Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi

Oh boy this was hands down one the best dinning experiences I’ve had in LA. The Raviolis are a must have. Service was amazing. Delicious.

We are 4 adults out to a local restaurant in Santa Monica. A friend recommended Di Giorgio Baldi We had never tried it before & it looked small & charming, so I made a reservation. We had an octopus & small ravioli special, they were ok.
One of us ordered the lobster, $ 90.00, one ordered the branizno special which had no flavor. The other 2 ordered a special steak medium rare. It came well done, this @ $ 72 per steak!
All & all the meal was very bland. The bill was $ 495.00 before tip.
The waiter, so very abrupt drummed on his knell as he was waiting for us to order. I have to say that we live in New York & in Santa Monica in the winter. I am used to high prices, but I must suggest that you find another place to spend your money & time. I would give this restaurant 0 stars but The site won’t let me.

What a superlative! Intimate, Star-​studded and Out of this World Menu. I am all ears here whenever an occasion beckons or just wanting to have a worthwhile dinner in Los Angeles.

Amazing food. Everything here is delicious. Tight New York feel. Must try everything!

Sadly I write this review. We have had many great experiences in the past at Giorgios. But last Friday I had some important friends in town. So where do I treat them? Giorgio di Baldi. Wrong…
From the start, our waiter was a smart ass. «Your time has expired to make a decision» awkward. We laughed a nervous laugh and then he did it again, to my boss. Ugh.
Ok my food was excellent grilled octopus and langostino with penne. Even though I ordered linguine. Still very good. The boss?! Awful some ravioli miniature. Hardly anything on his plate! I asked him to return it but he’s not that kind of guy. His wife, my friend ordered steak with balsamic reduction. No reduction all beef that looked very dry. Very Dry. Bordering on gross. Again I looked and of course she hardly ate the $ 72 steak.
The 4^th friend enjoyed her food but all in all a Huge disappointment. Our bill was $ 400 before tip for 4 with only a small amount of wine. You need to be fully committed to atmosphere.
The food is not what it was and servers are way too concerned with turning their tables.
Lacking the charm it once had.

Came out here for my cousin’s 28^th birthday dinner. The place is very small and intimate, and located right off of PCH. There’s not really a parking lot so the best (and probably only way) is to valet your car (which was $ 9 on the night I came).
Like I said, the place is very small. Luckily, we had a reservation since we had such a large party. The place is very dim so it was a little difficult to read the menu, but we managed. The food was great, and I have zero complaints.
My family ordered a ton. We had all the carpaccios (Beef, fish, and octopus), burrata w/​prosciutto, prosciutto w/​melon, and caprese salad as appetizers. The fish and octopus carpaccio were delicious, but I felt that the beef carpaccio had too much cheese and cream and it overpowered the beef. As for the rest, I have no complaints, they were great and just what I expected! I mean, there’d be something terribly wrong if an Italian restaurant of this stature couldn’t get those right.
I got myself the Penne Imperiale which was probably the best dish out of all the rest. The langostine was cooked perfectly, and the tomato sauce had an amazing, light kick to it that went very well with it all. My cousin went with the special white truffle pasta that was in season ($ 150 plate of pasta). It was delicious and obviously strong. Personally, for my taste, I prefer the one at Angelini Osteria. We also shared the Wagyu special. The steak was cooked well and tasted great. I’m also guilty of being a steak lover, so a well cooked steak is always good in my book. For me, the wagyu didn’t seem all that special.
My family also ordered the Gnocchi al Vosto Gusto, Stracetti al Basilico, Ricciarelle al Tartufo, Maltagliati Verdi, and the New York steak. Of these, I think the Ricciarelle was the best. The white truffle sauce was flavorful and wasn’t extremely heavy, yet it was very filling. The steak was, just like the Wagyu, nothing special, but I enjoyed it very much so.
As for dessert, my family went with tiramisu, the homemade strawberry sorbet, lemon sorbet, and the peach sorbet. I really loved the peach sorbet as it was sweet but not overly sweet.
Overall, it was a great experience. I really enjoyed eating here and if I ever have a chance to come back, I definitely will.

Delicious pasta, but quite expensive considering the ridiculously small portions. Go if you want to spot a celeb or two, and/​or are going somewhere else to eat afterwards, and/​or someone else is footing the bill.

