Little La Buca

Published on Tuesday, October 24, 2006, by C. Thi Nguyen / Edit Post

With Briganti, South Pasadena gets a little taste of La Buca without venturing down to Melrose. Briganti is a child of the same owners as La Buca, though the newer place is actually more upscale. Mama, however, is not in the kitchen at Briganti.

Still, it’s a great local option–like an Italian version of Beaujolais. Caesar salad is simple and just right. Pastas are excellent–ravioli with spinach and ricotta is hearty and rich without being heavy. If you see the special of handmade pappardelle with proscuitto ragu, pounce. Skip the pedestrian New York steak, which comes with a too-sweet sauce.

Dinner for two, no alcohol, runs $70 before tax and tip.

Briganti [Pasadena-ish]
1423 Mission Street, South Pasadena
626-441-4663
Map

Board Links
BRIGANTI (Pasadena) ... report
Briganti in South Pasadena? Anyone tried it?

ALLGeneral Topics Digest
POST A COMMENT |1 Comment

COMMENT

  • I had a terrible time there on Saturday Sept 8. I had an 8 pm reservation for a large group. We waited over 30 minutes for a table. We were finally seated in a dark corner of the patio where the heat lamps were stored. It took another 30 minutes to order wine. They were out of clean glasses and asked us to bear with them. We waited and waited and finally my husband had to go look for the waitress...+READ

    I had a terrible time there on Saturday Sept 8. I had an 8 pm reservation for a large group. We waited over 30 minutes for a table. We were finally seated in a dark corner of the patio where the heat lamps were stored. It took another 30 minutes to order wine. They were out of clean glasses and asked us to bear with them. We waited and waited and finally my husband had to go look for the waitress in the main dining room where she was busy chatting. She apologized that she had forgotten about us! Finally we got our wine and ordered dinner. On the plus side the food was all very good and there were many specials to choose from in addition to the quite extensive menu. One other problem was with the bread. We got one basket a few minutes after we had been seated. As everything took so long we were ready for more when our meals arrived. However, we were told that the bread was cooked to order so we'd have to wait for it. Makes no sense! We wanted bread WITH the meal, not after it!

    All in all I think Briganti has potential, but the quality of the service needs to be vastly improved, and I would not return or recommend it until this happens.-COLLAPSE