La Scala

Ever since high school, the Leon chopped salad has been a favorite. However, the parking and congestion of the Brentwood location prevented me from enjoying it all that often [enter Postmates]

At least once a week, I have the salad, pasta bolognese, and tiramisu delivered. It's such a treat. They seem to have a different cook on Tuesdays than other nights, as there's a marked difference in the taste of the dishes. Any other night of the week, it's consistently delightful.

The father of one of my best friends was born in and retired back to Italy. He agrees that the pasta bolognese is the best in LA. It's not the prettiest dish to look at, but who cares when it tastes that good!?

Brentwood is home too many cool neighborhood places to eat and drink, and La Scala Presto is no exception. It is located on the corner of San Vicente & Gorman. There is a sister location in Beverly Hills. Too bad the experience was mediocre.

I ordered the salmone alla checca ($19.50: grilled salmon w/ uncooked sauce of tomatoes, basil, mozzarella & olive oil), while my business associate had a chicken salad ($15: not pictured). First of all, the salmon was excellent. When I go out for business lunches, I try to order fish as much as possible: Restaurants just do a better job vs me at home. The portion was large for the price, and it was moist and seasoned very well. The side of steamed vegetables complimented the dish perfectly: 5 Stars.

Regarding the ambiance, LSP is a quaint place. There is some outdoor seating, bar seating, and booths as well as tables. It has the feel of a trattoria in Italy (more formal vs an osteria, but less formal vs a ristorante): 4 Stars. So why the 3 Stars? Well the overall service was not up to par. For example, our waitress Giovanna was not proactive. She didn't offer to refill our drinks, and when I asked her for refills, she did not refill my associate's water. Secondarily, I ordered an Arnold Palmer, and I was informed I could only receive a complimentary refill of iced tea. The foregoing makes no fukn sense and is on management, not Giovanna. Lastly, Giovanna didn't ask if I needed a validation. I was going to be charged for parking until I produced my receipt: 2 Stars for Giovanna and 1 Star for management's stoopid policy regarding Arnold Palmers.

Nonetheless, I would eat here again. However, I will make sure I don't order an Arnold Palmer, and I will remember to validate my parking bc no one seemed to bother to offer one.

I had a problem with warm carpaccio. This needs to be served cold but came warm. When I asked for the manager. A Mexican male showed up in a white tee shirt looking like he just came in off the street. His explanation was that they had to put frozen meat on a warm plate to serve it. That is one of the most idiotic explanations I have ever heard.

On top of this the waitress was completely unhelpful. If it wasn't for the fact the soup is excellent we would have walked out. Frankly the Asian bus boy had more class than this so called manager.

Not only was the manager and waitress not helpful they were argumentative.

For a somewhat classy restaurant this manager looks like you should be working in the garbage area

Quaint Brentwood location tucked in the busy corner retail strip mall off San Vicente. Casual traditional dated old school interior.

I have been to their Beverly Hills location & Emilio's in Sherman Oaks too.

But I'm all about dat signature chopped salad (no salami) with extra dressing! Their chopped salad with shredded mozzarella cheeses melts in your mouth with their house made dressing.

Gotta get that recipe for that house made dressing!

I luv getting take out on their chopped salad & then adding my own organic kale, spinach, Persian cucumber, green tomato, purple cabbage. I call it my secret Alkaline 9 (Nine) salad - thanks to Peter S, hahahaha!!!!!

Go Alkaline Greens

This place has one of my favorite top five salads ever. The chop salad is fabulous (only bad thing is the fact that they don't serve avocado at all). Pastas are a must. Parking is very limited.

As a side remark, just be aware that any changes and additions cost a bit more than anywhere else, per example: substitute iceberg lettuce for romaine lettuce was +$2.50, add extra basil was another +$5.00.

Was the salad worth it???

YES!!!

CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED
This location has closed. Disappointed that I drove 30 minutes to find it was closed and it wasn't posted on Yelp. Went to the Beverly Hills location instead and found out from staff the Brentwood location is relocating to Santa Monica.

I have been here a couple of times and the mushroom pizza was decent, middle of the road. I came back a few times because I liked supporting our neighborhood restaurants and thought that La Scala had a nice old timey Italian feel.

But, I once made the mistake of ordering the famed original chopped salad. My friends were independently raving about this salad. Yelpers were raving about this salad.

My salad was sad. It was soggy. The lettuce leaves were wilted and looked like the donated leftovers from Subway. The garbanzo bean marinade tasted like the preservative chick pea can juice. The toppings-- the little bits of joy and interest of a salad-- were sparse to non existent. I just had a sad sad bowl of old wet lettuce and slimy garbanzo beans.

I seriously considered asking the waitress if there was something wrong with my salad since it was just so bad. Ultimately, and regretfully, I said nothing and pushed around the sad chickpeas with my fork. And never went back to La Scala. The end.

I usually get a salad from here for dinner at least once a week. Today i ordered two salads to go, one was full and the other barely had half of a salad in it. Super disappointed considering I live across town or I would have taken it back.

Nice neighborhood Italian eatery with a lot of local client. Fresh pasta dishes and freshly chopped salads make this place a good lunch and dinner option for regulars. The food here is just about average in flavor and taste. It's not going to blow you out of the water or disappoint you. The service can be good or bad depending on the day-but the service at the to-go counter is usually superb.

Hey La Scala...I'm a long time fan, but you have only 3-stars for good reason. I have a great idea for you, so hear me out. I know it's not fun to hear the hard truths, but PLEASE read the reviews below, especially all the recent negative ones, and take them to heart.

Now, we can fix this pretty easily. Here's how:

Your sister restaurant, the La Scala in Beverly Hills, is soooo good. It looks great, the food is consistently excellent, and the staff is professional and courteous. No wonder it's survived 50 years and is always packed! So here's my idea: why don't you just replicate that place EXACTLY in every way, from decor to management and staff to the food?

If this place were like the Beverly Hills location, I think you'd have a real 5-star hit. But compared to the BH La Scala, your old and tired decor (and apparently from the recent reviews, your inconsistent food and management style) are in need of a complete overhaul.

C'mon La Scala, you can do better. Just copy the BH restaurant and everything will be just fine.