La Tavola Italiana - Pittsburgh

I had the carbonara and very yum. Heavy on the garlic and lots of flavor. It came with a small house salad. We also got the spaghetti and meatballs- Sunday sauce basically. Pretty pleased with the al dente sauce and the meatballs were large and verygood. Our server was great! Super friendly and helpful

Been here quite a few times. We love this place. Last night was no different food was exceptional but we did have a problem with the service from our obviously high waitress. She was not friendly or attentive like we are used to from the staff here. We were giving the wrong change and all big bills so we were forced to over tip. We had more service from the bread boy. Lol next time we will probably leave if we get stuck with her again. FoodFather Approved

It was a cold cold night when the wife and myself along with another couple went to this hidden gem of a restaurant.<br/ On this Tuesday evening,we had FINALLY made it to La Tavola,after several reservations,and cancelations (due to weather),we finally arrived.<br/ Jen,our server,was very professional,as well as personable.<br/ After,several features,which she rattled off as if it were her job lol,and several suggestions,I finally decided on the feature,scallops...done to absolute perfection,the lemon herb sauce nothing but OUTSTANDING !<br/ Wife had a pasta with shrimp,chicken and sausage,the sauce was a creamy light tomato,with the perfect heat, 'knocked our socks off ',just as Jen said it would.<br/ Our friends both had the tortellini with shrimp and crab,also with just the right amount of heat.<br/ I will be sure to tell anyone and everyone who will listen about my experience at this wonderful HIDDEN GEM!!!!!<br/ .We will be back,and Jen will be my go to girl at this place .....fer sure.

Fantastico!. I can't believe it took us this long to find this fantastic Italian restaurant. From beginning to end, the meal was tremendous. The penne ala vodka was excellent and I don't hand out compliments about that dish. Quite honestly, it's easy to make an average vodka sauce dish. This was great because it was a lighter cream sauce that one would normally find, and it was plentiful with prosciutto (most I have ever seen in the dish). The sauce had a perfect infusion of the wonderfully salty meat, and each bite was creamy and delicious. <br/ <br/ The other dish was an Italian take what one would find in a creole recipe, so it was pasta that had a sauce with some mascarpone cheese, sausage, chicken, shrimp and some nice heat. It was original, delicious, and generously portioned. <br/ <br/ All parts of the experience were equally pleasing: great garlic bread immediately brought to table, a fresh and perfectly crafted cannoli, and the freedoms that come from a BYOB policy. <br/ <br/ Steve, I mean CHRIS, was one of my favorite waiters ever, and if I come back, I will protest if he is not my server. Mark it: we will be back soon! You should go soon, too.

First of all, I don 't go to Italian restaurants. My Italian grandmother lived to be 102 years old, and she taught me everything I know about cooking Italian food, so I am almost ALWAYS disappointed when I end up ordering from somebody 's menu. No brag, just fact... I am a great Italian cook, even though I don 't look like one...<br/ <br/ So, it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation from my dining partner to check out one of her favorite places to go with the bigshots from work. I knew I 'd be disappointed. Ooops... Guess what happened? Yes, I loved it. <br/ <br/ I loved it so much that I came back to explore the menu further. And then I came back AGAIN to try what I had almost ordered the second time! And NOW? Well, NOW I 'm actually signed up for a very pricey cooking class in the downstairs kitchen studio at La Tavola, hosted by a remarkable matron of the kitchen, Carmella. Yes, I 'm pretty serious about Italian cooking, and after three wonderful meals enjoyed by me, my partner, and some friends, I decided that the opportunity to learn from this lady was too good to pass up. I can hardly wait and of course, I selected a date when she is teaching a veal dish. In fact, FIVE of us are attending Carmella 's cooking class, and one of us has signed up for a second class already. <br/ <br/ I plan to bring a nice primitivo, and one of my friends is bringing a couple of bottles of fine chianti, because La Tavola is BYOB. I think they actually get around liquor law somewhat with their dessert menu, which features some high powered rum cake and limoncello sorbet. From beginning to end, I have enjoyed every bite of everything I have sampled at this place since being turned on to it. And we SHARE, so every time I 've been there, I and my friends have ordered different dishes so we could have a broader sampling of the menu.<br/ <br/ The menu is very interesting. It 's a composite of tried and tested simplicity and creative genius for the more adventurous. The dishes are very accurately described, and there is a lot to choose from, so bring your reading glasses and be prepared to waffle back and forth on your selection.<br/ <br/ The atmosphere of the place is SO VERY throwback. It feels like New York City in the 60s or early 70s. Honestly, if you were just driving around the neighborhood looking for a less expensive Mount Washington restaurant that DIDN 'T have a view, you would probably drive right by this place. But, in a fond memories of my Italian grandmother kind of way, it 's VERY charming. There is plenty of seating, and if you don 't come early, you ARE going to wait. Good things are worth waiting for, but my advice is to COME EARLY before they get slammed. By the way, there 's a REASON they get slammed, and it 's NOT the decor or the view.<br/ <br/ I was very surprised to see any negative reviews of this place, and I have a few tips for you:<br/ 1. Don 't trust a review of Italian food by someone who doesn 't know how to spell 'lasagna. ' The lasagna at La Tavola is excellent, but some people are used to Stouffer 's, and their opinions don 't count.<br/ 2. Don 't trust reviews from impatient reviewers who were unhappy with their experience because they had to wait too long for the food. There 's a REASON you had to wait too long. People love this place, and they come back often, and sometimes really good food takes time to prepare, unlike the microwave **** that you are accustomed to. By the way, REAL Italian families can spend HOURS at the dinner table when they gather.<br/ 3. Don 't trust reviewers who complain about getting 'too much food ' at an Italian restaurant. Skinny jeans people have no place at a real Italian table, unless they don 't mind finishing their meal over the course of several days, which apparently SOME people have a problem with.<br/ 4. Don 't trust reviews by people who claim to be Italians that expect EVERY dish to be over garliced, over spiced, and over priced. If they don 't understand the SUBTLETIES of real Italian cooking, then they probably don 't cook for themselves and have been duped by the HIPSTER purveyors of pseudo Italian bastardizations. If you want AUTHENTIC, then don 't complain when AUTHENTIC doesn 't tickle your burned out palate.<br/ 5. Don 't trust reviews of Italian food that are written by people who live in places like Utah, and who complain about the food being 'blah ' or claim that they could have made it cheaper themselves at home. Really? Subtlety in Italian cooking is authentic. Simplicity in Italian cooking is authentic.<br/ <br/ Rant concluded. Now, if you want me to repeat this in my NEW YORK ITALIAN kind of way, I 'm going to require the use of my hands and a few expletives. CAPICHE?