Urban Oven is def too casual.
A nice step up from that but still on the family causal side would be Sixth + Mill. It’s next door to Officine Brera. They have nice pizza pies and other Italian dishes like pasta and veggies.
Factory Kitchen is another nice choice less expensive than Bestia, but still good atmosphere.
Hi @DTLAeater!
I love Factory Kitchen and haven’t been in a while.
The internet is so wacky with pricing - a google search for Italian dtla shows Bestia at $$ and Factory Kitchen $$$. I’m not sure what criteria they’re using as FK has more pasta dishes which are always more reasonable than meat and seafood.
One more thing - we may have a toddler with us. He loves going out and is usually a good boy. He was great at Jon & Vinny’s. But toddlers are unpredictable, so. Do you think Sixth + Mill or FK is better?
Thanks!
Definitely a consideration and priced right. I’ve only had it Postmated. Do you think it’s a cool enough atmosphere for young adults?
No idea, but…
It’s good manners to consider cool wherever the adults are paying so that the young adults can eat for free.
Factory Kitchen can be quite loud, but I’ve noticed quite a few kids eating at Sixth + Mill. Perhaps due to the more casual nature of the place. I’d go for Sixth + Mill in your case since they have pizzas.
The $$ vs $$$ is never entirely trustworthy as portion sizes etc comes into play too.
I agree, but it’s Dad’s birthday and they’re at an age where they want to at least pay half the tab. It’s why I want to keep it reasonable. Plus, a couple are coming from Whittier and want the L.A. vibe.
Yeah, my ears were splitting at Factory Kitchen.
Only went once. I wouldn’t call it “cool,” but it also doesn’t look anywhere close to a place where old people go to die, so I think it’d probably work decently for your group. And the young adults can always grab drinks at some place nearby, if they want more of a scene.
…Yeah, it’s between Colori and Sixth + Mill.
Re Colori Kitchen, lots of young people eat there, it’s a cramped but charming restaurant. An old standby, kind of dineresque in its service and plateware/stemware. Also nearby some cool after dinner drink spots (both the lobby and rooftop bars at Freehand Hotel, NoMad Hotel). Though I’ve had some tasty pasta from there, my most recent visit was quite mediocre. Haven’t been in years, so can’t give a recent update.
Yah, I don’t think they’re planning on doing any bar hopping afterward, especially the ones with the toddler. We’re looking for a one-stop shopping kinda’ place. I’m good with wine, but Dad (husband) likes an old-fashioned. Sixth + Mill has a modern vibe and serves alcohol.
I wish we had checked out Colori when we were living downtown. I hear it’s in an area with bars, restaurants and dessert spots close together. It’s fun to stop at one place for a cocktail, another for a nice dinner then dessert someplace else.
Thanks All!
Can definitely bar / restaurant hop almost anywhere in downtown nowadays, it’s great. Unfortunately, I am not getting any younger.
…and because I can’t figure anything out for myself 
does anything look good to you here?
For food reference, I’ll probably just take a bite of others’ red sauce dishes and order a starter of Fett’unta (shrooms & cheese on toast) or Cicorie (fava spread w/escarole & toast) and for pasta, Cacio e Pepe (buttery cheesy) or Orecchiette (w/rapini, garlic, anchovy & chili). It’s okay if nothing pops out at you, I’ll ask staff. 
Thanks!
Given food choices a lighter red is probably best.
Some of these wines I have never heard of (falanghina or inzolia).
If it were me I would pick Barbera d’alba or Nero d’avola.
Both of these wines probably retail < $20, but sometimes price has very little to do with the quality of the wine.
Agree with Beam. I haven’t had any of these wines and am only familiar with a few of the producers, but here’s how I would “decode” the list. The first three wines have bubbles, with the lambrusco being a red wine. Pinot grigio to inzolia are whites. Barbera to primitovo are reds. There’s also a good chance that the wines are organized from lightest to heaviest within each “category”.
So much depends on the specific winery’s style, but it’s also possible that nero d’avola and primitivo are a bit more fruity and jammy, compared to the barbera and sangiovese being lighter and more acid forward. Therefore, I’d be inclined to the barbera or sangiovese, ultimately landing on the sangiovese because I like the producer. My significant other would get the lambrusco no doubt!
But it depends on what you like and this should arm you with enough to ask an educated question of the staff to suit your own preferences! Generally, the more info you can provide to the staff on what you want, the better a recommendation you will get, assuming the staff actually knows the wines.
I do like fruity / jammy and usually enjoy Primitivo. But I think you and @beam are saying it won’t compliment my food choices (not light enough)? I will probably get the Lambrusco to start then the Nero d’avola (luv the producers name btw), Barbera or Sangiovese depending on the staff comments.
Very helpful and interesting. I figured people would suggest a white. But there is a middle ground - lighter reds - good with pastas, cheeses, anchovies, earthy shrooms and stronger tasting greens. You suggest whites for salads, fish & maybe some chicken dishes?
I read that restaurants purposely put some wines on their menu whose names are not widely recognizable, so the customer won’t know if they’re being charged correctly.
Wine pairing is pretty personal, so get what you like by all means. In theory you could pair a different wine with every single dish you mentioned. But say for the cacio e pepe, it’s rich and cheesy, so I think the tartness of sangiovese plays well off that and may be more refreshing to my palate. But if you want your taste buds to be enveloped with a richer, jammy wine, that is not wrong either.
It’s not so simple to say white goes with fish and red goes with pasta. For example, Vermentino, which can have flavors of lime / grapefruit / almond, goes quite well with certain pastas such as that green hankerchief pasta at Factory Kitchen. With cooked fish, I’ve paired some very bright red fruited red wines with it sucessfully. On the other hand, a former colleague of wine insisted on drinking cabernet sauvignon with salmon sushi and I don’t think those two go together, but he loved it. 
Though generalizations (and opinions) can often read you astray, articles like these are helpful:
Okay, I get it. Guidelines, not rules and my taste buds are the judge.
That’s a nicely curated BTG list, so they would probably be able to give you good advice.
Lambrusco goes with all that.
