Ugo - An Italian Cafe

I've been here a few times...not by choice..and EVERY single time I've been here the pasta dishes have come out cold. Was there last night, same thing. The service is slow which I guess explains the temperature of the food. Not only that but my date ordered the Rigatoni Bolognese and it was completely tasteless. I like pasta al dente but some of the noodles were just plain hard. I had the chopped salad which was ok. It's not very expensive .. the only redeeming quality.. but really not a good place. So many other places in culver city on the same street. NEVER again

Pros: house wine was pretty good

Cons: cold tasteless food, bad service

Posted 06/16/09

I ordered a filet mignon and it tasted like liver, salted to the nines. It was inedible. The vegetable medley was cooked in a hurry, it seems, with carrots so hard no fork would penetrate, broccoli overdone and asparagus spears not peeled. When the waitress came over to see if all was OK, I told her about the steak, said I would eat the vegetables. She said she would "take care of it." When the bill
came, she had taken off the filet, but charged $7.50 for the vegetables (my husband called this "cheesy"). The dessert was excellent, but that will not compel me to come back. And let me add that the music and noise was deafening. Skip it.

Pros: Great desserts

Cons: Overly salted food, badly cooked vegetables

Posted 04/30/09

Highly recommend Ugo as a spot for a casual night out where you want more than the typical bar scene. Sit and chat with friends and other customers as you choose different wine to taste. We kept asking the bartender which were the best to try, the staff was so knowledgeable and really went out of their way to make sure we were happy. Go hungry! Ugo has THE BEST CHEESE PIZZA in LA. Their quatro fromage pizza has a sweet soft crust, the perfect amount of cheese and best of all is drizzled with a white truffle infused honey. A-MA-ZING.

Pros: Best Cheese Pizza in LA, Helpful and friendly staff

Cons: Noisy

Posted 04/11/09

This place took forever to seat us, and we waited so long to be seen that we just left and went next door to gyenari's. I recommend you go there......... the service is way better!

Posted 01/21/09

Ugo is fantastic. I've been twice in the past week. The first time, I had the salmon with pesto; it was delicious! My boyfriend had a chicken dish that was tasty, (although I preferred my fish.) We both had wine with the meal. His Pinot Grigio was delightful as was my red. We shared gelato for dessert.

The second time, I went with a couple of friends. I had the sea bass in a creamy leek sauce. AMAZING. One of my friends had the (meat) lasagna, which was spectacular, and the other person had the rigatoni, which was good, but not great. (The sauce was pretty tasty, though.)

We split the chocolate mousse cake for dessert which was phenomenal. Dark chocolate and a little bitter with the sweet. Perfect.

One thing I noticed- they love asparagus there! It's not a problem for me, (I like asparagus), but for many, many of their entrees, that is their side.

Pros: great food, reasonable prices

Cons: it can get pretty busy, and while they have heat lamps... it's still chilly

Posted 10/10/08

I love Ugo! I've been a few times recently, the food is always delicious and it's easy to park in the lot on cardiff (2hr free). Both their pastas and salads are excellent, and the gelatos are amazing! I would recommend it to anyone!

Posted 08/06/08

My husband and I decided to try this after seeing how lovely the location was. Well, that's about all that was nice. First of all, only 3 white wines were available by the glass. When we ordered our preferred wine, we were told it was sold out. Whatever. The wine we ended up with was far from impressive, and not worth what we were charged. The bread was dry and bland. (How do you mess up bread?) My veal piccata had goopy bits of breading on it and was topped with tons of nearly-raw garlic that was nothing short of overpowering. (I've dined at Italian places in Lincoln, Nebraska that had better veal than this place.) My husband's spaghetti bolognese was so watery and bland, he had to add tons of salt and red pepper flakes to give it any flavor -- and that was after the 5 minutes it took to flag down someone to bring us the pepper flakes! Save your money and go elsewhere -- Orso, Brunello Trattoria, Locanda Veneta... Heck, even Olive Garden!

