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Monarca Pasta & Grill

4.6 (190 reviews)
InexpensiveItalian
Open • 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Updated 3 months ago

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MONARCA PASTA & GRILL ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for kids
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - Monarca Pasta & Grill

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Italian bread
Victoria M.

The food was amazing and the ambience was fun and accessible! In addition to the shrimp scampi spaghetti and bread being delicious so was the lemonade I ordered.

Monarca chicken pasta and carne asada. So delicious!
Tiffany C.

It was our first time here at this place and overall we really liked it! ENVIRONMENT: This place is a hole-in-the-wall hidden gem. It's a very small restaurant with 8 tables total (3 two-person tables and 5 four-person booths). There weren't many people when we went but it might get crowded on other days. We parked on the street to get here. SERVICE: The servers are very friendly & attentive and made sure that we had everything we needed throughout our meal. Wait time was also very quick. They also gave us free chips and salsa as we waited for our food. FOOD: We ordered 2 entrees: the Carne Asada entree and the Monarca Chicken Pasta. Both dishes had huge portions! - Carne Asada Plate: very delicious, the meathad that nice charred bbq flavor with a hint of lime. It was a tiny bit dry though. It came with a side of rice&beans and garlic bread ...huge portion and very filling! 8.5/10 - Monarca Chicken Pasta: this dish was surprisingly amazing! It was a chicken bowtie pasta dish with pink sauce (tomato + alfredo sauce) and their signature black sauce which is a sweet savory sauce that tastes similar to teriyaki sauce. I feel that the sweetness of the black sauce brought out all the flavors of the pink sauce and chicken. 9/10 -Apple Pie: Their apple pie was not bad, but the crust was kinda hard and not very fresh. But we did like how it was warm and not too sweet, as well as the fact that it came with vanilla ice cream. 6.5/10 PRICE: The prices here are very affordable! Almost every dish was under $15, and there were several that were under $10! This restaurant is really a bang for your buck. Overall, we highly recommend! Great food, great prices, and we will DEFINITELY come back to this place if we happen to pass by the area in the future!

Carne Asada
Monifa S.

Monarca is a little mom & pop restaurant in a tiny shopping center. It may seem a little sketchy from the looks of it, but the food did not disappoint. Came here for dinner with a party of 4. The seating is tight, but it works. I would honestly call it a fusion restaurant as there are Italian, American, and Mexican cuisine options. There is also a parking lot. It is a little small but we were able to find street parking. We were a little confused at first regarding seating, but it is seat yourself. Someone eventually brought us a menu and provided us with beverages. The server was very kind and attentive. She did her best at explaining stuff to us. I got the carne asada with tortillas and rice and beans. As we were waiting for the food, we were given fresh tortilla chips and salsa. The chips were so good as they were crunchy, warm, and sweet. The salsa was not a spicy salsa, but it had a very light taste. The carne asada was well seasoned and moist. The rice and beans were average. The tortillas were not homemade or anything special, but they were good. I enjoyed the food and was very full. The prices at this place are unmatched. The carne asada meal was less than $10. AMAZING!! Overall, I enjoyed the food and would most likely come back here.

Chips
Shelby S.

Monarca is a small restaurant located in a similarly small strip mall about a mile from USC. What I really appreciate about this place is that it is not in a pretentious area but it still has extremely good food AND pricing. There is some parking in the strip mall, but it can get pretty tight (literally) and/or full. There's plenty of street parking across the street. We weren't really sure what to do when we arrived since no one really greeted us and there weren't really any directions, so we seated ourselves. Our server has friendly and ensured all of our orders were correct. The chips and salsa were fantastic. We asked for multiple bowls because they were that good. One time, we even got a hot, freshly made batch and they were amazing. We ordered some guac and it was ok--kinda of bland but still good. I had the lobster ravioli with pink sauce (a mix of tomato + Alfredo sauce) and loved it. I could definitely taste the lobster in each bite. The garlic bread was good, too, and it was great dipping up the me extra sauce with the bread. I would definitely return!

James R.

Hidden gem !!! Great food , great prices and friendly staff !!! Limited seating and parking but worth the wait

Garlic bread
Chuy D.

This place is out of control delicious! We tried a lot of plates.. the chicken pasta was great! The little shrimp soup was fire!! And the lobster ravioli were the absolute best!! So so good! Thank you monarquita!!

Very good food. I had the chicken pasta and my husband had the carne asada. Everything tasted great. The service was also great and the food came out fast.

Baked Tilapia
Shannon Z.

