Scopa Italian Roots

This place is amazing! The restaurant is very hip and classy, and the food is delicious.
Parking: Street is difficult but its free if you find a spot in the neighborhood behind Washington, but I did valet for $ 6.50, they take card for an additional $.50.
Food: WOW. I split the brussel sprouts salad and the crostini with ricotta, and both were great. I’m not usually a fan of brussel sprouts, but it was a perfect complement to the rest of the very hearty meal. I also had the mushroom pasta without the chicken stock (our waiter was very friendly and suggested great options for vegetarians!). The portions looked small, but were super filling so if you can’t eat much in one sitting (like myself) I’d suggest splitting an appetizer and an entrée with someone
Dessert: The spumoni was okay, and the panna cotta (chocolate ganache-​type dessert) was kind of ashy, but I ordered the lemon/​peach cookie and it was amazing. It was the perfect fruity and light ending to a very filling meal.
Ambience: hip, trendy, classy casual
Overall: Will definitely try coming here again, we spent 2.5 hours at this place and the staff was super nice and welcoming the entire time!

I come here with friends a lot, and I always leave eating way more than expected :) Among the highlights… squid ink calamari (so DELICIOUS even my friend who doesn’t eat squid loved it), steak tartar, branzino (very light and sweet), and the mushroom pasta of which I cannot recall the exact name. The drink menu is well crafted, and the menu items … well you really can’t go wrong here, it’s Italian. And the bread is cooked perfectly. Just all around impressed.

Pretty good food and very generous set menu for a group of 10 people for $ 55/​person. There were 10 items that came out… all were good but here are some notable dishes– ricotta crostini (grilled bread but delicious), Brussel sprout salad, squid ink calamari, cavatelli pasta & Branzino. We canceled the chicken because it was just too much food and we couldn’t eat any more! Many bottles of wine & cocktails flowed through the night. Our group enjoyed the whole evening. Good food, service & ambiance.

Delicious food, great ambiance. Would definitely come back. Highly recommend making a reservation. The bar is beautiful. Photos of what we ate are attached!

Our first time here and there food was amazing! We came on a Tuesday, had a 6:45 resi and were seated immediately as they weren’t too crowded. We ordered 4 appetizers to split and had drinks.
We had the ricotta crostini, which simply melts in your mouth. We also had the seafood salad which was yummy and the calamari and octopus were cooked perfectly, nice and tender. The baby beets were my fave on burrata, OMG out of this world sweet with vanilla and tarragon– was like a dessert. Delicious! Last but certainly not least we enjoyed the eggplant parmesan.
The drinks were good and quite a selection at the bar. Service was also superb. Really great vibe hear and you can go casual or a bit dressier if you like. I will definitely be back and will also spread the word. The one thing I would mention is that it got crowded by 8:30/9 and the music volume also raised, which made it hard for us to hear one another across the table.

Rice Ball — Not sure what the big deal is here. Its basically fried rice ball (nigiri) in marinara sauce.
Squid Ink calamari — Never had squid ink type of calamari and the lemon acidity only made it taste better
Steak Tartare — delicious and done right. The bread that comes with this dish is equally as awesome as the tartare. I like the prominent horse radish taste but can understand ppl that wouldn’t
Branzino — The star of the show! Really love how it was presented with simple lemon slices and a mixture of greens on top.
Lasagnette — Awesome as expected. It was basically a lasagna type of pasta dish. Best of both worlds.

Great atmosphere, exceptional food/​wine and attentive staff. We had the lasagnette, squash blossoms, seafood salad and arincini rice ball (delicious)!
This restaurant makes the cut and I’ll be back for sure.

