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Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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I came here the other night with some friends and had an excellent meal. How do I know the meal was excellent? Our dinner conversation ranged from a chimpanzee ripping off the face of a woman to a murderer recently caught in Japan who had plastic surgery, among other topics and amid all this morbid talk I still found the food appetizing and delicious.
I had the Pollo al Gorgonzola con Pomodoro Secco and it was very, very good. The chicken was tender and not dry, the sauce was creamy goodness.
It's a cozy place with real Italian food.
My favorites include the olive spread and bread that comes with every meal and the caesar salad with shrimp. Those two alone will keep you coming back for more. I love the fact that they daily specials. Have a lot of seafood dishes
I give them a 4 star rating based on value. Good food for a good price.
That's why they are always busy.
Good bread and spread. Small outdoor patio on the street.
Decent spaghetti and meatballs. A dish that's hard to find here in L.A.
Not as good as Farfalla in some categories but a great Italian restaurant none the less
Great food with original menus that change regularly - good wine selection. The space is a little noisy when busy, but overall I'm definitely going back - even if just for carry-out. Create your own Risotto is a favorite
A-freaking-mazing pizza!
The chicken parmesan is great, too.
I love the desserts. This place is going to make me fat.
The waiters are so amazingly awesome and nice and helpful and everything you would ever want a waiter to be.
That's all I have to say! Loves it.
If the food had been half as good as the service, or had been a third as nice as the ambience this would have been a grand find, but as the plates came out, the food just settled into a stubborn mediocrity and refused to present anything to us worth remembering.
The best part of the meal was the quaint little patio out front, comfortable and inviting, and the real reason we stopped in. It's a good thing for the patio too, because inside the actual restaurant it was so smoky you could hardly breathe. It would have been a nice touch to offer the seated patrons a gas mask to make it through unscathed.
Dinner was okay, like the average kid in class who's not moving the curve at all, it was all passable. As with all Italian food it's all about the ingredients and here the seafood was a moment past it's prime.
Dessert was the one highlight of the food, the Tiramisu was thick and dense, full flavored yet light enough to enjoy.
I'm still looking for that wonderful little Italian joint that makes remember why Italian food is so remarkable, but the journey continues unrewarded.
Food - B-
Ambience - B
Service - A-
Value - B+
I have always been a fan of bistro food, because it is rustic, plentiful, robust, and easy on the wallet. My dinner at Il Capriccio met every one of my expectations. The kitchen and service was a little inconsistent, however the friendliness of the staff and the delicious food made up of it.
I came with a group of 12 to have Sunday dinner prior to watching theatre at the Steve Allen Theatre. The menu has a good selection of specialties each under $18 per dish. I actually had a hard time making up my mind, because everything looked good. So, I asked my dinner party what they were ordering. After a few more minutes and three glasses of water, I finally ordered the SPAGHETTI MARE, which is morsels of fish, squid, clams, mussels, and a gigantic full bodied, head-on shrimp in a marinara sauce. Our server ask if I wanted it a little spicy and I succumb to it.
After a another three glasses of water, 6 pieces of bread, and plenty of conversation...our dishes came. To sum it all up, the spaghetti mare was too die for! Yes, I loved it!!! Lots of spaghetti and squid tentacles curled from the cooking process and sticking out from the marinara sauce. Pieces of clams and mussels adorned my plate like jewels. I dug for chunks of fish soaked in sauce as if it were buried treasure. The highlight was peeling the gigantic shrimp and sucking the marinara sauce from it. Yo, ho, ho...it was Yum!
In all, my dining experience at Il Capriccio was a divine. I will fight traffic and battle for public parking space for more Italian food there. The restaurant is on a busy street. Limited street parking, but you can park at the public and private lots across from the restaurant and behind the building. The restaurant itself is appears to have been around for a long time. It does get crowded after 6:00PM to expect longer waiting for service, orders, etc. I would suggest not to sit in front of the kitchen, because it does get pretty smokey and there's a lot of walking traffic. As for the wine list, it's not much of a selection. It might be worth paying the corkage to bring your own favorite wine.
Am i the only one that thinks the owner is a dick? The waitstaff is awesome! the food is okay.. not the absolute best! but the pricing is great!
The owner has double glanced at me on more than one ocassion, my boyfriend and I go there often, his choice but he has yet to nod, say hello, or even crack a smile when he sees us. The waitstaff is always nice saying things like "well hello again" and "what are we having this time?"