Pros: Comfortable patio area

Cons: food

Posted 07/29/08

After many times passing Ugo by to eat at nearby restaurants, my wife and I decided to give in and try the reasonably priced Ugo. The crowd there always seems happy, but from our experience I can't imagine why. I am not a snooty restaurateur, but I feel confident in my cooking and tasting skills (I have cooked fabulously for small parties and for events over sixty people), and so this recommendation is not born of ignorance.

We ordered a spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts that was swimming in a bland dressing with unripe/sour strawberries. We then tried the mozzarella-squash blossom pizzetta. The crust was RAW at the center, the squash blossoms were chopped so small they were unrecognizable, and the slices dripped liquid when you attempted to pick them up. Finally I tried the pesto pasta with clams. The dish was oily, there was no hint of basil in the pesto, and the clams were very old and foul tasting. As we walked away from the restaurant, the after-taste of the bad clams kept getting fouler.

Outside the terrible food, our waitress was congenial but absent most of the time... the entire hour we spent there, our water was refilled once and we had to search out our waitress to get the bill. To top it off, I observed another customer attempting to send back her steak and having to convince the server that it was not cooked properly. No matter how fickle the customer, one should never have to argue with the wait staff about the quality of the food.

In short, the food was inexpensive but lousy, and the wait staff inattentive. Maybe it was a bad night, but we will never go back. You are much better off eating at the other restaurants nearby.

Pros: Nice location and friendly hostess

Cons: Terrible food and inattentive service

Posted 07/05/08

My boyfriend and I had dinner on a friday night at Ugo. We usually go to the wine bar next door, but passed on Ugo because of the mixed reviews. Well, I must say that we were passing up a great restaurant experience. The location is wonderful! Tons of people watching in downtown Culver City.
Our server was polite and on top of her job. She recommended a fantastic Sauv Blanc to go with my pasta, which was fantastic; I had the linguini with shrimp. The shrimp was fresh and flavorful- not fishy at all. My boyfriend had the salmon, which was cooked perfectly with fresh and delicious vegetables. Our dinner arrived at our table in no time at all. I recommend Ugo to anyone who likes light Italian cuisine. Oh, and to the reviewer who thought the portion sizes were too small...Ugo's portion sizes are healthy. Any more food and I would have been stuffed.

Pros: Great outdoor seating, wide food selection, free parking, decent price

Posted 06/26/08

The portions of pasta were small and overpriced. Our waiter was nice enough, but the rest of the staff seemed intent on clearing our plates before we were finished, trying to turn the table over. I had the rigatoni pesto and added chicken. They forgot the chicken, and I reminded them. When the dish came back they had just thrown the chicken on top, without bothering to mix it in. I felt like I was eating at a cafeteria. What's more, fumes from the sewer were wafting over our outside table. The food was bland at best, and a couple hours later we had stomach aches, not sure why. I say avoid this place. But the gelato is great! Go for dessert, and INSIST they recycle those plastic dishes they put ice cream in. They just throw them out! and you can easily recycle those. Makes no sense at all. What a load of garbage they make.

Posted 06/22/08

Simply put..Ugo is so classy..I love the guy and the food. I have followed his success from a simple place on Pico in West LA to taking up quite a bit of real estate with his new gellato bar alongside his restaurant. Fantastic service, food, welcoming..all in all..one of thee best restaurants in Culver City. Ugo is often there to say hello and talk with guests..you really feel like you are on a sidewalk cafe in Italy.

Pros: parking, prices, service, yummy food, Ugo is such a special owner and person

Cons: none at all..I promise!

Posted 06/09/08

My wife and I went for lunch one Saturday afternoon. While it didn't take long to get a seat, it did take long to see an indifferent acting waitress. I ordered a beer with my meal. They do not have your typical beers which was somewhat of a disappointment. On her recommendation I ordered a Belgium beer which was not good. It left an after taste. Next time I'll order wine. The salads we ordered were good. I ordered the Pasta de Pesto and she ordered the Lasagna, which was very good. The portions were adequate. However, the overall experience was noting to write home about and I will continue sampling the Italina eateries in the neighborhood as this one doesn't yet have a convert.

