La Tavola

01/19/09

A Local Treasure!!!

by lisa043062 at Citysearch

Words cannot begin to convey the comfort and pleasure La Tavola consistently delivers. Fabulous service by really great people, great food, wonderful wine list and it's within walking distance!! What's not to love! Kris and Allie have it covered at the bar,Daniel on the floor and Chris and Chris at the door make it happen. Chef Craig and Brent work the kitchen and the food SINGS! Love you guys!

• Pros: Seasona l menus, great wines, lovely service
• Cons: What's not to love???

12/23/08

always great!

by lautumnh at Citysearch

i always enjoy dining at la tavola. the food is delicious. the wine list is extensive. the atmosphere is romantic and fun. the mozzarella burrata is a favorite, and they cook fish to perfection.

01/01/08

rude hostess, great waitress

by rimhendi at Citysearch

we had a reservation for New Year's eve. The hostess seated us outside and when we requested a different table basically told us "tough". Extremely rude hostess. wonderful waitress and great food.

• Pros: great food, good service (besides hostess)
• Cons: small cramped space, patio is not always comfortable, maybe it would help to specify a table preference with the reservation

11/30/07

BEST BRUNCH Atlanta is MISSING!!

by tcraines at Citysearch

I went to La Tavola a few weeks ago with my mother for brunch. We were a little apprehensive because it did not have the crowd seen at a neighboring establishment we typically frequent. I was overwhelming delighted with my experience at La Tavola. From the moment I walked in the door until the completion of our visit I was impressed with every aspect.

We were greeted pleasently by a cute, witty, and delightful hostess (I think her name was Terra). As she gathered our menu, a tall blonde bar tender graciously bade us "Good Morning" and stated he hoped we "enjoyed our brunch" We were seated and within moments, our server greeted us at the table. Kellie was vibrant and knowledgable about the menu and the preparation of some of the dishes.

We decided to start our meal by splitting a beat salad. It was DELICIOUS!! Beats, pears, and fresh goat cheese!! YUMMMM!! I then ordered the Chicken Sausage (house made sausage in a FABULOUS pepper chutney) and my mother got the the Egg Canneloni (spinach and mushrooms in creamy sauce) Both were OUTSTANDING! (we ended up sharing). We decided we would indulge and ended our meal by sharing a slice of the chocolate cake...it was so creamy and delictible!

On our way out, the manager greeted us and asked us about our meal. We were then encouraged not only to return to La Tavola but to visit some of the sister restaurants. The hostess held the door for us and we left well nourish and excited to continue our day!

I can not believe I've wasted years frequenting other brunch establishments when this one was under my nose the whole time! I also could not believe the restaurant was not packed! I highly recommend Brunch at La Tavola. You will NOT be disappointed!

• Pros: Food, Service, Food

11/24/07

Great Italian

by carpfam at Citysearch

I've eaten here many times and the food is excellent. The waitstaff can be a little sitff but the food makes up for it. Busy on weekends so be prepared. Order a drink and sit outside and watch the people. If you're cold natured don't sit in the outside patio seating!!

• Pros: great food
• Cons: service can be a little iffy

10/18/07

Great food, and great service.

by nowhammies at Citysearch

It is so amusing to read other reviews. I thought It was funny that someone complained about how cold it was outside. Tough buddy! The solution to your problem is don't go out on a cold night to a restaurant where most of the seating is located outside. I took my brother to this restaurant for his birthday. He doesn't dine out much, but he was very impressed, as was I. The night was a cool 60 something degrees. Everyone at the restaurant seemed to be having a great time. We were seated promptly, and the hostess was a bit weird, but after being seated I didn't see much of her. Seemed like she was having her time of the month. Our waiter was a great guy. He was very welcoming and promptly visited us and told us the specials and took our drink order. He asked us if we wanted to order our appetizer and entree together and I kind of got upset at that, but he quickly apologized and made sure we knew that he was in no way trying to rush us. He asked us for our appetizer, I recommend the assortment appetizer and the appetizer topped with tomatoes and chesse (i forget the exact name). Both were very excellent. Then we moved on to the entrees, my brother had the veal and I had the grilled steak. Again, both were great. I thought the entrees were a bit typical of the Virginia Highland restaurant menus, but still the steak was tender, and my bro told me his veal was tender and has a nice lemon zest to it. Then we moved on to the desserts. The dessers were great, the crustada? and the torta were excellent. Again, the flavors were typical and a bit boring but they were great none the less. I recommend this restaurant to anyone. It is a nice place, not too fancy but not too casual. A better Italian restaurant is Pricci, Sotto Sotto, or Antica Pasta, but you get what you pay for. This place did not have much decor to it, but again that is the Virginia Highland restaurant atmosphere. There are a ton of yuppies in this part of town, but that is the Virginia Highlands for you.