Rice Balls. Rice Balls. Rice Balls.
and Steak Tartare.
Now you know everything to eat on the menu.
I tried a variety of dishes but the Rice Ball and Steak Tartare really stood out.
The rice ball is unlike anything else I’ve ever had. A beef meat sauce drizzled over a hard shelled ball of rice with meat sauce and ricotta inside. The crispyness combined with the meat sauce was something truly unique texture wise and tasted wise. This is however not filling enough for a main and they know it, and have listed it on their hot starters list, trust it. I had this and the steak tartare along with bites of a few other things and felt satiated, but don’t misjudge by the pictures, it is more or less hollow inside.
The standout in this dish is the crispy shell and the heartiness of the sauce. It’s a very strong tomato flavor with a hint of basil and I just love it. I’ll come and get it again and again!
The steak tartare hits a lot of flavor hints but is really a fantastic steak tartare… a ⁴⁄₅ for sure, with the big knockdown that it is a bit too oily when compared to a fantastic beef based tartare like the filet tartare at Forma or the wagyu tartare that is sometimes available at CUT.
This one however is made really fantastic with the bread which seems to have a thin layer of onion on it, though what that really is I couldn’t tell since the restaurant was extremely dark when we went there around 10pm. It was also very crowded and despite having a reservation we had to wait 25 minutes. The staff were average, I actually expected higher touch service at a place like this considering the prices in comparison to other stuff in the neighborhood but they didn’t detract from the experience.
I’ll come back, but I really think this place would be a fantastic lunch spot and it’s unfortunate that it isn’t open for lunch during the week.

Our experience at Scopa was impressive indeed. There is no sign outside, but luckily the person I was with had been here before and knew right where to go. We took an Über but I believe your only parking option is valet for $ 10, which is a lot! We arrived around 8:30 on a Friday night without a reservation, expecting to be turned away but they literally had one table open and we gladly accepted it. The seating is very close together and its quite loud inside, so definitely not an intimate place. I enjoyed the bustling atmosphere.
We started with the Sunchokes, which were served cold. The flavor was good but I wouldn’t necessarily need to order this again. Next, we both enjoyed the Baby Kale salad with bottarga, crushed egg, pecorino and lemon. Nice and light, it was a perfect transition into our main dishes. It being an Italian restaurant, I had to order pasta. My selection was the Tagliatelle with some sort of rabbit ragout. The flavor was phenomenal and the ragout was full of meat, so that every bite was inundated with it. As a contrast we also split the Roast Chicken which was served over polenta and sautéed kale. Another great dish although we preferred the pasta.
If you get a chance to come here, you really should. The menu offerings are varied and so many items sound delicious. The bar is huge and drink offerings are plenty. Service is professional and not rushed at all.

All the food we ordered was unique and delicious. We started with fried cauliflower and ricotta-​stuffed squash blossoms. The blossoms were fried very lightly with gooey risotto melting in your mouth on every bite. Highly recommend the blossoms!
Next we shared the rice ball and pasta. I’ve never had anything like that rice ball before. It was not as soft as risotto, but the rice was cooked thoroughly with a meat sauce mixed in. My mom, who rarely eats meat even liked it as it hardly had a meaty taste to it and was mixed very well. The outside fried crust gave an added crunchiness to it which I loved!
The pasta was phenomenal. It was a wild mixture of flavors in every bite. While it was a small portion, will all the other food to share, it was a perfect size for 3 of us.
To finish off the night, we obviously had to try the fluffernutter. I’m a sucker for anything with peanut butter, and with the added mixture of banana and marshmallow, this dessert was A MUST! The marshmallow was so gooey and sweet that it didn’t even taste like marshmallow, so I think you’d still like the dessert even if you’re not a huge marshmallow fan. The fried crust was once again delectable. I’ve tried nothing like it before! I would gladly come back to Scopa just for the Fluffernutter and sit at their gorgeous bar gazing upon the endless shelves of top-​shelf liquors.
The only reason I don’t give this place 5 stars is because online all the prices are incorrect. Appetizers were $ 3 – 4 more and entrees $ 5 – 10 more than listed online, which was a bit frustrating upon arrival. Also, our service was not great — our waiter was a typical egotistical actor.

Throw on your jeans, a jacket and fave low key night out shoes — no need to dress for cocktails here. This is hipsterville. Save your dresses and heels for Bev Hills. In Venice, they live for friendly ambiance. This exposed brick, open loft room features a large wrap around bar with communal seating in the middle, comfy leather bound booths that seat up to six and plenty of tables. The room glows with warm golden candlelight and retro lighting. And there’s a private party room upstairs. The owner is from NYC and def knows his way around an Italian menu. No matter what you order you can’t go wrong. The pasta is spectacular. Get the mushroom one. Do not miss the Branzino!
Fave things:
–bartender’s list of drinks and spirits with a throw back to old school cocktails
–private bar where you order cocktails and spirits only — no cell phones allowed
–incredible wine list and incredibly knowledgeable somalier
–desserts that aren’t Americanized sugary overload. u you can get tangerines or mulberries in olive oil and salt or a light pannacotta with apricots heaven!
We think Giada would approve!

