PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Sicilian-born chef/owner Giacomino Drago (scion of L.A.'s well-known Drago restaurateur family) hit the jackpot with this hugely successful, value-priced trattoria, located on a busy corner in the shopping district of Beverly Hills. All day long, Giacomino's fans take a break from work or shopping and converse over glasses of chianti and plates of oh-so-authentic pasta. With 57 menu items to choose from, I haven't come close to trying everything, but I can tell you with certainty that you will swoon over the arancini, breaded rice cones that are filled with mozzarella cheese and peas, then fried crispy brown (highly addictive); the pumpkin tortelloni in a light sage-and-cream sauce; the arrabbiata, a simple penne pasta dish in a fantastic spicy tomato-and-garlic sauce; and for dessert, the panna cotta (the silkiest in Southern California). There's almost always a wait -- and not much room to wait in -- but by meal's end it always seems worth it.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Los Angeles 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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