Caffe Carrera

This trattoria is now Tutt a Post, a wonderful Napolitano café. Definitely worth the visit. Pricing is GREAT and food is AMAZING.

Café Carrera has CLOSED! There is a new owner and the place is now called Tutt’ a Post’ Trattoria. As you all probably know, the previous owner (the old white haired guy) was very rude. The food here is incredible and the new owner Daniele is very sweet and welcoming. Definitely a nice change :) You have to come try it out!

The place is called something else now. The owner is not a white haired old man. This guy’s nice. The food is great. Soup’s good. Pasta has great texture. Price is nice.

The side of attitude you get with your corked wine is certainly one to be desired. The food is decent, not great, not terrible. The bread is probably their shining star, it’s actually pretty good. Apparently they are going out of business? But then reopening again with the same owner? Confusing, but all I know is that they only have two wines on the menu. I’m not sure how the white one was, the red (chianti) was definitely old and/​or corked.
EVERYTIME I have been in for take-​out, the owner/​manager has been in a MOOD. Maybe it’s the customers? Maybe it’s the line at Subway next door that he doesn’t have? I don’t know.
But unless you just need to grab something quick, not really a destination spot.

Another visit to L.A. and another dinner at Caffe Carrera. This time I was in town with my family. As usual Ricardo made us feel right at home and made a wonderful dinner for us. The meatballs were a great start followed by fabulous meatloaf and pasta for the girls. Ricardo brought us a chocolate dessert and a mango creation that was excellent! I’m looking forward to meeting my daughter here again in September.

The lasagna was amazing. I also tried my friends fettuccine which also had great flavors. If you want true Italian food this is a place to come at a reasonable price.
Why they lost the 5^th star… The service does seam a little random when you first get there since no one greats you at the door, but once you are seated they are there for you. As other reviews say they only except cash. The specials are hand written and copied, and not in a pretty way. I think they can improve on these.
But if we are purely talking about the food I’d be happy to eat there anytime!

This restaurant is right around the corner from where I work, and we have ordered delivery for lunch numerous times. Whenever we did, we always fought over who was going to place the order as the guy who always answers the phone is always so difficult to deal with. It got to the point that we just stopped ordering there because of it. The food was always good, but they never managed to get our order right, and when we would to let them know, they were always very rude. I understand how stressful and crazy lunchtime delivery can be, so today I figured I would give them another chance. I called to place an order for pickup.
Here is the exact transcript of my call:
Me: Hello, I would like to place an order for pickup, please.
Café: Hello? HELLO???
Me: Hello, I would like to place an order for pickup, please.
Café: (very short) What you want?
Me: I would like the Panino Tacchino, please.
Café: Turkey Sandwich. Anything else?
Me: No, thank you.
Café: Give me 15 minutes. (and he hung up abruptly)
So, I walked over to the restaurant to pick up my food. I walked in, and the set-​up is very odd. When you walk in the tables are there, and then to get to any sort of employee or semblance of a hostess stand, you have to walk up two steps into what feels like part of the kitchen. The guy was standing way in the back, so I walked up the steps and sort of stood there next to the food warmer waiting for him to look at me. He finally acknowledged me. Once again here is the exact transcript:
Café: (rudely)Yes?
Me: Hi. I placed an order for pick up.
Café: $ 8.50
(I handed him $ 10.00. He then walked over, he picked change out of some container next to the register, handed me my change and then walked away.
Me: (staring at various bags on the counter) Umm… is this my food?
Café: (nods from across the room)
So, I look at the bags to figure out which was mine, and I take the bag and walk out.
Now, I don’t expect employees to blow smoke up my butt, or do cartwheels for me, but I do expect the bare minimum of friendliness and customer service. This place offers absolutely none. To make matters worse, I am pretty sure the guy is the manager. And it is a shame, because the food is very good. Unfortunately, in addition to losing my office’s business, they have also lost mine.

