Enoteca Drago

I had a chance to visit here with a person who knew the owner.
I enjoyed pasta and the pretty place then later found out that
the brother of the owner was going to open another
Italian restaurant on Sunset.
We were very excited and actually visited soon after coming here.
I’m sad that they are closed now but glad that I could visit before they did.

Great service, food is fair had the seafood pasta, has good amount of seafood, the mushroom ravioli was good

A bit lacking on vegetarian fare.
The breadsticks are great.
The service is a bit spotty — hit or miss.
But, a nice, relatively quiet place to meet a friend/​family member for lunch or dinner.
Much quieter than Il Pastiao next door, although Il Pastiao’s food selection and prices are probably better.

We wandered into this restaurant for lunch as it didn’t show up on our search,
but saw some dishes as we passed. We accepted a recommendation for wine and were not disappointed. I started with a burrata salad with baby market beats, pistachio cream and arugula. I ordered the fettuccine with short rib sauce with shiitake mushrooms. I enjoyed every bite. Great service, great recommendations from the staff. All in all, a great dining experience.

Private gathering.
Upstairs is nice an familiar, immediately puts one at ease. Think industrial ceiling vibe, family dinner table, slightly stuffy waitstaff (however as to be expected in BH in general; which is not a totally bad thing because you may not want overly friendly waitstaff when you’re trying to focus on other activities.)
The best combo of waitstaff «stuffy» and convivial-​friendly banter (for comparison, and explication of the loss of one star_​which I’ve decided is a worthwhile effort on my part this coming year_​is in my experience Spago’s excellent staff, again in BH.
EnoDrago, does a good overall job, but that je né sais quoi, is just what I mentioned earlier. Just a little tweak and it’d be better.
Food offerings are standard, what you’d like to see. Branzino is what we had, it wasn’t bad, but not top notch, ie. bones in one filet, not present in the other, sauce a little salty for us, but we forgot to specify none, although it would not have helped the sauce.
Overall, thumbs up.

Great service, great food ! Fresh and quality … It was relaxing to sit outside without the crazy bustling of other places …

Poor food, worse service.
Ok, so a rainy Monday night. Mostly empty, when the restaurant next door was jamming, so should have realized there was a problem.
Food is ‘over thought and overwrought’, too much going on in each dish.
Flavors were not enhanced, just junked up.
Service was bizarre, my friend was never asked if he wanted another drink, water was never refilled all night. Asked for desert menus, were never asked what we wanted. Not worth the $ 100 ticket.

The online ratings worried me that this would be one of the lesser Drago restaurants, but it’s definitely not. Giacomino, Calegero, and Tanino Drago’s Italian restaurants are filled with traditional Italian dishes. Celestino Drago’s Enoteca along with the downtown Centro successfully diverge with variations on original Italian themes.
Because of the Drago brothers, I had family on the mind. Consequently, I ordered like I was back home in seafood-​laden Puget Sound where smelt and seafood stews are abundant, but not done with the elegance of Enoteca Drago. The fried smelt starter with a shallot vinaigrette and capers was cutely stacked like a log cabin on a bed of arugula. It’s hard to dislike fried fingerling-​sized fish with a touch of acidity to balance the fat. A sign of an Italian variation, cioppino was on the menu. Although it sounds Italian, cioppino originated in San Francisco. I ordered it to see a true Italian’s take on the American dish. The smooth tomato and seafood broth was light and accented with the perfect amount of sliced garlic. Although the shrimp was tough and the scallop was a mismatch with the tomato, the clams, mussels, and squid created a heavenly combination with the tomatoes and the stock.
For some quirky reason, my girlfriend heard Drago and Italian and then thought of Morocco by having dishes containing lamb and raisins. It wasn’t a problem because it meant that I ate a fabulous lamb belly appetizer with an ideal balance between gamey lamb to firm meatiness. The «maccarruna» pasta was like a fat perciatelli/​bucatini that was slightly overcooked. Served with fresh sardines, golden raisins, pine nuts, and diced tomatoes, the flavor riffed on Mediterranean rather than Italian. I got the feeling that pasta isn’t the strength of Enoteca. Next door Il Pastaio, another Drago restaurant, has better pasta. (They are not really «sister» restaurants, but «brother» restaurants.) I’m not trying to set off a sibling rivalry, but head to Pastaio for pasta and stick with Enoteca for apps and hearty entrees.
For dessert, I loved on the citrus and black pepper sorbet on the chocolate hazelnut bar, but not the bar itself.
Like ordering elephant at the Elephant Bar, I felt obligated to order eno (aka wine) at Enoteca. The wine list wasn’t Valentino-​extensive, but they offer almost a dozen wine flights. I wasn’t expecting the flights, but it became a fun part of the evening. Every wine offered for a flight was also available in 6 and 11 ounce pours for those who don’t want to look like drunkards (like me) with six wine glasses on the table.