I had dinner at Giorgio Baldi recently, and I think the best way I can describe it is as L.A.‘s most expensive neighborhood Italian restaurant. It’s a warm, cheerful restaurant with a cozy dining room and a welcoming atmosphere. The prices are very, very high, but I don’t get the sense that anyone eats here for special occasions. The vibe was casual when we went, and our multi-​course meal took about an hour and a half. It was a Wednesday, so maybe things are different on the weekends, but I’d be surprised. I think this is just the place rich people eat when they feel like some Italian food by the ocean.
I went for dinner with my mom and one of her friends, who wanted to meet me and treat me to a meal. She’s a regular – she knew the wait staff, and she was planning to come back for another dinner later in the week. We got a comfortable table near the back of the restaurant, and we had a relaxing, sumptuous dinner. Service was excellent, and we enjoyed ourselves with a bottle of Barolo and some stellar food.
My mom’s friend knew the menu well, so she was in charge of ordering, and everything we ate was superb. Dinner started with fresh, soft bread (even Giorgio Baldi’s balsamic and olive oil tasted a notch better than most other restaurants’) and a lovely amuse bouche of warm polenta topped with porcini mushroom and tomato. The polenta had a creamy texture with just the right amount of grit, and the mushroom and tomato were stewy and savory. This was followed by a cold appetizer of poached octopus with lemon, potato, and fresh pepper. The octopus was sliced thin and pressed into a little carpaccio quilt. Lost a little of the octopus texture I like, but was pretty wonderful anyway.
We shared two pastas and a risotto for our next course, and all three were delicious. The homemade agnolotti were firm, tender morsels bursting with sweet white corn, slathered in a decadent white truffle sauce. The portion was small (actually, portions were small across the board, but this pasta could only pass as an appetizer), but there was so much richness and flavor that a big bowl wouldn’t have made sense. The spaghetti bottarga was a great plate of pasta with garlic, oil, crushed red pepper, and bottarga, or sun-​dried cured fish eggs. The spaghetti was nicely al dente, and the flavors were subtle and briny with a nice underlying heat. I don’t tend to order risotto, but the risotto paveron was fantastic, the rice perfectly cooked with Dungeness crab, roasted bell pepper, and tomato sauce. It came with a crab shell, and I ate my rice out of that, Korean style.
I often skip entrees at Italian restaurants, but our last savory course was as worthwhile as the pastas. We shared the langostine grigliate and the sogliola al limone, and both were on point. The grilled langostine were incredible, the succulent meat enhanced by nothing but the grill and a bit of lemon. The pan-​fried Dover sole had an irresistible firm, tender texture, and it was sautéed in a lemon and butter sauce that was rich but not too heavy. The langostine and sole came with side dishes of wilted spinach and starchy potatoes. They weren’t strictly necessary, but they tasted good.
We wrapped up our dinner with a trio of desserts – tiramisu, sorbet, and panna cotta. The tiramisu was one of the better ones I’ve had, fluffy and silky and not too sweet, dusted with cocoa powder and served with a scoop of chocolate gelato. The wildberry orange sorbet was not as memorable, but it was worth getting for the tartness. It came with waffle cookies in a metal bowl. The best of the desserts was the panna cotta with strawberry, strawberry sauce, and a bit of powdered sugar. It was smooth and creamy with the ideal amount of jiggle, and the strawberry sauce combined with the panna cotta to provide the right level of sweetness.
I don’t know when I’ll go to Giorgio Baldi again – it’s too far and expensive for me to go casually, but too casual to go for a special occasion. I’d go all the time if I had infinite money in the deep Westside, but as things stand, it might be while. I did love the place, though. The food was pretty special, and I’ll try my best to hunt up an excuse to come back.

Very little, good food for absolutely unreasonably high prices! This was our first and last visit to Georgio Baldi. I don’t mind paying for more money for outstanding food in a great atmosphere, but this Italian food was just good and the portions left is hungry. Furthermore, all I had all night were waiters constantly bumping into my chair because the seats were too crowded.
I’m really surprised to to see how many people gave Giorgio Baldi great reviews.. maybe these folks have not been out to real good Italian restaurants back east where they would get a completely different experience… either way, there are just way too many other 4 and 5 Star restaurants that deliver a far greater experience and value in the area for us to go back to this establishment. Even or visiting guests from back east were disappointed.