Pros: Free Parking, Good value, Adequate portions

Cons: Indifferent waitress, Slow Service

Posted 06/08/08

I was introduced to Ugo during an office social outing. We ordered our food and it took a long time to come. I had a panini sandwhich which was not even close to a panini. It wasn't grilled, the bread was dry and the filling was bad. My other colleagues also had the same experience.
Then I went again after 2 months and I ordered the minestrone soup and Pollo Funghi. The soup was like a tomato syrup and chopped vegetables added to it. Pollo Funghi was ok but the spaghetti with which they served was too dry it was hard to eat. I would never go there again and I give two thumbs down.

Pros: Good Ambience

Cons: Everything else

Posted 04/21/08

(-) bad food (salad was disgusting and drenched in dressing; steak was burnt; pasta was overcooked)
(-) dishonest server added additional tip to my credit card after i had already tipped 20%, which i later caught when i was checking my credit card online. when i called to notify the manager of what was going on, i was given the go-around rather than acknowledgement of the problem. i will NEVER eat at this place again.

(+) good ambience

Posted 04/16/08

I was surprised when I saw Ugo's 4-star average - I do not normally write negative reviews, but after two negative experiences I felt obligated to dispell this restaurant's mystique. On my first visit, the food service was slow even though my friend and I were the only lunch patrons. I was pleasantly surprised to see such reasonable prices only to be dismayed by the miniscule size of my entree. I was handed a dessert menu only to be told that they no longer carried 1/2 of the items listed (including gelato)! On my second visit, I waited over 30 minutes to be seated and over 40 minutes for my food which came out cold and bland. I will not be coming back for a third visit. Bottom line, this establishment has poor service and mediocre food. The only benefit is Ugo's convenient location and lower-than-average prices. I guess the old saying is true - you get what you pay for here.

Pros: Reasonable prices, convenient location

Cons: Poor service, mediocre food

Posted 02/18/08

My husband and I really enjoyed siting outside, drinking wine, and having their delicious pasta. We definately recommend this as a place to visit! Cheers!

Posted 02/03/08

We just visited Italy this past winter and have been looking for authentic Italian food. So, I went to Ugo twice. First time the minestrone was great. Second time it tasted like ketchup w/ veggies. The pizza was good both times - thin crust, right amount of cheese, but not much basil. The buffalo mozzerella was so-so: a bit hard, and didn't taste that fresh. The bread is terrible b/c it's cold and not terribly fresh either. (Maybe avoid going on Monday nights??) The ball-shaped fried risotto (I forget what they are called) is my favorite though - crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Pros: good parking, cute atmosphere, good pizza

Cons: small inside tables; inconsistent minestrone soup

Posted 01/14/08

This is a neighborhood restaurant to us, we've tried it 3 times and our experiences have gotten worse. The staff doesn't know the menu or how to wait tables. It seems as if they are all having their 1st day on the job
Interrupting our conversation, abandoning us for 25 min, no menus... Hopefully they will find their way. I'll wait a long while before going back for another try, like maybe a years wait. And the food...unremarkable.

Posted 12/26/07

Not children friendly. They have high chairs but that's bout it. No substitutions, no small plates, no children's menu, etc. Terrible service: waiter didn't know menu, didn't remember what we'd ordered, we were nearly first for lunch and waited over 30 minutes for pre-made sandwiches and one small salad and other people got their meals first. My salad was supposed to have hazelnuts and it contained about one microscopic microdot of a hazelnut and an indiscriminate dressing. My companions said their sandwiches were soggy and dull. Good bread though, I'll give them that. And it was cold, but the outside heaters weren't on. If the meal had been good and service quicker, we might have stuck around longer and tried dessert, but we couldn't wait to leave. Next time, I'm going to next door to Tender Greens!