But the owner refuses to acknowledge us, not that it's necessary but sheesh... he manages to be very friendly to everyone else in the restaurant.
and i agree, the seating is alittle too personal for me. I don't like going out with my boyfriend and rubbing elbows with the people next to me while i eat.. TOO intimate.
overall.. mediocre food, when the bill comes it's never super high or anything and this is even with a bottle of wine with ever meal and occasional dessert and always an appetizer or two. , but the owner is a cold asshole in my opinion.
Went from 5 stars to 2.
The menu is one of the best selections I have ever seen.
I couldn't decide what to order and then went with the linguini and clams.
Sorry to say this, but literally they smelled like sewage. They came out literally smelling like sewage. Even the wait staff agreed something was wrong and profusely apologized. BUT, while they replaced it with a superb dish, they still charged me and no manager ever came out to apologize.
Tacky.
You can't beat the ambiance or value for what you get, but charging for rancid food is just plain wrong.
I came here with a large group which really tests a restaurant and our experience was flawless thanks to our server, "cool-under pressure" Lindsey who's been at Il Capriccio for a while.
Our table had rigatoni antonio, fusilli funghi, tagliatelli neri spaghetti de mare, New York steak, lasagne, rigitoni norcina. My raviolli aragosta (lobster I think) was fabulous with a creamy pink sauce. Crazy flavor.
On this Sat evening's dining experience the lady of the house came by to compare my wine aerator with the one the restaurant has. Unfortunately she didn't join us for a drink, but that's how friendly the hospitality can be.
PS - the wine aerator I have is from the LA Wine Fest from a company in Denmark called SpinWine. Better than the rest.
This place is just great for family-style friendly Italian food. The specials are tasty, the… Read more »
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Amazing food AND Impeccible service (especially Joe - best server ever).
Try the capellini with shrimp, the gnocci with arrabiate sauce, or the green fettucini.
It feels like you're sitting at a cafe in Italy, and like all good Italians, they treat you like family.
Surprisingly excellent Italian on the east side. Dimly lit, cozy and casual ambiance. Love their pasta dishes which are flavorful, fresh, clean, perfectly cooked and inexpensive. Servers are super nice and attentive. No central air inside the restaurant, opt to sit outside during those hot nights. Also, servers validate valet parking. Great spot for a relaxed date or casual dinner.
I love places like this. Bustling and familiar at once with excellent crusty bread and tapenade and friendly service. Go once and you feel like a regular. Our first neighbors, an elderly couple bade us "good night girls" and I guess to really old folks, we might perhaps pass as girls. A Lever 2000 commercial actress was also at the restaurant being fussed over. There are a motley collection of hipsters, oldies, some gay men, etc. And the food is well made, comforting and huge portions.
We started with the arugula and radicchio salad, calimari and porcini mushrooms. For my entree I had the spaghetti mare which was lovely but not stellar. The black ink ravioli was really good and one of the specials of the night was buccatini. Our neighbor ordered it and when I saw it, I wish I had ordered it.
It is rather warm, dense and smoky (food not cigs) inside so if that's not your thing, there is sidewalk seating. Best of all dinner and wine was very affordable at about $35 a head (with tip).
This place is far better than the typical LA italian restaurant. I wish I could point to exactly what I have eaten there but I can't remember. I just know that I loved it. And I know that their methodology is very sound. Good proportions, simple flavors, lots of love.
This makes me so sad. The second to last time we went here you could tell the place is on the decline. It wasn't as busy, but you could tell the service staff was cut back on or just plain sucks now.
So we tried it again last night and it was even worse. The food is still delicious but the staff is overworked and over stressed. Experience is something very important to me when I'm dining out and this starts to ruin things when your wait times or orders get confused.
Sorry guys.. :(
Report: Last night a woman was spotted at Il Cappriccio showing signs of aggressive behavior.… Read more »
Every time I stay at the crappy Ramada Inn down the street I am coming here!
What a great find! A very cute Italian place - with great prices on food and wine. Their white by the glass ranges from $6 to $10.
They have some of the best bread I have ever had here - SO mushy and soft I loved it. As well as the pesto-y olive oil dip/spread they give you for it. In fact I ate too much bread and couldn't finish my Mediterranean salad.
I also had the past dish that is listed on the antipasti page - its a white bean and pasta soup in a light tomato broth - It was FANTASTIC.
I know, I know, WHAT ITALIAN GIRL WHO EATS PASTA EVERY NIGHT AT HOME? YOU DIDN'T HAVE PASTA HERE?!!! well I didn't, I wasn't that hungry but I can't wait to come back and try some - they have a lot on their pasta menu plus specials each night. They even have 2 or 3 squid ink pasta dishes which you don't normally find at the cheaper restaurants.
Parking was confusing for this non LA-er. There is a lot? the lot 2 doors down is a NO? ok the street? wait there is a valet right there... WTF....
