I am always looking for great pizza with a good family style menu; If your like me then Palermo is you’re no nonsense neighborhood pizza joint and a lot more.
It’s got a fun Italian vibe, fully equipt with red and white table clothes and Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. There are so many autographed headshots in the lobby entranceway that looking at all of them will make you dizzy. There is also a lot of police presence in the form of badges hanging from the walls from all of the various charity events, and customers.
They have lovely faux painted walls, with a bubbly enclosed patio, enjoyable skylights, decorated arches, and blue icicles on the walls.
My dining guide Bruce Hedgeman sings his way to and from your table. His solid baritone voice can be heard weekly on Sunday service at his local church and here, he added excitement and fun to my culinary adventure. When dining at Palermo I would seek Bruce out to add that special ingredient to your dining experience.
Appetizers:
Combo Platter – Green bean zucchini, cream cheese peppers and mozzarella sticks. Not good for a waste line, but delicious non the less, just save room for your other dishes.
Salad:
Caesar Salad, this is a good go to Caesar salad.
Seafood:
Linguini with Clams, with tender Succulent baby clams cooked with green onion to absolute perfection in a special white sauce and served over linguini. Nice and light, no heavy white sauce, and you can still taste the clams.
Scampi Alla Becky with Tender imported shrimps sautéed in garlic and butter served over fettuccini in white cream sauce and peas. This is my favorite dish, and you really do not want to do any of this without the other. Each part of this dish works in perfect harmony.
Pizza:
Peperoni and Sausage, this is their specialty, and it should be, it was really terrific.
Specialties:
Lasagna Alla Bolognese with layer upon layer of extra large noodles, meat, ricotta cheese, Parmigiano cheese Romano cheese mozzarella cheese served in delicious meat sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. This is wonderful lasagna, with all its bounty. It had just the right amount of layers and does not overwhelm you with too much of anything.
Veal:
Palermo Scaloppini with tender breaded whole veal cutlet served with fresh mushrooms in a white cream sauce. This is a very rich scaloppini, so beware, but it still is one of my favorites.
Pasta:
Tortellini, with spinach, ricotta and cheese filling. They serve you so much; you will have lots to take home. It is very tasty and fills the void of an average tortellini.
I paired all of dished with their house wines, which are reasonably prices and just the perfect combination.
Tony and his lovely family run Palermo. Tony originally from Sicily is a very funny guy, he also claims to be the Head Chef at Palermo’s, and with all of his duties I just don’t understand how he can be so charming and jovial. He clearly has his hands full, but in a good way, this restaurant is always packed. The crowd is very lively, but reminds me of some of the great pizzerias in New York. Palermo also offers culinary classes and wine tasting.
My stay-cation at Los Feliz Lodge was very close by car, so Palermo is a great choice for your Italian comfort food craving. It definitely is a local neighborhood hotspot, and continues to offer great food at low prices.
Palermo Ristorante Italiano
1858 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90027 (Los Feliz)
http://palermorestaurant.net