Posted 11/19/07

I think that this place spends more money on the tablecloths then the actual operation of the restaurant. I waited around 45mins for a takeout order of 2 sandwich/soup panino combos. Simple right, I for the first time in my life asked for my money back after 35minutes of waiting in which they refused. The manager was very rude to my 13 yr old daughter who asked to sample a gelatto in which he abruptly responded "...speak up I can't hear you, you are talking too low!" I had to ask about my takeout order 3 times before I received it. I was not very impressed with taste of the food considering the distasteful service. Culver City in general is too small for this place to be this bad. I work around the corner for the Culver City School District and I definitely will not be reccommending this restaurant to anyone. In fact I can not wait to tell everyone I work with who has a love of working with children including parents I come in contact with daily, that if you patronize this place and your son or daughter asks for a sample of the gelatto they may get yelled at-beware. There are too many options in Los Angeles and this place is not even worth driving by. I give the good location of it credit for the # of customers it has not it's delightful service or 2 points above mediocre quality of food. I so should have read this board before stepping foot in there. Trust me, you are better off taking $50 out of your wallet, walking into the bathroom and flushing it in the toilet, or letting you dog chew on it then spending it in this place.

Pros: Great location to sit outside and chew on the paper they call food

Cons: Your child will get yelled at if they ask to sample the gelatto.

Posted 11/09/07

After having a horrible experience at Fords Filling Station (read review) last Friday the 9th of November my girlfriend and I went to the new Ugo tapas, wine bar, next to older Ugo. We were greeted by a wonderful slash enthusiastic waitress who beckoned us into this new establishment. We dined alfresco which is my personal favorite, had I known I would have included my pup, to join us. We started with the caprese salad which was served with the tomatoes slightly grilled and no the tomates were not heirloom as the ones I had in Ojai last weekend but they did have a really nice flavor and the mozarrella was fresh soft and delish, the salad was a bit light on the basil but still really nice and hey what do you want for $7 bucks? We then split the sand dabs which were nice and light with just the right amount of lemon and olive oil and slightly pan fried but not over cooked by any means, the linguini on the side was good too. We then split the lobster ravioli which I thought was really nice, it had a good sundried tomatoe sauce that was a combo of red with a bit of cream. We also had a great bottle of red wine from Italy (sorry I can not spell the region) for $22, the wine was perfect and it was really refreshing to have such a large selection of Italian wines in all price ranges. We topped our night off with Italina cheese cake which had some lemon rind in it, which helped to make it less sweet and more refreshing. We did not care much for the chocolate rasberry cake as it was way way too gooey and sweet, but all in all we had a great dinner and would definitely go back!

Pros: Loved dining alfresco and they had a great Italian wine list in all price ranges.

Cons: The waitress was a bit over bearing and she kept interrupting our conversation.

Posted 11/03/07

Well, I've never posted a negative review, ever. I'm not a picky person, love all types of food, and am generally easy to get along with (all around great guy! haha). So, while our food was above average, my girlfriend and I had an unpleasant experience with the manager of the restaurant.

During one of my last few sips of the wine, I got a mouthful of what tasted like bitter sand. After I choked it back out, I was able to take a better look at it; a spoonful of unnatural clear pebble-like substance may have been some kind of preservative or plastic. I hadn't noticed it before since it was later in the evening and we were sitting outside.

After I politely brought it to the attention of the helpful waitress, she said that she would let the manager know about it. When I asked for the check, it came with the glass of wine still on the bill... so again I politely asked if there was any way we could not be charged to the $6 glass of wine, as I'd rather give the waitress a larger tip than paying for a mouthful of toxic sand.

After a few more minutes, I looked up to see the waitress and manager discussing something across the room. He was frowning, squinting, and shaking his head... all the while looking in our direction. After apologizing the waitress gave us back the bill and said that the manager had decided not to take $6 off the bill.

Surprised, I said "Really? I find that a bit hard to believe after getting a mouthful of whatever was at the bottom of the glass. But its OK if its such a big deal." Clearly the waitress saw the validity of my situation and she felt obliged to take the bill back to the manager (again).

