Can an Italian restaurant feel completely at home in a converted industrial warehouse on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles?
Bestia proved that it could.
Opened in 2012 by Chef Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, Bestia transformed a warehouse on East 7th Place into one of Los Angeles' most recognizable Italian restaurants. Yelp currently lists Bestia at 4.3 stars with more than 8,000 reviews.
But Bestia was never designed to be a quiet neighborhood trattoria.
THE WAREHOUSE IS PART OF THE STORY
The first thing that makes Bestia different is the setting.
Chef Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis found the future restaurant in a vacant warehouse surrounded by exposed brick, steel beams and concrete. Rather than hiding those industrial elements, they made them part of the restaurant's identity.
Today, the room still has that energetic warehouse character, with an open kitchen, dramatic cooking equipment and a courtyard that adds another dimension to the experience.
ITALIAN COOKING WITH A LOS ANGELES POINT OF VIEW
Bestia describes its food as interpretations of Italian classics, but the restaurant doesn't treat Italian cooking as a rigid formula.
The menu emphasizes seasonal ingredients, wood-fired cooking and bold combinations. That can mean handmade pastas, pizzas, housemade salumi, seafood, meat and vegetables appearing alongside dishes that don't fit neatly into a traditional Italian-American template.
The result is Italian cooking that feels distinctly Los Angeles.
THE PASTA PROGRAM
Pasta remains one of the restaurant's major attractions.
Yelp's popular dishes include Cavatelli alla Norcina, Squid Ink Spaghetti and Spaghetti Rustichella, while other menu favorites include gnocchi and tortellini.
But Bestia's approach is not about making pasta delicate or understated.
The sauces, meats, seafood and accompaniments are designed to deliver serious flavor, which is very much part of the restaurant's personality.
WOOD FIRE CHANGES THE MENU
The wood-fired cooking is another important part of Bestia.
Pizza comes out of the oven alongside dishes that benefit from direct heat and smoke, creating a menu where the fire becomes an ingredient in itself.
That cooking style also gives Bestia an interesting balance: you can come for a relatively casual pizza and drink at the bar, or build a much larger meal around multiple courses. The restaurant itself describes both possibilities.
THE DESSERTS HAVE THEIR OWN FOLLOWING
Genevieve Gergis brings another perspective to the restaurant through pastry.
The dessert program is not treated as an afterthought, and Yelp's popular dishes include Crème Fraîche Panna Cotta, while the restaurant's story emphasizes Gergis' role in creating desserts that are as distinctive as the savory menu.
That makes dessert worth planning for rather than simply ordering because dinner is over.
A PLACE FOR A BIG NIGHT OUT
Bestia has also developed into a restaurant suited to celebrations and group dining.
Large parties can be accommodated on the covered outdoor terrace, while larger events can involve partial or full buyouts.
The restaurant's combination of food, design, music, cocktails and open-kitchen energy makes the experience feel much larger than a conventional Italian dinner.
THE SOCALEAT TAKE
For anyone looking for Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, Bestia represents a different side of the city's Italian food culture.
It is not trying to recreate a little corner of Italy in Los Angeles.
Instead, it takes Italian traditions, puts them inside an industrial LA warehouse and lets the city become part of the restaurant.
VISIT BESTIA
Bestia
2121 E. 7th Place
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 514-5724
Open daily, 5 PM–11 PM.
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