'I didn't want to leave my hotel room from all the sun in the fun I had today, but my boyfriend wasn't going to let us wither away at the Hollywood City Inn on a Saturday night.
One problem we have found is the lack of late night offerings in LA. How do kitchens close at 9:30 here?!
This place is really good, a solid Italian place. I had the Eggplant parmigiana, complete with risotto cheese in between the eggplant, smothered in vodka sauce and cheese...came with sides of spinach and pasta, all for under $15. We had been drinking all day so no drinks for us, but we enjoyed a light and flaky blueberry tart for dessert. Really good stuff!
Why is this place not a 5? I was craving Pizza...none on the menu :(
If I find my way down to LA anytime soon, I will revisit this tasty, 'recession' priced gem, for sure! Plus points for permitting smoking outside in the terrace, after a huge plate of pasta :)
Yuuuuuummmy!
The waitress brought out this HUGE white board with the specials written on it. She set the board right in front of us and left for a few minutes so we can read it. I confidently chose a dish and waited for her to arrive. Right when she asked me what I would like, I heard myself saying, the squid-ink pasta, which was not on the board. It was like a Freudian slip which I found out later, completely satisfied my unconscious (and conscious) desires! The sauce was so good that after I devoured my pasta, I wiped the plate clean with some bread.
I'm a classy lady!
As far as Italian restaurants go, this is my all time favorite. I read a review about the lack of pizza on the menu, they have another Il Capriccio that only sells pizza less than half a mile away on Hollywood Blvd (also fantastic,) but that's another review.
This place is always hopping, which is the only con I can think of... that and they don't serve lunch on weekends. The last time I went we were sitting pretty close to the folks next to us. Sometimes you have to wait awhile for a table. The waitress' are always extremely helpful and friendly.
My favorite is the Gnocchi Gorgonzola.
This was some darn good Italian food!!!
I had some friends in town and we just happened to walk by this place (searching for restaurants on Vermont between Hollywood and Franklin.
The restaurant was bustling with people on the inside and outside. We got a table inside without waiting (but I would not be surprised if there were waits during peak dining hours - it would still be worth it).
If you don't like being seated close to other people, this is not the place for you. The tables are fairly close and there was another table about six inches from ours. The restaurant is noisy by the chatter and hustle - not a quiet Italian place.
The food---The bread is baked and brought in from their sister restaurant on Hollywood. I had the chicken in Gorgonzola sauce with sauteed spinach and steamed vegetables. It was amazing. I purposely saved the sauce so I could eat it with the bread. Everyone at the table was very pleased with their meal. We had two vegetarians with us, and they seemed satisfied with the veg-choices. The entrees are fairly large - I did not order an appetizer and was definitely glad. Even dessert might be a stretch after their meals - but I saw some other tables having some great looking dessert.
The wine selection was appropriate and well-priced. The food costs were appropriate and not too expensive. I think my entree was $15. Well priced for the portion.
The service was amazing -we had a great waitress who put up with all our questions and was very attentive. And the restaurant was packed at the time.
I did not note if they have their own parking area. We parked in a $5 lot, but you should check this prior to going. They might have a lot that I don't know about.
Great Experience - Great Food! Will be back.
I've been in a bit of a pasta fix lately, but for someone celebrating a birthday, we needed to make sure she got her proper fix of carbs before entering a night of drunken nonsense.
The pasta was very well priced for a hefty serving, and for a little corner in Hollywood, I was very surprised.
I ordered the Rigatoni Antonio, and even though it was tasty, it wasn't amazing. However, everyone else seemed pretty pleased with their dinners, so overall, it was a good dinner.
One thing I enjoyed most was the decoration. It was comfortable and cozy, and one could almost forget they were in Hollywood for a split second... right up until you walked outside.
Would I go back? Probably not only because I would rather go to Osteria La Buca not too far from this place.
from an italian stand point :
" the best carbonara ...... in los angeles ""
Aw yeah, this place is great, considering that before last night, I didn't even know it existed.
I was part of a group of six, celebrating a friend's birthday. I was the first to arrive, about ten minutes early (yeah, I'm that girl) but was promptly seated and very quickly thereafter a very friendly waiter came over to offer me a glass of water, a basket of bread and then even offered to put the bottle of white wine I'd brought on ice to chill before dinner. Service here is definitely pro. Friendly without being obnoxious or overly attentive. Our waiter was charming and even cut as a deal on the corkage fee, charging us for two instead of the three we ended up opening. Oh, and he knew the entire specials menu by heart--bravo.