Let’s start by saying that if I spend money on something it better be nice. This place is trying to look nice too hard rather than actually be a decent place. Look is not everything.
First of, while we were driving to Scopa, we almost missed it because there was no sign outside! My husband said that it’s a cool thing. I don’t think so and don’t enjoy to look for a restaurant.
When you enter the restaurant you think «Looks like a nice place» but that’s before you get seated. And do you know where do you get seated if you’re a couple? Next to many other people and there’s no space between you. I have more privacy in In’N’Out. Actually this place reminds me of a school cafeteria. I didn’t hear anything my husband said all the time I was there. He didn’t hear me either. In fact we both heard two loud dudes talking that were sitting right next to us. By the way, my husband said that this seating system is trendy. Wow! Not working for me.
The food was ok. Way overpriced. We both agreed that pasta was mediocre. My desert (Zabaglione)had a nice texture but was overly sweet.
Service was fast and efficient. That’s why this place gets 3 stars instead of 2.
In total: 100 $ for an ok food and time spent in discomfort.

Walked in without a reservation and scored a table (someone had just canceled their reservations). Very loud but such delicious food. Don’t expect to have an easy conversation or romantic date.
The squash blossoms, beet salad and roasted chicken were all perfect. The beet salad was paired with perfectly toasted bread. The roasted chicken came in a cute little iron pan with two pieces (dark and white… perfect to share).
Too bad we were too full to try dessert. We’ll be back for that!

Can’t decide if I should give this place 4 or 5 stars as it was so yummy but so expensive… Came in on a Sunday since my friend was craving pasta! Unfortunately, they only have spaghetti and meatballs on the brunch menu, so we got other dishes to share. We started out with the blackberry bramble and a old fashioned like drink, and both were delicious and very pretty– it was a fantastic start to our meal.
For appetizers, we ordered the prosciutto & burrata with pomegranate, olive oil, and seeded bread ($ 17). The prosciutto was so tender and melt in your mouth– I’ve never had such a yummy prosciutto! They also added olive oil which made it even better, and my friend loved the fava beans as it added great texture to the dish. I can see why its $ 17 as it seems to be of a higher quality.
For entrees, I got the rice ball with meat sauce, peas, ricotto, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and an added egg on top ($ 13). I was looking at other reviews as it was highly recommended, and it did not disappoint! The inside had oozing cheese and the meat sauce was fantastic. The crispy rice was extremely crunchy, and I really enjoyed this dish! Super hearty but well worth it.
Last but not least, we got the soft eggs with italian sausage, peppers & onions, cavolo nero, and polenta ($ 17). This skillet was soft and creamy overall, but delicious nonetheless. A great contrast to the rice ball which was super crispy! The eggs were poached to perfection and the polenta was so creamy and smooth. Loved this dish as well.
In terms of food, everything was amazing– we were so impressed at the taste and quality of the dishes we ordered! Our lunch for two came out to $ 80 without tip, as their cocktails were not cheap as well. We definitely need to come back to try their pasta!

