La Tavola, Virginia Highland, Atlanta, GA Restaurant Review

A couple weeks back, La Tavola Trattoria, part of the Fifth Group Restaurants, had a BOGOF promotion. Never having sampled La Tavola before, I thought this would be a great opportunity to give it a try. So now, my Fifth Group Restaurant experience is complete; I’ve dined at them all – South City Kitchen, Ecco, The Original El Taco and now La Tavola.

We pulled up on a rainy Friday night and there was an open spot right in front of La Tavola. After snagging that primo spot I just knew it was going to be a good evening. We were a couple minutes late for our 8:30 reservation and as the place was absolutely packed, I feared that they might have given our reservation away to punctual diners. But our good fortune prevailed and the host assured us we’d be seated shortly.

As I surveyed the tiny dining room, I was so glad I had made reservations. But it got even better. They escorted us to the outdoor dining area that shares space with Noche. They obviously had the heaters going and the plastic covers to keep out the cold. I liked this even better than the interior as it is much more conducive to talking than the inside dining area with it’s open kitchen.

I started with their Il Fiore, (Mojito made with Gin instead of Vodka). I liked it ok, but at $12, would have preferred to put the $ toward an entire bottle of red wine and skip the specialty cocktails altogether.

Nothing grabbed my attention on the appetizer menu, but Glen chose the Farro soup which is a soup made with barley, pancetta, leeks and butternut squash. I had a taste and loved it. It was perfect for warming me up on that cold, rainy night. I usually hate leeks but didn’t even taste them in the soup.

For our entrees, I chose the Pennoni with Rabbit. This is tubes of pasta stuffed with rabbit sausage. It comes with a Swiss Chard Bechamel (bechamel is made from milk, butter and flour) sauce. I quite enjoyed the meal and really liked the bitterness of the swiss chard paired with the slightly sweet pasta and cherry tomatoes.

Glen had ordered the Fish special that night, but his order was confused with the regular trout entree which he got instead. He ate it and didn’t complain, but it’s too bad, because the special sounded spectacular. The presentation of both dishes was beautiful. I would love to see what items like the Pork Porterhouse or the Smoked Risotto with Boar Sausage look like.

I liked our server up until our entrees were delivered. He was friendly and seemed to know the menu inside and out. But we saw less sand less of him as our evening wore on. I really wanted a glass of wine with my meal, but I was halfway through my meal before I was able to get it.

The Dolcetto I got was a good compliment to my rabbit pasta and one of 14 reds by the glass. I counted 9 whites by the glass. It seemed to open up more as I let it sit there. La Tavola definitely has a good wine list and lends itself to the type of place you’d want to go and share a bottle with someone.

For dessert we shared the cheesescake with blueberry sauce and candied lemon zest. It was absolutely delightful – light but very flavorful.

Although service was less than attentive, I enjoyed our leisurely dinner and definitely recommend La Tavola Trattoria as a date night option. Just ask to be seated on the patio. Although it overlooks the parking lot, I still think it is more romantic than the noisy dining room.

992 Virginia Avenue Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30306
(404) 873-5430
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