And speaking of the food--OMG! I ordered the rabbit ravioli, after having such a great experience at Chicago's Mercat al a Planxa. While I didn't have the same visceral reaction to Il Capriccio's, they were still heavenly little pillows of dough wrapped around wonderfully tender rabbit meat and some kind of cheese. The pasta was well-cooked and everything was well-seasoned. I also had a bite of my friend's cod special, which was also very, very tasty.
For dessert they brought out a creme brulee with a candle in it for my friend's birthday, big enough for the whole table to share. It was wonderful! The custard was just perfect--creamy yet not terribly heavy, and I could taste how the individual components came together, especially the vanilla bean. The caramelized sugar on top was well ... I love anything that's go caramelized sugar on top.
I wish I lived in Los Feliz so I could come here more often. I think this could be a very versatile restaurant. Good for friends, dates, and bring the 'rents to. Il Capriccio has a great combination of food, service, value and ambiance. I will definitely be back!
Good food. Friendly staff.
The best bread and pesto olive oil topping I have had in a long while.
I had FUSILLI AI FUNGHI e MELANZANE, the noodles were a lil over cooked, but that did not take away from the awesome tasting sauce.
The price is right for what you get.
This place is pretty good. Great food for a good price. Finding parking sucks. They seem to be understaffed, but our waiter was great.
Went back here on a lunch date. Food was just as good, but no rabbit ravioli this time so I was disappointed. Prices were very reasonable and it was a nice day so we sat outside on the patio.
It was pretty quiet for a weekend day, which is fine with me as long as the place isn't completely dead. Good service, good food, good prices.
I had some pasta special that was green in color and looked pretty weird but was very good. I can't remember what it was exactly as the date went well and I ended up with large holes in my memory from drinking too much liquid courage.
A little more intimate and crowded during dinner times, but it does the job for lunch. A good place to take a date for dinner, and will not break the bank if you're not sure you really like the girl and don't want to spend too much money.
Great little restaurant walking distance from the apartment.
Great atmosphere, reasonable prices,…
Read more »
I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in the Los Feliz area all my life and haven't eaten anywhere on Vermont save for a few of the bigger chain restaurants. I'm trying to correct that and the first one on the list was this place.
A friend and I left impressed. The atmosphere was comforting and familiar; it was bustling yet cozy. The restaurant is a bit narrow though so be prepared to be buddy buddy with the tables around you.
The food is generously portioned for the price and delicious. It did take a while to get to us (then again, we went on a Friday night), but having a glass of wine, their delicious bread and good company makes the wait feel like nothing. The service was excellent, ignoring the host who brought us our wine and somewhat rudely asked if we were really 21+. I don't know if he was trying to be funny, but yeah buddy, har har. :\
I will definitely go back and try everything on the menu, except maybe not the rum bubba again because whoaaa that was a bit too rummy! Unless, you like that much alcohol in your desserts, then by all means go for it.
Eww, they serve rabbit?! I'm not going anywhere that serves pets again!
Not quite "A-OK." More like "Meh, I've had better," but I'll give them the full 3 stars cuz of the decent pricing. Coffee is $1. Desserts are $5-6.
Fried Goat Cheese Salad- We were wary of this, but the waiter praised it so much, we got it anyway. He was right. It was DELICIOUS!
Pasta- My pasta was overcooked, squishy soft, and BURNING hot. Probably cuz it was waiting forever in the oven for the dining partner's dish, which was beautifully al dente btw. She mentioned that her pink sauce was reminiscent of Chef Boy R Dee. I think that's what another reviewer below meant by too much red acidity/low cream for pink sauce. Also, both our pastas were definitely oversauced, as others also mentioned. That's absolutely unnecessary if you have a good noodle. There should be a good balance between the two.
Rum Bubba Cake- We got this cuz their panna cotta wasn't ready yet at 9 in the evening. The waiter told us the rum cake was strong, but that was the understatement of the year. It surprised us that it came out white, but it turns out that's because they don't use the usual dark rum for desserts. The waiter told us later it's 151!!! YES, cake soaked in 151!!! YUCK! Be careful. I think i'm still drunk! ;)
This place is super cute. I love their patio and it's in a great location on Vermont. My friends and I sat on the patio, where we had plenty of room, so I can't speak to the "cacophony of noise" someone else described. For appetizers we had calamari, which was standard and well done. Thanks to the reviews on Yelp, I tried the black squid ink pasta and it really was quite tasty. The shrimp were large and delicious! My friends got the Spaghetti Mare (a spaghetti with marinara and a medley of seafood), and the Fruitti Di Mare (seafood salad). Both were quite tasty; I really liked the Fruitti Di Mare. What's great is you have the option to request a half-order of many entrees because there portions are large. The half-order I got was the perfect size. I hate having leftover seafood to take home - it doesn't reheat well and it certainly doesn't smell good.