The service was beyond impeccable. We were a large group and did not realize there might be difficulty seating all of us. They went out of their way to make us comfortable.
The food was good, especially for a city not necessarily known for premier Italian dining (despite its popularity in LA). I was pleasantly surprised by the Eggplant lasagna. It was everything you always wanted it to be and have never been able to find. Even my non-​vegetarian friends loved it (after much coercing to finally taste it). I don’t eat beef, but everyone in my party enjoyed their steaks.
They have a nice selection of wines that pair well with all their food offerings.
As someone who enjoys dessert, their selection is a bit of a let down after an otherwise enjoyable dining experience…
Although it is in Beverly Hills, you don’t feel like you are a part of the overly and unnecessarily pretentious Beverly Hills/​Rodeo Drive/​Canon Drive crowd. The ambiance alone (indoor dining) would be enough to make me return for another meal. It is a wonderful escape from all the other surrounding restaurants to find a place with good food and EXCELLENT service. Yes, excellent service makes the food taste better (to all you real foodies out there — lol)!

Went a few months ago. It’s gone downhill.

Just ok. I would go somewhere else if I had to do over. Met a friend here the other night for dinner. I got the petto di pollo and in all honesty, I’d rather have Olive Garden. Wasn’t fond of my dish. My dining partner enjoyed the filet mignon though — I tried some too, and it was pretty good, but they don’t have A1 sauce if you’re into that sort of thing (we are.)
We sat outside on the patio, which is nice, but the universal city valet was right outside the whole time which was kinda strange. I’m into cars so it was cool for me to see all the different vehicles that pulled up but for someone who couldn’t care less about cars, it would probably be annoying.
The wine I had (their «only Moscato» was amazing. Service was fine.
I’d go back for the wine. Otherwise, probably not.

Came here for valentines day dinner and the service here is impeccable! Here’s what we ordered from the Valentines Day Menu:
*Kumamoto oysters: raspberry pearl vinaigrette, white corn sea salt, chervil
*Maine lobster & dungeness crab raviolis: tarragon, charred meyer lemon, lobster essence
*12 oz angus ny: roasted kabocha, cream of swiss chard, pearl onion confit
*Tres leches cheesecake: caramel, puffed rice, kumquat
My favorite was the angus ny… was NOT tough at all… omg it was so good…

Came for a late-​night dining pitstop at Enoteca. Starting status: not-​hungry.
* Split the Barese pizza… delicious and great sausage portions.
* Quiet patio dining untill we got surprised by the Bro Code Band random serenade. Apparently they are a staple in the Bev Hills area.
* Excellent service by Eduardo… service makes all the difference.
4-​stars~

Dinner for 4 Friday night at Enoteca Drago. 8pm. We had a reservation but did not need one.
I ordered the pasta puttanesca with scallops. I wondered how they were going to pull that off since in my opinion a puttanesca demands a protein that can hold its own against the sauce. Unfortunately, the answer was that they did not pull it off. Not even in the slightest. My pasta was undercooked, my scallops were overcooked, and there was nothing different or special about the sauce.
I tried some of the short ribs which were not «falling off the bone tender» as promised, and a bite of the pappardelle with pheasant which was similarly just ok. Temperature was lukewarm rather than hot and it needed parmesan which we were not offered.
The best thing we ate were the appetizers: the tuna tartare and the burrata salad.
We were sent over a free butterscotch pudding for dessert because someone in our party knew someone, and that was pretty good, so save room for dessert if you go.
Service was ok but seemed both too formal and inexperienced at the same time. Like a busboy who recently got promoted and was trying to overcompensate.
I’m disappointed as this restaurant was highly recommended, but I didn’t find it better or even as good as other, much less expensive Italian restaurants I’ve been to.