My husband and I have tried to like this place but have finally decided we can’t. The food is ok but not good enough to over look the poor attitude of the man who we think is the manager/​owner. Not sure of his name but he is a tall, man with long gray greasy hair that is slightly curled.
Honestly why would a man with no personality who seems to be annoyed he has to serve his customers go into food service industry? Each time we have gone he criticizes something we do or ask him for. A woman walking out of the Subway next door asked us how the food was. We answered honestly that the food was good but not good enough to tolerate the bad service.
Your establishment is near our home. We can only hope you will either sell or close under current management so we can have a place we would want to return to.
Any by the way, this is my first time writing a one star review! I don’t like having to but it is due. Café Carrera needs new MANAGEMENT!

The owner and host Ricardo sat down with me and had a conversation! Now that’s service! Still haven’t eaten my spaghetti but I felt compelled! This is an honest to the point man, if you can’t handle that… Go away and let someone else blow smoke up your ass.

I have NEVER left a one star review but it is OFFICIALLY time with this place. I really wanted to eat a pizza from Hollywood Pies this past Monday but they were closed… so my boyfriend and I went to a local pizza place called Caffe Carrera. The food here was okay, at best. We ordered two 10 inch pizzas over the phone for pick-​up. We were quoted 20 minutes and then rudely hung up on.
We drive to this place after 25 minutes since we called to pick-​up our pizzas and we were told that they would be ready in 20 (additional) minutes! So, it took almost 45 minutes for two small pizzas.
Like every other one star review has said, it is a «cash only» place if you dine inside and you could pay with debit or credit cards for delivery or pick-up…BUT, get this, I was overcharged on my debit card! I left a generous cash tip ONLY to find out on my statement that the restaurant added additional money to my bill!!!
I called the manager and he said, «I’m sorry. We have been in business for over 20 years and we would never do anything to our customers. Next time you come in, I will give you the money.» Well, we will see if he is right because I WILL go pick up my money.
Truthfully, I felt badly for this place after seeing all of the reviews. Not anymore. Save your money!
UPDATE: I was given the money they overcharged me… and I still feel badly for this place — maybe they are struggling to stay open and need extra cash? But, «accidentally» adding money to customer bills is not the way to go. I won’t return here.

Sandwhich was really tasty but I was given a bill for $ 9.90 when the listed price was $ 7.50. I didn’t mention it because I shouldn’t have to and I needed to get on with my busy day. Frustrating.

It pains me to do this because Caffe Carrera used to be one of my favorite restaurants in the world. I would come in and be greeted by Armondo, the owner who always gave me a hug, remembered my order and took such pride in his delicious Italian dinners.
Ownership has changed, and gone is the warm and friendly feel. There is a big ATM right in front, and a huge sign in the menu saying CASH ONLY. The food is still good, but not as wonderful as I remember. The new owner never remembers me, and when our waiter asked if we could use a credit card, he said no (but the fact they asked implies he lets some people?)
I miss the days when Caffe Carrera felt like a little piece of Italy hidden in Beverly Hills. Now it almost feels like a sketchy fast food restaurant.

One of my favorite in town! Great service, the food is true to it’s origins. And they even deliver :))

It was bound to happen eventually, another one star review and I don’t hand them out lightly. Last night a friend and I were ironically at a Unilocal event, and when it ended we were needing more girl time, wine time, talk time. So we popped in to Caffe Carrera as it was next door, convenient, and looked cozy enough.
I am a bit of a wine snob, but I knew that I was not going to have the most amazing wine selection before entering. That didn’t phase my review though as it was affordable and decent. What DID effect my review was how terribly we were treated. Owner/​Manager/​Server, I’m not sure who he is, but he needs to take a lesson in customer service and just overall common courtesy. I am sorry that we came in to support your restaurant and in ordering a salad and wine at a side table where we sat and talked amongst ourselves, we were such a hassle and inconvenience. It is terrible when people come in and make you actually work.
Conversation between Friend and Server (who I believe is the owner/​manager)
Server: «Would you like Garlic with your Bread?»
Friend: «Oh, does my salad come with bread?»
Server: «Yes, why else would I ask you if you wanted garlic with your bread?» (said in an extremely rude and condescending manner
There were multiple conversations like this. And by the end of the meal we had our eyes and ears on him constantly as we thought at any moment he could do something to our food, or throw a salt shaker across the room. (He didn’t do either of those things, but he was so abrasive that we had images of this in our heads)
We decided to play a game with him to see if it would change his attitude toward us. Right in front of him we started talking about the Unilocal event we had just left and I pulled up the phone app and set it on the table where he could see it. What do you know, we suddenly got a smile out of him and a twinkle of kindness. Bogus! You can’t win over a positive review after that. Our salad was good, but your attitude was so poor. And even though nothing about our experience was tip deserving at all, because I am a good person, I still decided to leave a solid 12% tip.
I hope others read this review before going in and will instead go elsewhere and give their business to someone who will appreciate it.