This place is one of those hole in the wall places that people don't really know about but they serve really good food. It's located near USC so students should definitely come here to check out the food because they serve a pretty big portion for a good price! This place is small and it's definitely not for big parties. My sister and I found parking on the plaza next to it which I believe belongs to this place?? I ordered the spaghetti shrimp pasta and my sister ordered the baked tilapia. The portion size of the baked tilapia was HUGE. It came with rice, beans, and the tilapia. It's definitely enough to have for 2 meals. The shrimp pasta was delicious as well; the shrimp was thoroughly cooked, the sauce was perfect. I've seen lots of pictures on Yelp that there were suppose to top off the pasta with shredded cheese but my dish didn't have that. The portion size for the pasta wasn't HUGE but it did leave me full, with alittle leftover. One of the best things about this place was that it came with free nacho chips with green salsa dip, and garlic bread which were all very yummy as well. Both of our meals came out to be around $23 which is a decent and affordable price compared to other pasta shops. I believe that they sell $6 pizzas that look really tasty when I saw pictures of it on Yelp and that's super cheap. The quality of the food is decent compared to the price. If you're in the USC area, you should definitely check out this place!

Tilapia
Michelle Z.

My sister randomly found this place since she was looking for food near USC. It is a small restaurant in the same plaza as Olympian diner, and if you drive by, you most likely would not have noticed it. We wanted to come on a Tuesday, but apparently they're closed on Tuesdays. It was a bit difficult locating the restaurant and finding parking, but we parked behind the plaza because the parking lot for this plaza is small. The place is smaller than I expected; you order up front, and then go sit down. They bring out a plate of chips and a small bowl of salsa. The salsa and chips were just okay, but it was free and good way to past the time. They also brought out some garlic bread (it was mostly just butter) right before we received our food. I ordered tilapia, which comes with rice and beans, and my sister ordered the shrimp pasta. The dishes were huge, especially my tilapia. It was two pieces of fish, 1/3 plate of mashed beans, and 1/3 plate of rice. I usually hate beans, but this beans was actually good because it tasted nicely seasoned. It was the perfect wet-consistency. I even dipped my garlic bread into it. The rice and fish were also really nice, especially after squeezing some lime juice on top of it. I only ate less than half the plate and took back the rest for another meal. The meal portion is huge, and for about $10 or $11, I think this is pretty affordable for how many meals you can make out of this.

Seafood pasta (front) shrimp spaghetti (back)
Irene Ah Young J.

Super yummy and affordable mom and pop restaurant! My best friends and I came here on a Sunday night ~ 6:30pm and it was pretty packed already because it only has 4-5 group tables and 3 two-person tables. We actually ended up ordering first because there were no group tables when we first came in. But we waited 5-10 minutes, a table eventually opened up and we sat down. We were served chips and salsa once we had a seat and they were pretty delicious. The chips tasted fresh and warm and the salsa was a nice savory kick. The pasta was truly the highlight though. I ordered the seafood pasta and it was sooo delicious. Just the right amount of creamy with a decent amount of seafood. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves pasta.  Sure parking is hard (we went around the plaza two times) and the restaurant is small and dinky. But I'm all about taste and affordability so this checks off the boxes for me. The server was super nice and sweet as well so that was a plus!

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1 day ago

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1 year ago

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8 months ago

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4 months ago

Cooke and staff are very nice ! Great food also!! Definitely recommend the pasta and pizza super delicious thank you all,

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8 months ago

Everything I have had so far has so much flavor ! Their Alfredo pasta is so delicious and the tilapia with rice and beans hit every time!

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1 year ago

the best chicken fettuccine. I will always be a loyal customer to this restaurant flavors always on point

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

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7 years ago

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2 years ago

Food was surprisingly good. I got the spaghetti with meat sauce. Will definitely go back.

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3 years ago

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11 years ago

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8 years ago

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5 years ago

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3 years ago

Excellent mom and pop shop. Pastas are delicious and portions are huge. Family staffs are always friendly.

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3 years ago

The service is always good. My go to is the shrimp Alfredo and the caribbean Pasta. It's so tasty and it's all home made and fresh

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8 years ago

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7 years ago

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3 years ago

Food is excellent and very tasteful, prices are good considering that the food is delicious.

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3 years ago

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Maccheroni Republic

Maccheroni Republic

4.4(4.6k reviews)
2.8 mi•Downtown
•$$

Plenty of reviews already but adding my two cents. Stopped in for bite after visiting the Bradbury…read moreBuilding (bucket list ). Started with the Burratina and Insulata Arugula. Both were good but enjoyed the Burratina more. Then we shared a plate of Cacio Pollo Pappardelle. Yum! Creamy rich with perfectly cooked pasta. We finished with a battle of the desserts: flan vs flourless cake. The cake was light and slightly bitter in a good way but the clear winner was the flan. The texture and flavor were fantastic. Highly recommend for the quality and value!

