Cafe La Scala

La Scala is no longer in business.
It is the same owner, however they closed, remodeled the restaurant, changed the menu and changed the name. The restaurant is now called Munch.
The remodel is horrible. La Scala was a beautiful restaurant, and now it is white and mint green. The menu is completely new and no longer Italian. The food is OK, but not worth going back for.
So disappointing, and the few people that have gone there that I have talked to can not believe the owner made these changes.
Very sad to see La Scala gone :(

I forget how many cute restaurants there are to explore in this town, the selection is endless, I like having two downtowns, Broadway and Burlingame Ave (the latter being more fun and bustling).
I’ve seen businesses come and go here and this is a solid restaurant here to stay. The entire restaurant just had a makeover, it’s now bright, sunny and so welcoming. Sit outside, inside– in the open air or deeper inside. Top notch customer service, good italian food. *Carpaccio here is perfect, perfect portion and flavor, just enough EVOO, capers, arugula, dijon mustard… this is my go to spot for carpaccio. Complimentary bread with olive oil and vinegar to dip with dine in or take out orders. The soft bread and dip is so unique, at the bottom are crushed garlic that is so well blended and so well paired w/​the oil and vinegar. So different than any other Italian place Ive ever eaten. John, the bartender/​server/​front face of the restaurant is so warm and takes care of you.

Once we sat down and ordered, they brought out piping-​hot, fresh bread. The kicker wasn’t the delicious bread, but their olive oil which had bits of fresh garlic in it. I gobbled up most of the garlic and the waiter noticed this, so he came by and refilled our olive oil with garlic. Nice touch!
The marguerite pizza is excellent and their pasta is authentic. If you’re looking for authentic pasta and don’t care too much for ambiance, this is the place to go in Burlingame, not Il Fornaio.

First Unilocal-​power-​user friend JCP does it again with this recommendation! I don’t eat Italian food enough but the food here is pretty good. Would return, yes.
The antipasto was a smörgåsbord of grilled vegetables goodness that meat eaters would even finish. I really enjoyed this as the opening. The margherita pizza was average, meaning it was good as every margherita pizza is good — one of my favorites. For the entrée I had Linguini con gamberoni, which was the pasta with prawns, tomato, basil, chili flakes and garlic in a white wine sauce. It was also fantastic and I would get it again.
Desserts were the fantastic panacotta, the tiramisu, the chocolate lava cake, the crème brulee. Heck, get all of them as they were all finished on full stomachs. If I don’t have pics, it means I was too quick to dig in and started eating. That, or the companion (s) had my undivided attention, lol.
This place feels cozy and is quiet for a medium-​sized restaurant, perfect for a date or a small group. Service was attentive but not overbearing, pretty good actually. This place is located in the middle of the block if you’re searching.

Vitello porcino more appropriately named as «FLAT IRON» veal.
One of the pumpkin ravioli’s was served sans stuffing (invisible pumpkin?)
Price for entrée’s ($ 19 for the «flat iron» veal”) not really that cheap either.

I LOVE, which is an understatement, GOOD FOOD and I love love love to cook, bake you name it. Needless to say, I have taste in food. When I got here to the restaurant, it was hot outside so I couldn’t complain that there weren’t that many people, however it started to dawn on me and the fact that there was ONE host and server… ONE person.
I was initially impressed at what seemed like a delicious selection of food with impeccably reasonable prices, however, when I got the food it became a whole nother story. The food, sadly, reminded me of hospital food. Not terrible but I’ve had better. There were plain steamed veggies next to a not-​so-​good bland blob of polenta doused with the same sauce on top of my canneloni. The canneloni, I’m afraid tasted sparingly of canneloni and had this ever present hint of vinegar. To tide me over from the hunger I had after finishing everything, I decided to dive in and finish the basket of bread. *Sigh* I don’t know. I’m thinking of coming back to try the scala burgers because I LOVE gorgonzola cheese but maybe not so soon. Sowwy.

This is an excellent Italian restaurant. Mostly because it’s really close to the Apple Store. The iPad works great in this place.
Oh, they have great salads and pizza. And proximity. To the Apple Store.

Came on (what seemed to be) a slow night. The owner (who became our waiter) seemed very laissez-​faire and not very animated. But he was a nice guy and answered our questions.
I ordered some pasta while my gf ordered one of the chicken dishes. Overall, it was very good but not the best Italian restaurant I’ve been to. Definitely no more than 3 stars.

I don’t know how to put this, so I’ll keep this review simple.
I had the pizza here, and it sucked. The bf had some pasta, I have no recollection of it b/​c we thought it sucked.
The restaurant was completely empty, and the guy who i think was the owner, seemed quite disengaged, almost as if us showing up to the restaurant caused a great hassle to him. If we even asked the simplest of questions on a dish, he would give us total bullshit answers. The service was just terrible. Getting the bill after finishing dinner was a feat in and of itself b/​c no one was paying attention to the empty restaurant, we could have totally just walked out.
Our dinner here was probably one of the most awkward meals I’ve had in a long time…
Definitely NOT coming back, or recommending this place to anyone.
I’m being generous by giving two stars (as opposed to one star) b/​c I didn’t get food poisoning. Lets put it that way.