This has been on my list for years and I finally dined here last night. Giorgio Baldi, you not only met, but also exceeded, my expectations. We had a reservation (highly recommended) and were sat promptly. At first our table seemed to be a bit disappointing– next to a table with a child and next to where all the waiters were coming/​going from the kitchen. The child turned out to be a non-​issue (shockingly well behaved, bravo parents), and the waiters must be very mindful of how our table stuck out, because again, non-​issue.
The service was great– nothing to write home about– but well informed, excellent wine and food recommendations.
Now the food, that’s what I really came for. We started with the meatballs (4) and the agnolotti in truffle sauce. As mentioned in many reviews, try the agnolotti– it’s reason enough to come back. We then had the gnocchi with the meat sauce– amazing, it melts in your mouth. We each had the branzino for our main course– excellent, but not as memorable as the pastas.
The crème brulee and latte for dessert were again, perfect. We also had a very nice Italian blend recommended by our waiter (I can’t remember the name, but it was a cab/​merlot/​something else blend– helpful, riiight??).
Two ways to approach a visit to Giorgio– 1) come hungry, enjoy everything, and ignore what the bill will look like (this is what we did) or 2) eat before and/​or plan to grab a late night snack somewhere (or maybe you just have a light appetite and you don’t have to do either). If you’re concerned about price and/​or portions, this is not the place for you. If you want an amazing, memorable experience where you will be dreaming about your next visit and the money isn’t an issue, this is the place. Giorgio Baldi is not just a meal, it is an experience. Embrace it.
Love, love, love.

Oh my gosh, how have I never been here before?
I took some clients here a few weeks ago based on their recommendation. They had me at truffle sauce.
I have made a reservation, highly recommended because this place is tiny! We are seated on the outside part of the restaurant. It’s a small patio hidden behind a ton of greens. They had heaters that really warm the patio up! I though it was the perfect place to see so my clients could see everyone come in. (Turns out we spotted Sugar Ray Leonard!)
We shared all of our entrees so see below for comments on each dish!
Burrata Tricolore: delicious but this wasn’t anything so special that you can’t get somewhere else.
Agnolotti: sweet corn ravioli with a truffle sauce or I like to call little clouds of heaven. I have had dreams about this dish and will return solely for this pasta.
Gnocchi al Vostro Gusto: you can order this with a meat sauce or a Gorgonzola sauce. We chose the latter. Wow, I’ve never had more perfect gnocchi in my life. This stuff is amazing.
Ravioli con Asparagi: ricotta rav with little pieces is asparagus. So good, probably my least favorite pasta dish but still far beyond many other Italian dishes I have had in my life.
Panzerotti: you can get this with a mushroom sauce or a tomato sauce. We got the latter. This may have been the most amazing savory crêpe I have ever had in my life. Don’t pass this dish up!
Risotto Paveron: this risotto was cooked perfectly!!! With the most amazing savory pieces of perfectly cooked and seasoned crab. Possibly the best risotto I’ve ever had.
Ricciarelle al Tartufo: more truffle sauce! Yes please! Delish, but passable for some of the other dishes I listed.
Then we split 3 different desserts, which my change seasonally? We ordered a caramel pudding, a chocolate lava type cake and a cheesecake tart. All were amazing!!!
Basically this is my favorite restaurant that I have probably ever been to. Like 6 stars if you ask me. We stuck to pasta because that seems like why you go there and I think that’s why our experience was so fantastic!!!
Service was impeccable and friendly. This is a must try place!

We left The Bungalow after some serious day drinking and shot straight over here around a quarter to six. The timing could not have been any better because no one was there and they sat us, a party of 3, right away.
We ordered the meatball appetizer and the beef carpaccio. They brought over some delicious bread, and I ordered a glass of the pinot noir ($ 24).
The standout for the appetizers was the Carpaccio di Manzo alla Salsa di Tartufo ($ 29). It’s sliced raw beef, truffle under olive oil, with melted fontina cheese and cream, and it is probably the best appetizer I have had at a restaurant all year. «Heavenly», is a good word for it.
I ended up going for the Maltagliati Verdi ($ 21) which is homemade spinach pasta in a meat sauce and it was perfection.
Giorgio Baldi is the west coast version of Fiorello in NYC. The homemade pasta is just as good and the service is actually a whole lot better here. The only reason for a 4 star review instead of a 5 star review is that their bathroom doesn’t match everything else. Go to Fiorello the next time you’re in NYC and then you will completely understand what I mean. Normally I wouldn’t nitpick at something like that, but did you see the prices up in this review? Then, yea. You understand. Also, the portions are exactly like Fiorello’s, aka, a bit on the small side, but still enough to keep your tummy content for the next couple of hours.
Otherwise a great meal, excellent service, delicious food.
Overall a 4.5 star experience and DEFINITELY a place I’m coming back to with the lady for a romantic evening. This place is a panty dropper in my book. :p