LOVE LOVE LOVE Maccheroni Republic!!!…read more I've been going to this place since 5 years ago and it's still one of my absolute favorite places in LA. So worth going to downtown for. The service is impeccable and very friendly to you. They're really knowledgeable about their dishes too. The place just reeks of experience and professionalism. And I can't even start with the dishes. From the vongole down to the tiramisu, everything is delectable and perfect. The only downside is they raised their prices over the years I loved it when I used to get pasta for less than 20 bucks a few years ago. And the wait tends to be terrible so I would try to go earlier (opening) next time or just hop to a bar nearby while on the waitlist. Overall, I will forever love this place (unless they change the chef for worse) and so worth going every time.

Photos
Maccheroni Republic - Interior

Interior

Maccheroni Republic - MASCARPONE FLAN

MASCARPONE FLAN

Maccheroni Republic - Scallops with squid ink risotto

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Scallops with squid ink risotto

Cento Pasta Bar - Carbonara

Cento Pasta Bar

4.4(1.2k reviews)
3.2 mi•West Adams
•$$$

I had a great dining experience at Cento Pasta Bar. The food was coursed out properly, and was…read moredelicious. I can definitely recommend the grilled octopus, rigatoni pasta, and hamachi crudo. Service was also amazing! Parking is tough; I recommend you valet. Overall, they had a great cocktail menu. Definitely worth the drive out there.

Cute Italian spot with outdoor patio & indoor counter areas! Perfect for girls night out & date…read morevibes! My sister and I came in without reservations around 8pm and they sat us inside on the counter after 10 minutes of waiting. They were pretty full for table dining. We ordered: Steak Tartare (4/5) - Bread was perfectly oiled & crispy on the outside and chewy in the inside. The tonnato was very umami and made the dish but the steak itself was alright. Spicy Pomodoro (3.5/5) - This didn't hit as hard for me; I wished it was more spicy and I didn't taste any truffle. Pasta itself was perfectly al dente. Sweet Corn Agnolotti (5/5) - This was delish! Make sure to get equal parts of the pasta, sauce, corn, and crème fraiche (like a light sour cream) to get that flavor explosion. Creme was a little sour, corn was sweet, and the agnolotti was salty; perfect bite fr. My only negative is that this dish was too small for $28 :(. Blood Orange Pavlova (4/5) - A truly layered dessert because if you ate the sorbet by itself, it would be too sour but otherwise, another flavor explosion. The pavlova was thick and you really have to jam your spoon in to break the pieces apart. Service was friendly and fast! Overall, I'd come back!

Photos
Cento Pasta Bar - The kitchen view from our seats

The kitchen view from our seats

Cento Pasta Bar - Spicy Pomodoro

Spicy Pomodoro

Cento Pasta Bar - Beef Tartare

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Beef Tartare

Bestia

Bestia

4.3(8.4k reviews)
3.6 mi•Downtown
•$$$

Still stands-up to the hype after all these years…read more If "Trendy" was a restaurant, Bestia would easily be in top contention, even after being around for more than a decade. That says a lot. Once upon a time (a few years ago), my CFP + banking institution wanted to thank me for being one of their top private clients. They expressed their gratitude with a very generous, all expense paid full-course meal at Bestia. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. Fast forward to now, I knew that coming back here would be a good idea. Make no mistake, even if you try to book a reservation several weeks in-advance, don't be surprised if the only available seats are at the counter. Granted, I was in a spacey table during my past visit, the counter can be an enjoyable & unintentionally entertaining space. It's great for a more casual vibe, as you get to see some of the kitchen workers put together some of their signature dishes. In many ways, Bestia seems like a microcosm of the city that it rather humbly resides within. What always catches me off-guard, is that the surrounding simple area really doesn't reflect the happening, vibrant, night-life that resides within the building's walls. You feel like you're taken so a different, very social, very bustling world. WINE: Podere 72, Poderi San Lazzaro (Marche region, central Italy) - 8.7 / 10 A very robust blend of Montepulciano & Sangiovese grapes that results in a balanced, medium bodied red wine that stands-up to heartiness of a beef ribeye steak. FOOD: Roasted Bone Marrow - 9.4/ 10 I have several friends that go here just for this particular dish. Funny enough, one can almost always tell that one is at Bestia because of the rather peculiar manner in which this dish is served. Hot, melted bone marrow is appropriately scooped out of the bone & poured onto spinach gnocchetti. It's like eating beef flavored mouth pillows of potato + spinach. It's definitely a dish that will impress whoever you are with. I can never resist ordering this whenever I am here. Oxtail alla Vaccinara - 8.9 / 10 The deep, rich maroon color of the rigatoni (thanks to beets) is a sight to behold. The pasta is firm but not too hard. It's a humble yet complex pasta dish that complements any main course. 26oz Margaret River Wagyu Ribeye - 9.4 / 10 Anybody who knows me knows that I love my ribeye. Any decent fancy restaurant does a ribeye. But no one does a ribeye quite like Bestia. The fermented mushroom cream delivers a punch of pungence not unlike a delectable dijon mustard, but to the highest of levels. This dish also makes me a believer in well-cooked onions served alongside steak. I usually like to take a home a portion of ribeye for later, but this is one of the very few instances when the steak is so good, that I can't help but finish it here. Again, the portion is more than enough to be shared. Fromage Blanc Mousse - 9.1 / 10 This seasonal dish hits all the right notes. It's the fanciest of cheesecakes, so I recommend sharing this. With its decadence, a little truly goes a long way & that's perfectly fine. The richness of the cheese is offset perfectly by the right balance of candied kumquats. A great "bite" to end on. Huge shout-out & thanks to Radu for being the nicest & most enthusiastic of servers. It's little things like him being so down to take pics of you with your party that really make me want to come back here. It the owners / management is reading this, please recognize how pivotal he is to your team. If he was working under me, I would most definitely give him a raise. Also, shout-out to Dani at the hostess stand. She is one of the most personable people. For being the first person that patrons see upon entering, she is the perfect face, attitude, & welcoming personality that the hospitality industry is in dire need of. She's a rockstar of a hostess & a pleasure to talk with. Bestia is a better place because of valuable employees like Radu & Dani. As always, come for the food. Come back for the service. I would definitely come back because of how amazing Radu & Dani are. Years after the hype, the vibe is still very much happening at Bestia.

