Nonna of Italy

Excellent meal and service! The restaurant is on Sunset Blvd, with valet parking available for $7, though there are a couple of metered parking spaces right in front of the restaurant. I didn't think we needed reservations since Open Table had every time slot opened so we just walked in on a Saturday night around 7pm and there were tons of free tables. The restaurant itself has a very nice, modern décor with the tables arranged in a way gives the patrons privacy. I always hate when restaurants pack the tables so closely together that you can't even extend you arms without touching the next table. Nonna's also has huge booth seats as well which were very spacious and comfortable.

I ordered the linguini scampi with arrabiata sauce and it was wonderful. The flavor was great and there was an abundant amount of shrimp, which was a plus. I was very impressed with my meal and would definitely go back. Everyone from the host, to our server to the additional wait staff that assisted us was very friendly and extremely attentive.

Came here because of a travelzoo voucher (3 course meal for 2 w wine) and loved our dining experience! Great service, big portions and delicious entrees!!!!!
We started off with a pizza and the tar tar.. the pizza was delicious..the tuna - i could've done without..
For the main course we ordered the the scampi pasta and the mahi mahi w pasta.. and the meal was delicious! The mahi mahi melted in my mouth.. the scampi pasta came with healthy sized prawns and it was good.
We ended our night with a carrot, which was perfect... I would definitely return - ambiance was perfect and service was great!

Valet $7

I wanted to update my previous "stripped down" review because of it's overwhelming stripped-down-ness of it.

This place is a perfect metaphor for Beverly Hills; the stuff here is pretty much the same as everywhere else. Perhaps a little nicer but just way more expensive.

The wife and I came here and enjoyed our dinner and it was lovely. The service was impeccable. The food was lovingly prepared with attention to detail and nicely presented. The wine worked well with everything on the table. The room is even cool - but all of this for the price? At least for me, not worth it.

Shall we start off with the valet? Again, very polite and professional gentleman but $7 to park the car? What, did you forget you're 92 feet into Beverly Hills?

The wife and I had a travel zoo deal that came with an appetizer each, a main and a glass of wine. So I went with the Ahi and Avocado and the wife went with the caprese.
The Ahi and Avo was fine - but very little flavor for me. I had to add a little salt to it but it was very fresh. However, the caprese might have been the highlight of the meal. It was pretty amazing. The prosciutto with that mozzarella with those tomato's was magic.

We both had chicken as the main and it was fine. Very juicy - perfectly prepared and well seasoned.... it just didnt knock my socks off.... and for $23 I was kind of hoping it would. I did really like the balance of the chicken with the potatos and spinach. That's a classic mash-up for sure.

For desert we went with the chocolate cake with Strawberry gelato - which appeared to be made in house. That was also pretty amazing.

All in all I really like this place, but it carries a Beverly Hills price tag for sure. If you're looking to have a lovely evening at a nice place, this is a good place to check out. Just be prepared to pay $10 to park your car.

Okay... so this place is located on the border of Beverly Hills on Sunset. With a name like Nonna's of Italy... I was expecting something more... homey? Well... that is not what this place is... it's very modern and almost... dare I say? Trendy? I guess it has to be in that area... but it just wasn't what I was expecting when I think of a "Nonna".

Picture this: The inside is adorned with a red blown glass chandelier that is very modern and interesting. The walls are a simple tufted red... maybe leather... or faux leather... and adorned with Italian versions of famous old movies. I saw the Godfather (il padrino), The Graduate, and Scarface.. just to name a few. The furniture is also very modern. Anyway, it's also an interesting place to go people watching... the gigolo and the cougar... the "wanna be" rock star and some girl... but there are also some business people and just some "regular" customers as well.


Parking! Hopefully, you'll be lucky and secure one of the few metered parking spots in front of the restaurant. If not, good luck. I have no idea where you can park on the side streets in Beverly and not get a ticket...since they do their whole parking permit thing there. Beware! From OpenTable.. they say the Valet parking is $7... might be worth it not to get a ticket.

Anyway...