I know everyone has pretty much said it but I have been going despite the terrible service and even though I really like the food, both me and my friend have written this place off.
The restaurant says you need cash but I saw people pay with credit card. Not cool that it’s not consistent.
We have been on a day where the service wasn’t so bad but I don’t know how this place stays open with repeat business with how rude they are and such slow service. :(
Will miss the food but it was mediocre… just convenient to work.

Decided on lucn here as my mother raved about the food but did fore warn me about the service being rude! We told where to sit, was given a menu along with a xerox copy of «specials» yet the paper was stained, waited a good amount of time… enough to watch someone else sit down, order, get his food before we even ordered. They walk around with garlic sauce which seemed very odd as u need permission for more. the tall gentleman was short and really just a jerk. but, that was all warned.
the food… ya was very ok at best!
will NOT be coming back and would have been much happier at the subway next door.

Very impressive prices for the quality. I had the Petto di Pollo alla Griglia (pounded grilled chicken breast) which was a little oily for my taste but came with some delicious sauteed veggies and slightly crispy potatoes. My favorite part was the portion size, as it was just enough so that I could eat every last bite (which I love to do) without feeling too stuffed.

I have been coming here since the early 90’s and always remember everything being great.
As always, Café Carrera delivered! I loved my food. Service was great and friendly. I have no idea what people are talking about.
The owner is an angel.

Made reservations through Open Table to take my wife here on a Saturday night at 5:30 pm. The business hours clearly written on the door said they open for dinner at 5:30 pm. We arrived on time and the door was locked. So we waited for about ten minutes for them to open. No one showed up. So I knocked a few times on the door because I could see a few cooks prepping for the evening. They could clearly see us but made zero attempt to let us in or tell us what time they’d be opening for dinner.
Eventually, I yelled through the door to see if they were opening soon and one of the cooks rudely yelled, «They’re not here yet» back at me. I made a reservation, no one was even there to open the place and the people that were there treated us like we were the people with the problem.
I ate here once about five years ago and the food was really good, but after this encounter I won’t be back.

This place is Heaven and I thank my sister Ashlee for the recommendation. We actually dined here tonight and it was just truly a wonderful experience overall.
I am so glad that I found an authentic Italian restaurant and in addition to Portofino’s (review coming soon) I now have one to go to. Yay!
Now here’s the breakdown:
The owner’s son is a gem. As soon as we walked into the restaurant he greeted us with a smile and a warm handshake. That’s not something you ever get at say… the Olive Garden or the Macaroni Grill or well, you get the idea. lol I love intimate and cute places! And Caffe Carrera is where it’s at.
The atmosphere: It is so cute! Beautiful red walls with plates of all sizes. Then there is a counter and behind that counter are the chefs and you know what? They sure have the fine art of authentic Italian food down. Oh how I love this place!
I also love how the wait service allows their patrons to take their time and enjoy their meal. The waiter did not hover and it added to the relaxing atmosphere that is Caffe Carrera.
The food is the best part. I made sure to take pictures of the complimentary bread (they are so generous with this), the calamari, my main entrée the penne norma and the cappuccino. Since I’m feeling lazy right now (lol) I will only post the main penne norma for now. =) The penne norma is the best pasta dish I have ever had! I am so not kidding about this one. Wow! Just an explosion of taste! I cannot wait to tear into the left overs.
A++++++++++++++ I will definitely be back!