La Vecchia Cucina

Classic Italian fare in an upscale yet casual atmosphere with a classy but cool vibe. Come here for top notch cuisine and service. You can't go wrong with any of the menu options, but opt for the specials. Josh at the bar also tipped us off that turn out one of the best steaks in town, trust us! they Happy hour is offered at the bar from 5-7 Mon-Fri with great deals on food and drinks. more

Loved the burratta salad! more

Chef/owner Mark Mollica and staff serve up some really delicious food! Awesome salads, pizza, pasta and more. Great atmosphere and a really friendly staff along with the delicious food will makes for a restaurant you'll want to go back to over and over! I can't stay away for more than a couple days! :) more

I thought that I would share my recent dining experience with you...\r In mid October 2010, a seemingly normal family celebration turned into a nightmare experience at the trendy Santa Monica, CA restaurant, La Vecchia Cucina. In the last 2 1/2 years, many restaurants have gone out of business due to a lack of customer demand as a result of the recession. In response, the restaurants that do remain are the ones that make sure that their customers know that the restaurant appreciates them and only survives because of their repeated patronage. The attitude of La Vecchia Cucina demonstrates that the restaurant’s customers should feel privileged to dine there, and this could ultimately lead to its financial downfall.\r This was illustrated when a daughter visiting from New York decided to take her mother to a nice local restaurant to celebrate her mother's birthday. A routine Google search listed La Vecchia Cucina as a top candidate for the birthday dinner. The restaurant accepted a same-day reservation and was notified at the time that it was a special occasion. Upon arriving on time for dinner, the mother and daughter were told by the hostess that a table was being prepared especially for them. Thereafter, they were ignored for over 15 minutes while other people coming into the restaurant were seated immediately. The hostess finally escorted them to a table where they began reviewing the menus. \r Several minutes later, the same hostess abruptly interrupted them by insisting that they relocate to another table, stating that the existing table was specifically reserved for someone special. The daughter complained that the second table was next to the noisy kitchen area, overcrowded by waiters and engulfed by food smells, and that they preferred not to move to that table. The hostess again demanded that they had to relocate immediately. Seeing that her mother was already upset, the daughter begrudgingly decided not to create a scene during the until-now happy birthday celebration, and decided to move to the new table. Although the service and food were satisfactory, the mother and daughter were never approached with any apology or consideration for being treated in such an insulting manner. A couple of days later, the daughter contacted the restaurant owners via e-mail to notify them of the poor dining experience and the owners did not bother to respond; thus, emphasizing the fact that the restaurant apparently feels that their customers' satisfaction and overall dining experience is simply not important to them. Moreover, it is clear that they are reinforcing the fact that only special people are welcome there and all others will be treated in an unprofessional and disrespectful manner. \r more

Always get the spaghetti here when I go with family. Plus, I love the bread with olive oil and vinegar.... more

Always get the spaghetti here when I go with family. Plus, I love the bread with olive oil and vinegar. Delicious! more

Excellent food but the service can be a little slow and the tables are really close together. Make a reservation because it gets really crowded Pros: Great food! Cons: Crowded and squished tables more

La Vecchia is a hidden treasure on the Westside. The Chef uses many of the top quality meats found at your fine dining restaurants but without the price. The filet specials are amazing; the meat is so tender it melts in your mouth. They have a nice selection of wines. There burrata and heirloom tomato special is delicious, not to mention the Pizza Calabrese. The pizza has chorizo, sausage, jalape?os, and onions. Everyone who I have eaten with at La Vecchia tries the pizza and is hooked. La Vecchia is definitely the place you need to try once. Weekends can be busy and reservations are always better. They have an excellent Happy Hour with great $5.00 deals. I try and go once a week especially for the fresh bread. All my meals have been great. I attend to large events at La Vecchia and they did a great job at getting the food out on time to everyone. Everyone was able to eat at the same time. Four of the large events I went to were rehearsel dinners and the wedding party the next day talked about how amazing the food was compared to these four star hotels that the weddings were held at. Try it.. La Vecchia has a nice, upbbeat environment that usually is pretty busy so reserverations are suggested more

After our trip to Italy last year I have had a difficult time finding authentic, delicious and reasonably priced Italian in my neck of the woods. I didn't know I had to truck clear to Santa Monica, but this place is worth the trip. We started with calamari and proscuitto and heirloom tomatoes and our palates were quite excited. Secondi was the clam and mussel linguini, while my partner had the osca buco. The osca bucco was fantastic and the linguini was difficult to stop eating. The waiter suggested the Kenwood Syrah which was an excellent choice. With a full bar, a competent waitstaff, and a reasonable bill at the end I will make the trek to Santa Monica more often. Enjoy! Pros: Everything Cons: Walking out with a distended belly more

