Emilio's Trattoria Reviews

My office is down the street from this place so I go there often for lunch. Great food and service, and just the right amount of noise to conduct commerce. They have had the same waiters forever, so the service is consistently good.

Just happened to meet friends for a late dinner. Was pleased with the adjacent, free valet parking. When I entered, I noticed that the decor was dated, however everything was 100% clean and polished. The service was pleasant. The menu had a wide variety of selections for just about anyone's taste and preference. The food was delicious. I walked away feeling very satisfied and not caring at all about the decor and valuing the good food, fine service, and reasonable prices. I'll be coming back again!

Impromptu lunch stop. Large menu to choose from. We started with the mozarella marinara (it’s delicious!) and a chopped salad. We sat on the patio and took our time. Definitely coming back. There is so much more we want to try.

We had reservations and had to wait as the hostess was what I would call "frazzled". She did not have a table ready for us and that took extra time. The food was great. The wait-staff seemed sparse to me as our waiter seemed to have quite a few tables to help which caused him to take quite a bit of time to get extra items to our table.

Our family of 11 enjoyed celebrating a birthday dinner at Emilio's. Although it was a cold evening in the San Fernando valley, we enjoyed wonderful quiet dinner on the patio because of the many heaters around the area. The food was delicious and the wait staff was courteous prompt/attentive.

First time here. Went with cousins who have been here often. First of all, seated promptly. Acoustics good. Very extensive menu with very reasonable pricing. Wine list limited but decent values and enough satisfactory choices to complement the food. The four of us had 3 different dishes. I tasted the others and all were good. Especially recommend the veal piccata. Sides also quite good. Convenient valet parking. All in all, a good place for a casual dinner.

recently had a business lunch here. Service was stop notch, Food was good with heaping portions. I had the Carbonara. they are known for their chopped salad.Prices are reasonable, though not advertised on their website.Nice ambiance in the glassed in porch area. They offer valet which is a bonus since parking in Encino is always a challenge .

We live in the are and have also been coming to this restaurant for years and haven't been back in a while. Now I remember why. We visited this week for a birthday celebration and the food was mediocre and the atmosphere sterile. The patio area is nice but inside was dead quiet (as in not atmosphere music of any kind) and we were sitting next to the kitchen area where all we could hear was the continual, loud chopping of the chopped salads. I honestly thought I'd go out of my mind with the chopping.(Chopped salads of fantastic but sitting next to the guys who chops them all night...horrible.) If you visit you should request to sit on the left side of restaurant as you come in the door. Not the side closest to the kitchen. We were there during the early part of the week so I imagine with more people in the room the place would feel friendlier and not so worn down. For our family, this restaurant won't be beckoning to us any time soon.

Emilio's is a nice lunch spot in Encino. There is a nice variety of selections and the atmosphere is light and friendly. Parking is a challenge and the food is pleasant but not something to rave about. Just a nice place to meet for a bite.

A favorite restaurant of my husband who loves their chopped salad. Be forewarned that you will hear the chopping going on all through the restaurant but worse if sitting up front on the west side which is near the chopping block. Their pastas are terrific and they will make it the way you like it even if not offered on the menu. (Different type of pasta with different sauces). Bread is delish, waiters are accommodating and atmosphere is family like. Linen tablecloths and valet parking.

They have salads that you can add ingredients to. I really like the turkey salad. They have a full italian menue as well.

Everything about our dinner at Emilio's Presto Trattoria was comfy and delicious. A long-time established Italian restaurant on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, one gets the feel of famous customers who have come and gone. Caricatures of famous legends adorn the walls, of the likes of Johnny Carson, Joan Collins, Ed MacMahon and Walter Matthau. The waiters offered great service and brought delicious food! We enjoyed the garlic bread, and old-time favorites Pepperoni Pizza, and Pasta with Marinara or Bolognese sauce. The table favorite was the Penne Beverly which had olive oil, sundried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, mushrooms, & roasted red peppers. The dessert platter was one of the best I have seen. Every option looked scrumptious and ample in size. Our table of seven did a taste test of the three different versions of eclairs, each bursting with delicious fillings. The custard filling was our personal favorite. Dining at Emilio's Presto Trattoria felt a little going home to be with family and good food.