Unfortunately she returned shortly and apologetically said "I'm so sorry, but he said you drank most of the glass already." I told her that I understood that it wasn't her fault and that I really didn't care (I mean really, $6?).. so I paid the $65 bill and left.

And I'll never take anyone there again. Great job managing, d-bag.

Posted 10/28/07

This place is great if you want to grab a bit to eat before seeing a movie at the cinema across the street. It has a nice atmosphere and really good food! The profile for this restaurant says that it is in the 20 to 30 dollar range for meals, however prices are only high if you want a steak or fish. My friend had a two pieces of pizza (they serve it by the slice and the slices are huge!) for only 6 or 7 dollars. It was an awesome deal for really good food.

Pros: Good Food, Ambiance and convenient location, Food is cheap depending on what you order

Cons: Food can be pricey depending on what you order

Posted 06/06/07

Although Ugo's can be pretty packed on a Friday night, you can put your name on the waitlist and grab a glass of wine at the wine bar next door (they're partnered with Ugo's, and the hostess will come find you over there). Try the house white, it's tasty and a lot cheaper than some of the higher end ounces at the machines. I'm giving Ugo's 4 1/2 stars because the wait was pretty long, but it was the weekend. If you like pasta and seafood, go for the amalfi--great pink sauce, shrimp, capers, mmmm! My friend's four-cheese rigatoni was great, but too heavy for me. My favorite, though, is the chicken marsala--they usually cook the chicken perfectly, and the sauce is amazing. Plus, they give you double the vegetables (no potatoes) free, so I skip the carbs. Generally, the service is spot-on, so they get high marks from me--I just moved to Culver City, and this is the best all-around meal I've had so far!

Pros: Two hours free parking across the street

Cons: Long wait

Posted 05/13/07

Everytime I come here it's always good fun. The service is good, the food is great but not pricey and the wine bar next door is the bomb. You can actually go to the wine bar while you wait to be seated and the hostess will look for you when your table is ready. Ingenious!!

Posted 05/09/07

This is some of the worst Italian food I have had in L.A. I have been here three times for lunch - two of my meals were horrendously bad, and one was passable at best. On my most recent trip I ordered the Canneloni Fiorentina, which sounded good from the description... I was shocked at how bland it was (I think that I annoyed the people I was eating with because I couldn't shut up about how bad it was). The sauce literally tasted like processed tomato paste from a can - no chunks of tomato, no detectable spices... just disgusting. If you like really authentic, fresh italian food, don't bother eating here - you will just be disappointed. Don't let how crowded this place is fool you - the food is only for people who have never eaten real Italian cuisine.

Cons: industrial tomato paste, not sauce. Bland food.

Posted 04/25/07

True, it is a good addition to the Culver City downtown dining scene, but it's nothing special. I was looking forward to eating here, what with the long lines and packed crowds evertyime we pass by. It was the same (full) when we decided to have dinner here one Friday in Aug. The wait took about 30 mins, so make sure you're not starving when you get here, otherwise, you're going to end up leaving, like some people. When we got seated, our server, though cute, seemed much too pre-occupied with something else. He seemed to flit from one table to the next. Items are cheap to moderate, but none were memorable. Typical casual Italian cafe fare such as caprese salad or sandwich, pizzas, pasta, etc.. Cost for 2 during dinner would be around $50 for a shared appetizer & dessert, 2 entrees & 2 drinks (pre-tip). Better go during off-peak (the food's not worth waiting 30 mins for), or maybe lunch (or to go/pick-up).

Pros: inexpensive

Cons: long wait, so-so food

Posted 11/09/06

this addition to the culver city restaurant scene is not that bad. i strongly recommend the profiteroles. i've had it twice now and it was great both times. the food was average. but i would go back for the profiteroles.

Pros: the profiteroles

Posted 10/27/06

The food is really worth coming here. However, simplest rules of restaurant service are ignored. I don't know why this place cannot get this right: YOU DON'T SERVE THE MAIN COURSE WHEN THE CUSTOMER IS STILL HAVING HIS STARTER, FOR GODS SAKE. The same happened at the westwood branch. The result is that by the time you have the main course, its already cold. The food is good however and the prices are reasonable. I still recommend the place, but next time, we will skip the starters and go straight for the mains.

