Drago Centro

Warrior: I would rank Drago Centro as the best Italian restaurant in DTLA. Dinner tonight was as good as ever. All of the dishes were prepared with skill and care. I also appreciate the strong wine list, the mature atmosphere, and the professional service. The main weakness of this restaurant is lack of creativity.

Peony: I had a great meal tonight. The servers were attentive, and the kitchen thoughtfully pre-divided the shared dishes for us. The restaurant was beautiful and spacious and had a wonderful atmosphere. The dishes were all enjoyable and consistent, but they were not the top-tier Italian dishes in LA, to be honest. The dishes by themselves are just comforting, generic, Italian food, but with the atmosphere, this meal was a wonderful experience.

3 Likes

Dragon Centro is solid even though their menu hasn’t changed much through the years.

2 Likes

Warrior: I agree that the menu hasn’t changed much over the years. But I think the same could be said for Rossoblu and Factory Kitchen. Less sure about Bestia. I suspect many of us find Drago Centro boring because we’ve eaten there so many times due to its location. I’d guess 30 times for me. It was refreshing to go last night because I haven’t been since pre-Covid.

I work in one of the towers right next to Drago Centro and I’ve probably dined there over 30 times as well. It’s a solid, grownup choice for business meals. I do recall one of the few times they did alter the menu with the addition of mandilli di seta, after Factory Kitchen made it popular, and honestly it failed. Inferior to Factory Kitchen’s version in every way, and too pricey to boot. They’re better off staying with their classics.

Warrior: I agree regarding that dish.

Their all day happy hour menu wasn’t bad either!

2 Likes

Warrior: Drago Centro continues to serve boring, dependable, tasty Italian food. I’d rank it a little below Rossoblu and Bestia (only because Bestia has good pizza; the pasta is inedible American cafeteria style mush slop) and about on par with Factory Kitchen and Brera. But it has been the most dependable of all these restaurants, with dozens of solid performances and no bad meals over the past decade. 4.0 Warrior Points.

Peony [still at conference; Warrior by proxy]: Tonight’s meal had good ingredients and was prepared well. I found it a little on the bland side. I would like to see the restaurant be a little more creative.

(I’m still on a diet so just a few dishes.)