This is a very nice Italian restaurant. The menu includes great Italian food and California light options like chopped salad. If you are not watching your waistline, consider the homemade noodles in the papardella angela with added Italian sausage. After eating a basket of bread you can waddle out to the car.

Either average plus or good plus but ends there. A local fave with long time patrons, which is part of the problem. If you are not a regular expect bland or spotty service. Some dishes are very good and others generic Italian. Two real gems - their chopped salad, salami - other varieties available and their bread, go figure. Nice patio and overall comfortable dining room. Can get too noisy at times and front of house can be snobbish about tables. A bit pricey too. I order mostly takeout; huge portioned small chopped salad, with bread of course!

Went with a group of 14 people. Seating was comfortable. Service was outstanding, great greek salad and white fish piccata was delicious. Great neighborhood restaurant!

met clients for lunch. great local spot. huge menu. good food & good service. don't be surprised if you run into some Hollywood celebs there

I've been coming here for decades! It's in my old neighborhood and in a town full of pretentious overpriced cafes, diners and eateries, Emilio's stands out for very good food, waiters that have worked there for many years and the best bread in the Valley. It's the perfect lunch spot, friendly dinner or take out. The folks who own and run this place are treasured in Encino. The staff works hard and does their best. I hope they remain for decades to come.

This is a pleasant Italian restaurant in Encino CA (not in Texas) with a wide selection of standard Italian dishes and entrée salads, which were large. We were there for lunch on a weekday. It was not crowded; service was attentive and the meals were prepared promptly. The restaurant has valet parking and a wheelchair ramp, so it is handicap accessible. The one downside of the restaurant is the layout, where part of the kitchen intrudes into the dining space, where they prepare the chopped salads (apparently a large part of their business). Throughout our lunch, there was a loud pounding from the constant chopping in the preparation of the salads. We could barely hear ourselves talk, even though the restaurant was virtually empty. I guess I know why. The people who recommended it to us said, afterwards, that they too, had experienced a similar problem. We went to this restaurant because one of our party needed the handicap accessibility. However, we will not be back, because of the overbearing pounding noise from the kitchen.

Emilio's, located in Encino, is a great Italian restaurant - family owned, and operated, large dining room, on-site valet parking, and a friendly staff that serves up good traditional Italian food that is excellent in terms of quality. And quantity. The restaurant prides itself on the fact that it is a place "where you will always find a familiar face" and that is true because it is a neighborhood establishment frequented by Hollywood celebrities as well as locals who want a good meal at a reasonable price. It's wals are filled with the sketches of its clients and management make itself available to say hello and "welcome". This is my first review of this place but I have eaten there several times during my visits to Los Angeles. I will be back!!!

I had the shrimp diavalo (which was not spicy at all) which was delicious. Only reason I gave 4 stars is that the service was a bit slow House cab was wonderful

I had a lovely dinner here. The service was good and so was the food. It has a nice, friendly atmosphere and is good for a solo diner, couples or family.

I was here for a lunch meeting and everyone ordered salads, so I felt I should do the same. I had the salmon salad and it was good, but I wish I would have ordered the pasta dishes. As I saw them coming out to the other tables, they definitely looked better than my salad! The staff here is very nice and attentive and I am sure the overall food is better than my experience would indicate as I don't think salads are their specialty.

Every few months I meet my girlfriend a Emilio's. We've been doing this for years and always enjoy this friendly restaurant. The old style Italian food is delicious. There marinara is the best, and the chopped salad is perfect. The enclosed patio is bright and welcoming. Consistent in every way, Emilio's is great.

I was there in 1979.....there was Gene Hackman and Peter Fonda at a nearby table...I visited the site to see if it was still there.......

I struggled to find something on the menu that wasn’t a dish from the 50s...which, while nothing wrong with that era, seemed exceptionally dull and boring on a today menu. Nothing exciting here. Just bland, boring Italian. Wound up with the chopped salad, a specialty it seems. While it was nicely chopped, it was tasteless. Nice bread basket. Then shared a vegetarian pizza, which was fine, but after a slice, didn’t even want to take the rest home. Maybe old school works for some, but I need a bit more drama on my table. Service is good. Nice patio seating, albeit facing Ventura, so it’s not the view, but it is an outdoor-indoor space. I know it’s a staple of the neighborhood, and I applaud those who support it, but can’t count me among them.

