Need to find a restaurant that wont break the bank to take my husband to next monday for his birthday. We favor italian .....but it doesnt have to be. Also, im willing to drive to surrounding towns to find a charming , cute, quaint place. Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Where are you staying? LA is the second biggest city in the US.

I live here...and as i wrote, im willing to travel to any surrounding city like, oasadena, santa monica eagle rick, montose venice..etc

Trattoria Pomodoro in Westwood, or Ca de Sole near Universal.

Celestino in Pasadena.

DOMA in Beverly Hills.

Peppone in Brentwood.



At a higher price point:

DRAGO Centro in downtown L.A.

Valentino in Santa Monica.

I agree that Valentino is really good. I'd also suggest you look at urbanspoon.com. It's all about restaurant reviews and you'll get more information than you'll get on this forum. You can search by cuisine, neighborhood, price point...it's a very well organized web site. Hope you have a good celebration!

We love La Bruschetta on Westwood:
http://www.lbwestwood.com/

The food is wonderful, prices are reasonable, service is impeccable, atmosphere is perfect. We've been there for special dinners and no one has ever been disappointed. Street parking is usually easy.

Pane e Vino on Beverly in West Hollywood has the most delightful garden patio in the city in my book. The wonderful food is a bonus.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...alifornia.html

I eat here regularly. It's in the Americana shopping center in Glendale and directly across from Nordstrom.

Happy Travels!

topping for clifbob - from another thread, apparently the OP is looking for less expensive option.

Whether or not these two places would have a reservation slot available for you with this short notice, I can't say. I also don't know about their corkage policies but you can ask them.
Firefly in Studio City. Not Italian but has some Italian offerings. On Ventura nr Colfax.
Pace, in the Hollywood Hills about a mile from Sunset. This is an Italian place.
Both are cool, romantic and have some intimate seating areas. Good places for a b'day - I like them both.
You should look up their websites to peruse the menus. Search for reviews on Yelp, etc.

Where did you decide to go? Could you please give a follow-up tomorrow on how it was?

Da Pasquale on Little Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Then walk up and down Rodeo Drive to look at the lighted Baccarat chandeliers suspended over the street.

Near Rodeo Drive, try the Sprinkles cupcake vending machine. Open 24/7.