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Allora Cucina Italiana - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian [Edit]
8432 W 3rd StLos Angeles, CA 90048
Neighborhood: Mid-City West
(323) 782-9576
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Valet
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Intimate
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Pearl L. said: "After a long remodel (6 months), Pagliacci's is remodeled to a sit-down without the fro-yo the previous Yelper's were loving on. Nice outdoor seating and two flatscreens to watch sports at the bar. New York style pizza. I enjoyed the…" read more »
158 reviews for Allora Cucina Italiana
Review Highlights
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"Try the mushroom ravioli with truffle oil." In 11 reviews -
"...was absolutely delicious - perfectly al dente, rich but not..." In 5 reviews -
"We've had the burrata and loved it." In 21 reviews
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157 reviews in English
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Review from Mari T.
Beverly Hills, CA
3/14/2012
The mushroom and truffle ravioli is to die for!!!!!!! We absolutely love this restaurant. Authentic Italian food in a casual setting. The owner is so nice and will make any changes/accommodations to the dishes.
Service is great and food is even better. I come here for special occasions and on a random tues night. I cannot recommend this place enough! -
Review from Matt W.
Los Angeles, CA
The pasta (ie ravioli) is good here. The other food has been very disappointing. I once gave it a 5 star review, but the last few experiences had made me change it to three.
The staff are still very nice and bringing your own bottle of wine is great too.1 Previous Review:
-
7/24/2011
Delicious food at a great price. The staff are very friendly as well.
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Review from anna C.
Los Angeles, CA
3/4/2012
i've worked at an authentic italian restaurant and I get it totally. The food must be fresh, the ambiance unique, and the prosecco plenty.
This is essentially a two man operation - you may be greeted by the owner himself. There is a server but she is clearly there to defer to the owner. There are good and bad points to this as yes, the service may be viewed as lacking. Don't come here if you are in a rush -- this is not fast food Italian. I think the whole point of Italians who set up these kinds of restaurants in America is to teach us to relax a bit.
The food is amazing. Hands down. The Decor is that you feel like you're in someone's house. The pizza is the most authentic pizza i've found in Los Angeles thus far. I'm dreaming about it as we speak.
Give it a try. Prepare yourself for "slow" service by American standards. But get an extra bottle of wine. Enjoy your company and your night.
And BTW - you'll probably find the service isn't that bad. because the food is DELICIOUS. -
Review from Edward H.
Diamond Bar, CA
4/10/2012
Why did they have to close!? Came here during valentines day w/ the ex. Great food for a great price. I'd say their food is comparable to Da Pasquale aka divine but the service was a bit slow. The place and environment is also a bit cramped and small. Since it's closed there's not much point to a review so I shall stop here.
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Review from Marisa R.
1/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
GOOD GOOD GOOD food.
Kelly T. and I went on an LA adventure and stayed at the Orlando next door. The front desk recommended this place, so we decided to check it out.
We had the prosciutto pizza and the mushroom risotto! Oh my goodness, it was so good, it's not even funny; especially the pizza!
The owner was working that night and they ran out of a wine that we wanted so he was nice enough to give us a more expensive similar wine for the same price! Gooood service!
I would definitely come back when I'm back in LA! -
Review from heather z.
Alhambra, CA
3/13/2012
This place was AWESOME!!! besides the fact that my wine glass was cheap and tiny looking.. the FOOD was amazing! I had beef carpaccio and truffle mushroom ravioli, SUPER YUMMY! oh and with my http://restaurant.com coupon, it was such a good deal for the food I got!
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Review from Bianca J.
10/26/2011
YIKES! PLS YELP ME OUT OF HERE!
I'm not sure how I could be on the total opposite side of the spectrum with this restaurant from all the other reviews, but it was totally below average. I felt sad that my fellow yelpers let me down this time.
The place is cute, cozy, and casual. The service started off good as my gf & I were seated and given our menus quickly, but I figured that there was an advantage since there were only six people including us in the entire restaurant. However, once we ordered the food took an eternity to get to us. It pains me to continue this review as getting our check and paying felt like some kind of trickery. I was waiting for someone to run out the back and say, "You were just PUNKd!"
PROS
1. Calamari
2. Prices
3. Cleanliness
CONS
1. Slow service
2. Slow service
3. Salmone tarta (omg there was no flavor to it!)
4. Spaghetti w/ lobster & shrimp (Where's the cheese ?!!)
HOW CAN AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT MESS UP SPAGHETTI? -
Review from Laura G.
