"No matter how many times we drive down West 3rd Street in Beverly Grove, we’re amazed at the sheer amount of restaurants on this stretch. There are tacky clubstaurants, famous dessert shops, and enough sidewalk cafes to fill half of Paris—all seemingly stacked on top of one another. It’s difficult to know which places are worth your time, especially for a fun dinner with friends before going out. That’s where Bari comes in handy. The bright, modern Italian restaurant has good food that’s easily shareable, strong cocktails, and a pulsing, party-like atmosphere guaranteed to rev up the sleepiest person at your table. The first thing you’ll notice about Bari is its aesthetic. You'll find smooth, whitewashed walls, earth-tone tableware, and wind-swept greenery doing its best coastal fauna impression. In the colder months, an arched fireplace roars in the corner. The space is designed to look like a fancy Pugliese masseria (ancient farmsteads that are now mostly high-end hotels) that travel influencers love to post about on trips to Italy. Just don’t mistake the resort-like design as a sign that the energy here is slow—Bari is ready to party and serve some solid food along the way. photo credit: Jakob Layman While no dish on Bari’s menu will make you do a double take, it’s a refreshing change from the many other Italian restaurants in LA serving the same dishes from Northern Italy. There are only a handful of pastas at Bari—the pesto-laden orecchiette and the savory all’amatriciana are particular standouts—and you’ll even spot a bombette, a traditional skewer of grilled pork shoulder wrapped tightly around caciocavallo cheese. It’s one of the most popular street foods in Puglia, and after one bite, you’ll understand why. Fresh burrata, which the restaurant imports from Puglia weekly, makes several appearances on the menu—and we suggest taking advantage by ordering whatever dish incorporates the gooey, pillowy soft cheese. Bari is also a place where you can show up in a hot new outfit or with a daring blowout and not feel stupid. On weekday nights, the energy skews more neighborhoody, but come Friday and Saturdays, this place is rocking with playlists of all the current bangers, dates sipping negronis and olive oil-washed martinis, and tables of friends eating tiramisu and figuring out what spot they're hitting next. And isn’t that the whole point of a pre-party restaurant anyway, keeping everybody in the mood to go out afterward? Bari succeeds at that, with the added bonus of good food. Food Rundown Panzanella Buratta can be found all over Bari’s menu, but our favorite dish that it make a cameo in is their panzanella: Thick, juicy hunks of tomato, crunchy crostini, onions, and basil are heaped around a softball-sized ball of soft burrata. Sweet, savory, and fragrant, it’s our favorite excuse to eat a salad here. Bombette It’s not often you see this traditional Pugliese meat skewer on menus in LA and that’s a shame, because it’s delicious. Tender, salty pork shoulder is wrapped around a tiny ball of caciocavallo cheese that slowly oozes out after you bite into it. No matter how many you order for the table, know that it won’t be enough. photo credit: Jakob Layman Orecchiette This is a solid version of the shell-shaped pasta dish that’s basically the city emblem of Bari, Italy. We wish the shells were a bit firmer, but they’ve been coated in just the right amount of basil pesto, and the sprinkle of pine nuts on top adds a nice pop. photo credit: Jakob Layman Rigatoni All’amatriciana The all’amatriciana is our favorite pasta at Bari and it’s solely because of the guanciale mixed throughout. The thick, savory chunks of cured pork are rich and buttery and cut through the sweetness of the marinara. photo credit: Jakob Layman Bistecca It's easy to overlook a seven-ounce hangar steak at the bottom of a 25-item menu, but don’t here, because this dish is a standout. The meat is cooked to a perfect medium rare and is so tender you almost don’t need a knife. This is to say nothing of the griddled trumpet mushrooms underneath that are so savory, we’d campaign for them to be made their own separate entree. photo credit: Jakob Layman Tiramisu There are a handful of incredible tiramisus in LA, and this is not one of them. It’s still a solid version though, and if you want to order it for the table, no one will complain. It arrives in a see-through glass, assuring that everyone can keep track of who’s taking the biggest bites." - Brant Cox