My only complaint is that we waited almost 45 minutes for our entrees to arrive. I don't know what took so long, but our waitress would come by every 10 minutes or so to tell us our food would be ready soon and still we'd wait. Finally, when our food arrived, our waitress was very apologetic and offered to buy us dessert. We accepted and ordered the Ricotta Cheesecake. It was interesting, but I think I'd rather have my cheesecake the traditional way. I give them credit for trying something different though.
All in all, I'd definitely go back and I would recommend this place to friends.
I've been lucky enough to live around the corner from this place for the past few years. I can't say enough about the staff - always so professional and a bunch of sweethearts - even on the phone when I order take out!!
I tend to like simple dishes done well. If you're like me, try the Capellini Alla Checca and Linguine Alle Vongole (if you like seafood).
Cheers!
The food is great. The rigatoni Norcina is excellent. The service - inconsistent, hectic and sweaty. And Mama should consider putting out her Virginia Slims 100 and bus a table when its busy. Mama don't sit outside and smoke while your waitstaff (usually understaffed and slow) arre slammed. One night they had a magician going from table to table doing tricks. W T F? Bad, bad idea. C'mon you're better than that. Oh yeah, the hostess / slash takeout girl is usually bitchy, but cute.
Il Capriccio's black squid ink pasta is equivalent to carb-crack. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the rest of my life and be happy.
The fried goat cheese salad is a spontaneous food-gasm waiting to happen. Friendly, fast service and a cute Los Feliz location. I hate the hunt for parking but I love you, Il Capriccio.
This restaurant comes highly recommended if you enjoy dining in places that share a wall with your dry cleaner.
The prosciutto and melon plate. It arrived at arctic temps, the meat imprinted and ground into the plate by the weight of the dozen dishes that were obviously sitting on top of it in the fridge. Am I in a restaurant or a mess hall? Unripe melon was mealy, ice cold, not fit to be served.
Entree. Pappy, overcooked pasta in pink sauce. Pink generally means cream is involved. Not here it doesn't. Pink here means red, a high-acid, no-cream sauce.
Someone at my table had rock hard tomatoes. I wasn't aware any self-respecting Italian would plate such a thing. I am now.
No idea what these other reviews are raving about. Is it possible so many people could gravely misunderstand Italian food? Let me not think about this much longer.
half of our party ended up being really late (45 min!) but they didn't rush us to leave even though the place looked like it was getting packed...just kept on filling up our bread bowl just as we liked. when we were complete, our server brought over this huge chalk board that he held up while telling us the specials of the day. it was quite impressive.
anyhow, i had the spinach pasta with three mushrooms in pink sauce as i had been recommended, and well, it was really good! i want to try the black squid ink dish next time!
Very good pastas. Nice cozy atmosphere, though it feels a bit close on hot summer days. And reasonable prices. It's the best Italian place in the area.
Not your typical L.A. italian place; New York style- small tables, outstanding service, food quicked freshly to order.
Caesar salad was a bit disappointing; special caprese salad with shrimp was phenomenal.
Entrees come with choice of pasta/potatoes and vegetable.
Lots of gorgonzola and shrimp on the menu for some reason. Fairly large portions, reasonable prices.
Reservations are very helpful for weekends.
I really like this place. I guess my boy used to come here a lot back in the day. So he tells me. The waiters/waitresses are waaay friendly and really take care of you.
There used to be no corkage fee; however, not anymore. It was $10 the last couple of times we went because they got their liquor license back.
The food here is great. Delicious! I'm coming back...most definitely. Plus, it's on a great section of Vermont so you can people watch if you sit outside. :)
I absolutely adore this place! Street parking is always an issue in Los Feliz, so it's to be expected when dining here... but totally worth the walk (whether it's across the street, or 1 block away)!
Now, I've only tried a few things here but I've never been disappointed. My favorite dish is the pasta with brown sauce, sausage and mushrooms. I'm seriously drooling as I type! The fresh bread is good, and the panna cotta is cheap but not like traditional panna cotta... theirs is more flan like. This cute and quaint restaurant is worth a try, especially if you're looking for a warm, delicious dinner in a homey, casual setting.
Wine Down Weekends
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Neighborhood: Griffith Park/Los Feliz
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Griffith Park/Los Feliz
Category: Italian
Los Angeles, CA
Category: Pizza
Neighborhood: Griffith Park/Los Feliz
Category: Delis
Neighborhood: Griffith Park/Los Feliz
Category: Wine Bars
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