Los Angeles, CA
10/23/2011
A WARNING TO POTENTIAL PATRONS: I have a sneaking suspicion that Allora's "no corkage fee" is falsely inflating the average star rating for this place. In fact, anyone who rates this place more than 2 stars must have come straight home and written a review while they were still drunk.
The food here is NOT GOOD. I admittedly have not tried everything on the menu, but there's no way I could bring myself to go back and try anything else.
AMBIANCE/DECOR: Not updated, but not terrible. The tables are very close together, so if you're going in with a party of two, you're going to feel like you're in a party of more.
SERVICE: The older gentleman that welcomed us inside was quite nice, but waited to take our order until the couple next to us, who were seated seconds before us, was ready. The younger woman who was also serving us was slow, and unfriendly and when we asked where our entrees were after half an hour of waiting she replied "two minutes" and disappeared until the food finally showed up.
FOOD (dear god): The bread was fine--not warm. The caprese salad we split was tasty, but not enough to redeem what followed. My roomie's fettucini looked like it popped out of a few can's and a recipe from Sara Lee's Semi-Homemade. My pumpkin ravioli had a doughy texture, and I'm nearly positive that it was stuffed with a canned concoction that was meant to be used in a baked holiday pie.
Maybe my recent obsession with Kitchen Nightmares was at fault, but by the end of the meal I was craning my neck, in frantic expectation that Gordon Ramsey would jump out and explain that we could come back next week for an entirely new menu and a redeemed experience. Sadly, that wasn't so. -
Review from Michelle L.
Los Angeles, CA
10/23/2011
Don't understand why this restaurant is rated so high...
Went to Allora expecting great authentic food because of the many great ratings and the packed house, but this place just fell flat. My friend and I ordered the caprese salad, pumpkin ravioli, and the fettuccine "3 Ps". Our caprese was fine, nothing special. Then came our main courses 30 MINUTES LATER. My fettuccine wasn't horrible, it definitely wasn't gourmet in any way though. It tasted and looked like something you might find on the recipe page featuring canned cream of mushroom soup. It was way overdressed, the peas tasted like they had been frozen, and the ham was cut in small chunks that looked like it had been canned as well. My friend's pumpkin ravioli was in fact horrible, it tasted as if they stuffed pasta with pumpkin pie filling! Not even as drunk munchies did this dish taste good.
All in all, Allora does not live up to the hype. -
Review from Grace K.
Torrance, CA
11/21/2011
Thanks for gift certificates that I bought from http://restaurant.com, I have been to Allora three times. First two times, my experiences were just wonderful. Great food and great service. I really liked Allora's dishes, especially Pumpkin Ravioli. Then, I had a horrible experience at Allora last Friday. And I will never go back to Allora again.
This is what happend to me at Allora last Friday:
1) Slow service: We ordered Pumpkin Ravioli, a pasta dish (these were for dine-in), and a rice with mushrooms to go. The foods came in a timely manner, but when I presented my http://restaurant.com gift certificate (which I notified the owner before the meal), he took a very long time to bring the check and to process the credit card. I saw him calling the number to validate the certificate and putting the certificate away in the cabinet. And, I saw him processing bills from other tables and chatting with other customers. Only when I reminded him to bring the bill (again!), he brought the bill without deducting the amount ($25) for the gift certificate I bought from http://restaurant.com. I can only understand his action as not valuing customers with http://restaurant.com gift certificate. Also, the rice with mushrooms go to was not ready until we paid the check so we had to wait another 10-15 min.
2) Burnt my finger: When the food-to-go (the rice with mushrooms) was ready and out, we were ready to go since we had been waiting for a long time. The container was very very hot and the owner did not notifiy me at a timely manner, so I slightly burnt my fingers. The owner stated "I was going to let you know about it, but you just grabbed the bag." At this point, I just did not want to argue..I can see that he was upset at me since I asked about the check and the food to-go, and felt like this was his way to get back to me. I did not argue with him (I totally could have...). we simply decided not to come back to Allora.
I can almost guarantee you that you will have great experiences at Allora for first two to three times or so. However, you will soon notice that you cannot expect too much from their service. If you complain or ask for something more, the owner will take it very personally (and get back to you in any way). The not-so-good reviews on Yelp are mostly about slow service and food. I think the food in Allora is pretty good, but I strongly think that Allora cannot maintain its business in LA if it continues to serve its level of service that it offers now. -
Review from Jaimie L.
10/4/2011
I don't get it.