***Enoteca Drago has okay Italian food and a nice upscale atmosphere, but it does not hold up well against some of the other Drago spots like Santa Monica’s Drago Ristorante or Downtown LA’s Drago Centro***
Enoteca Drago is part of the Drago enterprise, but it lacks the modern cuisine of Downtown LA’s Drago Centro and the subtly upscale flair of the original Drago Ristorante in Santa Monica. In the end, this Drago spot does not really have anything about it (in terms of food at least) to warrant a visit to this particular location.
Enoteca Drago has a nice room though. The interior is all nicely lacquered darks woods so it has a club-​like feel. Like many other Beverly Hills restaurants, the outside patio is white tablecloth and sits right on a nice Beverly Hills street.
Enoteca’s complimentary breadbasket included two kinds of bread (one of them was a sourdough) and crispy breadsticks. The sourdough was kind of bland and lacked a good distinct crust. Butter and a very thick (and a little bit bland) hummus were also provided. The hummus at Vincenti Ristorante is much better.
I started with one of their salads, which included greens, lentils, beets, asparagus, and burrata. The salad (which was dressed in a light vinaigrette) was okay and everything was pretty fresh, but it lacked vibrance. The flavors were not strong enough to make this salad stand out. The burrata was decent; it was pretty creamy, but there are better burrata offerings elsewhere in LA (like Osteria Mozza and Gordon Ramsay).
For my entrée, I had the cavatelli with venison ragu. The cavatelli pasta (a little like gnocchi) was just okay. I did not think the texture (kind of doughy) was as good as the cavatelli dishes I have had at Drago Centro and One Market (in SF); I also thought it was a little bland.
The venison ragu was not that bad. The grounded up meat had kind of a chewy and not-​so-​great texture, but the flavor was okay. The flavor was a little one dimensional though (just savory) and the dish could have used something tart or fresh to brighten it up.
For dessert, I opted for their assortment of gelato and sorbet. The buttermilk sorbet was quite tart – more sour than I was expecting. The vanilla gelato had a decent flavor though it was a little bit too firm and too cold (but thankfully not icy). The chocolate and thyme gelato had a distinct chocolate flavor, but it was also too cold and firm (and did not feel as creamy as it should have).
Service was good. The food came out at a good pace and my waitress was pleasant, personable, attentive, and polite. And (as is common with this area and if it is important to you), the hostess was attractive.
For lunch, prices were high but about what you would expect to pay in this area for upscale Italian food. Prices were probably in the same range or maybe a little bit higher than Drago Ristorante and Drago Ristorante’s food is far superior.
Enoteca Drago is not a bad spot for an upscale lunch. The food was mostly decent. Still, for these prices, you are much better off seeking out one of the other Drago restaurants or other Italian spots in the city like Angelini Osteria, Vincenti Ristorante or Scarpetta (which is right down the street from Enoteca).
There are several parking structures nearby and many of them are free for the first 2 hours during lunch.