1 star to start.
Food (0.5 star):
I had the linguini con cozze and it wasn’t too bad, but not very impressive. The mussels were a bit rubbery and the sauce was not as potent as I was expecting. The bread and olive oil dipping sauce were quite good and I ended up loading up on this even after my entrée had arrived.
Service (0 stars):
The waiter was rather gruff and did not seem altogether friendly. Additionally, he failed to inform my coworker that requesting extra mussels would cost nearly as much as the original entrée (linguini con cozze as well). I think they refilled our waters once.
Value (0.5 stars):
Not terribly expensive for Italian and the portions were a good size.
Experience (0 star):
The restaurant is rather dark but is quaint and peaceful, tucked away in the middle of a bustling downtown Burlingame. Unfortunately, the waiter and the manager were unwilling to budge on charging my coworker nearly double for requesting extra mussels and we all found this to be ridiculous. I will not be returning to this restaurant for this reason alone, regardless of other factors. A very bad taste was left in my mouth, pun intended.
Overall:
1.0 — Baseline
0.5 — Food
0.0 — Service
0.5 — Value
0.0 — Experience
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2 stars

I enjoyed this restaurant! Went in on a Saturday night at about 6 and it wasn’t busy. at all. We were greeted and promptly seated. I ordered the pesto gnocchi w/​gorgonzola and my friend ordered the pumpkin ravioli. She had a caesar to start and I had the house salad. The focaccia was decent but the garlic olive oil was delicious! I really enjoyed my simple little salad and the caesar was delish. The gnocchi was just ok… I love gorgonzola and wanted a little more gorgonzola flavor in there. there were just a few chunks unfortunately. I would never order the pumpkin ravioli, the inside was soo sweet and I’m not a big walnut fan. One negative, getting the bill took a good 15 or 20 minutes. I think we waited longer for the bill than our entrees. When the bill finally did come, we were pleasantly surprised. I’ve paid a lot more at restaurants in the area with much more mediocre food.
Overall, I enjoyed this place. I’ll return next time I’m in the area, but it won’t be first… or second choice for dinner.

Today is definitely not my good day when it comes to eating at new places.
For lunch, my coworker decided she’d spring for lunch and I figured let’s go for Café La Scala and we’ll just split it.
Color me unimpressed. I ordered the Fettucine Alla Scala and while she liked it, I said it was ok. Is there a color for blah? because I just thought it was blah. I’ve seriously had better pasta at California Pizza Kitchen. But if someone wants to go and they’re paying, I will get something else

I appreciate that they are one of the few places you can have a semi late dinner on a Sunday night in the area but the food is unfortunately run of the mill. I guess the entrees seems a bit uninspired. I like the space and the ambiance even though it might be a it stereotypical. It’s really hard to make a case for this place when you have something like Stella Alpina down the way

been here several times each time we have been here there food has always been a passing grade
service is quick, food is ok, ambiance not to shabby
order whatever the special is, I had better food when it was something not regularly on there menu. I have read the other Unilocalers comments, never really had an issues with the food or service here hmmm maybe it is just me.
food **** specials only haha
price $$
ambiance ***
service ***

Um… not too good. and here’s the story.
Just got off from work and my wife and I had a few things to do before we grabbed some dinner. Stuff done and now we are a hungry people (bad grammar I know). So we head downtown and find this little place. Looked like it was filled with locals who would know the best placed to eat. Well, bad move. Sat down, ordered a glass of wine to share and the waiter poured us healthy split (i.e. 2 glasses for price of one). So far so good. Next comes the focaccia with olive oil and some garlic (o.k. things are looking good). Sidebar — focaccia could have been tossed in the oven for a couple of minutes and they might have picked up another «star» for that alone.
Ok so we ordered the carpaccio. Standard, nothing great, nothing awful, and when mixed with some oil, focaccia and garlic, it gets even better.
Next we ordered Lasagna and Pumpkin Ravioli. Well, this is where they stumbled, either their oven/​stove doesn’t work or our food was sitting out for a bit too long prior to bringing to the table.
Everything was just a bit too cold and a little bland for my taste. I mean, Lasagna (in my humble opinion) needs to smoke when you cut into it. I was waiting for that steam to come out, but I was sadly disappointed.
Pumpkin Ravioli — suffered from the same fate.
Overall — Sadly we were disappointed with the food and the service although attentive was nothing special aside from the heavy pour of wine.
In general — I say skip it.