My friends and I came here extremely hungry based on the wonderful reviews. We were not satisfied. Perhaps it's because we are college students who don't have a surplus of money to spend. The food is quite expensive, especially regarding portion size and quality of the food. I noticed that most of the other people at the restaurant (older folks) ordered a bottle of wine and were very much taking the time to enjoy their meal. So this place may be a great place for an older audience, just not for people in college who have no source or a very minimal source of income.
My friend ordered a $14 simple lasagna and was very underwhelmed by the quality of it. Nothing special, probably something we could make at home. I ordered the Ravioli con Zuca, which is basically a pumpkin ravioli in a walnut cream sauce. The first bite was great, but by the 3rd ravioli I was getting pretty tired of the dish.
I will say that their pizzas are delicious.
For what my friends and I ate, the bill was not worth it. There are many other wonderful restaurants on 3rd street, I will probably be trying those instead. -
Review from Brandy A.
11/12/2011 1 photo
What a fitting place for a goodbye dinner as I bid farewell to my fellow Yelp and real-life friends from LA. The space was perfect--room to move, but also intimate enough where we could have 4 or 5 conversations going on at one time without talking over each other.
I ordered the pumpkin ravioli, which was good, but the dish that really made my tastebuds happy was the mushroom ravioli. The dough outside was paper thin (for all the ravioli dishes), beautifully made, and the inside was bursting with fresh mushrooms. In order of personal preference when it comes to the ravioli, I would rank mushroom/pumpkin/spinach. When I think of ravioli I tend to think of heaviness, but this had none of it. All three were very light and easy to eat.
I would suggest removing the TV altogether--I was a little distracted by the foreign language commercials and soccer game that were on, and I think it compromises the ambiance.
I have to admit, I've had heartier Italian food elsewhere, and it's in abundance in LA, but the value for price is there for Allora Cucina. In addition, I would come here for the impeccable service alone. Even though we were a party of 16 the wait staff consistently made sure our water pitcher and glasses were filled, that our basket had bread, and cleared our empty plates out immediately. It might have helped that the restaurant is small, but my experience has been that large parties are more often than not neglected by the wait staff. Props to Allora Cucina for accommodating a party that took up half their restaurant so well. -
Review from Brad F.
Los Angeles, CA
12/17/2011
I liked it. This is a really solid 3. Everything about this place was good, and I'll happily come back.
The service was cheerful and pleasant. The ambience was relaxed and nice. The menu was very simple - a couple of interesting looking eggplant dishes, but mostly tried-and-true favourites (this is not a complaint!) The bread was good, no mean feat in the bread-desert which is LA.
All the food was simple, and good. Good ingredients, nice flavours. We shared a salad, a pizza and a main. The artichoke salad was okay, but slightly disappointed. The artichoke was more like a garnish for the arugula, and the walnuts *should not* have been candied in this salad. The quattro formaggi pizza was excellent: really good crust (possibly the best I've had in LA), and very nice tomato sauce - fresh and nicely seasoned. The pollo ai funghi was also really... Nice.
I can't stop using that word, apologies, because it's so apt for everything. The wine, the decor, the staff, the food. One small complaint (besides the candied walnuts...) is that the staff wasn't particularly attentive, and didn't ask if we wanted more wine, or coffee or desert or the check. But it was hard to care too much.
In another visit, I'm eager to try the ravioli, and maybe another pasta. I'm curious if the ragu is as solid as the rest of the menu. -
Review from Meg G.
Los Angeles, CA
11/10/2011
4 1/2 stars.
Good spot, been once and going again ;)
small place. make reservations or come when they open. good food, fresh, great wines, I was able to taste the flavor in my dish at least.
Appertizers are so good more "Italian" choices rather then the same old ones you get at chain resturants. Very nice people as well.
I loved it and we are going back. total for 4 of us was about $130- bottle of wine, 4 entrees and 1 beer and 1 or 2 appertizers. -
Review from Sean B.
My friend's family is in town, and not as culinarily adventurous as some folks... so Italian seemed a nice safe detour for the day. After a close call with Dan Tana's (read in the review about a $180 dinner for two), we went back to Yelp to find a more affordable option and my buddy saw 4.5 stars for Allora Cucina. Sounds like a plan.
Parking looked tricky, but I lucked out and got a spot right in front, just sheer luck. There is valet parking, however, according to the sign. The place is small, intimate, homey. I liked it. The owner and the employees all friendly though not overly so. It became busy during our 90 minutes there, and they seemed slightly understaffed for a full house, things definitely slowed down.
The food was good. I think that I ordered wrong, though. My dish was just tasty, not amazing. But my friend's mushroom ravioli with truffle oil seemed much better, and my other friend's lasagna looked tasty as well.
