Colori Kitchen

Pictures 1 and 4/5 via Yelp. Pictures 2 and 3 by me.
Excuse the long review. I love this restaurant, so it is easy for me to wax on. If you don't feel like reading it all, I will summarize: 1) delicious 2) BYO 3) a little off the beaten path but worth finding for reason 1 & 2.

Colori Kitchen is one of those true neighborhood restaurants. Almost no one who lives outside of the 5 block radius surrounding the restaurant goes. It's understandable why. It's on a very transitional corner, although there are several other businesses (D-Town Burger and Golden Gopher) next door keeping the area relatively safe. In addition, the front of the restaurant is so tiny that you're almost guaranteed to miss it if you are driving by. But all of this doesn't mean the restaurant is empty. The two times I've been (a week night and a weekend), the dining room has been bustling by 8 p.m. This is also understandable. First, Colori Kitchen is a very very rare restaurant in L.A. because it's BYO without a corkage fee (as long as you stick to 1 bottle/2 people). Second, the food is simple but bursting with flavor. I have gone for pasta dishes both times I've been, and both were some of the best pasta I've ever had. A perennial favorite is the pumpkin ravioli. It is so so good. And now that fall is coming, it is a must get. Pictured above is what I ordered this past visit: spinach gnocchi. As you can see, it's not gnocchi in a spinach sauce; they actually made the pasta out of spinach. I loved the texture, much lighter than potato gnocchi. My boyfriend got the cioppino, which he loved too. Well this review has already gone on way too long. Sorry! I hope I didn't bore you.