Service is bad... They're soooo slow (and a tad rude.) Jesus! I guess that's good for conversation time and the aforementioned people watching... but the wait seemed like it took forever! FOREVER! and... I'm usually not bothered by this... but it really did take some time.

The food:

For an appetizer we did the Piatto Di Formaggi which was basically a cheese plate. It was yummy and the cheeses were good as well as the walnuts. They meshed amazingly well with the cheeses that they served. I wish I knew the types of cheeses but they vary. The one on the top of my picture was a slightly hard cheese with a bit of a nutty flavor. The bottom left corner was a very strong cheese. It was also nutty but had a very bitter and strong aftertaste... but in a good way. The one in the corner was probably a traditional Parmigiano-Reggiano. I liked the presentation though.. the cubing was good. The plate also contained a bit of walnuts (yum!) with honey... although very little honey! The bread they served with the plate was yummy. Crunchy, raisin-y, and definitely a bit sweet from the honey. It really was the perfect compliment to the dish.

As for my entree:

I had the Orecchiette con Salsiccia. Amazingly good! The portion was rather small but I was full by the time I finished it all. The sausage was ground and mixed in with the "ear pasta" and it was just so tasty! My first time having orecchiette because you just don't see that served in a lot of places... and it's definitely something I would have again. Somehow moist and a good flavor conveyer. It doesn't look like much... but it was delicious! Yum Yum! :)

**Side note: They have freshly grated cheese! If you read any of my other reviews, you will know that this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine... one of my own criteria for a good restaurant... and the server brought out a huge chunk of cheese and grated it fresh over my plate. Yay!

Tiramisu: I am a Tiramisu-Fiend! I LOVE LOVE LOVE tiramisu and I try to try out most Italian places versions because I find that they do tend to vary from place to place... much more than you would think actually. This places was good... although not, the best I've had... although I did scarf it down.. so what does that say?! But... it was very espresso-y. Strong on the coffee. Covered completely with very finely grated chocolate shavings. A nice touch. Yup. :)

So it's not a bad place... the food is good...albeit pricey... but hey, it's "Beverly Hills adjacent".... so what do you really expect?!

Nonna of Italy is a classic Italian restaurant at the very end of the Sunset Strip. It offers a nice outside patio right on the sidewalk and a large dining room. There is a long bar on one side and classy tables with white tablecloths on the other. The ceilings are high and the tables are more spaced out than most Sunset Strip restaurants.

The ambiance is upscale with a huge wine rack and maroon padded walls. It also gives off the vibe of "Old Hollywood" with the oversized vintage movie posters from the Monroe days.

I showed up with my friend for our 7:30pm reservation on a chilly night. Normally we would have loved to give their patio a try but it was a bit too cold. When we stepped inside we were greeted by a lovely hostess that showed us to our table. The menu has a lot of Italian staples like spaghetti, linguini, ravioli, and fettucini dishes with choices of pizza and meat dishes too. We decided to share the carpacio e rucola (raw beef fillet thinly sliced with shaved parmesan, baby arugula, and extra virgin olive oil) to start. The meat was served in extremely thin slices like prosciutto. The parmesan cheese was great and the arugula was fresh and chilled. It was delicious and the perfect appetizer to get us started before our entrees.

For my main dish I got the linguini scampi (linguini, Hawaiian prawns, and pomodoro sauce). The portion was pretty big and the bowl came with a large half prawn still in the shell laying on top. The pasta was cooked nicely and the prawns were amazing and soaked with the pomodoro sauce. It was so filling I wasn't even able to finish the whole thing!

Nonna of Italy offers the classic dishes one would hope to find at an Italian restaurant. The decor is nice and the staff is very friendly. It's definitely a great place wether you're celebrating something or on a hot date. It also adds a lot that the area it's situated in is a huge celeb hot spot!

BEST ITALIAN IN LA. PERIOD. I've come to Nonna for a few dinners, a business lunch, and a happy hour, and each and every single time i fall more in love with it! With everything about it!! It just encapsulates perfection in every detail and delicious morsel.