Reasonably priced for upscale dining. Nothing really blew me away, but for those who are into authentic Italian, this may be worth a looksie. -
Review from Vicki T.
8/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
Taunted by the "80% off" emails from http://restaurant.com, I scoured through the abundant restaurants listed for some good steals. Vaguely remembering if I read good reviews for Allora, I decided to take the risk anyways. Famished after a day of exhibit hopping at LACMA, the fella and I headed over to Allora for an early dinner.
When the default channel on your TV is the Food Network, you can imagine that your list of 'To Try' will be never ending. Embarrassed to say, but I have never tried prosciutto before. What kind of foodie am I, right?! Well, needing to make room on the list for new items, I suggested that we order the Burrata con Prosciutto with our entrees (Lasagna Alla Bolognese & the special of the day - seafood medley pasta with red sauce.)
The prosciutto accompanied with the creamy mozzarella was an interesting mix on its own. A subtle, salty and smokey bite becomes immediately balanced by the fresh mozzarella. It's an interesting combination on its own, but I think I would prefer it with bread or even baked as a pizza topping instead. The lasagna was filling, but did not awe me much in terms of the aroma from the sauce. The seafood medley pasta was pretty good. A fresh, light red wine sauce accompanied the sweet and crunchy shrimp and lobster tail very well.
Overall, Allora is a sweet and quaint spot to come for an intimate dinner. The owner is a sweet and jolly man who makes great effort to engage with the customers as well as provide an intimate dining experience. I hope to come back again sometime to try their pumpkin ravioli with walnut cream sauce. Just reading that makes my mouth water already! -
Review from Rhonda W.
Los Angeles, CA
3/7/2012
I work on the same block as this place. I have called several times in an attempt to place an order for pick-up, only to be told "we're not open".
Ok...? But your website says that your hours are 11:30 am to.... Oh, forget it. I'll pick up Joan's.
It never fails: I call in an order to another restaurant, walk downstairs, and see a huge "OPEN" sign in their window. Um...hello? I just spoke to you like, 15 minutes ago, and you were closed. AND! It's 1:30pm.
Sucks. -
Review from David Y.
Los Angeles, CA
7/17/2011
* Real-deal Italian--fresh ingredients, subtle flavors, never heavy.
* Small-only about 20 tables. Hooray for small!
* Not pricey! Drinks + antipasti + 2 pastas + 1 dessert was less than $70!
* Scratch-made everything straight out of trips to Florence & Venice.
* And hey, it's on a nice street to boot! -
Review from Pcp P.
La Cañada Flintridge, CA
7/15/2011 2 photos
Awesome Italian food here. It was both authentic and inexpensive. That was my friend's euphemistic way of saying, if you're f'ing poor and can't afford to take your date to a $$$$ type of restaurants, this is a great authentic Italian restaurant. :) Yeah, I do have some condescending a-holes as close friends. Gotta love them :) A bunch of us decided to come here after our quadruple date last week after seeing a very very very yawning show. I think I drooled while snoring half way through the show. NEVER ever let an emotional person be the one to pick the show for a Saturday night. :)
I must say, I am a big fan of anything Italian, not so much the French, and I really enjoyed this restaurant. I think it's the whole authenticity without the high price tag that I'm used to from a lot of the great Italian food I've frequent. I've often paid the high $$$$ to taste some of the finest Italian ristorantes here in our city of angels, whereas NYC, you can taste authenticity in any hole in a wall restaurants. Yup, I hate LA restaurants for the lack of authenticity, but one's gotta eat. So, imagine how glad I was to discover this restaurant after one of my minimum wage earning not so thin friends recommended it to me. By minimum wage, I mean, 6 digits, of course. I just love to make fun of his ghettoness and USC (gross) living life style.
We ordered salmon tatare, calamari, safame piccante, ravioli filled with wild mushroom (dnt feel at all like eating ha gow), wild seabass, lamb shank, seared tuna, and spaghetti alle vongole, All the dishes were really tasty, but the one that stood out the most was the ravioli filled with wild mushroom. I'm not a big fan of ravioli, as most tastes like har-gow (dim sum) to me. A bite of their ravioli transport me back to my lunch off the coast of beautiful Portofino, instead of freak'n har-gow in Shanghai. It has to be one of the best raviololis I've tried in ages. It was extremely fresh, extremely!!!
As for dessert, we did the tartufo (bitter sweet chocolate) and tiramisu. I love the fact that you can taste the rum from the tiramisu. I think I got a bit buzz from having so much of it. It was damn good. -
Review from Lori L.