My boyfriend surprised my on my birthday this year with dinner at Giorgio Baldi, I must have been living under a rock because before Thursday I had never heard of this restaurant (in my defense I have only lived in LA for a little under a year) I am kicking myself though because this place is great (pricey but great!)
They sat us on time, we were in a corner on the patio it was private and quiet and so romantic, I know not everyone is a fan but I loved the low lighting. Dinner was nothing short of magical, truly a culinary experience. I am still dreaming of the taste. Paired with dinner we split a bottle of a fantastic red wine but my date picked it and I never really looked at the label to see what it was.
Appetizers:
Crespella al Salmone– delicious, the best smoked salmon I have ever had sliced on top of a dill and chive crêpe.
Carpaccio di Manzo alla Salsa di Tartufo– This was the stand out of our whole meal, if you go here you must get this. It was the most delicious dish I have had in my life. It is described on the menu as «Sliced raw beef, truffle under olive oil, with melted fontina cheese and cream» and that is what it is but it is so much more than that.
Main Course:
Gnocchi al Vostro Gusto– Delicious, from seeing other reviews I know there are dishes I should have maybe gotten instead of a basic Gnocchi but Gnocchi is my guilty pleasure and for my birthday I had to have it. They did a great job however if I went back I would try something a little more complex.
Cotoletta alla Milanese– My boyfriends dish. I had a few bites and it was fantastic, so tender! I would order this again. From what I remember it was a fairly large portion.
We skipped dessert because I am not a fan of sweets in general. All of the desserts we saw coming out looked great as far as desserts go but we did not indulge in any this time.
I can’t wait till another occasion that would grant us the excuse to dine here, there is so much more on the menu I want to try!
A lot of reviews have mentioned bad service here, in my experience that was not at all the case. The hostess was great, I will admit our waiter was very serious and stern, he almost felt like a caricature of a fancy waiter on a show like Seinfeld or something but he was never rude, he was to the point, gave great recommendations and the timing of our meal was impeccable. I think in these days we’ve gotten too used to waiters with a sing-​songy fake happy voice, a plastered on smile who will recommend whatever is priciest while not knowing the taste and will jump over backwards for a tip. I appreciated the no nonsense waiting. It made it feel like this meal was about us and not about him if that makes sense. It reminded me of the summer I spent in Milan. This of course this is all up to personal taste but I wanted to throw my two cents in.

Looking for perfect service or good standard?! gb is definitely the restaurant for the qualification.

Elegant Italian restaurant with «almost» beach location on Channel Road in Santa Monica (you can sometimes hear the waves). Nice food on the more expensive side. Excellent pastas, especially with truffles, langoustine, agnolotti, sweet corn ravioli, etc. Celebrity hangout which can be fun watching. Great place!

