Nicola’s Kitchen

Let me start off with the venue and food itself. There is seating for about 70 indoor and another 34 or so in the outdoor patio area. Mostly open floor but there are some family style seats for larger parties. Good selection of pastas and the complimentary fresh bread with oil and vinegar was very good. Service was good – our server checked in on us frequently and was receptive to our requests.
Now the reason why it got a ³⁄₅. Pricing! Menu prices «changed» 3 weeks before our visit and our check bumped each plate item up by about $ 2. When we asked our server about this, the answer we got was «we should show the prices but our manager hasn’t changed them.» Um what?! If you come by be prepared to spend $ 16.50 for a listed menu price of $ 13.95 – without notice! We were able to reach a resolution at the end but a big inconvenience nonetheless.

Charming location and great food, yet service has been slow all 4x I’ve been here. The food is what keeps me coming back, even though it’s a tad pricey for what it is, but there’s never a wait. I’m paying for the convenience, really. If only their servers would quit socializing with each other, I’d almost give this place 5 stars.

Worst experience…
Today, a friend and I walked in to have Sunday brunch. It was slammed. Which we were actually happy about, because they were doing well, and we love to see our locally owned establishments succeeding. However, after waiting at the door for a few minutes, we were told by a lady we could take a table outside… I say «told» but she basically just waved at the table and walked away. The table still had a glass of water on it and no silverware, but we sat down without menus or welcome.
A few minutes later, the owner came by and took our drink order (a mimosa and a cup of coffee). That took a few minutes to come out. Still no silverware. After about ten minutes, the lady who originally «seated» us came and took our order, the Huevos Rancheros and Spicy Italian Omelet.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited.
We watched the table next to us, which had ordered as we were waking in, get their food and finish their meal. I had to flag someone down to get a refill of coffee. No one offered a refill on the mimosa. At one point, a waitress told us she was going to check on our food before taking the order of a new table that had just arrived, and then disappeared. No food. No drinks. Still no silverware.
After 45 minutes, I went inside and asked if our food was gonna be ready soon, and found them trying to put a rush order on my Huevos Rancheros. I told them to cancel my order, which seemed like it annoyed them. Then they charged me $ 10 for our mimosa and coffee and let me walk out with out so much as an apology. All told, we were there AN HOUR, basically gotten served one round of drinks, and been talked to by staff a sum total of 4 times.
I’ve eaten at Nicola’s several times, especially since they started doing breakfast, and the food and service has generally been solid. That, along with the fact I love supporting locally owned eateries, made me reluctant to write this… but the fact they charged me for my drinks and never even acknowledged we’d been treated poorly is too much to ignore. I’d like to think this was a one off and that they’re not gonna be a victim of their own success, but again, the way it was handled makes me reluctant to go back and see if that’s the case.
And we never even got our silverware.

My family and I have been eating at Nicola’s for many years. The food is good and my complaints is not with the quality of the food. I ordered takeout this week, like I have do probably one ever two months. My order came to about $ 70. I had ordered a salad with my order and then I asked for one small size of extra dressing. I had also asked for some extra bread. Then they tell me its $ 1.50 for the bread (about 5 pieces only) and $ 1.95 for 4 oz of salad dressing— seriously? I understand if i did not order a salad, but if I was eating the restaurant I doubt you would charge for extra dressing or bread.
I was very disappointed as I saw the owner standing right there when the the lady told me it was an extra charge and he knew I was a regular for many years. I will not longer give them my business over such petty charges.

This place is really good! We ordered Breakfast for delivery and it was fresh, hot and so delicious! Today we came in the restaurant and it was just as amazing! Pizza was great! And We’ve had pizza all over the world. The breakfast was awesome! Definitely coming back! Friendly service to ! Mimosas were great! All around great! YUM !

We drove in from Vegas, with two goes hours to spare before our room was ready so we found this place to have breakfast. Delicious food. Buy one get one free mimosa! The portions are just right. Fresh ingredients. A must try! However, the service wasn’t that good. Took forever for someone to come to our table to take our order and give out drinks. Other than that a cute place to eat. :)
Second time here in less than 24hrs and we brought two more people. Food was ok this time around. The service started off great. Much better than yesterday. But then was terrible. Took forever to take our orders. Took forever to take our guests order drinks. There were a few discrepancies with the food and when receiving our check. Like I said before. The food is delicious. Mimosas on point. But the service is horrible. Need to retrain staff. One of the bussers said «I’m not touching that plate, I don’t know if she’s done with it», to his fellow co worker right in front of us. When he could simply ask if we were done with it. Definitely need work on customer service.

Very friendly staff! Super helpful and great energy, a lot of warmth. Sitting outside on the patio and having my breakfast was a lovely start to my day. I built my own omelette and it was delicious.