Went for a work event and the food and service were wonderful! I’ll go through the menu for that particular night (March 26, 2016):
—Oysters—
Probably some of the freshest oysters I have ever had! It also came with very nice toppings and the cutest, little Tabasco bottle I have ever seen.
—Marinated Olives—
Pretty standard, delicious, and nice.
—Ricotta Crostini—
The ricotta was amazing! I really loved the taste of it with the fresh herbs and thick, fire roasted crostinis
—Italian Cold Cuts—
A fantastically huge spread of cold cuts, cheese, and (more) olives. +more crostinis
—Baby Beets with Burrata—
I had never had either burrata or baby beets and they paired fantastically. The burrata is a bit tangy and very creamy, while the baby beets are tender and sweet. Slather that on a crostini and you have a great match!
—Raw Brussel Sprouts Salad—
I have never see such a salad. Raw brussel sprouts julienned with walnuts (I think it was walnuts) and grapes. It was very good! I have to try making this salad in the near future.
—Rice Ball—
This was delicious! Think of crispy rice at a sushi place wrapped around a delicious combination of marinara, cheese, ground beef, mushrooms and topped with grated parmesan and more marinara. It was a texture and flavor adventure.
—Fried Cauliflower—
Probably my least favorite of the items on the menu. It was served with a dipping sauce.
—Creste Rigate Pasta—
My favorite of the bunch! This very flavorful and buttery medley of ingredients was phenomenal! Numerous mushroom varieties and fresh breadcrumbs also. Very good texture and taste. Hard to describe, just GET IT!
—Chitarra Pasta—
Good, not great. Hard to beat the creste rigate dish served here.
—Whole Branzino—
A wonderful presentation on this fish! I don’t know what it is, but a whole fish just looks delicious to me. Whole fish cooked with lemon wedges on top. Yum!
—T-​Bone Steak—
Fantastic! Very thick, huge, honkin’ steak and cooked perfectly medium rare. Simple on flavors because the meat just speaks for itself. Seemed to me like a very simple salt/​pepper rub with herbs.
—Roasted Chicken—
Roasted chicken thigh/​drumstick served over a bed of greens. I thought the chicken was pretty good, but it was not my favorite.
—Polenta—
Very creamy, very good. I have never had polenta this creamy so it was a little overbearing at first.
—Sauteed Asparagus—
Good! The asparagus were the thickest I have ever seen. Very healthy ingredients.
—Zeppole—
Italian doughnuts drowning in powdered sugar. Served in a brown paper bag. I was entirely full, but the doughnut was a great pair with my (very strong) coffee. My only complaint is the dough was a little hard, like they had been fried a little too long.
—Cannoli—
I cannot remark on these as I was entirely too full to eat any. They looked great and my coworkers seemed to enjoy them very much.

Definitely worth splurging on a dinner here with good company! Came here for a bachelorette and dinner with friends and was never let down. One of my favorite restaurants in LA!
The service is relaxed, friendly, helpful and very attentive. On top of that the food is to die for; squash blossoms, t-​bone steak, fried cauliflower and ricotta crostini are my favorite items on the menu. You really can’t go wrong with anything you order! Pair this with delicious red wine and champagne for a perfect evening.
There is plenty of street parking so no need to valet. It’s located next to Sunny spot which is easy see from the street. They start to dim the lights inside around 6pm so it get’s fairly dark and more intimate.

Love this restaurant by Chef Antonio Lofasa. The food here is rustic Italian yet simply divine and delicious. The space is enormous, so it gets a bit noisy during dinner time, not good for intimate conversations, but would be awesome for large parties.
I’ve been here for both brunch and dinner, and some of their items do crossover. Whatever you do, get the meatballs, sunchokes and squid ink calamari! There are small plates, hot plates, antipastis, pastas and full entrees to choose from… it could be overwhelming but it’s all so good! all around, an amazing restaurant with amazing food.

This place definitely left me impressed! The atmosphere here is a bit loud, but that’s due to the fact that (on the weekends) it can get quite crowded. The service here was really good — they’re very attentive.
We started with drinks at the bar as we waited to be seated for our reservation. If you like Old-​fashioned drinks, make sure you try theirs. It was amazing!
To start, we has the prosciutto and burrata… you know me and my burrata obsession: p. It was so good. The prosciutto was not as salty as I would have expected. The burrata was topped with pomegranate seeds which was interesting and tasty. I have had better burrata in LA but the mixture of these three ingredients here were perfect.
The raw brussel sprouts were seriously to die for. I’ll probably end up buying that dish one day to just take home and snort. It was fantastic.
Lastly, I tried the Lasagnette which had a perfect texture. The plate looked really small when it came out but it was actually ver filling. I left this place full and satisfied. Highly recommended!

