Allegria   

22821 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265
310-456-3132
www.allegriarestaurant.com

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Few places in Los Angeles can exist this long in relative obscurity while serving Italian food as tremendous as Allegria. Opened in 1995, the restaurant has a rather uneventful, minimalist exterior, but inside, there's a country-style dining room that's quite homey, adorned with cozy, upholstered booths and many Malibu regulars, clad in everything from flip-flops to khakis. Although you may feel as if you're invading someone's dining room, the Italian-speaking staff won't bat an eye if you mispronounce the dish 'agnello brasato con lenttichie.' With cuisine as enlightened as the topiary-filled outdoor terrace (brilliantly lit up at night through the glass), guests are treated to over two dozen wood-fired pizzas, slung thin on an "oversized" gourmet crust. If you prefer the pastas, there's an assortment of rich dishes like chef Antonio Mure's delicious homemade pumpkin tortellini and lobster stuffed pasta in a saffron sauce, filling enough to make an obese pinata feel stuffed. Allegria's fresh salads are also fresh and fantastic, and they fear not the use of flavorful ingredients such as walnuts, Roquefort cheese, dried artichoke, hearts of palm and liberal rations of dressing. Owned by the same group that birthed Locanda Veneta, Ca' del Sole and Moonshadows, Allegria's longevity demonstrates that it must be doing something that the finicky, sophisticated Malibu clientele like. -- Gregg Rosenzweig