Been going to this italian restaurant for ages...know the waiters...know the food..service is good..food is good and tasty...good salads, good pasta and yummy eggplant parmigiana...BUT the prices keep going up and up...and it is starting to pinch my wallet...so frequency is now reducing... a simple lunch costed me over 30 bucks...wowie...ouch... and last visit just an eggplant parmigiana...and water was 23 bucks...with tip.... so unless the company is paying...come for good food and decent service but leave with a much lighter bank balance...

In a city where new and different make headlines, old school Italian keeps on going here. The chopped salad was recommended by a friend, and I had that with salmon. Good, nothing special. You can hear the salads being chopped with a lot of banging, so fresh but kinda noisy. Good service. Pleasant enough, just very traditional.

It has been five months since eating at Emilios and each time I have been back over the past several years, I tend to like it even more. They took a reservation for 4 people on a Saturday night at 7:00 and we were seated immediately. The 4-5 empty tables were filled by 7:30. After ordering a bottle of wine we were told they didn't have it available and the second bottle requested also was unavailable until our waiter found a bottle in the office. He went beyond the call of duty trying to please us. (He did!) Their bread basket has medium sliced warm, french bread with wrapped cold pats of real butter. We ordered the chopped salad (sans meat) and the full size was perfect for two. I ordered an angel hair pasta with mushrooms, garlic, sundried tomatoes and broccoli in a marinara sauce and the bowl held what seemed like 3/4 lb pasta tossed with half the bowl being sauteed mushrooms, pieces of garlic so soft and mild and broccoli a la dente with an occasional ribbon of sundried tomatoes. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sheer amount was enough for two dinners or 4 side dishes. 75% of it came home with me. Same with my husbands dish of pasta made with sausage and marinara sauce. The other couple also split a chopped salad and shared the Brazino Fish and instead of spinach and pasta, went for the spinach and mixed veggies. Bread basket refilled upon request and service was attentive. As in my past review, do not sit on the west side room of the restaurant which is close to the chopping block where salads are chopped fresh per order unless you do not mind the sound of chopping on a wooden board. Be sure to ask what the nightly specials are if you cannot see or read the sign up on the wall in the dining room to the left of the front entrance. On a cold rainy night, a cheerful inviting toasty trattoria sitting in a booth with a glass of cabernet, warm bread and butter and excellent food and service is what was expected and enjoyed.

A local treasure. Always good food, good service. The restaurant atmosphere is a little dated and tired, but the food is consistently good and very reasonably priced, especially for lunch. Known for it's chopped salads, the restaurant also offers a large menu of Italian foods.

Encino is off the beaten path for most tourists, but if you're in the San Fernando Valley and are looking for an Italian restaurant Emilio's will do. Popular with the locals and the Kardashians (so I am told), there is an indoor dining room, a covered outdoor seating area on the street side, and nice booths and small tables in the bar area. The menu is strong on pastas, but with some meat and fish dishes also. I ate the chopped salad (popular in California) and veal piccata, with spinach and spaghetti pommodoro. My companion wanted a rosé wine, but they didn't have one, so we settled for a white zinfandel. Spirits are not available. Reservations can be made only for large parties. The waiters were not Italians but were efficient and helpful, although they seem to struggle to understand English. It was a good place to relax and catch up with old friends. By 9:30pm on a Saturday night things were shutting down and there were only 2 tables still eating. Valet parking is available.

It's been a year since my last review and pleased to say Emilio's keeps the consistency of good food, well prepared and served by friendly waiters. They honor requests and were willing to add and subtract items from a pasta dish with veggies I ordered. Requested additional veggies, and fresh chopped garlic and a marinara sauce with just a 1/2 cup of their spicy sauce on the side so that I could add it to my liking. Again, a large portion so that I could take home half for the following nights dinner. I always order the Angel hair pasta as it is not as heavy as a thicker noodle like penne. Their chopped salad which is famous, can be ordered meatless and it large enough to share with 1-2 others as an appetizer. You may want to request seating in the larger side of the restaurant as the chopping of salads and the TV on the other side are distracting. Everyone enjoyed their selections and the bread and wine were a perfect combination with my dinner. We went early (5:30 pm) and it was pretty empty. By 6:30-7:00 it was completely full. You might want to make a reservation if wanting to go there after 6:30 p.m. P.S. Week nights are crowded also as we were there on a Tuesday!!

