The Resy Guide to L.A.’s Most Inspired Pasta Dishes

Evan Funke’s handsomely appointed Roman hit is a larger, splashier cousin to his Venice standby, Felix, which made a name for itself with a wide array of handcrafted pastas. At Mother Wolf, there are no bad choices, but tonnarelli cacio e pepe appears on nearly every table for a reason. The square spaghetti-shaped pasta is the perfect vehicle for the cheese and pepper sauce, which Funke intensifies by first toasting the black peppercorns. Don’t miss it.

After opening during the pandemic, the team at Hanchic has made waves with delicious Korean-Italian mashups like mandu with doenjang Bolognese and bulgogi-topped risotto. The kimchi tagliatelle is a revelation, though, featuring thick strands of housemade pasta tossed in a creamy kimchi sauce with preserved lemon and licorice-scented perilla leaves. It’s not overly spicy, but there’s enough kick to make you sit up and take notice.

You’ll go back for any number of housemade pastas at this Highland Park stalwart — celery root triangoli with buttered shallots and chives and the summer-only sweet corn cappellacci with mushrooms and celery leaf, for example — but chef Matt Molina also features Semolina, one of L.A.’s best artisanal dry pasta makers, for a handful of standout dishes as well. His spaghetti with clams, pancetta, and jalapeño pesto is a welcome update to the classic dish, with a perfect twirl of spicy and savory flavors.

Japanese and Italian flavors are a perfect match, with both cuisines focused on impeccable ingredients and expert technique to make the most of out of seemingly simple dishes. At Magari, chef Enrico Merendino pulls out all the stops with dishes like yuzu tagliatelle. A riff off of Sorrento’s famed lemon pasta, he dresses handmade tagliatelle in a yuzu buttercream sauce studded with poppy seeds and peekytoe crab, which pairs nicely with the creamy citrusy flavor. Get it topped with uni for the full experience.

Who knew an Indian-inspired sports bar in a Silver Lake strip mall would have some of the most talked-about Italian food in town? All of the pasta is made in-house, from the rigatoni in malai pink sauce to the rickshaw shape tossed with cilantro-mint pesto. And all are worth ordering, though the tandoori spaghetti stands out for combining the flavors of the tandoor (smoked chiles, garlic, and charred lime) with aglio e olio-inspired breadcrumbs for a riot of flavors and textures.

Now a Pasadena mainstay, this modern Italian spot somehow strikes a balance between chic and homey, crowded and intimate. The highly seasonal menu features handmade nearly everything, from pastas to the bread, pickles, and more. The squid ink lumache looks stunning and feels like a celebration on a plate, featuring snail shell-shaped pasta tossed with lobster, fennel, and truffle butter. It’s a special occasion dish for any night of the week.

Pasta is a perfect vehicle for vegetables, whether in sauce form, tossed with the noodle, or, in this case, added directly to the dough itself. The spinach campanelle, the shape of which resembles a ruffled-edged cone, are made fresh daily at the Santa Monica staple, and tossed with fresh heirloom zucchini, walnut-basil pesto cream, chile oil, and breadcrumbs. Enjoy it alongside an arugula and radicchio salad, and a glass of pinot gris.

At Bari, chef Chad Colby turns toward Puglia for crowd-pleasing small plates like grilled seafood, antipasti, and regional pastas. The chef takes artisanal to heart, hand-rolling and stretching unique pasta shapes you might not find elsewhere in L.A., like strascinati, a sort of larger version of orecchiette, each piece individually pulled to the proper size. So good they need little adornment, they’re served here simply with tomato, basil, and breadcrumbs.

Not every pasta has to be made with flour. At this cheerful, pint-sized Virgil Village vegetarian and vegan spot, chef-owner Sharky McGee serves kelp noodles in her pasta dishes. The slightly chewy noodle is versatile enough to take on sauces and seasonings from around the globe, like this Italian-leaning rendition made with cashew cream sauce, cremini and shiitake mushrooms, Bloomsdale spinach, and breadcrumbs for crunch.

The appearance of corn agnolotti on the Spago menu is how peak summer is announced in Beverly Hills. It’s such an iconic dish at Wolfgang Puck’s flagship that regulars show up just to get their fix. Little folded pasta pillows are filled with corn blended with ricotta for body, surrounded by silky mascarpone cream sauce, and studded with caramelized corn kernels to offset all the natural sweetness. Great at the bar, in the dining room, or in the lavish outdoor setup that’s a staple of the space. 

There are a few dishes Josiah Citrin would never take off his menus, and the famed lobster Bolognese is one of them. Catch it now on the Citrin menu, which is more Santa Monica-casual than the formal tasting menus at Melisse. Here, cappellini is twirled in a rich tomato sauce studded with chunks of Maine lobster, and the finished dish is gilded with brown butter truffle foam just before serving.

Now with two locations, including an outpost in Sherman Oaks, this long-running Italian favorite is the ideal venue for tucking into clam or guanciale-topped pizzas, chicken Parm, and handmade pastas. It’s hard to resist a good carbonara, and the version here is rich and soulful: thick strands of bucatini, lots of pancetta, freshly-cracked black pepper, Parmesan cheese, and a runny egg for extra richness.

Before he focused on red sauce classics (think mozzarella sticks) in Echo Park, Zach Pollack took a more personal tour through Italy at his first restaurant in Silver Lake. The menu is tightly constructed for the small space, and the tortellini en brodo “al contrario” has been on it since day one. Instead of cheese- or meat-stuffed tortellini served in rich chicken broth, a Bolognese specialty, Pollack’s take is stuffed with brodo, a la soup dumplings. It’s the perfect blend of Los Angeles and Italy, in one bite.

Now with three locations, including a new one in Slauson, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo continue to turn old-school Italian-American classics on their heads. The fusilli in a spicy vodka-tomato sauce, showered with a fluffy cloud of Parm, has rightfully earned a cult following, though don’t sleep on the rigatoni cacio e pepe or linguine with clams, either.

Stanley Tucci doesn’t have a lock on pasta made with zucchini. This Beverly Hills restaurant serves linguini alla Nerano that so closely resembles what you’d find in its hometown, they staked their name on it. Transcendent in its simplicity, the linguini is twirled with both fresh zucchini and dehydrated chips, plus squash blossoms and a heavy dose of Italian provolone. This is a taste of the Amalfi Coast (or a Los Angeles summer) that’s available here all year long.

Opened just before the pandemic shut everything down — without outdoor seating, Olivetta was more like a rooftop pop-up at West Hollywood’s La Peer hotel in its early days — chef Michael Fiorelli’s scene-y hot spot is back in action and buzzier than ever. Of the many pasta favorites on the Cal-Ital menu, the comforting radiatore with “all-day” lamb Bolognese is a fan favorite. Vegan? There’s a rigatoni with arugula-cashew pesto for you, too.