The FOOD is out of this world....best italian outside of italy. the chef grew up in italy learning his nonna's (grandma's) infamous recipes, and now shares them with us humble angelinos. we're freaking lucky too!!

TO EAT:
-lunch: grilled seabass (delicate but strong flavor, great portion), gnocci bolgonese, pesto pizza. the lunch special is $20 for an appetizer, entree, and dessert... not bad at all!
-Happy Hour: pesto pizza, carpaccio
-dinner: steak, the special seabass with the lemon sauce.
-ALWAYS: tiramisu, just like an italian mamma would make it. seriously fluffy like a dream!

The service is stellar and unmatched, especially from Oscar the manager. The atmosphere is classy and upscale, but not pretentious. The outside patio is perfect for a party.

JUST TRUST ME, this place is worth every single penny.

I came here to celebrate a friend's birthday because this is her favorite Italian Restaurant in LA. First off, because my friend comes here so often and she knows the people here, I think we got hooked up with an appetizer platter. (Well, even if it wasn't free, it was delicious and fancy.) Our server was very nice and helpful - we had a party of almost 20 people, but she was very patient with each of us. (I forgot her name but she had really cool eye liner/eye make-up.)

For appetizer, I got the Carpacio e Rucola. It was fresh, with lots of arugula. I was impressed at how thin the beef were sliced, yet it doesn't fall apart when you pick it up with the fork. For the main course, I got the Vitello Milanese. Most people are not fans of veal, but I am so I decided to give it a try. For a breaded and sauteed veal chop, I thought it was cooked to perfection. It was very tender, wasn't dry, and the veal was only lightly marinated so I could still taste the veal. The sides are ok - mash potato wasn't impressive and the spinach was a bit greasy. I was more impressed with the carpacio and the veal.

My friends ordered the Tiramisu so I took a bite. It was good, but it was a little bit too sweet and lemony.

Birthday dinners are always chaotic, but I enjoyed my first experience here at Nonna. I will have to come back again to try their pasta dishes and other appetizers. The patio seating area outside is great for "car watching" but the inside is also nice and cozy...great for a date or dinner for a small group.

I LOVE this place so much...the food, the people, the feel...that I make it a point to come here whenever I'm in LA.

Recently, my friends and I had the ravioli and the Loup de Mer, which is this perfectly cooked whole seabass, stuffed with rosemary, garlic, and other herbs...GAH, to die for!

The ravioli is so good, I want to have double portions so that I can take some for leftovers the next day. The mushroom sauce that came with it was creamy and not overpowering.

This place always hits the spot for me.

Fabulous Dining ... 5 stars!!!
I posted pictures of our Friday night dinner ...
- We started off with a couple of cocktails: dirty martini and cosmo ... Yay!
- Bread was delicious!
- Starter plate was Antipasto Nona -- delicious prosciutto, cheese, peppers ... WOW!
- Main plates: pork chop and grilled veal ... OMG Delicious!
- Dessert was the chocolate cake with berries --- Yummy!

Our dinner was accompanied with a wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir -- Excellent recommendation from our wonderful attendant Sarah ... you're awesome!

We definitely plan to return, again, and again, and again.

Great food. Good Service. Great Ambiance. I found this place through a travelzoo discount. 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 glasses of red italian wine, and a shared panna cotta later we were satisfied patrons. Not to mention that my date and I were sitting outside under night war heat lamps which made the evening more romantic. It was funny because there is a DUI check right outside the restaurant, so it made for a good show.

As for food, the beef capaccio was delicious. I enjoyed the ink squid risotto. But, think I would have enjoyed it more if there were veggies in it. it was just ink squid, shrimp, calamari, and risotto. My date really enjoyed the risotto. He got a big steak, I forget what cut, but i was maybe 8 inches. We both really enjoyed our food paired with nice Italian reds. The panna cotta was light and fluffy. I was expecting it to be sweeter, so if you wanting a sweeter dessert I would go with something else.

The ambiance is very nice and romantic. The staff is very friendly and helpful.