• Pros: Great food, great service.
• Cons: Food is great but lacks originality and italian feel.

09/15/07

Best Service Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hidden treasure???

by keithbr at Citysearch

I cannot believe that this restaurant has been open for eight years and no one talks about it. I walked into Latavola and had one of the best meals ever. I was greeted by Kevin, a muscular blonde server, who asked us if we had ever been in before. When I said no, he took over. He went through the wine list, which is enormous. He knew evryone one of the wines. We got a super-tuscan and an obscure varietal that he sold us on. We received great help with menu. Th foold was incredible. Kevin recommended the amazing beet salad, the shrimp rissotto appetizer and the tuna served over these delicious beans. My freinds got the appetizer of manicotti and the pork dish. We really wanted to try the prosciutto, and get this, the chef sent out some to sample. Dessert was topped because we had this mosit olive oil cake with a delicious sparkling dessert wine, rosa something. We had an amazing time and we will go back as often as we can. Our server was professional and hillarious and all the otheer servers seemed like they really loved being there. What a thrill to find such a hidden treasure. Kudos to the chef.

• Pros: Service, food, wine list
• Cons: Kinda tiny, recommmed reservations

05/01/07

Inviting trattoria dishes up Italian favorites for trendy Virginia-Highlanders.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
With its open kitchen, mirrored walls and sleek light fixtures, La Tavola fits right in to its stylish Virginia-Highlands environs. Couples share plates of pasta in cozy wooden booths while boisterous wine drinkers swap work stories on the heated back patio. Enthusiastic servers, appropriate for the friendly scene, grate hefty hunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano at the diner's request. Dressed-up Italian classics are La Tavola's trademark, better than the neighboring-casual Osteria, but not quite on Sotto Sotto's level of excellence. Addictive pastas are well-made and get that extra touch of class with additions like truffles and wild bore, while entrees (all hovering around $20) are simple, and stand on their own without a fancy accompaniment. Knock off $5 and get one of the pastas as an app size for a nice way to start the meal, and finish with a free form tiramisu or a gelato of the day.

03/30/07

Long wait.

by jenka1 at Citysearch

I dislike to cast judgment based upon one visit to a restaurant, so I'm going to give La Tavola the benefit of the doubt because other people have told me they like it so much. However, we did wait a full HOUR AND A HALF before we were seated, this after the hostess told us our wait would be 45 minutes. I don't mind waiting 45 minutes, but double that? I really think that's outrageous. I think I saw other people getting seated before us, and that's when I got mad. Then they finally seated us, and gave us free appetizers. Okay, that's very nice and all, but they didn't ask us what kind of apps we wanted, just plonked them on our table. Then as I was paying the bill I saw at the bottom that someone had keyed in "Long Wait", which tells me they must have a code for just this sort of occurrence. As though it happens frequently. Anyway, I will go back to give it another chance, because the food was fine (although I was kind of plastered after having three full drinks on an empty stomach while waiting, so I don't remember much about it! heh) and it could have been an off night. For them, and for me!

• Pros: Um, the wine I had was good. Don't remember much else.
• Cons: The very, very, very long wait.

02/14/07

We froze! The big chill is over!

by johngordon at Citysearch

Its sad - one of our favorite restaurants goes from top of our favorites to top of our won't return....

Imagine Valentines night and you invite 10 of your best friends to have valentines dinner together at YOUR favorite restaurant... everyone arrives in a happy festive mood only to be seated on one of the coldest nights of the year on the patio (as we expected) but by a flapping open tent door that cant be closed due to 1st fire regulations and then because "food has to be brought up from downstairs through that entrance"....result -- we were COLD the whole night. It wa 27 degrees when we left and all night long the wind blew in and servers kept pushing the flaps open allowing rushes of cold air to overcome us from 4 feet away!

Sorry folks, there was no excuse...when we complained, it wa suddely our fault...really? Yep, seems as if we were the first people to ever complain. As we were driving home, my valentine of 30 years and i reflected on the night and recounted no less than 20 people we've introduced to this restaurant -- well guess what -- they will each hear about our miserable ordeal and if we were indeed the first to complain, I promise you we will then be the last -- cause we ain't goin back.

peace

johnny

• Pros: friendly waite staff; good food; consistent
• Cons: inconsiderate seating at COLD table by door!