us to the $ 18 per person.
Then the jazz trio performs. They do their hour long set, and they close by saying, «See you in a few minutes for the second set.» I turned to my husband, and I said, «second set? He made it sound like we could stay.» What about bringing in new customers, moving us out, making way for other people to get food, eat and listen to jazz? What is going on? Nobody, nowhere, once again, said ANYthing about a second set or it being just one show with an intermission. The ad very clearly made it sound like TWO SEPARATE shows. If we had known this, we would have definitely eaten our dinner HERE, inspite of the reviews I read. The ad said nothing, the hostess said nothing, and even the waiter said nothing. When we then asked him about it, he said, «oh yeh, sometimes they kick people out for a second group, and sometimes, like tonight, they let people stay.»
So, long story short… we got to see 2 «sets» of great jazz, had a very light meal of appetizers because we didn’t think we needed to eat dinner there, and… we missed out on Katsu-​Ya. :) Moral of the story… don’t just rely on ads… or employees to TELL you how it works. I didn’t read this in any of the Unilocal reviews either. I’m surprised by that.
The pizzetta, Magherita style, by the way, was as paper thin as it could get, and the flavors with the fresh basil were divine. Surprisingly good. This is their house specialty, we were told. The caesar salad was as flavorLESS as could be.
As good as the views were from our seats, our chairs were as uncomfortable and unyielding as they could get. NO appreciable cushion or give to the seat. My butt really hurt after 2 hours, but I will say, the room was PERFECTLY air conditioned, and with as many people as they pack in there, it could have been bad.
Anyway, I don’t like having incomplete information about a place like this. They honestly should go out of their way to tell people, either in ad form or over the phone what to expect… both in terms of how long the show is AND that you are expected to buy $ 18 worth of food/​drink minimum PER PERSON. I’m still shaking my head over that one… that I had NO clue. Oh well. The lack of communication was big for me, and thus, this place drops to 3 stars only. Great place for jazz, though.