West Hollywood, CA
6/5/2011
A kiss and a hug from the owner seals the deal! I'll definitely be coming back here.....and NO it's not just because they filled my wine glass to the top;)
I had the mushroom ravioli with truffle oil. It was TO DIE FOR. I think I could have possibly been making sex faces, it was THAT good. You could tell the pasta was fresh, and the sauce was not to heavy. My friend and I also had the calamari for an appetizer and my oh my, was that melt in your mouth delicious. Crispy, and fresh tasting, the sauce that accompanies complements it to a T. For dessert we had the Tiramisu. That didn't last between the two of us for more than a minute. Get that when you go there!
The ambiance was homey, and the service was incredible. We were served promptly without being rushed out, and the owner made sure we were pleased with everything. I'll tell you, we felt so welcomed, when he hugged me, I almost didn't want to let go:) -
Review from Rignacious V.
Los Angeles, CA
10/22/2011
With an abundance of great reviews, the wifey and I had high hopes for this place. The calamari friti special was good, nothing too extraordinary, but got the job done. The fettucine 3p, which consists of egg noodle, ham, peas and pana, was very bland tasting. The seafood linguini special consisting of clams, shrimp, oyster and calamari in a red sauce was good.
Service was horrible. I think they seriously need to reevaluate their 2 wait staff to 20+/- table ratio. Our food and drinks arrived as expected, but no water refills, no bread refills, no wine re-order, no nothing...that was it. The check also took forever to show up even after asking twice. The place gets very loud, so expect to ask "What was that?" several times in your dialogue. The tables are spaced no more than 2 to 3 inches apart and make for a very communal feel. If you're planning on having a romantic, semi-private dining experience this would not be the place for you.
Overall the food was decent and pricing was okay, but the service and lack of ambiance left a lot to be desired. There are many places here in L.A. that meet the full package of good food, good service and fair pricing and this is not one of them. Hopefully they read their reviews and take them in a constructive way. -
Review from Susan S.
West Hollywood, CA
7/25/2011
Ahhhhh i really got my hopes up after i read the reviews for this place. But it really wasn't that great. The food was good, but not great. The service is why i'm giving this place three stars. I was really disappointed at their minimal menu selections. We ordered the special, lobster and shrimp spaghetti. It tasted good, but you could tell they bought store made pasta. With the price we paid for the dish, i expected fresh pasta. We also ordered the italian sausage rigatoni. That was also a disappointment. I definitely could have made that on my own.
I know this area offers better italian food at about the same cost. So i wouldn't come here again. -
Review from Tara F.
5/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
3.5/4 stars. We used a $25 http://Restaurant.com gift certificate here, and, I think, felt the effects just a bit - while they were perfectly friendly, they seemed pretty perfunctory, didn't ask us if we wanted more wine or a dessert, etc. - just brought the check straight away after we were done with entrees.
The environment is cute and very casual. We showed up around 8p on a Saturday night and only waited a couple of minutes for a table - the place was full but not uncomfortably so, but be prepared to sit within elbow-range of other people, as the tables are very close together.
Antipasti di salumi Misti ($14): An appetizer with "an assortment of cured meats" - basically three pieces each of prosciutto, provolone, salami, mortadella, with a few olives and artichoke hearts, drizzled over with some balsamic vinaigrette and garnished with a mint sprig. Pretty pricey, and the meat wasn't too flavorful. Not worth it.
Lasagna Bolognese ($15): Quite tasty, a pretty moderate portion but plenty for one person. Subtle, flavorful meat sauce, and not overly cheesy. Noodles cooked to a nice firmness. A bit pricey for what one gets, but given the area, no surprise.
Spaghetti w lobster & shrimp special ($24): A large amount of pasta and a good-sized lobster tail. Nice quantity of shrimp, flavorful sauce. Tasty dish.
Glasses of wine for $7, they give you a good-sized pour, and bottles are around $24, which is a good price for LA. The bread was also warm and yummy, and they were generous with refills.
Overall the bill came out to $45 after the gift certificate was applied. -
Review from Steve L.
Irvine, CA
8/12/2011
Reading the reviews on yelp, I followed directions pretty well. Got the calamari, mushroom ravioli with truffle oil, and linguine w/ clam sauce, two glass of chianti.
Calamari - This was on his specials for the night. I was expecting something great from both the reviews I read on Yelp and it actually being a special. It was nothing special. Marinara sauce is good. Kind of regret following other yelpers recommendation on this one. Guess it was only a special because I couldn't find it on the regular menu.
Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Oil - FULL of different flavors, pasta was slightly overcooked, and my fiance said it was a bit too salty for her. Portion was kinda small.
Linguine w/ Clam - The pasta was cooked well and sauce was great. Kinda hard to mess this one up. Again, nothing special.
For the price (77 out the door) it was decent. Would I go back, probably not. -
Review from Gigi S.
West Hollywood, CA
6/15/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Just coming in we heard "Buona sera"......we will later met the man, as Fabrizio the owner, and I already know we were going to have a good dinner!
Fabrizio was Fantastic on explaining all the specials and in answering all the questions about the Menu:
We had the Beef Carpaccio and the Mushroom soup as appetizers.......both excellent!
As main I had risotto frutti di mare and my girl had Spaghetti with Lobster tails and shrimp.....great!
For dessert tiramisu' was fantastic and espresso was superb!( I had 2 )
Great experience!
P.S Most italian restaurant in LA don't have italian espresso .......what a shame! -
Review from Charlotte W.
Los Angeles, CA
5/8/2011
This has been the best Italian food I've found in Los Angeles for such a reasonable price. The owners are quite personable and are happy to make recommendations and even custom orders. My roommate and I have decided to become regulars.
The first time I went, my roommate got the pumpkin ravioli and I got the special that day which was lobster & shrimp spaghetti. They were both absolutely delicious! We also had some Burrata con Prosciutto - yummy!
The next time we brought some friends, one who said he always judges Italian restaurants by their Chicken Parmesan. While Allora doesn't have Chicken Parmesan on their menu, Fabrizio said they'd be happy to prepare it for us. The friend said it was excellent.
The calamari is crispy, light, and amazing. The gnocchi is wonderful as well.
I highly recommend Allora! It is a bit loud inside, but it only adds to the atmosphere.
Parking can be difficult - there is a valet available for around $5. -
Review from LovLeigh L.
Los Angeles, CA
7/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
So maybe this is just me being an average Joe and not some Italian food connoisseur, but I hated almost everything I ate here. Was SORELY disappointed in the watery, nearly cheese-less lasagna I was served. Ended up sending it back to the kitchen and trading for the dish my bf got which was like a bolognese or something that was good enough. Once I sent the food back, too, we suddenly were largely ignored by the owner and he made besties with the other large table that came in. Don't be mad at us cause your food was terrible.
We will not be back. -
Review from Risa Y.
2/23/2011
It was one of those few days before Christmas where every decent restaurant you go is packed with an hour wait. After being hungry, indecisive (on top of all restaurants being packed) and a bit grouchy from all the chaos of finding a good restaurant to dine at, my boyfriend and I finally found Allora Cucina Italiana on Yelp. 4.5 stars, it can't be so bad!
We called right away to see if there was any wait. The owner told us 15 min and we were about 10 min away so I told him to put us down for 2~!
The owner was very welcoming. We ordered a carpaccio appetizer, Mushroom Ravioli and Seafood Linguini. We weren't to excited about the carpaccio. The mushroom ravioli was good, but not as great as it was hyped up to be. The Seafood Linguini however was fantastic :)
Choice of wine (picked by the owner) was perfect for the meal.
NOTE: Ok guys. it's not free corkage anymore~ It's $8. So if you are seeing reviews saying it's free corkage, don't be fooled!
Everything came out to be about $90 for 2 people. For the price, I would give Allora Cucina 3 stars. -
Review from Amy D.
San Francisco, CA
5/3/2011
A cozy unassuming little hole in the wall Italian gem with fresh elegantly-crafted pasta. You can easily miss it driving by, but once inside, you are taken care of warmly. The server was patient with me being indecisive about the vegetable or proscuitto burrata appetizer (I went with proscuitto which was delicious but I can't wait to try the veggie one next time). I love burrata, and this place served a generous portion.
The bread was memorable. Some people say you can judge a place based on their bread, and theirs was warm, chewy, and several different kinds.
For entrees, we had the pumpkin ravioli and mushroom ravioli. The skin of the pasta is paper thin and has some chewiness as opposed to being thick and doughy. The cream sauce was good but a little watery. I was afraid we would suffer from ravioli overkill but the pumpkin one was sweet and shroom one salty so it balanced out fine.
I would definitely come back. The only pain was finding parking in the area. -
Review from grace w.
Los Angeles, CA
5/9/2011
i love ALLORA CUCINA ITALIANA!homey ambiance! the closest thing to being in Italy! I had Napoletana pizza and it was heavenly. i had a Julia Roberts apparition saying : " i am having an affair with my pizza". Salvatore & Fabrizio were very warm. they were constantly going around to check if customers need anything.