Pros: good food

Cons: service is poor

Posted 09/30/06

If you want a better, livelier alternative to San Gennaro around the corner, try this new place out. The menu is quite extensive, so figuring out what to eat can be a challenge. I can't speak for every menu item, but I can say that the typical Italian fare (eg., quattro formagi pizza, chicken marinara, etc.) is quite tasty. Our waitress was just average, so don't expect much from the wait staff. It's probably the only thing that prevents me from giving them a higher score. The best service, however, came from the hostess and busgirl. The hostess was very accomodating to our toddler needs. Because it was built into a small retail space, the seating area was compromised. That means if you want a table, especially in the ever so popular outside seating area, get there before 6pm on weeknights. Yes, weeknights! The wait can be up to an hour on weekends. With Culver City's expansion of it's Plaza Area and it's summer concert series on Thursdays, this place becomes a packed house quickly! Don't even bother with metered parking, the garages are FREE for up to 2 hours, and validated at Pacific Theatres for up to 4 hours. A simple dinner and a movie at Culver City's newest establishment.

Posted 08/10/06

After ordering pizza from here many many times and always being more than impressed, my boyfriend and I decided to try this place one day for an early dinner. We found it to be reasonably priced, the service to be attentive and the food to be delicious. The bread on the table is warm and fresh baked, the food portions are ample but not gut busting and they truly are committed to a real Italian experience. I would highly reccomend this place to anyone that loves Italian and wants a light, delicious, healthy and affordable meal. Plus, it is literally across the street from the Pacific Movie theatre in Culver city making it the perfect before/after movie meal!

Pros: Attentive service, proximity to things, good quality and price

Cons: Smallish seating area, on a noisy corner

Posted 06/28/06

I've been to the restaurant many times, and I always enjoy their wines. Good pinot grigio, the reds are very nice as well. Pasta wise, I've had the pesto, which was okay, but their rigatoni with eggplants was superb. The restaurant is very down to earth, the bright sun flowers give a charming Tuscan feel, and the patio has the best seatings in a warm summery night. Most of the wait staff seem to be the owner's relatives or friends, so you need to be lucky to get the ones that actually know something about wines, otherwise just go with the pinot grigio. Portions are plenty, my guy friends are always full before they finish their plates. Free parking in the garage on Cardiff. If you hate waiting in line for Ford's filling station, this is a very nice alternative, or just visit for the pasta and wine alone! Price range is $35 for two, including wine and dessert.

Pros: Good pasta, cheap but good wine

Cons: Inexperienced wait staff (sometimes)

Posted 06/25/06

I stopped by for some italian gelato. Oh my goodness...what a ripe off. I have traveled around the world and have never paid $4.25 for a SMALL (really small) size of gelato. The gelato tasted like regular icecream and lacked the authentic Italian taste. I recommend you cross the street and go to Coldstones if your in the mood for something sweet....The place lacks environment and quality....

Posted 06/25/06

We were delighted to learn that a branch of Ugo was coming to Culver City, and anxiously awaited its opening. The food is good and the prices are right--and it's much easier to find parking here than at the Pico branch across from Westside Pavilion. Leave your car in the city parking garage, have a nice meal at Ugo, and walk across Washington to the movie theater. It has the makings of a great evening.

Note--the area by the wall, away from the door, is very drafty. Don't sit there if you didn't bring a sweater or jacket.

Pros: parking

Posted 06/23/06

The steak (bistecca), the chicken (pollo griglia), and the side veggies/potatoes were all incredibly bland. When we told the waiter, he said that's the way they do it in Italty and there's salt/pepper on the table if we need more spice. I didn't pay 15 bucks / entree to season my own food.

The meal's only redeeming features were the tasty mushrooms on top of the steak and delicious gelato.

Pros: Location, low-priced pasta

Cons: bland food, mediocre service

Posted 06/13/06