49439 Mon Feb 18 03:24:32 -0800 2002 18 2 Los Angeles Area 0 248293 What are the best places to go in LA for Southern Italian "comfort" food? spaghetti and meatballs lasagna veal parmagiana ravioli etc. I go to Alejo's quite a bit, and I'm not a big fan of Buca di Beppo, but other than those two, I'm wide open (and would appreciate) all suggestions. Mon Feb 18 03:24:32 -0800 2002 0 Creamfinger 1 248298 Vitello's on Tujunga Ave in Studio City. Mon Feb 18 12:10:13 -0800 2002 248293 0 johanna 2 248308 Note, leave your gun at home, they don't check them there any more... Mon Feb 18 14:43:44 -0800 2002 248298 0 Chino Wayne 3 248317 Sure they do, just slip 'em a $20. And don't forget to ask for Blake Booth. Mon Feb 18 16:20:12 -0800 2002 248308 0 johanna 4 248323 Now we all know a man is considered innocent until proven guilty, except in this case where we know HE DID IT! Mon Feb 18 18:39:44 -0800 2002 248317 0 russkar 5 248335 Damn, I just lost $5! A friend swore that the mere mention of spaghetti and LA in the same question would invariably lead to a string of posts involving Robert Blake/Vitellos jokes. I told him the he was nuts. The Chowhounds in this group would be above such tastless humor. I was wrong. Tue Feb 19 00:19:44 -0800 2002 248323 0 Creamfinger 6 248341 We chowhounders strive for the ultimate experience in all of our endeavors, whether they be in dining or in coming up with truly tasteless humor, and we are always glad to oblige. Tue Feb 19 01:57:30 -0800 2002 248335 0 Chino Wayne 7 248348 Sheryl and I dined at Vitello's a few months ago in search of the general "Robert Blake/OJness" of it all plus a good red sauce. The results were mixed. Food barely satisfactory but I would go back only in the hopes it was an off night. However, there was a great opera club evening in whatever they call their special dining room with a lot of people in their sixties or over singing from the usual Verdi/Puccini greatest hits list... but REALLY WELL. Some aging Japanese dude hit all the notes on "La Donna e Mobile." Amazing. Tue Feb 19 10:16:53 -0800 2002 248341 0 roger simon 8 248381 Hmmm, sounds like with the cachet of the Blake connection and senior singers (I gotta be careful here, I am just a few years away from them) this could become a new must visit, especially for the out of town relatives. Tue Feb 19 20:42:14 -0800 2002 248348 0 Chino Wayne 1 248307 Mateo's -- for upscale ol' style with red booths on Westwood Bl. Miceli's -- for chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling and mediochre piano music (and, to be honest, mediochre food) on Las Palmas in the heart o' Hollywood. Mazzarino's -- for kinda down-at-the-heels, not necessarily delicious but definitely time warp time with cool old Italian scenes wallpaper on Riverside in the S.F. Valley. Mon Feb 18 14:25:10 -0800 2002 248293 0 Rafi 2 248322 Skip MATTEO's and go across the street to PASTINA it's much better and very reasonable. Best Veal Chop anywhere besides the pasta(lobster ravioli)etc. Mon Feb 18 18:36:53 -0800 2002 248307 0 russkar 2 248334 I actually just dined at Mateo's last week. The lasagna was actually pretty good, but everything else was sub-par. The waiter was so bad that it was actually comical. Curly from the Three Stooges didn't have anything on this guy. God bless him, he tried so very hard though. For some sadistic reason, the kitchen at Mateo's does not plate many (if any) of their dishes in the kitchen, they make the unfortunate waiters do it. Now imagine this poor guy, who probably spent most the day trying to get his SAG card, is now hunched in the corner, trying to remove scalding hot lasagna from a china baking dish with one hand, while he holds the fresh plate in the other hand. All of this is done by candle light. (we watched this elaborate dance occur three times... four actually, if you count the one plate of lasagna that dropped on the floor) I won't even mention the rubber band calamari or the too high prices (oops, I guess I just did) BUT, the red leather booths were nice. Tue Feb 19 00:13:49 -0800 2002 248307 0 Creamfinger 3 248360 BUT, the red leather booths were nice.>> What about the train? Tue Feb 19 13:56:49 -0800 2002 248334 0 mc michael 3 248382 Was Matteo's a Rat Pack hangout back in the day? Tue Feb 19 20:44:52 -0800 2002 248334 0 Chino Wayne 4 248383 Matteo's was supposedly a Rat Pack hang out - the last time I ate there must have been pre-1973 because one of my dining companions was the first Mr.Zoe, anyhow the room was suitably dim but attention focused on one of the tables where Gladys Towles Roote, the late attorney and one of the first women trial attorneys in Los Angeles was sitting. By that time she was quite old, rail thin but with a voice that could carry down to Union Station and dressed to the teeth in a Large Hat with huge cock's feathers (looked like the whole hen) on the top. Can't remember what the food was like but the room and scenery were tops. Tue Feb 19 21:29:30 -0800 2002 248382 0 Zoe 1 248318 Fab's in Sherman Oaks (Van Nuys Boulevard one block south of Ventura). Mon Feb 18 16:23:26 -0800 2002 248293 0 soccerdad 2 248349 No, no, no. I promised myself years ago never to get into a fight on the Internet again, but this place is terrible! Tue Feb 19 10:18:49 -0800 2002 248318 0 roger simon 1 248344 Vince's 23609 Hawthorne Torrance 310.375.1455 Tue Feb 19 02:31:09 -0800 2002 248293 0 petradish 1 248386 There's a great restaurant in Santa Monica called Anna Maria's, I believe it is on Wilshire...but not sure so go ahead and double check their listing. Bon Apetit! Tue Feb 19 22:40:05 -0800 2002 248293 0 Peebo