Excellent food, excellent service, excellent place. I am definitely coming back for more! -
Review from Pam R.
Los Angeles, CA
5/5/2011
My sister and I went here on a Thursday evening with the hopes of finding delicious Italian food. Ahhh, we certainly did. I had a feeling it was going to be a good meal when I struggled to understand what our waiter was saying through his thick Italian accent. Turns out the "waiter" was actually the owner (and really good at giving wine recommendations haha).
I ordered the pasta with mussels, scallops, and shrimp. It was soo tasty. And the scallops/shrimp weren't overcooked. Hurray!
I definitely would love to go back here. The atmosphere was so homey and.... Italian? Haha I recommend Allora Cucina Italiana to anyone who loves Italian! -
Review from Brenda Y.
5/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
So, so good. Can't emphasize enough how cozy it is in here. The food was top notch, not too much to add! Some specifics:
* fresh bread was AMAZING, really something special
* fell in LOVE with the penne al pesto genovese I ordered. The creamiest, most delectable pesto you can imagine.
* I would recommend parking just across the street at the Beverly Connection, which is $2 for up to 4 hours (or something like that)
* the lasagna bolognese was smallish, but delicious
* very small and intimate; tables are close together
* I definitely feel that a party of 2 (romantic date?) is the perfect fit, whereas any group larger than 4 might be a little cramped. Definitely make reservations for the larger parties.
* I'd like to reemphasize that there is an $8 corkage fee aka not free anymore since they've got their own wines now.
I definitely want to come back to try the tiramisu and spumoni! -
Review from Georgia P.
Los Angeles, CA
1/12/2012
The quality and freshness of the food here is great. Very authentic. Unpretentious and warm servers and owners. The owners go back to Italy a lot for vacation and they close there restaurant whenever they want, so if you plan on coming here don't be surprised if they are closed with lights out on a sat night and it happens a lot! It's really annoying, its happened at least three times to me and friends, so it's not a reliable go to restaurant. Would give it four stars if they weren't closed 70% of the time.....lame!
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Review from Lydia B.
Wilshire Center, Los Angeles, CA
1/11/2012
I celebrated my birthday at Allora a couple of days ago, there were eleven of us and everybody had a great time. It's not a very big place with nice ambiance. The service was excellent, the person, who, I suppose, was the owner was very attentive. The food came in a timely manner, maybe because it was a Tuesday night, but in any case the place was pretty full. The only reason I'm not giving Allora five stars is because the food was ok, but not great. The spinach ravioli had was too much rosemary in it and pasta with shrimp and zucchini was a bit plain. The deserts, however, were delicious. We had cheesecake and tiramisu. I wouldn't mind going there again with friends.
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Review from Peggy L.
Gardena, CA
3/1/2011 2 photos
Before I get to the food, I want to say that the two owners (or the gentlemen who I'm assuming to be the owners) are the sweetest men with the most jovial demeanors. I love dining in restaurants where the owners genuinely seem to care about your dining experience. One owner in particular, the slightly rounder one :P, was especially adorable and jolly. When I asked for the dessert menu, he waved a hand over his body and said, "I am the menu!" I've never been to Italy, but I imagine this man is a great example of their robust culture and love for life.
I've been craving Italian for a while and Allora Cucina did not disappoint. I started with the mushroom soup, which was served minus cream in a light broth, and I was pleased with the earthiness and simplicity of the soup. It tasted as if it were 100% mushroom, no other additives.
I ordered the lasagna as my main course and it came out piping hot. It was a good 4"x5" hearty slice of lasagna layered with meat and cheese. The noodles seemed a little too well done, but it didn't take away from the overall flavor of the dish. Delicious!
Also ordered for dinner was the linguine with shrimp and lobster. The sauce on this pasta was so good!! The pasta was served with a whole lobster tail (still in shell) and a good amount of sizable shrimp (de-shelled, but still w/tail). I would definitely order this dish again.
The meal ended with coffee and spumoni. It was my first experience with spumoni and the jollier owner assured me that it was served in complete Italian fashion. Spumoni is basically different flavors of ice cream layered on a pie crust. It was good, but I'm not a huge fan of fruit and nuts in my ice cream, so I'll probably order their chocolate souffle or tiramisu in the future.
It's a tiny little restaurant and I kept driving past it, but once you get your hungry arss inside, you won't regret it.
*Tip: Make reservations!!!!!!!
Note: Valet is $4. -
Review from Joanna R.