Really disappointing.
My Husband and I managed to sneak away from the kids yesterday afternoon (thanks Mom!) & we decided to try out this place as it’s been on my to-​do list for the longest time.
When we arrive it’s around 1pm, the place is pretty dead, & we stood confused as to where we should go. Do we seat ourselves? Do I wait? I attracted a young woman who must have seen the puzzled look on my face, & she told me we can sit anywhere we’d like.
We chose to sit outside so we can people watch on Ventura.
Pretty much right away, we got our drink orders taken & fulfilled. Our orders were taken pretty quick too. But that’s when it got awkward.
We were never brought any bread to munch on, never checked on, so it gave us a lot of time to observe our surroundings.
I noticed another first timer[s] couple also sat across from us, & I’m both pleased & disappointed they got the same bland treatment we did. The dude asked for sugar for his coffee three times with two different people, & got it right before his food came out. His wife ordered a hot tea & never got it.
When OUR food arrived my Husband had to get up & get our own napkins & utensils. Really?
Food was okay. Just okay.
I was really looking forward to this place & was truly let down.
Needless to say, the lack of service & hospitality of this place is upsetting.
It was our first & last time.

Enjoyed a great breakfast. Very fresh. Good size portions, and fast service. Huge menu. Lunch & dinner offers a wide variety of choices.

The restaurant is a bit old, needs an update. It was my first time there–
the food was decent, wasn’t extraordinary but not bad either. They don’t bring any bread before food which was kinda odd especially since the kitchen isn’t that fast it would be nice to nibble on some bread while you wait.

Walking into Nicola’s Kitchen your greeted with smiles and welcomes when walking in to a cozy atmosphere. Service was quick and fast and the servers are very polite. Food tasty and yummy!

Food is good but the owner refuses to add hash browns to the breakfast menu for some weird reason. Like he doesnt care about his customers.
We like this local place but also want to feel respected.

This place is ridiculous. Simple yet gourmet! Outdoor seating with perfect climate control, extremely wonderful employees! Several people came to attend our table and took extra time to allow us to sample some things before deciding, could not have asked for a better dining experience.
Oh yeah, and the food? Epic. Their complementary bread is soft and delicious, their creamy balsamic is addicting, we had their basic spaghetti and meat sauce which was anything but basic. Hearty cooked perfectly. Seriously round of applause for this place! Go here! (And it didn’t break the bank!) we had a perfect night.

Quaint little place on Ventura Boulevard with delicious food! I gave 4 stars for overall experience because parking was not the easiest, but the food and friendly service are definitely worthy of 5 stars. Will absolutely come back to try their other menu options.

Cute little Italian restaurant in Woodland Hills. Family owed with great service and delicious food.
The foccia rosemary bread is amazingly good!
We split a Barbecue chicken pizza and a chopped salad.
The pizza was cheesy and delicious! Great crust too!
Really liked the balsamic dressing on the salad.
You receive a lot of food for a reasonable price.
They deliver as well.

I’ve been coming to Nicola’s for years and only recently discovered they serve breakfast!!! We avoided that famous waffle place down the street and wound up here for breakfast. Holy cow! You must try the orangina French toast! It is Amazing! This is our new breakfast place! Try sitting out on the back patio, it’s quite a charming place. Tip: park in the parking lot that is several doors down!

Have ordered food to go now twice and both times they have screwed up our order. Left messages twice for management with no return call. Even though we have been going for years, we are over the numerous mistakes they have made.

I’ll definitely give the service 5 stars for sure. They were great and drinks were refilled before even asked and always with a smile!
My friend likes the pizza & his wife loves the salads. I got the linguine with white clam sauce… ehhh I’d pass. It had a strange tanginess, but I might come back and try another dish. The bread was very good though.

A little secret in the city of woodland hills is this small Italian restaurant named Nicola’s Kitchen on Ventura Blvd.
I came here with my family and was welcomed by a wonderful staff. We started with the bread for the table. I had my eye on the meatball sub but was recommend by our waiter to try the corn chowder.
Food: the corn chowder hit the stop perfectly! Some much hearty feel that your stomach will thank you. My parents actually just ordered a bowl and were full off that. Each order of corn chowder comes with garlic cheese bread too. My sandwich came with a salad of your choice (mine was Caesar). I was surprised from the big portion they gave. The sandwich was just gooey/​meaty goodness, can’t complain with that.
Typically I’m not the biggest fan of Italian food but I really did enjoy the experience & food at Nicola’s Kitchen. They represent their four star rating properly. I would go back just based off the corn chowder. Just to note: they serve breakfast no matter the time of day. That’s awesome!

An Italian place hidden in the elegant French Quarter of woodland Hills. Pleasant seating, very friendly and attentive wait staff, parking is at the lot behind the plaza.
Me the breakfast snob came to try the Roma pesto omelette. Beautiful presentation as you can see from the photo. Other than that, the eggs were a little over cooked. My partner-​in-​crime had the orangania French toast– again, the presentation gets more stars than the actual taste (bread was soggy). There are about four options of French toasts on the menu (a little excessive in my opinion… You just need a GOOD one).
Reasonable prices and pleasant ambiance. Kitchen action can be seen behind the deli counter. With a few improvements I can see this place become a 4-​star enterprise.