40%
So-​so, hit & miss Italian & mediocre value.
***Short Review
Came here for dinner with my gf in Sep ’11.
Food here overall is pretty average generic Italian you find everywhere in LA.
There are some inconsistencies in the cooking.
Some of the dishes, like the Panzanella Salad were not good.
Entrees were so-​so.
Our ‘Raviolini ai Funghi’ pasta was very good & reasonably priced ($ 18).
Value isn’t so great.
Me & my gf got a Bloomspot deal ($ 35 for a $ 70 3-​course prix fixe).
After ordering another pasta, a wine flight ($ 17), two orders mineral water ($ 10) tax, & tip, it worked out to be another $ 100.
Total cost of meal was a bit over $ 170
I feel the best experience & best value might be had by just sharing appetizers, pastas, and just probably skipping over the entrees.
I wouldn’t recommend another coupon like ours either.
Ambiance, I felt was very comfortable.
We did not have anyone breathing down our necks as prior reviews mentioned.
Although our waiter (probably with fake Italian accent, lol) wasn’t always around, the busboys were very attentive & professional.
Detailed review will go into each dish further.
***Detailed Review
Panzanella ($ 13.00)
Tomato, Cucumber, Mozzarella, Olives, Basil & Bread Salad.
(Dish rating 20%)
This was pretty awful. Huge chunks of dried croutons were mixed with greens, black olives, (what I felt to be) very average quality mozzarella balls, and a very acidic vinaigrette dressing. The black olives were very bitter. The dried croutons had a very hardened texture, and honestly I don’t think belonged to a restaurant that charged these prices. Removing the croutons and black olives improved things a bit, but it was still unremarkable. It was a terribly thought out dish that had just too many poorly distracting flavors and textures.
Caprese $ 12.00
Vine-​Ripe Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Roasted Eggplant, Basil & Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
(Dish Rating 40%)
Much better dish, although I did not really care for the quality of mozzarella again. I felt the cheese was somehow a bit too dense & dry. I don’t claim to be an expert in mozzarella, but I do know that I didn’t care for their’s in general. It’s difficult to go wrong with a Caprese salad otherwise. The roasted eggplant slices with greens were a nice, welcome touch. Decent dish.
Raviolini ai Funghi ($ 18.00)
Mushroom Filled, Foie Grass & Truffle Sauce.
(Dish Rating 90%)
Highlight of the evening! This was among one of the better ‘foie gras’ themed pastas I’ve had of yet (my favorite still being the ‘foie gras’ rigatoni in ‘Aquerello’, San Francisco, CA). I was glad to have tried this, and I’m sure will lead me to return to Enoteca & try other pastas they have to offer.
This was a wonderful blend of flavors coming from the mushroom, foie, black truffle, and light cream sauce. I’m not sure if the foie was inside the ravioli or part of the sauce, but it’s presence was subtly noticeable. Bits of shaved black truffle was dispersed in the sauce. All flavors were delicate and refined. They were very balanced and complemented one another well. Very luxurious dish, and the portion size is very reasonable. I felt this was a great deal @ $ 18. This was on a completely different level compared to the other dishes. Come here for this if nothing else!
Salmone Organico ($ 27.00)
Loch Duarte Organic Salmon, Asparagus, Cherry Tomato, Rapini, Pistachio, Coriander & Tomato Vinaigrette.
(Dish rating 30%)
Okay entrée. The fish here was quite tasty, I enjoyed the quality of the salmon. The fish was a bit fattier than most salmon I’ve had prior, which lends much to it’s flavor. I didn’t care for the preparation however. I felt the salmon was cooked much more than I would have preferred, and a little too dry. I usually like my salmon close to rare in the center (which is perfectly safe). On top of this, the fish wasn’t de-​boned entirely & I choked on a long fish-​bone. That’s just sloppy preparation.
Greens are nicely prepared, and thankfully the seasoning of the fish is light in order to let the flavor of the fish carry the focus. There are some good elements here, but not enough to offset the less welcoming factors.
Continued, please refer to earlier review.

Came here for a travelzoo deal which consisted of a 5 course pre-​fix menu. Once you tell them when you arrive, they just give you a menu to choose your entrée and dessert items.
1^st course — crostini with burrata and prosciutto. I had it without the burrata (I don’t eat cheese) but the mrs says it was fantastic w/​the burrata
2^nd course — choice of yellowtail carpaccio or lobster fettucini. Ordered one of each to try. The yellow tail was refreshing, had a few slices of mago bits on top with a yuzu glaze. Fettucini seemed like it was made fresh and the sauce was nice too… semi creamy.
Third course — Tarragon ice cream and pomegranate granite. They had some sort of basil or green leave chopped up in it which gave it an interesting flavor.
Fourth course — choice of sea bass or center cut ribeye. The fish came with a type of mole sauce (somewhat chocolate type of flavor but not sweet, a rich darkness flavor to it), vegetables, and mashed potatoes. The ribeye was cooked to perfection (they didn’t ask me how I wanted it though when we ordered… but it came out just the way I like — medium rare), white asparagus, baby carrot, and mashed potato with a reduced red wine sauce (i believe) which was very tasty.
Fifth course — choice of pear napoleon with caramel pear sauce or the molten chocolate cake. The pear had a strong hint of almond flavor and I’m pretty sure it was infused with the nuts they used. The molten chocolate cake wasn’t the type of gooey lava flowing cake, but still tasty. Only complaint is that the mango icecream doesn’t really go along with such a rich cake. I prefer mine with vanilla or vanilla bean.
Overall a pleasant experience, not sure if I’d come back but always enjoy trying new things. Ambiance in the restaurant is bright, high ceiling, modern, and staff is pretty attentive as refills, making sure the food was good, etc

