La Brocca

I would describe this place as a chameleon.
Come by during the day and go to the restaurant downstairs to enjoy some great food in a very cosy atmosphere. Come to the bar on a Saturday night for a late drink and you better be in the mood to party. Everyone will be enjoying one too many drinks including the bartenders so you may have to wait a while to get served, but it’s all part of the experience and meeting the locals. I enjoy this place mostly because it intrigues me, they have 2 atmospheres with 2types of clientele and it works well for them. Definitely worth going to experience a night out in WH.

Lovely downstairs restuarant serving good pizza. The upstairs bar is very friendly and great fun!

Nice quiet place! Brunch menu is correct and the price are fair. Feel like being in a typical Italian bar.

Overall this place was okay, but nothing special. Nothing we had was a must have that I would go back for. The pre-​dinner bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar was the best part.
Got two dishes:
1. Penne pepperoni spicy tomato sauce-​this was okay. Good ingredients and concept, but the execution was nothing special. No really amazing seasoning or unique flavors. Ok, not great.
2. SPECIAL PIZZAMargherita with chorizo salami red peppers& jalapeño peppers. Pretty spicy and good. Better than the pasta dish. Again, good, but uninspired.

I am super sad and disappointed to have to write a review like this one as La Brocca is a neighbourhood institution, and I have always loved it. Not only that, I always do my best to support local independent businesses, so relaying the account of what happened to my friends and me is very upsetting. However, platforms like Unilocal exist so that customers can share their experiences, and as this was my experience, I feel I must share it.
A few weeks ago I was having a meeting with a friend and colleague at La Brocca (editing a book). At around 10:30 a friend walked past, a lawyer who was on her way home from a late night at the office, waiting for her husband to collect her. She came in and said hello and asked for a glass of water from the bar.
The bartender refused to give it to her as he wanted to close the bar. She came back to the table and one of us gave her a bottle of water from our bag. The bartender did not like this. He stormed over and angrily told us that she was not allowed to bring in drinks. She apologised.
The bartender came over to where we were sitting and grabbed my wine, spilling some on my friends computer and some more on the jacket of the woman who had been drinking water. Note, he had not announced last call or mentioned anything to us about drinking up.
My friend stood up to let the bartender know that we had not finished our drinks, and requested a refund. The bartender at this point was in a rage, and he physically –using force– removed my friend from the restaurant after calling the police. We were all shaken by this unreasonable, and frankly scary, reaction. The rest of us grabbed our things and waited for the police outside.
When they arrived, the police realised we were sober and not troublemakers. All four of us have been barred from La Brocca.
After taking the appropriate course of action by writing letters and going in to speak with the owners, they did not deem this bartender’s behaviour a problem. I decided to write this review after reading other reviews about the inappropriate behaviour demonstrated by La Brocca’s staff. I just hope he doesn’t really hurt someone one day.
Regardless of the fact that I am barred from this establishment, I would not ever again recommend it for someone who was looking to entertain a visitor or colleague. It’s just too risky to deal with staff that volatile, especially when the management doesn’t prioritise customer service.

The upstairs bar is fantastic, if crowded, venue to watch rugby. Downstairs is a nice option for Italian. Not in love with their pizzas but do enjoy the pasta and the Eton mess is a stand out dessert.

I was introduced to this lovely bistro and the delights of West Hampstead a couple of months ago by my friend and really enjoyed it.
The restaurant was busy and lively with a fantastic mini brass band outside playing modern and old school tunes and although the service was a little slow and a bit offhand at times, I would recommend the place especially as the food especially the artichoke & garlic pizza to start and the gnocci with fish and glass of Malbec I had was delicious.

The food at La Brocca is SO GOOD. Generous portions as well and reasonably priced. My favorite place in the West Hampstead area right now. I’ve had the beef & red wine pie, the steak, the penne al salmone and the summer pizza and all were delightful. There’s a continental feel about the upstairs bar, which is a nice place to spend time. Free wifi.