I came here over a week ago and I’m STILL raving about it to anyone who will listen. One of the best dinners I’ve had in a long long time!
FOOD:
So fresh, so flavorful, and oh so good! We had:
Salmon crudo (⁵⁄₅ stars): Okay this has to be the best salmon crudo I’ve ever had. It just melts in your mouth while the flavors have a full on party in your mouth. i will get this again and again and again… Oh by the way, want to know the secret to the extreme flavor? It’s cured for 16 hours! (At least, I think our waitress said 16 hours…)
Beets and Burrata (⁵⁄₅ stars): Classic dish, hard to make an impression with it. Oh but Scopa did! The dish is infused with vanilla and it makes a huge difference! The burrata is fresh and creamy and the garlic bread is yummy. If you like beets and burrata, you gotta try this one!
Fried Cauliflower (³⁄₅ stars): Good in the way that fried cauliflower is good, but nothing special. There are way better things on the menu.
Squash Blossoms (⁵⁄₅ stars): This is a GOOD squash blossom. So delicate, yet perfectly stuffed and fried. Yum, yum, yum. If you get one fried dish, get this.
Rigatoni with pink sauce (⁴⁄₅ stars): A great pink sauce and topped with ricotta! If you like those two things, you gotta get this!
Squash fried with brown butter (3.5÷5 stars): After that cauliflower we had I was super over fried stuff. If i hadn’t had the cauliflower, I probably would’ve loved this. A great mix of sweet and savory.
Chocolate Panna Cotta (⁵⁄₅ stars): I’ll be honest, we mainly ordered dessert because we couldn’t bear to leave Scopa and wanted to extend the experience for as long as possible. Well, so glad we did, because this chocolate panna cotta was AMAZING. So perfectly chocolately, creamy, and light with this amazing coffee crumble on top. DROOL.
SERVICE:
Perfection! Our courses came out in this perfect succession. Our super friendly and attentive waitress had the dishes come out in an order she spent time thinking about and as soon as we finished a course, the next ones would come out. In between each course our silverware and dishes were switched out. It almost felt like we had our own personal wait staff with the timeliness and attention to detail. The rigatoni took a little while to come out (which was fine with us since we were enjoying our dinner so much) and so the waitress brought us a complimentary dish. Exceptional service!
AMBIANCE:
Brick walls, high ceilings, a loud bustling energy, and a very NYC feel. Right away the ambiance is very welcoming and you just wanna sit there and linger over dinner forever. The crowd is on the dressier side for Venice so wear something nice.
Scopa is what every restaurant should aspire to be and you just have to treat yourself to this fabulous dining experience.

I stopped by here to enjoy a celebratory engagement dinner with my new fiancé!
The host was very friendly and greeted me right as I walked in. He told us he had a great table for us and sat us next to the window seat with a view of the sidewalk. Im guessing this is the great view? I wouldnt really call it that but the ambience was nice so I didnt mind.
My only gripe about this place is that the water is is room temp which I absolutely hate. It just tastes like tap to me.
Food wise, everything was great! We started with:
STEAK TARTARE — Delicious! The toast was super flavorful which added to the overall bite. I loved that it was a pretty substantial portion for two to share.
SCALLOPS — My complaint was I wish there was more! They only give you two scallops but man they were good. Perfectly tender and the brown butter was amazing!
SQUID INK CALAMARI — I know that the flavor loes in the squid ink batter but I do wish there was some kind of sauce. Im a sauce person so I appreciate anything I can dip into. That being said, it was well cooked and flavorful.
For entrees we had:
CHICKEN — The skin was a bit too salty for my taste but the chicken itself was super juicy! Not over cooked at all. The creamy polenta left me wanting more! Not too rich and perfectly accented the chicken.
LAMB BELLY PASTA — Oh jeebs. I dont even like lamb! But this was soooo good. I think a pappardelle would have gone over better but Im not a chef and I could be so wrong. Overall it was soooo good!!!
And for dessert:
RICOTTA CHEESCAKE — SOOO light because of the ricotta. It has an orange blossom flavor to it and some powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Yummers!
FLUFFERNUTTER — Very not light at all but I really enjoyed it. Reminiscent of fair food being that jts basically fried marshmallow, banana, and peanut butter. Id only recommend this if you like heavy dessert.
I cant wait to go back and try that rice ball!