We have been back here 4 times in the last few months. Every time we come to this restaurant, we eat yummy food and have great service. THERE IS A REASON THE PLACE IS ALWAYS FULL! The chicken stuffed with zucchini is AMAZING! Seriously. It is always perfectly cooked, and the side portions are huge. I have trouble ordering anything else (however, the pizza we had once was fabulous!). It is so refreshing to eat in Los Angeles where you feel like you are really getting some value for your money. Great service, down to the host staff. I love eating here and will continue to return over and over again! Pros: Close to home, consistently yummy food, great value, great service, great atmosphere... Cons: not enough restaurants like this around... more

My boyfriend and I had a fantastic dinner here last Thursday. The place was very full and lively. The service was lovely. And the food was great! Calamari Fritti to start, then the boyfriend had what I think was called Fagiotti - small pasta pockets filled with cheese and I want to say walnuts, with a sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, and I had the Penna All'Arrabbiata (cooked perfectly al dente and the sauce was with perfect sauce). Best of all the price was extremely affordable for the high quality and great experience. We will definitely become regulars here! Pros: Food, Service, Ambience Cons: Parking can be tricky in the area more

We went with an Italian friend who had had a nice meal here before but unfortunately this was not the experience for the 5 of us when we returned with her. While the support staff were attentive, the waiter we had was the worst in our experience in many years--he completely neglected the table and our increasingly wild gesticulations (to order, to ask for water, wine, etc) were noticed by just about everyone else in the restaurant but him. Frankly it was embarrassing to be treated so poorly, especially with friends who were visiting LA for the first time from overseas. Overall the food was average--given the lackluster service, it's not worth the trouble to return. Pros: location Cons: parking, service, food more

One thing I did not know about La Vecchia is that they are a class act. After a recent reservation mix up, the owner called me directly to apologize and invited my friends and I back in. From the moment we walked in we were treated above and beyond well, the food was delicious and the overall experience was perfect. The fact that they reached out made us want to go back and after a great evening, we definitely will! more

We made reservations for NYE well in advance, confirmed them and showed up on time. The restaurant was so poorly run, they had no idea how to accommodate a holiday such as this. We waited over 1 hour for our table! Granted, they gave us wine and some appetizers. Which was nice, but we had to squish into a corner of the bar, totally interrupting the diners squished into a table by the window. We appreciated the effort, but it was more irritating to watch them seat parties of 2 people at a table for 6! And they did nothing to try to move lingering guests along who had already paid. Overall, we had more fun at Finn's. more

We made reservations for 7 on New Year's Eve at 8:30pm. Upon arriving a few minutes early, we were told that our table was finishing dinner and we would be seated shortly. After about 15 minutes, we asked the host for an update, and he said that it shouldn't be long and offered us free appetizers. He brought us three dishes, two of which had to be cut up, which wasn't very easy to do for 7 people in a crowded space. We did have the pizza which everyone seemed to like. \r \r About 20 minutes into the wait, the host seated three other large tables, one of which only 2 of the party were present at the restaurant, which was really annoying! About 30 minutes into the wait, we asked if we could have some drinks to go along with the appetizer, and he opened a bottle of wine for us. \r \r He mentioned that OUR table seemed to be lingering over their coffee and seemed not in a hurry to leave as they had a party to go to afterwards. He seemed to be saying that this was our problem, rather than asking the table to clear out for the next reservation. It would have been better if he just said that he had no idea how long it would be if he couldn't manage the situation. \r \r After waiting for over an hour, we decided that the host really didn't really know what he was doing or saying, and we went elsewhere for dinner, which wasn't easy on new year's eve. The overall experience put a big damper on our new year's plans! Although I've been once before and the food was okay, I would never go back here again!! Cons: Horrible service more

I love this place!!! The people are friendly and the food is the best. Try the pizza....the deluxe pizza was some of the best i've had. \r Side note...HAPPY HOUR! Great deals for great food. Pros: food and service Cons: parking and close tables more

I'm thinking that perhaps the other reviewers of this restuarant haven't been to the truly excellent Italian places in LA. La Veccia's not bad, just don't go expecting anything phenomenal. Pros: good wine list, expansive menu, service Cons: too many kids more

While sitting at the bar with my friend, another patron proceeded to shout across the two of us to his friend, kick my purse and advise it was 'over the dividing line', monitor and announce to the restaurant our food and beverage consumption, and numerous other snide comments I won't mention here all while advising it was his 'constitutional right' to make such outbursts. These outbursts caused discomfort to all others in the bar. The impetus? When he arrived, we nicely told him we did not want to move from our settings which were full of food and drink to accommodate him. Managements response? We're sorry, he's a regular, and, oh, here are a couple of free drinks. If you enjoy uncomfortable environments and unruly regulars, this is the place for you. more

I've been going there for almost 10 years, and I love the place. Upscale, but not pretentious. Pretty much everything on the menu is excellent, and if you sit at the bar and eat dinner, you'll get even better service than if you sit at a table. They have a great wine list and are always trying out new wine by the glass for the adventurous crowd. This is one of my favorite regular restaurants in L.A. more

This niegborhood cucina offers perhaps the best value for Italian cuisine on the Westside. They offer a varity of northern and southern cusine, the fish is always fresh and the pasta is divine. And. the service is always friendly. ""Try it, you'll like it."" more