Brera Ristorante
1331 E. 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Brera Ristorante boasts itself as an informal restaurant with formal Italian cooking set in an elegant setting and I would have to say, this pretty much sums up the restaurant as a whole.
We had plans to go and see Stranger Things so we wanted to explore a restaurant that was close enough to the show. With my new quest of finding the best Italian restaurant, we gave Brera a chance! We had a reservation so we were seated immediately and because of the warm summer night, we asked to sit outside, which was available. For parking, Brera Ristorante offers valet parking, and the lot is connected to the restaurant and is $7.
Upon walking up, I was so pleased to see the open floor plan of the restaurant, the ambiance was softly lit lighting, not loud, and just beautiful. The windows are large and that allows for great lighting!
Large Open Windows
The bar
The Bar
and the “open” kitchen
Open Kitchen
There were 3 of us eating/drinking, and we each ordered a cocktail, all of which were delicious!
Drinks from $15 and up
We ordered 3 appetizers, the meatballs, made with both beef and pork, San Marzano tomatoes sauce and topped with fresh mozzarella, served with grilled bread (they were ok, good not great), the stuffed zucchini, tempura battered and filled with cheese (loved that they served these and they were very good), and the squid, charred Mediterranean octopus, mussels, garbanzos are the base (eh, it was a little fishy for me).
Zucchini Blossoms – $15 / Meatballs $20 / Bread $9
We also shared an entree and got the pasta tagiatelle, very very good, that’s me saying that as a 100% Italian.
Tagilatelle – $26
Lastly, we ordered a warm bread basket.
The bill was just over $200 at $215, was it worth it, pretty much yes but I’m still on the quest in finding that special Italian restaurant.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this was a very nice restaurant, the food was very traditional and the food came out hot and the ingredients were fresh. I would like to go back and try some other dishes to see if we just had an “off” night for the meatballs and octopus.
For a Date: This is the perfect spot for a date, especially for dinner. They are currently offering in-door or outdoor dining and we found that they had heaters and the staff made sure to check-in for the climate on a regular basis!
Did you visit this restaurant? Please let me know how what you thought of the restaurant! Leave a comment below and share a picture or tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #yourbestbite!