We have been going to this restaurant since 1999. The food is always consistently good and fairly priced. The same employees have been working there since 1999. Always good to start with their chopped salad and Raffino Chianti. Great pasta, chicken and veal dishes. Nice patio for warm summer nights. A good place to have a medium family gathering. Love this place as our second kitchen.

Always good, consistent Italian food. Known for chopped salads. Something for everyone at terrific prices. Ask for Pizza bread, as is a must before meal. Usually busy.

I've been going to this place for years. It's very reasonably priced with the feeling of a neighborhood bistro. The menu is the same all seatings, but quite extensive. The servings are huge, so come hungry or be prepared to take some home. The staff is very accomodating. The best feature is the parking. It's valet parking works only the tip system, so there's no gouging of the patrons.

A welcome change from the chain restaurants. Very comfortable setting for Italian comfort food. Service has that eat at home feeling

The food was just ok. I had the penne with Bolgnese sauce and it was alright. It tasted like Chili Mac and was under-seasoned The Parmesan cheese was in a shaker jar on the table. It would have been a nice touche to have would a waiter grate cheese from a wedge. The bread, dessert, and service were pretty good. The waitrer checked on us periodically and refilled our drinks without us having to ask.

Emilio's Trattoria has created the best ever chopped salad, which cannot be duplicated, as much as other restaurants try, even Wolfgang Puck has tried...

Ordered chopped salad with 6 of my friends took a bite and glass was stuck in my tung. Did not like the way management and owner handled it. Went right from there to emergency room across the street. Owners did pay medical bills though. I think it would of been nice and good business sense to have shown some compassion instead of saying this happpens all the time in restaurants. Really I have been eating out at restaurants for 30 years and have never had this happen. Amazing that this restaurant lost 6 women who are local and very involved in the community will never go back because the way they handled it and will be telling the tale Very bad PR for Emillio's

We like the food at this place but needs updating and cleaning. Most of the Hollywood pics on the wall have long since been dead and the furniture and carpeting all need to be replaced. Service is usually very good.

good place to be serious despite all the cartoons of stars on the wall up late at nigh unexpected but meaningful

Nice white tablecloth porch setting, attentive albeit busy wait staff...very good caesar salad, OK eggplant parm, could have been cooked more and had no crisp or real eggplant flavor, but nice cheese, albeit way way too much red sauce in both the eggplant dish and the accompanying pasta. Pretty old school kind of place, so OK if that's what you are looking for. Big menu, but not big creative.

This place is awesome The staff are so calm and polite and helpful and not too much in your face, the food is delicious and homemade tasting. I have a guest staying in Encino and we wanted to go somewhere near her house I found emilios and I was worried because it was a first time! What a lovely place with an 80’s vibe try it !!! It’s worth it and prices are super reasonable 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Food is always good. But the place needs a serious update. Bathrooms have not been updated in years and are usually dirty. The place is always crowded because the food is good, but really, spend a few bucks and clean up the place.

Have a hankering for eggplant parm? This might be your spot. Terrific service (thank you Jaime) and warm and friendly atmosphere contribute to a pleasant dining experience. Enjoyed a meatless chopped salad, simple but good, and eggplant parm with spaghetti (OK, could have been hotter, but nice flavor and texture), alongside bread and butter. And, tried their pizza bread, which is the puffed warm dough that is good enough to waste the calories.

Fantastic Food and Service. Hadn't been there for a while. Still great. My friend had the chicken parmesan and listed all the Italian restaurants that weren't as good. Easy street and valet parking.

i have been here 5 or 6 times and always very good. Friendly staff, efficient and always good, thoroughly recommended

Delicious food all the time! Unfortunately, I ordered lunch for my staff yesterday 5/25/22 and two of my staff that ate the Fettucine Pasta with shrimp were sick afterwards. Both people were Vomitting the rest of the day. I called the restaurant just to advise them what happened to prevent anyone else from getting sick and instead of taking ownership for the incident, she immediately spoke over me to tell me they have been in business for so many years and never had any issues. WTF?? How does this have anything to do with this batch of food?! Very disappointing this s how they handle a food poising situation. Will never eat from them again, and I plan on spreading the word.