3 stars for Ambiance. Given I was dining on a Saturday night at 8 pm. Our waiter was just okay, he…read moredidn't ask about food allergies off the bat, and it seemed very inconvenient for them to address this issue. We sat at a shared booth. We felt the booth seats shaking the entire time. We looked back at the people behind us, and they also looked at us wondering where the shaking was coming from. We had a full on conversation searching for the source. IT was like an earthquake with the seats rattling around and became really distracting. MY seatmate date and I later figured out the movement was from the party across from us. I guess all the booths are connected. It was really loud in the restaurant as expected. 3 starts for atmosphere and the vibe I got from our waiter. THe food was on point and delcious Bestia 10/10 quality for the pasta and pizza. The Peruvian scallops were forgettable. The duck was over salted. I didn't enjoy the experience sitting at the booths inside. We have never sat here before, and I will make a point to not sit there again in the future.

Photos
Bestia - Bar area!!

Bar area!!

Bestia - Squid Ink Spaghetti

Squid Ink Spaghetti

Bestia - "Coffee and Donuts"

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"Coffee and Donuts"

Mother Wolf

Mother Wolf

4.1(1.4k reviews)
5.3 mi•Hollywood
•$$$$

Tried a few dishes, and the standout was definitely the rigatoni--easily my favorite…read more Would come back again, especially to grab a seat at the bar and try more from the menu.

Mother Wolf has been on my list for quite some time. We decided to finally dine here on our…read moredaughter's last night before she returned to college. The experience did not disappoint -- it was beautiful from beginning to end. Our extraordinary server was James. He was engaging, attentive and unpretentious. His knowledge of the menu was impressive as he explained each section and item in a simplified way. After making our choices, he suggested changing one of our pasta selections since they all had heavy sauces. We accepted his recommendation of the Spaghetti Arrabbiata, which turned out to be everyone's favorite! The tomato-based sauce was light and perfectly spicy. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING was amazing. The focaccia, oxtail meatballs and burrata with ham were a great start, showcasing the quality of the ingredients and thoughtful preparations -- they set the tone for our entire meal. The taste and texture of the freshly made pastas were unmistakable and so, so good with the wonderful sauces. The lamb chops were well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. I especially enjoyed the bed of sliced snow peas, green beans and English peas set over mint sauce. After all that, we had just enough room for shared desserts -- Budino and Tiramisu. Both were the perfect finish to a delicious meal. If you like chocolate, the Budino is for you -- rich but not overly sweet. Each yummy bite with the crumble topping was nicely balanced by the sprinkled salt. Service was impeccable and well-coordinated. We especially appreciated that dishes and utensils were changed after each course. A couple things to keep in mind: *Reservations - Via Resy. The reservation window is open 14 days at a time. *Parking - Valet is right in front. We found street parking just around the corner on Sunset (metered but free after 7pm). *Price Point - Approximately $100 per person. Mother Wolf is a cashless establishment. A 5% wellness fee is added to all checks. We will absolutely be back!

Photos
Mother Wolf - Open kitchen

Open kitchen

Mother Wolf - Polpette Di Coda (Oxtail Meatballs)

Polpette Di Coda (Oxtail Meatballs)

Mother Wolf - Croquettes, least memorable of the night for me but good!

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Croquettes, least memorable of the night for me but good!

Monarca Pasta & Grill - italian - Updated May 2026

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