I’m not impressed. We had lunch there instead of waiting for the line at Crepevine but the fact that there was only one table in a room that could fit 100+ should have been a bright warning sign. Nope… we love pain and suffering.
Not that the food was that bad but just mediocre at best. I ordered a bolognese pasta that was far too runny and reminded me of the spaghetti sauce my Korean mother made for me as a child. If I’m in an Italian restaurant, I admit I shouldn’t have been ordering just plain old meat sauce but sometimes it’s just what you crave. I wanted meat sauce, not a pool of water with a Ragu based reduction of meat. Bleah.
The service however was on par, even though the opera blasting in the background took away from the class it was trying to bring the place. Our server was speedy, charming and polite to a T. I don’t think he spoke any Italian but his Spanish was dead on.
I wouldn’t come back to this place again if I wanted Italian food. Or any food for that matter.

Update: we’ve gone back several times now for one reason or another. Mostly because they’re usually not crowded and we can often get right in. The service is good and the staff is very accommodating and friendly. If only the food were a bit better. It’s not bad – just completely unmemorable.
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Service and timing on Valentine’s Day wasn’t very good – seems like there weren’t enough people working in the restaurant. They should perhaps have had a limited fixed-​price menu with few choices for that day, so that they can get people served more quickly.
The food and ambience were good but not great – not enough to bring us back there quickly. The main body of the restaurant has been updated and looks very nice, but the closed-​in patio wasn’t attractive. Poor quality tables and chairs, and no tableclothes – looked like a pizza joint there.
The restaurant in cold weather had very uneven temperatures: warm in the body of the restaurant, but swelteringly hot in the patio near the windows. It took us a half-​hour past our reservation time to get seated, and overly long wait times for simple things like bread and water for the table. The food came in reasonable time, though, once we were able to place our order.
The food was okay but not great, at least on Valentines Day. Not good enough to bring us back any time soon: the food was of ordinary quality and ordinary taste. I need more from a restaurant, considering how many good and ‘different’ places there are on the Peninsula and in the Big City.

Wound up here after the Unilocal elite event, since the hubby and I were craving some more substantial food and some wine.
It’s a cute little place, and the staff was very friendly. My hubby was pleasantly surprised that though it was a cute romantic italian restaurant, there was a TV by the bar so he can check sports scores (though I tried my best to distract him from it). Their bread was just ok, but I loved the garlicky olive oil that came w/​it. If you’re on the date, try not to indulge too much, but I’m an old married lady so I went for it. :)
We started with the carpaccio, which was decent, and both got pastas for our main course, which were terrific. I got the Fettuccine della Scala, which was fab… pasta was perfectly cooked, nice creamy and garlicky sauce, bits of chicken and sundried tomato… wouldn’t change a thing. My hubby got the pasta special, which was a seafood w/​tomato sauce pasta, I’m not too big into that stuff but he loved it. For dessert, we shared a giant piece of tiramisu and could not even finish it it was so huge. It was a good way to end the night though.
Drinks were reasonably priced and very good. I’ve previously had horrible experience with «house Chianti» at chain Italian places (Buca, Pasta?, etc.), but I figured we prob shouldn’t order a bottle since we already had a couple of drinks at the Unilocal event, so I got myself a glass. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was flavorful and rich, and did not taste like «cheap house wine» at all, even though it was in fact very cheap at less than $ 7 a glass. My hubby got the Sangiovese, which was decent, but not as good as my Chianti. My cappuccino at the end of the meal was also well-​made and very tasty.
Our total bill came up to under $ 80, including wine, coffee, and shared appetizer/​dessert, so it was a terrific value. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a nice Italian meal in the Burlingame area.

Driving around, looking for an italian joint to chow down at, my lady n I decided to give this place a shot.
When we stepped in we were greeted and they sat us at a booth. I like booth seats. something about sitting next to a wall and have all that extra booty space makes me feel happy~
We started off with the crab cakes and this proscuitto and cantelope. Ive never had the combination of proscuitto with cantelope and it adds a nice sweet and salty flavor. but i have to admit the cantelope could of been made thinner, cause you would taste that more then the proscuitto. Crab cakes were good… nothing to say about those~
She had the lasagna and I had the um… chicken mushroom sundried tomatoes with linguini in cream sauce… yea it sounds like a lot and yes it was quite good but I thought the lasagna was really good… either that or its the fact that I have not had lasagna in almost 4 years…
To finish we jus had a tiramisu… why tiramisu? not sure… seemed like a good choice… and it was quite yummy. Overall I thought the place was very nice, it felt cozy and I like how they kind of dimmed the lights but as the night goes on they brighten up. The waitstaff was very attentive and helpful and I think that goes a long way.

Were on the way to see Pottery Barn in Burlingame, displaying my babe’s design «Smart Technology» but before that I was famished and it’s already past noon, I dragged Mr to Café La Scala sinc eit’s just right across PB. It’s our first time and were craving for some Italian food.
Our waiter is very accomodating. We decided to eat outside since the sun was out. Our waiter give us some bread & garlicky sauce, no kissing is going to happen after u eat that. ^_​^
For appetizer, we ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartare, yummy.
I ordered Linguini con Calamari ($ 8.95) & Mr ordered Risotto Al Funghi ($ 10.95) both delicious. the food portion was great. As for wine we opt for a Chardonnay, Napa Creek.
I like this restaurant, the kitchen is a bit on the slow side but the food & service is good.