That's Amore!

The very first restaurant I ever went to upon moving to LA was this awesome little Italian place called C&O Trattoria. Upon walking through its doors, I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere. It has both inside and outside seating, but the outside seating is my favorite because it looks like a quaint Italian grotto. Actually, truth be told, I like the outside seating because something about the scenery reminds me of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disneyland – you know, the part in the ride where that chubby guy is getting dunked in the well, and that woman is up on the balcony yelling “Don’t you tell them, Carlos. No, no, no!” Yeah, I know. My brain is a little warped. But there you go.

This is the outside seating area.

Anyway, I went to C&O again this past weekend with some friends, and enjoyed myself immensely. There are 3 things I absolutely LOVE about this restaurant (and they are the reasons I keep going back):

1. The Garlic Knots

 

These mouthwateringly delicious knot-shaped garlic rolls are free to all customers. There is a large plate in the middle of each table in the restaurant, and the waiters just keep coming around and refilling it with knots every 10 minutes. They even walk around outside the restaurant with a plate of knots and serve them to the guests who are waiting for a table. I usually have a very hard time not filling up on these bad boys before my actual meal arrives. Which brings me to my next reason…….

2. The HUGE Entrees

 

The entrees at C&O come in two sizes – Half and Gargantuan (no, I am not making this up). A half order can quite easily feed two people. Ergo, after gorging myself on garlic knots, I know there is absolutely NO way I am going to be able to finish my dinner – so, yay! Leftovers for tomorrow! Not quite as good the second day, but still totally palatable.

 

3. (And this is probably my favorite thing about C&O) The Singing

Every hour-and-a-half or so on Friday and Saturday nights, the waiters run around the restaurant and pass out lyrics to the song “That’s Amore” to all the tables. Then, the song’s music starts playing over the restaurant’s speakers…..and the fun begins! Everybody in the restaurant, both guests and employees, starts to sing along to the music. The waiters then start weaving their way through the tables, clinking glasses with the guests as they do, and exclaiming “Salute!”

Now, I have no business singing anywhere in public, but this is one instance where I will make an exception. I can belt out the song at the top of my lungs and not bother anyone, because all the other guests are singing too, and no one can hear my off-key nonsense! I also insist on making everybody at my table sway in time to the music. A little childish, yes…but it makes the experience so much more entertaining!

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the group and I holding our lyrics sheets, right before the singing started.

 

Seriously, I love this place. And you would, too!!