Having been to both Drago Ristorante and Drago Centro, we’ve decided to go for the hat trick and try Enoteca Drago. I got a Travelzoo deal for a 5 course prix fixe meal for two for $ 79. Seems like a good deal for a 5 course meal but it kinda wasn’t.
First course — crostini with burrata and prosciutto (literally bite size). It was OK
Second course — she had the yellowtail carpaccio and I had the lobster fettucini. The yellow tail was pretty good, it just melts in your mouth. Fettucini was good.
Third course — Tarragon ice cream and pomegranate granite. Flavor is different and unique. I enjoyed it
Fourth course — she had the sea bass and I had the ribeye. The fish was ok and my ribeye was pretty good.
Fifth course — she had the pear napoleon with caramel pear sauce and I had the molten chocolate cake. Again, both were good.
As for the ambiance it was just OK. It was nice dining on a patio in Beverly Hills but the kids running around screaming kinda put a damper on things. It’s Beverly Hills for fck sake… control your youngens!!! :)
The service was pretty good though. Usually when they know the gratuity of 18% is already added, the service is just Ok. However our waiter was still very attentive and friendly.
Overall the food here is good but not amazing and the service was fantastic. Dinner was still about $ 200, $ 79 for the travelzoo and $ 110 for the wine, sparkling water, tax, and tip. I guess for that price, there are other places I’d rather go to like Drago Centro.

I saw a tv show that featured truffle pizzas and that got me wanting to try one.
I «googled» truffle pizza, Los Angeles and found Enoteca Drago. I had never been there before but I walk by it a lot.
The place looks nice. Service was fine. I enjoyed the bread and they serve hummus (or something similar) with it.
The pizza with truffles was actually a calzone. They call it the Bomba. It has Mozzarella, Caramelized Onion & Black Truffles. It looks really nice when they bring it to you but it’s not very flavorful. I mainly tasted the onions.
I was dining by myself so that was all that I ordered. I think my experience would have been better if I was with a few people and we ordered a few things to share.
My advice, if you’re just having some pizza, don’t order the Bomba.

We happened on this place one evening when we were driving around, looking for some place to take our friend from out of town.
Being without my phone (and my Unilocal application), I was highly uncomfortable «winging» this meal but it turned out to be pleasantly surprising.
I started out worried even more when we showed up and the restaurant was almost deserted when the one next door was completely packed. My concern was for two reasons: 1) Is it because it’s more expensive? or 2.) Is it because it’s horrible?
As it turns out, it was neither. Perhaps the Beverly Hills crowd underestimates the establishment… Nevertheless, on to the food…
We started with a few appetizers/​salads. The Burrata and Lentil salad was interesting… flavorwise, not anything extraordinary but fresh and simple. The Beef Carpaccio was possibly my favorite dish with the exception of the fact that they topped it with pâté instead of the described foie gras. The least remarkable of our openers was the Arancini… basically deep fried risotto pyramids with cheese inside.
Hubby opted for a proscuitto and porcini pizza while our friend went with a rock shrimp/​lobster pasta in red sauce. I went rich and ordered the raviolini stuffed with mushrooms, foie gras and essence of truffle. We also ordered the special of the day, hangar steak (medium rare).
I have to say our pasta dishes were great. Our friend felt his noodles could have been more al dente but agreed that my raviolinis were divine.
Hubby’s pizza was «okay»…salty proscuitto with sauteed porcini mushrooms. I took a few bites and suspected the mushrooms were not fresh (I guess too much to ask in this neighborhood) but merely rehydrated dried fungi.
The biggest «beef» (pun intended) we had was with the hangar steak special. It was presented on a plate with a huge arugula salad (delicious). However, the meat was sliced on a bias and topped with an ambiguous light green sauce of undistinguishable flavor. The meat itself was sinewy and hard to eat which could just be the «hangar» part of the steak but I swear I’ve had better hangar steak. Fortunately for the restaurant, we were too busy chatting to complain about this dish.
Service was friendly and professional. Our water glasses were constantly replenished and the bread service was one of the better ones around — ask for more of their bean dip. We didn’t get any wine because we felt the wine list was lacking. We bypassed dessert because nothing looked special (tiramisu, chocolate cake, panna cotta, bread pudding was the special dessert of the day). The coffee was great, though!
The $ 7 valet parking + $ 3 tip was a little painful but it was the most covenient option that evening.
All in all, not a bad meal for a «fly by the seat of our pants» choice. Since it’s in the Rodeo Drive neighborhood, I can definitely see this as an ideal stop for a late lunch after a great morning of shopping.