This place isn't just a hotspot for the Kardashian's but also has excellent Italian food in the San Fernando Valley! Great wine list, excellent calamari, and great Veal! The food is fresh and the service is excellent. It's not your basic Olive Garden so dress nice and put those Ipads away! Prepare for a wonderful Italian experience!

We were a party of five, mostly ordered something different. What we had was good but not great. my Linguini was tasty but al dente to to the point where some was actually crunchy. I don't know when under cooked pasta became popular but I don't like it that way.

After a day of family fun, we headed to dinner on the way home. The restaurant were we intended to go had 30-40 minute wait. We had already valet parked and on our way back to the lot we spotted Emilio's next door. My husband had heard good things about it and suggested we give it a try. It was well worth it for our crew. While the surroundings may be a bit dated (it didn't bother us at all), the service wasn't. It was excellent. Knowledgeable and helpful staff that were attentive the entire evening. I would recommend the chopped salad (two of us shared a small one) and the Chicken Parmesan. The only disappointment was the pizza which could have been cooked a little longer. It turned out to be a great way to complete our family day of fun.

I have been going to Emilio’s for 50 years. My husband and I’ve been ordering the same food almost every time and I’ve never had a problem until now. When I asked them to give me the caesar dressing for my chopped salad they wanted to charge me 75 cents more for each little container of dressing. I have always used that dressing without an extra charge. We had to return to the restaurant to pick up the dressing because they forgot to put them in the bag. There was no apology and just rudeness from the owners wife. She made me wait a long time just to get the dressing and never apologized. Then she told me I needed to purchase something else to get the dressing that I originally purchased with my salad. We will never return to this restaurant again and we go there at least 3 times a month. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone! There are plenty of wonderful restaurants in ENCINO where they treat their customers well. They have lost 2 excellent customers!

If you're hungry and you're in the area you could do worse. The place looked clean and well organized but everything looked dated and unappealing. And that included the food. Nothing was inedable and the service and the prices were OK, but nothing was special and everyone in our party left slightly disappointed.

We were looking for a restaurant close to either 101 or I5 and we found Emilio's Trattoria located in Encino Ca which is part of the San Fernando Valley in L.A. This is a classic Italian restaurant that prepares all of the classics that we know and love such as shrimp scampi, linguini and clams, veal piccata, etc. The restaurant is located right on Ventura Blvd and offers street parking or valet parking at the rear of the restaurant. We book lunch for four on the Friday after New Years and it had a very local crowd that looked as if they ate here often. We got a very nice booth in the corner overlooking the street and we could also enjoy all of the lithographs of the famous celebrities who at one time lived in and around the Valley. It made for a very nice ambiance. I ordered the linguini and clams and they were excellent although slightly more spicy than I am used to. The portions are very large so be prepared to share or take half of your entree home. My wife ordered the veal picatta and it was also excellent. Our other dining companions ordered the raviolli and the fettucini fantasia. Among the four of us we shared two small chopped salads with salami which we all enjoyed. It was a lot of food and it was enough for a second dinner. If you're in the Valley this is a nice Italian restaurant.

Very traditional Italian Food. Eggplant Parmesan, The La Scala type chopped salad, wonderful mussels, veal piccata. Old style, big portions , great staff, nicely priced.

We like their food a lot.Yet, we find ourselves going there less and less because the place just needs some upgrading and cleaning.

We always try to eat outside these days. Unfortunately, the outside dining with the plastic chairs and tables needs to updated ASAP. The street noise should also be addressed.

I have been going to Emilio's for over thirty years. I love the husband that owns this place and the staff. The wife is just horrible. She now charges for extra bread, sauce and birthday pudding that is just nasty. They throw a fit if you ask for separate checks. It was my favorite go to place to eat but not anymore. I can get a better chopped salad at the Chop Shop for almost half the price and the staff is always friendly.