Valencia, CA
5/7/2011
We loved it. Seemed like a very small, sweet, authentic Italian restaurant. Everyone on Yelp refers to the owners who are there and I assume are the same gentlemen who were there at the restaurant overseeing things and ensuring each table was satisfied.
The bread basked was tasty and regularly filled. Two of our group shared the Baby Artichokes and enjoyed them.
The entrees we had were the Allora Rigatoni, the Lasagna, and mine - the Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach. All of them were very good and decent portions, I thought mine was amazing (its about time I out-order my husband). The brown-butter-sage business on those raviolis was incredible - I would order that again in a second.
I thought the prices were good - a nice sized glass of wine was only $7 and our entrees ranged from about $11-15 or so.
Don't even try to self park, we found nothing and everything was permit only on the Saturday night. Valet was only $4, so not that big a deal. -
Review from miss e.
Los Angeles, CA
10/27/2011
I was here on a really crappy date... but the food was fantastico!!! this place is small, quaint, and the service is pretty great. most of all, the food was freshly prepared and scrumptious!!
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Review from Jane K.
Alhambra, CA
1/4/2011
Came here for my birthday dinner on Sunday night at 6pm because of all the great reviews but it didn't live up to my expectations
place is tiny...couldn't find it at first so we passed by it and had to u-turn several times....if it helps, its next to entre nous.
I initially made reservations for 14...but 3 couldn't make it...and had to make last minute changes...but they were nice about it
I'm surprised 11 of us fit because its REALLY tiny in there.
I think the owner himself does the serving...friendly guy.
we ordered calamari....their sauce was SO good...it was marinara mixed with something else I think.
the bread was decent...nothing special.
I ordered the mushroom ravioli and so did half the party because everyone on yelp was raving about it....fail...it was TOO heavy...most of us didn't finish it...the texture of it was ok...when I asked for tobasco or any type of hot sauce the guy said that they didn't have any...and I just thought to myself what restaurant doesn't have any hot sauce....and then my friend asked for tobasco..and they gave it to her....I don't get it...
my friend ordered gnocci...and she told me hers tasted like chef boyardee...terrible :(
the worst was the lasagna...it was COLD!!!!!!!! ummm?!?!?!!...had to ask them to reheat it...
the food took forever to come out...but then again we did have 11 people...I'm sure it would've been faster for a smaller group...they did bring it out all at once...that was good.
If I were to base it on the main meal alone, I would've given this place a 2.
parking on the streets before 8pm is only for an hour I believe...so we did valet for 4 bucks. -
Review from Stephanie B.
New York, NY
7/2/2011
This is number 2 on my list of favorite places to eat.
I usually get one of the ravioli and it's never disappointing. Love the caprice salad as well. Quality of food is fantastic.
The owner is always welcoming regardless of whether or not we have a reservation. Service is usually spot on and very quick.
I love Allora Cucina because it reminds me of a huge italian family dinner. The owner often talks to customers in italian, or there is a moderately large party feasting.
I would definitely recommend (as is obvious by my 5 star rating!) Great for dates and won't break the bank too badly. Bene! -
Review from ROB C.
San Marino, CA
11/23/2011
If you're a fan of classic, authentic Italian food made when you order that isn't "generic" like Buca di Beppo, you'll love the food served by Allora Cucina Italiana! This small restaurant is nestled right by the Beverly Center and is hard to see unless you're actually looking for it. The "home" feel of the restaurant starts right from the moment you open it' door that is adorned with a old-fashioned door knob that one might find at their grandmother's place.
Inside, you'll find a quiet, pleasantly-lit interior with numerous small tables, many of which are very closely situated to their neighbors. The menu selections are expansive as you can choose from a variety of antipastas, pastas, pizzas, and the server will announce the "specials" of the evening. He will make sure that your table takes note of the specials as he demanded the attention of all 16 of us.
The Rigotoni dish I ordered was delicious and very filling. I had the opportunity ot sample around 4 other dishes, which included the lobster ravioli, wild mushroom ravioli with nutmeg, and the clam spaghetti. the clam spaghetti was a bit dry, flavorless, and salty (as most clam dishes are unfortuntelY), so I wouldn't recommend that. However, everyone finished their plate (or brought some back) and seemed pleased with their food. The pricing of this restaurant is very fair as it's situated in a nicer part of LA, is authentic Italian, and provides great service. Almost forgot, they give you plenty of bread and constantly refill it!!
I made a reservation for 16 the day of our dinner and they were able to accommodate us! Highly recommended if you need a nice place to go, but if you guys are super rowdy or loud, you will probably get some looks from other patrons.
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