‘How you give less than four stars to La Brocca?’ I read the first revue has started, well I’ll explain how I can below.
I popped in for a coffee on a Saturday afternoon, unfortunately I judged La Brocca alongside its competitors on the same row of shops, I shouldn’t have.
Unlike the other Excellent Cafes and bars in the area do not enter La Brocca if you wish to receive a smile, good service, or good manners.
Staff Member 1 Glasses & attitude: Looked at me down her nose as if I’d messed up her schedule of doing nothing; by getting up and slowly moving around the bar to serve me.
Staff Member 1 Can’t describe due to following: Was too busy using the Point of sale PC to communicate on Facebook.
I received my cappuccino after watching what went into making it… nothing.
The coffee was worse than I would expect from my 5 nieces cookery class. Wishy-​washy and totally bland, so much so, that it is the first coffee any where in my travels that I have actually left.
On deciding on cutting my losses and leaving, I told aforementioned the staff at the counter/​bar about the coffee, all they did was laugh both at me and as I left the venue.
Bottom line. As there are so many amazing polite venues to eat and drink in the area that by far surpass this one in customer service than product, La Brocca should be nothing more than somewhere you walk on by

The pizza I had there was very tasty. My table wasn’t properly cleaned, and I still don’t know if you have to order at the counter or not. But anyway, once you manage to get food and drinks, you don’t care about the confusion when you came in. The staff is also very friendly I simply cannot rate them down much, it would feel wrong.

Visited last weekend. Quite small and tight but a relaxed atmosphere and they had the football on. A fair choice of beers are available. They serve food upstairs but we opted for the restaurant downstairs. Much like the bar area it’s small and tight but the food (Italian) is good and the prices are reasonable for the area (£10−12 for a large pizza).

How can you give anything less than four stars to a place that gives you piattinis for 1 – 2 quid? The grilled veggie crostini was 1.50 and had a heapful of perfectly grilled summer veg on a perfectly crispy slice of Italian bread. The bowl full of olives was big enough to let a table of seven pick at and the pizza we all shared was savory, crispy, warm and enjoyable.
Did I mention this was all in the bar?

Quickly becoming my favourite place in West Hampstead. Really relaxed atmosphere. Good food and drink. A great place to spend Sunday afternoons reading a book or keeping an eye on the footie.

It’s a pretty enjoyable evening if you don’t mind your eyes stinging in smoke and wondering if there is a smoke machine out back creating special effects for a more… urm smoke swept dinner.
The garlic butter mushroom starter, our pizzas and pastas were all up to scratch (though I thought the base of my pizza was a midge to squidgy on top and the quality of the artichoke was low) but the overwhelming smoke of the restaurant brought a wonderful evening down a notch.

Located on West Hampstead’s West End Lane, where organic deli shops appear to reign, you will also be able to find this charming family-​run Italian restaurant and pizzeria. The restaurant is divided into two areas: one on the top floor which is also serves as a bar, and the other downstairs restaurant area that only usually opens during the evenings. Both spaces are welcoming and well-​sized.
La Brocca sells your usual Italian menu with a few Englishized dishes for brunch and a roast on Sundays. This factor tends to annoy me more than it should, I am a strong believer that businesses should stick to what they do best, but I am also sympathetic to them since I acknowledge that it is not always easy to run a business and it is best to cater for all tastes.
I went for a Spaghetti All’Amatriciana, which turned out to be very good even though the pasta was overcooked as usual, but I blame this on England in general rather than this specific restaurant! Due to this I would recommend going for a pizza of which I had a bite of and I must admit it was very good. La Brocca also sells a wide variety of wines, making it a great place for a lunch or dinner with friends.

What?!? No review for this place? It’s great. In this neighborhood, this really should be your first choice for an informal dinner. Good idea to book ahead and also a good idea not to bring high expectations for the décor. This is basic truck driving Italian food and the prices are reasonable. Well, reasonable for London, let’s just say. Dining room down stairs is a little low on atmosphere. Bar upstairs makes up for it with low lighting and interesting clientele.