Second time here. Upgraded from a four to five stars. Let me tell you why.
Despite being tired from the plane ride, we drove an hour to return to Giorgio — mostly for that AGNOLOTTI in CORN TRUFFLE SAUCE. It was my daughter’s dish last time we came, but I was very determined to make it *my* dish this time around.
We ordered:
+ AGNOLOTTI in CORN TRUFFLE SAUCE (⁵⁄₅) — Unilocal reviewers are not exaggerating on this one. It is as good as they say, maybe better. Just perfect. Tender and flavorful little morsels of pasta heaven. We asked the waiter for an extra half portion on each of our two orders on this dish, and get this — it STILL wasn’t enough for us. That’s my only complaint about Giorgio is the portion size of their dishes. It’s pasta for crying out loud, they can certainly afford to give a bit more, especially given the price they are charging. If you come here, maybe you should order this dish as an appetizer so that everyone at the table can have a forkful.
+GNOCCHI W/​BOLOGNESE (⁵⁄₅) — Wow. Out of the park. As much as I loved my AGNOLOTTI, it was love at first bite with this one too (it was my wife’s dish). I had order’s remorse, even though I was fully satisfied with my own dish, if that’s even possible! The most perfect gnocchi I’ve ever tasted, including all the food I’ve encountered on our trips to Italy, and the food of my youth, growing up in an Italian family full of good cooks.
+BURRATA CHEESE APPETIZER — (⁵⁄₅) Every table should have at least one of these.
+MEATBALLS (⁵⁄₅) — In a world where even Italians have a hard time making a good meatball, this meatball is pretty darn good. Nobody beats my Italian mother’s meatballs, but these are right up there. Perfect appetizer, they come three on a plate with sauce.
+FRIED CALAMARI (⁴⁄₅) — Nicely done, with a few bits of zucchini and mushroom thrown into the mix. Delicious.
+CRAB RISOTTO (⁵⁄₅) — Skillfully made. We ordered this as a table appetizer and it was great. Wanted it all for myself but was forced to share.
+PRAWN LINGUINE (³⁄₅) — This is the only dish for me that fell below standard. Lacked the robust flavor that all our other dishes had, felt the sauce was a bit watered down. Two tiny little shrimp that shouldn’t be called «prawns».
+PANNA COTTA (⁴⁄₅) — Very good, not the best I’ve ever had, but would still recommend.
+NONA’S TORTE (⁴⁄₅) — Hard to describe, not sure what was inside, but it crumbly and buttery, and in the end, I didn’t care what was inside. Wish they would give a bit more!
+CHOCOLATE CAKE (³⁄₅) — When the waiter told us about the chocolate cake, I instantly had this image of a traditional slice of American-​style chocolate cake in my mind. When they brought the «cake» in a miniature sized ramekin, I was disappointed and underwhelmed. Especially given the fact that we like to share our desserts. There was barely anything to share — really, just one bite for a single person. It was more of a mousse than a cake. I think it’s misleading to call that a cake.
I love the food at Giorgio’s but the chintzy portioning, if I’m honest, affects my level of enjoyment. It bothered me the whole meal. Everything was undersized. After the bread, the appetizers, and our main course, I was still hungry and had to order the CALAMARI and the PRAWN LINGUINE.
That said, the service was very good. All the servers are Italian and know what they’re talking about. They’re not shy about giving you their menu recommendations.
Beside the skimpy portions issue, the other negative is the size of the restaurant. VERY cramped. It was exceedingly awkward being seated between two tables, where we had to squeeze ourselves between the guests who were eating to get to our table. While I’m waiting for my wife and daughter to wedge themselves into the booth, I’m standing with my butt jutting into their table (nowhere else to stand!). Then you sit down, and you’re immediately transported into their private conversations, practically eating with them at the same table. A W K W A R D. But as they minutes pass, you get used to the space invasion.
There are a few tables where you can avoid this kind of cramping, but you have to get very lucky. Good luck. Any other restaurant, I would say (based on the cramped table seating) I’m never coming back, but the food is so good here, I can’t and won’t say that.
Some of the best Italian food I’ve had, served sparingly, in a very pricey, cramped environment.
Go and see what you think. Message me a sentence or two telling me what you think. Interested to hear your take!

The service was okay, the menu rather small but the prices were ok I thought at first. Ordered regular pasta which was a extremly small portion. Didnt taste any better than a 5 $ pasta either. You should not go here and order such a thing as pasta because it is absolutely not worth the price, the special italian dishes might be. They didnt have a dessert card but when we asked for dessert they had more options than the main menu had which the waiter simply told us. The dessert was pretty good but nothing extraordinary — not worth the price, but a billion times better than the pasta

I have loved this tiny ristorante for many years ~ all reasons are magical, romantic. Smells like Italian White Truffles, a step into Italy ala California.
Tonight Food was just OK.
Everything lacked flavor.
Food has gone way down hill. Tastes have cheapened as ingredients are low grade.
Probably imitation flavored truffle oil instead of real truffles.
Wine expensive but amazing.
Probably would not go back again.
The ambiance is so cozy, but food has gone down hill and too expensive for what it really is. Wait staff preoccupied, and seem like robots. staff is very inattentive and service is lack luster and arrogant.
Sad.

What makes celebrities flock to this hideaway that is tucked behind a wall of ivy, just a block from the beach? Is it the tiny, intimate space that’s always packed and cozy? Or the home cooked Italian food? For me personally, the food was ok, but I think it’s the atmosphere that makes this place special.
They don’t allow corkage and have a very expensive wine list so choose carefully. We had a great bottle for $ 80.
I love their pastas so I ordered the sweet corn ravioli to start and then the langostine linguine for my entrée. I also snagged a bite of a few other dishes, including the burrata, the meatballs (excellent), the pumpkin ravioli, and the branzino. Everything was good, but to be honest, nothing was extraordinary. I prefer E Baldi in Beverly Hills or Madeo for this type of Italian food or Capo in Santa Monica.

This is by far one of my top three Italian restaurants in Los Angeles. You cannot go wrong with anything here on the menu. I always order the ravioli dishes because they are very impressive. There is a small patio you can eat on or and indoor area. You will not be let down. All of the locals know about this place and it has been a great spot for many years now.
This is a very quaint and classy restaurant. There is valet up front.