Emilio's Trattoria, Encino CA

This is the type of restaurant that reminds me that most people have a very low to average bar for what they consider to be "good" Italian food in general. The prices are absolutely ludicrous. Everyone raves about the chopped salads. So you order the base salad, for about $19.00 then if you want add ons, and I mean things that should be in the salad in the first place, it's an up-charge for every one of them, tomatoes $2.00, cucumbers $2.50, mushrooms, anchovies were a whopping $4.00 and on it goes. I can understand for a protein like chicken but the veggies, that's just insulting. If you'd like to order a starter salad, there is nothing under $19.00 and that's for a basic salad, nothing fancy, nothing special, just lettuce. My pasta bolognese was bland, dry and they must think that by giving you a heaping bowl of it, that justifies the price of $25.00. It doesn't. Make it smaller and tastier. No cheese for sprinkling. I'm not there to eat the left overs for a few days when it will be even more dry. All in for me was $39.00 for a bowl of pasta and a single espresso shot. My friend heaped so many extras on her chopped salad it was $31.00. I wanted to laugh. Were they serious? Then add $7.00 to park and a tip for the attendant and you walk away fleeced to your eyeballs. I have no problem paying top dollar for good food. I have a real problem paying these prices for average food and I mean average is being polite. This is a mid-level restaurant charging like it's much better than it is.

Most of my party of 6 ordered the chopped salads and they said they were one of the best chop salads they ever had. I ordered the chicken piccata. It came with some pasta and spinach. It was a nice size cutlet with a big chicken bone in it. The cutlet itself was OK. The service was excellent, we dined outside in their patio at a round table. The atmosphere was very nice. I would go back again, but I would not order the cutlet again.

Ambience is very nice and the chopped salads I just love but they have horrible service. We've gone there about 10 times in the last few months and not once has our waiters ever poured our wine for us or asked if we wanted a refill on the water. It's also extremely quiet, they need to play music. I had the Al checca tomato garlic basil pasta last time and it was lovely. Chicken piccata is pretty good. I just really wish they had better service. That's why we might not be back. They don't seem to care if we get good service.

First, awesome food. Beyond that, my lady and I had a tremendous experience tonight. We were seated at a table with 4 young gents (all cousins) from Saudi Arabia on vacation before the start of their next year of high school.

Their two security guards also at the table were initially a bit concerned (it appeared). But we engaged in a meaningful discussion with the young lads and they seemed to have enjoyed our discussion.they even purchased our meal to our surprise. They were very well mannered and well raised quality young men. Their parents are no doubt very proud of them all. I would be.

We had their signature chopped salad. Fresh, delicious mixed with a light, savory Italian dressing. The small size with a protein is a meal in itself. And the complementary bread is one of the best we have had at an Italian restaurant.

I've been going to Emilio's for a few years now, it's my girlfriend that made me discover this place, she has been going for much longer, we both love their salads.
They have an amazing chopped salad on which you can choose through a few different protein, and it comes with the best vinaigrette and bread, which as a french man really pleases me!
Love it, best Salads in LA!

Food was the most underwhelming Italian food I've ever eaten. Service was IMPECCABLE! Amazing staff. I wish the food matched the staff. The only great food item was the bread.

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!

Do not eat at this restaurant unless you call in first to find out if they have resolved their fruit fly problem. We started off with our chopped salads and had to continually bat away the tiny flies. This is also how we ate our entrees. The food was mediocre at best. The server was missing during our meal and we asked another server to find her so we could get our check. When I showed her the fly in my water glass and the dead fly on the table she showed no remorse and brought me a new glass of water. Within a few minutes there was another fly in the fresh water glass. We don't know how many flies we may have consumed along with our food. Terrible experience!

We visited for Valentine's day, the place was almost empty, no ornaments for the occasion, even when they were empty they took for ever to take the order, we asked for more bread and came so late and too dry for staying too long I'm the oven. The food wasn't tasty. Long menu but nothing really interesting. They didn't have the wine we asked they gave us dry champagne instead of Moscato and told it was sweet.

Your grandparent's favorite Italian restaurant! The clientele had an average age of about 80. Not a place to take a hot date. It's a safe place to take the in-laws for a nice dinner though.

This restaurant is fine. The food is alright. The service was inattentive. The prices were a little high. The tiramisu was really great though.